Duncan Robinson

Is "deliverism" dead? Lawrence gave his first take on Iran at the weekend and will return to it later this week.

What is "deliverism"? Is it dead? And what would its death mean for progressive politics?

This essay (kindly published by @samfr.bsky.social) is my attempt to trace five years of trans-Atlantic debates, to set out what I see as the stakes, and to analyse where these arguments have now gotten to:

If you want a geopolitical safe haven where your imaginative tax arrangements and business models won't attract closer scrutiny just move to Luxembourg

The paranoid style in British politics It has its uses

New Bagehot on the paranoid style in British politics and how everyone became a conspiracy theorist
economist.com/britain/2026...

Heard he was gonna get an “undefeated in league and playoff games after 5pm for 27th time” tattoo. Alas

An extraordinary statistic indeed! Bet they were gutted to lose the undefeated at home games after 5pm in the league and playoffs record

The new Supreme Leader of Iran must be someone with impeccable establishment credentials, who has a proven track record of problem solving numerous crises, and who has their finger on the pulse of a vast, interconnected bureaucracy.

For these reasons, Louise Casey, Baroness Casey of Blacksto-

The paranoid style in British politics It has its uses

From left to right, rich to poor, almost every Briton will at some point reach for a complicated conspiratorial explanation when a simpler and more likely one is at hand

A party can lose and still learn nothing Gaza, Sir Oink Alot and the whack analysis.

Tom Watson says it was just Gaza and Burnham would have lost
open.substack.com/pub/tomwatso...

Toddler calling me “Duncan” rather than Dad, making him sound like exasperated colleague

@duncanrobinson.bsky.social had this so right - they are all targeting ‘Dead Voter’. So perhaps they can dissolve the living and unearth the dead

Basically decided paranoia is a consequence of living through an era of consequence. www.economist.com/britain/2026...

Take your points, which is why I frame paranoia as necessary at the end

Whingingggggggggggggg is so underrated, especially with this government. Doesn't even matter if you'll never vote for them if you whing, you win

Everyone's at it, whether you think local politicians are the reason your high street is a dump or if you think the Queen is communicating through a hat

Featuring me, questioning whether the Queen really was signalling pro-EU sentiments via the medium of headwear:

Basically decided paranoia is a consequence of living through an era of consequence. www.economist.com/britain/2026...

The paranoid style in British politics It has its uses

www.economist.com/britain/2026... Wrote about paranoia seeping through every part of British politics, from the "left-behind" to the "well-ahead"

what if it's true and it's a perfect three-way split

Not really. UK energy-intensive industry mostly declined well before electricity got expensive.

This is good:
softmachines.org?p=3234

It’s a massive issue for those industries still here, but I struggle with “biggest economic issue”

Latest YouGov Westminster voting intention (22-23 February 2026)

Reform UK: 24% (no change from 15-16 Feb)
Conservatives: 18% (=)
Labour: 18% (-1)
Greens: 17% (=)
Lib Dems: 14% (+1)

yougov.co.uk/topics/polit...

This is a fascinating paper

Labour can no longer rely on the ‘ethnic minority vote’ Foreign policy, home country politics and differing economic instincts fracture voter priorities

Fab Inside Politics by @georginaq.bsky.social today:

Keir Starmer is visiting Gorton and Denton today, calling it a "straight fight between Labour and Reform."

This is not something parties do unless they are confident of winning. So Labour either believe they have it in the bag, or someone has their sums wrong.

‘Bullying’ report destroyed after ethics team told staff to break into safe Head of Cabinet Office team wanted to see a confidential document about allegations against Antonia Romeo, the new cabinet secretary

‘Bullying’ report destroyed after ethics team told staff to break into safe

www.thetimes.com/article/c395...

Pardon

Quoting from the greats (himself)

Great Janan www.ft.com/content/9247...

And a money illusion problem whereby 50k sounds like a lot when it’s median teacher salary. Ditto 100k today is about 65k in 2010 money

"Lizardman's constant" replaced "Prince Andrew Fan constant"

Definitely 26 as it was still that when I joined in 2011