Nick Tyrone

I cannot regret the ayatollah and his thugs getting some justice meted out to them. But I wish this had been delivered back when the US promised Iranian protesters “help is on the way”, instead of weeks later once tens of thousands of them have been murdered by the regime.

Pain Solving problems that don’t belong to anyone

Pain is a canonical example of the kind of problem the modern state should be able to address, and cannot. I've written about how - if we could solve for this - we could solve for anything.
howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/pain

May 31st headline: "Are Arsenal the worst ever team to win the Quadruple?"

Reform supporters are again most negative on the question of whether their area has got worse over the last decade. An interesting finding given that the party is now attracting former members of the government in power over most of that period.

Governing without Giving a F*** The advice Keir Starmer should take from a self-help guru

My take on the "stakeholder state" and other matters.

howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/governing-...

Great post by @pollymackenzie.bsky.social and really illuminating back and forth in the comments on her original LinkedIn post:

There aren't any levers A dead metaphor is killing the government's ability to get things done

This is an excellent piece on why the metaphor of "pulling levers" should be laid to rest alongside the parrot from Notlob. I found nothing more discouraging during the GE '24 campaign than Starmer talking about "pulling the growth lever" open.substack.com/pub/howtorun...

Labour are now saying that Brexit is to blame for our financial woes, while Starmer still insists we will never rejoin any of the European institutions within his lifetime. This makes absolutely no sense.

I still don’t get how Starmer can blame Brexit for the small boats, insist stopping the small boats is a huge priority, but then stick to the idea that Brexit can’t be undone. It makes no sense.

It’s simple: if you think we can “make Brexit work”, then Farage should be PM as soon as possible. The Tories failed on Brexit and Labour clearly has as well. The only argument against Farage that will work is “Brexit will never work”. And every party is running away from this as hard as they can.

YouTube video by Neoliberal Centrist Dad Two reasons why Ireland is richer than Britain

Why Ireland is richer than Britain, explored here. Yes, Brexit is a factor - but there is another big one:
youtu.be/Iaz5hSXSx48?...

Why doesn't Starmer campaign to rejoin the EU? Here are three reasons why he should The video above is an extrapolation on the issue of why I think Starmer rediscovering his pro-European roots would be strategically sensible, with some ranting and fun stuff along the way.

Here are three reasons why Starmer should campaign for the UK to rejoin the EU:
nicktyrone.substack.com/p/why-doesnt...

BBC Radio 4 - AntiSocial, How does an author get published? Industry veteran Amelia Fairney explains the book business

I thought this episode of BBCRadio4 AntiSocial with Adam Fleming did another good job of bringing nuance to an emerging culture war standoff. @nicktyrone.bsky.social was a particularly receptive contributor.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

Back in the EU? The statistic for Rejoiners to watch When will we know the time is right to rejoin the EU?

Back in the EU? The statistic for Rejoiners to watch

When will we know the time is right to rejoin the EU? | Nick Tyrone

@nicktyrone.bsky.social @sussexbylines.co.uk

Kind of telling that no Brexiteers are celebrating today as the 9th anniversary of our "Independence Day". It's all a bit embarrassing now, frankly, so I don't blame them for keeping quiet about it.

The real Rwanda scheme was never tried. Much like real Brexit and real communism wasn't either.

The referendum in 2016 asked, “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?” The answer, “Leave the EU” won a majority. In 2020, we did just that. The result was respected. We are still allowed to disagree and campaign for change.

Of all the takes on British politics currently available, the one that goes “Starmer and Farage want to debate each other because they’re both scared of debating Kemi Badenoch” is easily the most laughable. You have to be cosmically naive to believe that. She is irrelevant.

The Brexiters are having a nervous breakdown about the mere existence of a UK-EU summit. It’s like deep down they know Brexit has been a washout and any chance for that to be exposed, even a little, terrifies them.

Yes, Brexit has played a large part in destroying the Conservative Party, but they also could have not chosen five totally abysmal leaders in a row, something which is a significant factor here.

I’m starting to hope the Tories try and bring back Boris Johnson as leader. They would have to have a by-election, which they would almost certainly lose to Reform or the Lib Dems, depending on location. And if he managed to win, that would be the end of the Tories.

One of the great ironies of British politics is that it is now left to the Labour Party to save Brexit. My hunch is, they won’t be able to do it. Brexit is not salvageable.

Trump has become poison for right-wing parties across the west. Unless they successfully disinfect themselves of being seen as Trump-adjacent, they will be destroyed at the ballot box.

The United States abandoning Ukraine will be seen in a very short time to be one America’s most shameful moments as a country.

Most Brexiters like to claim that the mainstream media and the establishment are Remain-leaning, when in fact, the media and every major political party accepts Brexit as the unalterable status quo. This is because Brexit only works as an outsider theory, not in reality.

Behold the spectre, yet again, of the possibility of a “US-UK trade deal”. If something is agreed between the two countries over the next couple of months, it will be razor-thin. It will not be anywhere close to as beneficial as being in the European single market.

YouTube video by Neoliberal Centrist Dad Should Canada become the 51st state of America?

Should Canada become the 51st state of America? I try and steel man the argument for this and here’s what I came up with:

youtu.be/mbBE8dUWq3Y?...

Trump has clearly lost patience with Zelensky. Lost patience with Zelensky and his whole standing up for his country, saving it from a despotic regime that invaded for no reason thing. I can see how that must be frustrating for Trump, really can.