Jon Parry

Photo of Streeting and Rayner

Without a clearer sense of direction, Labour's doomed. So, by far the best thing that these two could do now would be to stop worrying about how best to become PM if and when Starmer eventually goes and instead think really, really hard about what they would do were they chosen to replace him.

Live with Phillips P. OBrien and John Sipher A recording from Phillips P. OBrien's live video

Just had a fabulous talk with John Sipher, one of the most experienced CIA officers of his generation. We went into the Epstein files, what they say about Epstein and Russian intelligence, how Epstein kompromat might work to influence Trump… substack.com/@phillipspob...

Jonathan Parry · Every Mother’s Son: Britain in Sudan

‘Charles Townshend compared the Sudanese response to the Spartans’ heroics against the Persians: “No troops in the world could have lived under that fire. No Europeans would have faced it.”’

@jonparryhis.bsky.social on the British army in Egypt and Sudan: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Jonathan Parry · Every Mother’s Son: Britain in Sudan

‘The single-minded slaughter was mixed with admiration for the extraordinary courage of the enemy troops, who invariably faced the British onslaught without flinching.’

@jonparryhis.bsky.social on the British army in Egypt and Sudan in the late 19th century: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Also in this issue:

Colin Burrow on satire
Jon Day on rat sociology
Becca Rothfeld on Tony Tulathimutte’s anti-autofiction
Ange Mlinko reviews Michelle de Kretser's 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦
Stephen Buryani on proteins gone rogue
@jonparryhis.bsky.social on Britain in Sudan
David Trotter on golf ...

Excellent opportunity for the right 19th-century political historian here

Liberalism: a great new book focusing on what politicians do Jonathan Parry's book, Liberalism, explores the history of liberalism as a political idea in Britain. He came on my podcast to discuss it.

Mark Pack was kind enough to give me some time to discuss my take on British Liberalism in his monthly podcast:

No, sadly not. It’s also very small! But you can peer in through the windows…. There is also a good selection of short guidebooks in the Gallery Stores. And another place to visit between 11 and 1 on weekdays is the Heritage Room next to the Visitor Centre, which is the nearest thing to a museum.

QR Code Trail

Probably best to start with this QR trail which the Visitor Centre developed. It covers quite a lot of ground in a helpful way: www.sark.co.uk/qr-code-trail

“Jonathan Parry is uniquely qualified to write the history of Liberalism in Britain... a pithy, original, and trenchant analysis.”

Anthony Howe on 'Liberalism' by @jonparryhis.bsky.social,
- the latest in our Short Histories series.
agendapub.com/page/series-...

@libhistorytoday.bsky.social

Keir Starmer promises migration drop as he unveils plans for 'tighter' visa rules Plans to ban the recruitment of care workers from overseas are among efforts to curb near record net migration.

I fear that Labour is falling into the same trap that the Tories did – leaning on hostile rhetoric around immigration and damaging our public services and our economy in the process.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Questions of sovereignty: Canada’s relations with Europe after the general election Europeans should begin seeking new opportunities to work with Canada under Mark Carney…

Canada's new PM, Mark Carney, is pivoting from U.S. dependence to European partnerships. Facing U.S. tariffs and annexation threats, Canada seeks deeper ties with Europe on trade, energy, and Arctic security.

This is also important for its electoral system effects - being either the incumbent or the best place local opponents makes it easier to win tactical supports. Reform being in second place wherever they don't win poses an existential threat to the Conservatives down the line

Another way of looking at that deadly pincer movement facing the Conservatives - look at how they get squashed between Reform and the Lib Dems in Devon on this chart.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I wonder whether anyone in the Conservative leadership had the foresight to see in 2015 that the Osborne boast of ‘decapitating’ the Lib Dems rather than fighting in constructive alliance with them would in fact end up decapitating the Conservative Party

Jonathan Parry · Dancing the Mazurka: Anglo-Russian Relations In the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain and Russia did not seek to divide the world between them and very rarely pointed...

‘As great powers Russia and Britain had very few clashing interests. Though both wanted to expand, they could do so for many thousands of miles across Asia without interfering with each other.’

@jonparryhis.bsky.social on Russia and England in the 19th century: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Political Liberalism How do we apply Liberalism in day-to-day politics?  A thoughtful new book, When We Speak of Freedom, edited by Paul Hindley and Benjamin Wood, deserves more discussion here. The subtitle is ‘Radical L...

I’ve written something for Lib Dems about getting the balance right between ethical ideals & political campaigning. I argue there is a coherent Liberalism which is also politically savvy. And that a lot of Liberal history sets out how to do it. And, as it happens, I’ve just written the book on it!

There’s a very good book to be written on that topic by someone

An excellent and timely combination!

Modern patriotism.
www.ft.com/content/b133...

Jonathan Parry · Dancing the Mazurka: Anglo-Russian Relations In the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain and Russia did not seek to divide the world between them and very rarely pointed...

‘In 1836, John Stuart Mill claimed that the government had become “smitten with Russophobia”, an irrational panic that had triggered an unnecessary increase in defence spending. “Russophobia” has never quite left British public debate since.’

@jonparryhis.bsky.social: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Jonathan Parry · Dancing the Mazurka: Anglo-Russian Relations In the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain and Russia did not seek to divide the world between them and very rarely pointed...

‘The press peddled excited theories about Russia’s ambitions for world domination, which Disraeli happily indulged in order to show that in his genius he could stop its armies reaching even the Mediterranean.’

@jonparryhis.bsky.social on the origins of ‘Russophobia’: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Jonathan Parry · Dancing the Mazurka: Anglo-Russian Relations In the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain and Russia did not seek to divide the world between them and very rarely pointed...

‘The history of Anglo-Russian relations is interesting not just in itself but because, when tensions have arisen, they have usually been prompted less by British or Russian behaviour than by extraneous factors.’

@jonparryhis.bsky.social on England’s ‘Russophobia’: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

101 Printemps | 2025 Benjamin Disraeli (1804‒1881): His Lives and ... Les articles réunis dans ce volume sont issus du colloque de la SFEVE sur « Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) : His Lives and Afterlives » organisé les 25 et 26 janvier 2024 par Catherine Marshall, en...

Calling all Disraeli fans 📢📢 Our new edited volume is out now, Open Access! Ft. essays by @jonparryhis.bsky.social @davidjeffery.bsky.social, Peter Ghosh, Freya Johnson, Alex Middleton and many, many more. Please share! journals.openedition.org/cve/15440

Disraeli’s Late Novels and Tory Political Sociology Disraeli’s novels abound in social commentary and historical generalisations. As a result, historians have long mined them in the hope of understanding his personal political philosophy. Specific b...

I wrote something about Disraeli’s sociological vision, as worked out in his late novels: journals.openedition.org/cve/15795

Jonathan Parry · Dancing the Mazurka: Anglo-Russian Relations In the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain and Russia did not seek to divide the world between them and very rarely pointed...

‘For the last two hundred years, Western fears about Russia have ultimately stemmed from politics more than geopolitics: from liberal distrust of the unpredictability and violence of absolutism.’

@jonparryhis.bsky.social on Russia and England in the 19th century: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Jonathan Parry · Dancing the Mazurka: Anglo-Russian Relations In the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain and Russia did not seek to divide the world between them and very rarely pointed...

‘As great powers Russia and Britain had very few clashing interests. Though both wanted to expand, they could do so for many thousands of miles across Asia without interfering with each other.’

@jonparryhis.bsky.social on Russia and England in the 19th century: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Jonathan Parry · Dancing the Mazurka: Anglo-Russian Relations In the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain and Russia did not seek to divide the world between them and very rarely pointed...

‘In 1836, John Stuart Mill claimed that the government had become “smitten with Russophobia”, an irrational panic that had triggered an unnecessary increase in defence spending. “Russophobia” has never quite left British public debate since.’

@jonparryhis.bsky.social: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Is this a Liberal moment? Can the election of Donald Trump be a major opportunity for Liberal Democrats? Quite possibly, though the jury is still out. In fact I’ve just written a short history of British Liberalism which ends ...

I’ve written something for @libdemvoice.org about how the present crisis might allow Lib Dems and other liberal-minded people to rally a coalition of supporters against Trump/Farage populism and connect with the party’s history: www.libdemvoice.org/is-this-a-li...

Very nice of you to say so, Ben! Glad you liked it. I hope it fills a gap in the market.