Our top ten picks of the week

Out in no-man’s land the sound and tone of ‘battle’ on the right is starting to shift

Giles Dilnot

There’s a shift in the debate, for those in Reform and Conservatives, who are willing to have it. More are, and mercifully without the wearisome ‘screaming’ at each other that marked the start of hostilities. It’s not a deal, it might mark a ceasefire.

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Our Survey: Majority support North Sea oil and gas exploration amid war in Middle East

Tali Fraser

It should be obvious to the government, as it is to the general public, that the North Sea still has resources to exploit that could help to strengthen Britain’s energy security. The thing is that Miliband, and hence Labour’s, net-zero ideology gets in the way.

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The short term assumptions fuelling the petrol debate show politics still has its head in the sand

David Gauke

The Government – hoping to change the subject from scheduled fuel duty rises – accused fuel retailers of “price gouging” or “profiteering” despite no evidence to support that. Tory opposition is smart but short term. None of it addresses the realities of the public finances.

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We will not fix our problems by telling people to stop talking about them

Katie Lam

Failure to acknowledge the truth, and a desire to prevent other people from doing so, allowed people to get away with the some of the very worst crimes committed in this country in living memory.

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There is a ‘uniparty’ in our politics, but it’s not made up of who you think

Luke Graham

No politician is going to get everything right, but people’s frustration is growing with politicians pretending to never be wrong.

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We need more than some bogus ‘Love Actually’ moment

Bob Seely

There’s a bigger picture here, beyond Trump hatred. The hard reality is that Britain, in the eyes of our Middle East allies, has appeared to be a fair-weather friend. Iran is the latest crisis to expose our Prime Minister’s inadequacies. I suspect it won’t be the last.

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Britain is in a mess, but not as much as you might think

Andrew Gilligan

Significant parts of the political debate, on left and right, are based on official statistics which are wrong. And the wrongness more often seems to be in one direction – towards the gloomy, the pessimistic and the negative.

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Council by-election results from yesterday and forthcoming contests

Harry Phibbs

The Conservatives gained a seat from the Lib Dems in the Vale of White Horse. Reform UK gained a seat from Labour in North Lincolnshire.

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Is the Conservative Party facing a Liberal-style collapse?

Jack Clapper

As with the Liberals a century ago, there is a growing risk that the Conservative Party’s structure is no longer suited to the electorate it seeks to represent.

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Why Brexiteers are now becoming like Euro-federalists

Igor Merheim-Eyre

Calling for a ‘proper Brexit’ after all those that have been tried and failed over the past decade, is reminiscent of those Marxists arguing that their ideology was never properly tried in practice and next time will be different.

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