By Terence Fane-Saunders Chris was in New York for the weekend. On his first evening, in the lobby of his Murray Hill hotel, he fell into conversation with one of the most beautiful girls he’d ever seen. They went for a drink, then took a lazy, aimless walk, until they found a little Italian restaurant. It had candles on the table and romance in its garlic-laden air. For the rest of the weekend they were inseparable. Susie was amazing. It wasn’t just that she looked like an angel fallen to earth, it was the way she talked – funny, wise, […]

Labour’s anti-politics anxieties by John Ringer In Manchester Central today, the talk of the town remains the Scottish independence referendum. English activists greet their Scottish friends by saying ‘thank god we’re in the same country!’. Once-demure Brownites are acting mighty smug. Activists from across the country boast about their time spent knocking doors in godforsaken suburbs whose names they can’t remember. At times, it seems that each and every speech made from the dais – by the most polished frontbencher and the most inexperienced activist alike – in some way refers to Thursday’s referendum. Even in today’s sessions on defence […]

Maybe the No campaign will limp lamely over the finishing line as winners; maybe they won’t. The opinion pollsters seem as bemused as the rest of us. But if they do win, whatever the margin, let nobody describe this as a triumph. As a campaign, and as an exercise in true public relations the No campaign has been an abject, cringing failure at almost every stage. Overwhelmingly, the arguments should have been on their side. It was virtually an open goal, politically. But somehow, the dry, unimaginative, dullards shaping the campaign, apparently without an iota of PR intelligence between them, […]