The argument
Signed pieces. The other side gets stated first
Statecraft
Once and For All, Again
A new Prime Minister has made social care his mission, and the talks are cross-party. Britain has answered this question four times since 1999. The answer was never the missing piece. The cheque was.
Crossbencher · 02 Aug 2026 · 4 min read
Statecraft
A mandate is a real thing
Britain has its fifth prime minister in four years, and for the third time in that run the job changed hands without a general election. The constitution says that's fine. The constitution is answering a question nobody asked.
Crossbencher · 27 Jul 2026 · 3 min
Statecraft
Nobody's Fault
Reviews are announced, lessons are learned, inquiries report - and no one is ever answerable. That isn't complexity's accident. It's the architecture, and it's working as designed.
Crossbencher · 26 Jul 2026 · 4 min
Statecraft
What Is Citizenship For?
We argue about who should get a passport without agreeing what a passport is. Decide whether citizenship is a membership or a service, and most of the other questions answer themselves.
Crossbencher · 19 Jul 2026 · 2 min
Statecraft
The Court and the Ballot Box
The row over human rights law is usually fought as a slogan against a slogan. Underneath it's a real and unresolved question: who should make the law when a court and an electorate disagree - and both answers have a cost.
Crossbencher · 19 Jul 2026 · 2 min
Statecraft
The Shared Institution
A country can't assume the trust between strangers that lets it function. It has to be built, in places where people who would otherwise never meet are made to rely on each other - and Britain has quietly let most of those places close.
Crossbencher · 19 Jul 2026 · 2 min