Burnham is right: The future lies with devolution
After Andy Burnham's first major speech since the resignation, devolution has been the word on everyone's lips - Gill Morris explains why it's the way forward.
Brighton Revisited: A Lesson for the PM?
William Cash | Issue 3 | Comment, Culture & Travel, Magazine
From the Archive
William Cash asks whether the PM can learn from how Thatcher handled the IRA bombing of exactly 36 years ago
<!--
-->
I’ve scoured the papers today – October 12th – and there’s no mention of Brighton or the Brighton Grand. That’s despite it still being the week of party conference ‘season’ which was traditionally known by hacks and ministers alike as ‘politics-by-the-sea’ and was an annual form of political pilgrimage.
It was at 2.54 a.m on October 12th 1984 that Margaret Thatcher was nearly assassinated by a bomb planted by the IRA’s Patrick Magee in an act of invisible political terrorism that killed five (including a Conservative MP) and injured 31.
Today, of course, the main threat to our country today is not a hidden bomb in a hotel suite but a disease that threatens to blow up the economy, as well as nearly killing our PM.
But are there any lessons to be learnt from how the two Tory governments handled the existential autumn crisis, albeit 36 years apart?
With this year’s party conference season cancelled (and the Tories once again -pre-Covid – booking out the Birmingham Hyatt and Labour heading to Liverpool), I decided to visit Brighton instead and check into the Brighton Grand.
Indeed, my wife and I stayed in a sea-front room on the sixth floor just a few doors down from room (629) in which IRA agent Patrick Magee stayed in 1984 during the weekend of 14-17th Sept 1984, a month before Thatcher and her cabinet were to stay in the hotel.
Instead of walking the pier or visiting …
Subscribe to The Mace
Join the member community shaping British politics and stay ahead of what's really happening in the world of politics and public affairs, with expert analysis, breaking news, and insider insights from Westminster and Brussels. The Mace is the leading news source and resource for the government affairs industry, offering required reading and lobby intelligence for professionals.
To see what you are missing out on by not subscribing to The Mace, click here to download our full membership info-pack. This includes having no paywall on op-ed content or profiles/interviews, allowing professional profiles to be read with maximum impact and visibility by government, special advisers, MPs, peers, civil servants, and policy and political decision-makers.
Caroline Simpson: Why devolution needs this technocrat
Amid the frenzy over who Burnham will choose as his chancellor, his shrewd appointment of Caroline Simpson to lead No. 10 North has been overlooked.
UK’s £4.7 billion Defence black hole: Dan Jarvis is inheriting a defence settlement Britain can no longer afford
Britain cannot afford to fall behind its NATO allies on defence spending, writes Jasset Harlech.
CPAC GB 2026: “Save Britain, save the West”
Introducing the inaugural Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on British soil, a landmark expansion of the world's premier conservative networking brand.
Merkel’s Legacy is in Tatters
How Angela Merkel Weakened the West and Handed Putin and Xi Leverage
Defence spending controversy aside, the UK cannot turn up to NATO empty-handed
Labour psychodrama is simply not as important as the UK’s diplomatic commitment to its NATO allies.
The UK’s unwritten constitution: There are no real rules
The timing and in what circumstances a leader should stay or go are in flux, argues Mark Leftly.
Britain is drifting towards Italian-style instability — it is time to learn from America
Love or hate the current American administration, at least they have a consistent electoral cycle where the choice of the electorate is upheld.
Burnham’s popularity bubble is doomed to pop
Andy Burnham wants an immediate coronation, but life in Westminster would quickly expose the limits of popular appeal built from a safe distance.
Hail Andy, King of Makerfield
As vultures circle Downing Street, now that Burnham is back as an MP, Starmer must realise that resigning is going to be better for the Labour Party than
