More in Common’s latest poll points to 48% saying YES, 42% saying NO, 10% Undecided. But this is reflective of a recent enough trend since December 2024 where polling has seen the NO side faltering from its previous lead and the YES side gaining some strength. The YES side has been head previously, but notably at a lower level than currently (to judge from the graph). You wouldn’t want to bet the house on it, but intriguing nonetheless.
What gives? Perhaps the sense that after a decade and more of Tory misrule Labour cannot deliver either?
he also emphasises the need for Ireland “to address … their conduct” during the Troubles, particularly over the extradition of suspects to the UK.
“I think there’s something specific about the Irish state’s approach to extradition that stands out as an equivalent of Bloody Sunday, but over a long period of time, and it was a decision at the highest level,” he says.
“They refused to [extradite] murderers,” he said.
And also:
He says “there is a double standard on legacy today” and the Irish Government needs to “engage in good faith, with equal footing” and put in place “parallel arrangements” similar to those in place in the UK jurisdictions “to investigate, to co-operate, to disclose” in regard to Troubles-era killings, “especially given all the murders on the Border.
“So many attacks were planned in the South; people came from the South, devices were made in the South, and they escaped to the South, and they’ve left Northern Ireland and the UK with the burden of investigating and responsibility for the sort of ownership of legacy, and they need to take their part.”
Is this like and like?
The history of extradition between the Republic and the UK is tortuous and was driven by events and political considerations, not least a sense that British justice was compromised given high-profile instances that were prominent in the public and political view.
Between 1973 and 1999, eight people were extradited from the ROI to the UK, on foot of 110 requests for individuals to be extradited. Two were extradited in the 1970s, five in the 1980s and three in the 1990s. From 1987 onwards, an Extradition Act arrived on foot of the Angl0-Irish Agreement. The first person to be extradited under it was Dessie Ellis. Interestingly, he was acquitted at trial in London. Worth noting also that the extradition was almost refused because the British misnamed the state in the extradition papers.
Difficult to believe that extradition sits in quite the same space as the many miscarriages of justice, issues around the RUC and UDR or indeed broader aspects of the security context.
Note too the none too subtle elision between the Irish Government and the ‘South’.
…a growing movement fighting for a 32 County Socialist Republic.
Formed from a small collective of community and political activists in 2017, our primary concern is the economic liberation of the Irish working class and the establishment of a Socialist Republic built upon the principles of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic of 1916 and the Democratic Programme of the first Dáil Éireann.
We believe that Irish sovereignty, equality for all and the economic liberation of the Irish people, can only become a reality upon the establishment of a People’s Republic where all power and economic control rests with the Irish people.
This document engages with drug policy.
Under the heading, ‘Position in relation to drugs and drug use’, it argues:
We believe that as long as capitalism persists in creating the socio-economic conditions which drive people to substance abuse, that it should be treated as a health issue, not a criminal one.
We believe that the decriminalisation of (currently prohibited) drugs will allow for individuals suffering from substance abuse to seek medical and psychological help, without fear of persecution or judgement.
We believe that poverty, a lack of provision of sufficient mental health services, and lack of adequate and/or stable housing, are just a few of the factors which can push individuals to self-medication.
We believe the answer to this problem ultimately lies in the eradication of the capitalist system which creates and perpetuates these socio-economic conditions, but also in social and legislative reform.
It continues:
Lasair Dhearg’s policy, ‘Drugs, Addiction & Decriminalisation’, is as much about removing the stigma of addiction as it is about dealing with the core societal issues, effects and outcomes of addiction from a community, legal and justice perspective.
The vast majority of people who use drugs are not addicted, they are individuals that live in and work in our communities. They are family members, parents, grandparents and more. They are people that contribute to our society, many in very positive ways.
If the majority of people who use any drug are not addicted, it tells us that we need to look beyond the substance itself. We need to understand the underlying causes of addiction.
Interestingly:
What is your position on your own members using drugs? Whilst this policy is intended to remove the stigma of drug addiction, we do not promote the use of drugs. We understand that, like all organisations, Lasair Dhearg is reflective of the society within which it exists. We urge caution to our members when it comes to drug use, and offer support to those dealing with addiction issues.
Ultimately the document proposes decriminalisation:
What is the difference between legalisation and decriminalisation?
Legalisation would see the legal permittance of all drug related activities – manufacturing, distribution, and usage. This would see both drug users, drug addicts and also drug dealers free of legal repercussions. The decriminalisation of drugs would instead remove criminal repercussions from users and addicts, but not dealers. The manufacturing and distribution of drugs would still be prohibited and incur criminal consequences, however the personal consumption of drugs (whilst still legally prohibited) would not incur criminal consequences – therefore allowing for the treatment of substance misuse as a health issue, and not a criminal issue.
Another version of great replacement is that left-wing elites are organising it, to effect changes in voting demographics, favouring immigrants more likely to vote for their parties. That conspiracy theory got a boost last month in Spain, when Irene Montero, a hard-left MEP, a former minister and the partner of a former deputy prime minister in the Madrid government, spoke about the regularisation of over half a million undocumented migrants in Spain.
At a party meeting, she said: “Of course we want them to vote. Of course. We’ve got them papers. Now we will get them nationality or change the law to allow them to vote. Great replacement theory — hopefully.”
My concern is that both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael seem to believe these petty arguments will have no consequences.
But if they keep chipping away at each other, undermining trust, one day there will be a Mandelson Moment and we’ll find ourselves tipped into an election before time.
Over a year after this Government was formed, we are finally getting momentum on infrastructure and housing.
“The time of monsters” powerfully sums up the repulsion and disbelief many people feel about the news in 2026 – whether it’s emanating from the White House, the Epstein files or the battlefields of Ukraine. It evokes Goya’s famous etching The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters as much as contemporary pop culture.
“It has an apocalyptical feel, like when the Demogorgon appears at the end of Stranger Things,” said Peter Thomas, a historian of political thought and a Gramsci expert at Brunel University of London.
Forgive me for being glib. But it would be hard to distinguish Britain’s political decade from that of a banana republic. The country might be facing its seventh prime minister in ten years*.
Some will wonder about the asterisk.
*This column was amended on February 12th 2026 to correct an error. It originally stated that the UK might be facing its seventh prime minister in eight years.
gregtimo proposed in comments some while back the idea of a Culture Thread.
It’s a great idea. Currently culture is a bit strange, but people read, listen to music, watch television and film and so on – spread the net wide, sports, activities, interests, all relevant – and any pointers are always welcome. And it’s not just those areas but many more. Suggestions as to new or old things, events that might have been missed, literally anything.
A British space company hoping to launch the first homegrown rocket from Scotland is on the brink of collapse, threatening 150 jobs and throwing doubt over the UK’s extraterrestrial ambitions.
Orbex, which is based in the Scottish Highlands, is lining up administrators as hopes fade that it will strike a rescue deal or raise funds, despite having been handed £26m in government loans last year.
The startup had planned to launch a rocket from a base on the Shetland Islands and was “on the cusp” of holding its first test flights in 2026, according to its chief executive, Phil Chambers.
The company had also been in talks to raise fresh cash from the Treasury-backed National Wealth Fund, but that deal fell through at an “early stage” of discussions late last year, a source with knowledge of the situation said.
That’s a lot of money. One has to wonder, though, what’s the purpose of the exercise? These are private companies given state funding of one sort or another. The UK is a founder member of the European Space Agency, which is not a part of or subsidiary entity of the European Union. According to some sources the UK will have given £1.84bn to ESA across the period 2022-27. Perhaps £26m isn’t quite as large a sum as all that in that context.
In a way, it’s a sign of the times. States piggy-backing onto commercial launch operators (or non-operators as in this case) to mixed effect. But it’s also a reality that Britain is not particularly well placed, given the financial turbulence it has experienced since Brexit, but also due to its size. Large-scale space programmes are beyond its ability to mount. That’s something for the superpowers and the quasi superpowers and some of them – as we see with the US – are tilting strongly towards commercial carriers (though the security and other implications of that are troubling).
In some ways the thought arises that there’s no great need for a British ‘sovereign launch’ system given those other options, and this is well appreciated in government and other circles.
I’m a very bad guitarist but I am interested in guitars. I was wondering idly the other day if there were any all-in-one guitars, that is ones that had an inbuilt speaker and so on. After all, for buskers or people wanting to learn the guitar that might be a great starting point.
Vox has released to guitars at the end of last year – the APC-1 and APC-2 both of which are battery powered, have that inbuilt speaker as well as effects (reverb etc) and onboard drum sound. It’s gimmicky, sure, but there’s something likeable about the idea. The APC-1 is the teardrop shape, very 50s/60s surfy.
The APC-1 & -2 are distinctive speaker-equipped guitars that echo the iconic shapes of VOX guitars from the 1960s. They each feature an analog-circuit amplifier utilizing VOX’s extensive amp-making technology and a rhythm machine employing VOX MINI GO, the digital modeling amp.
These guitars, a culmination of VOX’s expertise and past product know-how, come fully equipped with all the functions needed for sound production.
With no need for an additional amp or effects, they can be played standalone and are suitable for various settings like the living room, outdoors, or as travel guitars.
Are they any good? Reviews are thin on the ground.
The Cedar Lounge Revolution 