Matters of Opinion is a new blog about politics and public policy. Mostly its focus is on the UK, but occasionally elsewhere too. I publish a post every week, and a book review/roundup for paid subscribers once a month.
Why subscribe?
There are a couple of reasons why I’ve set up this blog, and why I think you should subscribe.
First, it’s never been harder to get politicians and the media to engage with substantive policy issues. Political decision-making rarely looks more than 1-2 years ahead, and multi-year projects lose out to headline-grabbing but ultimately shallow announcements that capture the media’s attention for a news cycle or two, and gain a point in that week’s poll numbers.
The problem is, as the world gets more and more complex, the conversation in Westminster is getting less and less detailed. The effect of this can be seen in almost every aspect of our public life - with public services less reliable, infrastructure crumbling and public trust in politics and politicians at an all-time low.
Second, the UK’s political system is designed to reward the well-connected and the sharpest media performers. It cares little about whether you are actually good at the business of governing. Action in modern politics has become much more about being seen to do something rather than actually doing something.
A better future is possible. But to get there, we need to have an honest conversation about what’s going wrong and how we can fix it.
Why get a paid subscription?
The purpose of this blog is first and foremost to participate in the public conversation about government, so for the moment, all of the main blog posts are free and will remain so.
However, I would really appreciate your voluntary support by becoming a paid subscriber to help fund the writing I’m doing here. Paid subscribers will get an additional monthly book and online articles review.
If you want to be particularly helpful, please consider becoming a founding member of Matters of Opinion, which will entitle you all the benefits of being a paid subscriber as well as a shoutout on this page (if you wish), and at least one virtual meet-up with me.
Get in touch
If you want to contact me about anything I’m on X at @stefanroberts, or you can email me at stefan@mattersofopinion.io.
