Disaster and Conflict For a while the media has been full of worldwide bad news. Not only have we had the continuing reports of security failures and deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also the terrible suffering of those caught in the floods in Pakistan and China, to which we can add the huge disruption and toxic smog […]
Praise for Cardinal O’Brien It is not often that the blog steps forward to defend and applaud a church leader, let alone a Cardinal, but the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland is greatly to be admired for his comments criticising the American attitude to the Lockerbie bomber. In an outspoken attack on America’s’ thirst […]
Fidel Castro There is something remarkable about the veteran revolutionary re-appearing in public, as if back from the dead. For staying power in the face of American opprobrium, boycotts and blockades, he takes the prize. It is reported that today he is to make a speech to the Cuban parliament, in which he will allege […]
Pakistan and the U.K. David Cameron and President Zardari have, by their own accounts, had a good meeting a reached an accord upon their long term strategic aims and immediate ways to strengthen ties and address difficulties. Cameron is showing himself to be a tough but effective operator on the international stage and the shift […]
Barclays A big improvement here in profits, but if you strip out investment banking and all those dodgy derivatives, the High Street part reflects the slow conditions in the core economy. However, though I hesitate to disagree with George and whilst I know it is akin to blasphemy to question the wisdom of Vince, I now believe they […]
China and Liverpool The news that the Chinese state investment arm, CIC, is funding a bid for Liverpool F.C. is at some level the most important piece of news today, notwithstanding floods and other human suffering. This is because as it emerges as one of the the world’s financial mega powers, the concept of Communist State Capitalism […]
Social Housing David Cameron has floated an idea that council house tenancies should no longer be for life. On the face of it this makes sense, but as Simon Hughes has pointed out, there is a lot more to this than a soundbite in the ear. Without exploring the complexities of the nature of public […]
The President There is something entirely unreal about the Pakistani President travelling around Europe mostly on a private visit, with an official meeting here and an official dinner there, when his country struggles with its greatest environmental disaster for eighty years. This tells us something, although I am not sure what. What it may tell […]
Banks and Lending I am beginning to suspect something. There is a mis-match between the exhortations of politicians to banks to lend, the banks’ excuses, anecdotal evidence of businesses starved of funds and general reports of improvements in the economy overall. This may be (or may not be, this is a rather early day shot) because […]