Iraq Bomb Blasts This is a dreadful reminder that the story of this tragedy is far from over and that great instability remains in this fractured state. It proves once more, if proof were needed, that the concept of liberation by invasion from a foreign power is wholly flawed. Under Saddam Hussein things were not […]
Bank Bonuses This is getting somewhat steamed up. Populist clamour versus professional outrage. Beneath it all there is something serious. It may be the most serious issue of our time. Huge taxpayer resources have been used to save the banks and bankers from ruin. This means that funds paid by the poorest in taxes have […]
Climate Change There is now an issue of emails. Climate change is not about emails. It is about saving lives. Maybe millions. Maybe billions. Maybe all of it. We know for sure the climate is changing and has done so constantly throughout the history of the earth. We do not know for sure, but there […]
Bank Bonuses The Government must get a grip. These bonuses are preposterous. Earning a million a year out of taxpayers funds is unacceptable. These banks and bankers would be bust, but for our money. They threaten to go abroad. Let them go. The greatest mistake we make at the moment is the fiction that this […]
Condolence Letter I do have more than every sympathy with those brave families who have lost their loved ones fighting in Afghanistan. I think it is remakable that the Prime Minister sends each a personal letter. I do not think it remarkable that now and again something goes wrong. When it does I find the complaints, […]
Phew! What a relief to hear that those plucky young men and their boat have been set free. Their families will feel the lifting of that dreadful pall of fear and worry. This is good news too for signals coming out of Iran. Much mischief could have been made of this, but the authorities were […]
More Troops Obama was right to take his time. Unfortunately whatever he decided will risk being wrong. Once you embark upon an ill-planned, flawed war, that fails in its primary objective (getting Bin Laden), whatever you do will have a large measure of failure thereafter. The bitter element is that it costs lives of innocent […]
Cumbria There have been times in the last few years when I have wondered whether this country still had the community spirit and infrastructure skills which got us through the war. I mean WWII. Panic buying in supermarkets during the fuel blockade did not bode well. Cumbria has proved there is nothing to fear. The spirit […]
Dubai When Bear Stearns went down early in 2008, most people thought it was just a straightforward bank failure brought about by careless management. A few, very few, saw it a straw in the wind, later to blow through the world financial system with hurricane force. Now we have Dubai, the first country, albeit tiny, in […]
The NHS More alarming news about the quality of care in the NHS. Trusts given the accolade of good and then found deficient. Today we learn that some 5000 people who go into hospital with routine non- threatening conditions die. This is preposterous. Let me repeat 5000 people, yes three noughts, 5000, are dying in […]