The international community needs to keep a low profile in its response to the revolutionary problems in Egypt. Above all the West must avoid strident calls for an immediate return to democracy, as this will only lead to further failure. At present Egypt does not have in place the balanced political structures to enable democracy […]
The Labour Party is the political arm of the Labour movement. It was formed by the trade unions as their political force in Town , County and Parliamentary government. It would be difficult to separate them. It would also be pointless. because in spite of the snags it brings strength to both. Moreover both learned […]
This blog predicted a military takeover in Egypt in my post of June 27th and this has now come to pass. To the majority of Egyptians this is a cause for celebration, but to a sizable minority it is an attack upon democracy. The reality is very complicated not only in Egypt but everywhere and […]
Revolutions are never as straightforward as at first they appear. There was an excessive expectation that the fall of Mubarak was the opening of a fresh dawn and that a vibrant new Egypt was about to burst onto the world scene as both one of the oldest civilisations and newest democracies. It is now clear […]
This is a difficult time to be in Government, as the trailing Tories can testify from their opinion poll ratings. It is also a difficult time to be the Opposition, as the narrowing lead enjoyed by Labour also testifies. The government is boxed in by political and financial possibilities and has the responsibility to deliver. […]
This Blog has been a persistent critic of the foreign policy of the West, post the Arab Spring. Coming on top of the clear failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab Spring provided an opportunity to show a less ideological and partisan approach to affairs in the Middle East. At the beginning the Americans held […]
Recent speeches by the two Eds, Milliband and Balls are exposing Labour to a potential electoral crisis. It is not too late to correct what appears to be going wrong, but it is getting late nevertheless. The 2015 General Election will be won or lost in 2013. Three years into a fixed five year parliament […]
The floundering Foreign Office has come up with a new idea to halt the violence in Syria; pump more arms into the conflict. Ever since the lunatic policies of the Bush/Blair neo-con partnership, the Foreign Office has lost the one skill such an institution must have. That skill is statecraft. Essentially this is a blend […]
The moment has come for Tory activists and those MPs in thrall to their concerns, to pause and reflect about where they are, what they are doing and where they are headed. In particular they should reflect upon the fate of the Callaghan premiership. He was a well liked and popular Prime minister, who tried […]
According to polls the latest group to get fed up with Europe are the Europeans. More precisely all the spendthrift economies of the south, to whose cause the ill-starred French President is allying himself as his disillusioned voters drag him further from Germany. It is his own fault. He made idiotic promises in his election […]