The Foreign Office has made such a shambles of something it is supposed to be good at that, it has become a world wide embarassment, forcing an apology from the Prime minister for its performance. This is disgraceful in itself, but especially so when taking into account the difficulties its ineptitude caused its frightened and […]
Just now the news seems all bad with bloodshed and death from revolution and earthquake. When compared to the trauma of the suffering, ordinary news seems pointless and trivial. Yet it still can be important in the wider picture, aiming towards better days. The fact the there was a January surplus in the government’s accounts is very […]
Timothy Geithner made a good point to Evan Davis on the BBC Today programme this morning. Comparing the economic position of the U.S. with that in the U.K., he pointed out that the light touch regulation, which began with Thatcher and continued under Brown, both as Chancellor and PM, sucked banking activity to the U.K. from […]
When the governance of a country implodes, diplomats have to tread with care, not least because it is hard to identify who has power. In Libya Col. Gaddafi is still there, but how much he controls and who accepts his orders is far from clear. What is clear is that his country is a major […]
David Cameron has scored well to be the first leader to visit Egypt in the post Mubarak transition. What is happening across the Arab autocracies of the Middle East is truly remarkable, but also predictable. It is of profound historic importance. It has a philosophical element. It demonstrates what so many have said so often. The […]
It is interesting the way so much of what happens is unforeseen by politicians and especially governments. Suddenly the new week looks a good deal less attractive from Whitehall than Mondays in the dynamic post natal period of the coalition government. Now there is revolution in the Middle East, unemployment is rising fast, growth has […]
There is new impetus to bring the U.K. into European time, which would mean permanently one hour ahead of GMT and two hours in summer. This has been the case twice in my lifetime; once during WWII, when it was known as double summer time and once in the early seventies, when the experiment was known […]
Inflation is now getting to critical levels. This blog has repeatedly taken the side of those who think it is time to start raising Bank Rate. A quarter point rise was due some while back. Now a half point is needed. Interest rates would remain historically low, but a signal would go out that inflation […]
These figures rightly cause dismay. They are the worst in Europe. That is humiliating. They are also the product of the outrageous outcome to all the years of ideological meddling in education by misguided politicians and crackpot academics. It does not matter what you call schools or how you organise them, whether Academy, Comprehensive, Faith, […]
It looks as if this foolish idea has been abandoned. Once again it is an example of a Tory government falling foul of its reform ideology, regardless of whether the proposal is relevant or appropriate during an economic emergency. The Tory half of the coalition must take on board an important truth. It is the […]