Europe is preoccupied with the dominance of Germany and the fate of Greece. Britain should be preoccupied with the American Presidential election. It is not. It should be, because what happens in the US in November will have far more impact on the island nation than anything which may, and anything might, happen to Greece […]
The statistics released yesterday by the Bank of England show that quantitative easing has done little more than cause the economy to bump along the bottom or stop things getting worse. Moreover it has boosted asset prices, helping the wealthiest 5% of the population disproportionately to the rest. Not only does the current use of QE fail […]
It was bound to happen that sooner or later the Sun would, under some self righteous cloak of press freedom, publish the pictures of Prince Harry naked. This blog does not usually venture into the area of privacy and press freedom, but it does tend to weigh into controversy, which is what this has now become. Whatever everybody […]
The shock deficit requiring unexpected government borrowing of £ two thirds of a billion for July, has set economists off on an urgent media round to expound their theories. As usual these are conflicting, though a degree of unanimity is beginning to emerge across the piece: the present growth element, such as it exists, is […]
It is difficult to imagine a more inept move by the FCO, than threatening to enter the embassy of a foreign country and seize an asylum seeker who had sought refuge within. Not only would it breech international law but it would put at risk every embassy and diplomatic mission of the UK across the world. The […]
There are some odd similarities in the controversies surrounding the Wikileaks founder and the now jailed Russian pop group. Both are protesters, seeing themselves as justified in breaking the law in order to bring to world attention the issues which drive them. Both have broken controversial laws under the banner of free speech. One is […]
Nothing much is going on in the Euro crisis. Meetings come and go. Plans are announced and fade away. We are now at the stage where there are planning committees about making plans. Meanwhile the debtor countries are grinding living standards ever nearer to the bone and economic activity across Europe is stagnating. Yet the […]
Readers of this Blog and my book will know that I am sorely tested by the blinkered and unhelpful policy of the Foreign Office, regardless of the party in power, to modern Russia. This is rooted in the ideological challenge of Soviet Communism and a muddled belief that Russia should be judged on organising its […]
When I posted the most recent Blog praising Team GB yesterday, I had imagined a closing ceremony a little more connected to the actual games. There was no opportunity for the welcome roar for Team GB I anticipated and the unifying parade of informal mingling was probably the better plan. Team GB will have to […]
Not since the time of VE Day in 1945 has there been such an outpouring of unity and celebration. The success of Team GB, exceeding all expectations after a faltering start, has brought these islands together in a common purpose of which we generally feel ourselves to be incapable. This has unleashed a sense of […]