This has been a ticking bomb under the public finances for a very long time and Lord Hutton, a former Labour minister, is to be commended for the realism and frankness of his report. Civil Service unions are understandably angry and will do all they can to protect their members’ retirement expectations. However the truth […]
France has recognised the anti-Gaddafi forces and their administrative structure as ‘the legitimate government of Libya’. This is premature. There is no certainty that they will prevail, nor even that they have majority support in the wider context of the whole of Libya. Certainly they are in no sense ‘governing’ Libya. It may very well be […]
David Cameron’s bellicose declarations over Libya are misguided. I suspect they are at variance with the view of the foreign secretary and might account additionally to the problems described in my previous post today. Libya is for all practical purposes in a state of civil war. Civil wars are battles between opposing factions in a […]
There is no denying three things. The first is there is a detectable shift in foreign policy which makes it separate from and more independent of, that of the U.S.. Second, while the thrust is right, the execution has at times during the Libya crisis been ham fisted. The third is that William Hague, in his […]
One of the problems with a major foreign policy blunder, is that it continues to impact long after the event and over a much wider field. The interventionist agenda of Blair and Bush, with its futile, unwinnable and destructive foreign wars, is now playing into the hands of the Gaddafi family, who have been able to […]
It is my opinion that Mervyn King is the best Governor in my lifetime. His grasp of what is wrong with the banks far exceeds the grasp of most politicians. He is entirely in tune with the experience of the country, which has suffered a blow to its economy which equates to the cost of a major […]
This result appears as a disaster for the Lib Dems. Actually it is confirmation of something already known, but by some ignored. History shows us, from the time the proactive Liberals went with the Conservatives into the National government in 1931, that if the first past the post system prevails, an electoral pact with the Tories […]
Evidently the bellicose noises coming from the Prime Minister at the beginning of the week about Libya and a no fly zone, were the result of encouragement from two neo-cons in his cabinet, George Osborne and Michael Gove. It was clear to many that this was a policy fraught with complications. Quickly scorn was poured on […]
There is increasing talk of this escalation over the Libya crisis. Certainly it makes military sense to have a plan ready and move suitable carrier borne and land based aircraft and other assets into position in case such a move becomes necessary. It may also have a deterrent effect on Gaddafi, if he knows (or at least […]
This sector is now growing faster than at any time in the last twenty years. This is an important sign of the the re-balancing of the economy essential to long term recovery. It is not just a case of shrinking the state, but also the service sector. There are signs too that over reliance by business […]