Not since the Winter of Discontent has there been so much disruption and disquiet, nor such a feeling of unease in society. From protesters closing motorways, to panic at the pumps, things appear to be going from bad to worse. Add the news of energy companies going under as the dysfunctional gas market implodes, threatening […]
In a wonderful farmhouse retreat in Cumbria, I have little inclination to keep up with the news. So today just some quick observations. The Kermit the Frog moment was a speechwriter’s blunder and a PR disaster. Boris’s message to the UN, whatever it was, on the critical issues of climate change and global warming, was […]
There all all sorts of snags, inequalities and lack of detail about the long awaited fix for social care and linked boost to NHS coffers, to cope with the aftermath of the pandemic. Having promised a plan Boris has come up with quite an eye catching one, which he promotes with enthusiasm. How much of […]
How is it possible, after all the investment in money and lives creating a modern democracy on broadly western Christian principles, supported by large and very well trained and equipped defence and police forces, for the entire structure of state to collapse in days, allowing control of the whole country to fall to the Taliban? […]
The failure to understand the illusory nature of the so called government and supporting institutions in Afghanistan is now snowballing into a crisis engulfing both the governments of the US and the UK. You cannot build a secure state with corrupt police, armed forces, government at the very top and down through public administration at […]
As I write this, the breaking news is the Taliban are entering Kabul from all sides under orders not to provoke violence. No resistance is being offered by the security forces. From the day that the West, led by the US but including NATO, sent ground troops into Afghanistan, the mission was doomed to fail. […]
The problem with the economics of the Tory party is that they are based on house price inflation, without which they seem to flounder about what to do. Rishi Sunak showed promise earlier in the pandemic with his lavish support packages to keep the basics going and promised that the government would invest its way […]
Freedom is an obvious word and we all know what it means. Or do we? Certainly it does not mean freedom to harm others by action or negligence. Freedom is not impaired by being required not to drink and drive, not to smoke in public places, nor to hazard other people’s lives by some deliberate […]