Society Archives

Thursday

2 Apr 2009

4 hours and 35 minutes to win hearts and change minds

So here it is. The day that Brown has been banging on about for the past few months; the day of the London Summit. And how are things looking? Slightly uncertain, I’d say. Despite weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations, tensions remain, and there’s not enough of a consensus to suggest that all is done and dusted. This was made abundantly clear by Angela Merkel and Nicholas Sarkozy’s joint press conference yesterday – a bold and telling sign that the Franco-German contingent isn’t all that happy with les Anglo-Saxons. According to the FT, Downing Street has been trying – frantically, one imagines – to broker a deal overnight. But, even so, it

Wednesday

1 Apr 2009

James Forsyth

The consequences of Iran going nuclear

Alex flags up Jeffrey Goldberg’s fascinating interview with Benjamin Netanyahu. Like Alex, I wouldn’t have voted for Netanyahu. If I was an Israeli, my preference would have been for Tzipi Livni’s Kadima. But I don’t think Netanyahu’s strategic analysis of the consequences of Iran going nuclear can be easily dismissed: “Several bad results would emanate from this single development. First, Iran’s militant proxies would be able to fire rockets and engage in other terror activities while enjoying a nuclear umbrella. This raises the stakes of any confrontation that they’d force on Israel. Instead of being a local event, however painful, it becomes a global one. Second, this development would embolden

James Forsyth

Almost as bad as the Region One DVDs…

After Obama’s embarrassingly bad gift to Gordon Brown, we all assumed that the Obamas would be putting a bit more thought into their presents from now on. Indeed, when Robert Gibbs, Obama’s press man, was asked what the Queen would be getting in the pre-trip press briefing, he replied: “We don’t want to give away all our good news on the briefing call.” So, what did the Obamas give the Queen? An iPod with footage of her 2007 visit to the US loaded on to it. This is hardly a gift that suggests a huge amount of thought especially as it is public knowledge that the Queen already has one.

Alex Massie

World’s Worst Bankers Elimination Match

So, Scotland host Iceland tonight in the latest “crucial” World Cup qualifier. The loser will have almost no chance of making it to South Africa so tonight’s tussle is effectively an elimination contest. Just as importantly, the losers will assume the official, undisputed title of Worlds’ Worst Bankers. The Scotsman’s David Maddox runs through the line-ups here. Given the importance of the occasion it was reasuring to see the Scotland skipper prepare for the match in traditional style – by getting bladdered in what the Daily Record called a “marathon booze session” after the team returned to their Loch Lomond HQ following Saturday’s 3-0 drubbing by the Dutch. Anyway, consider

Peter Hoskin

What Brown hopes to sweep under the G20 carpet

George Osborne got it right yesterday – Lord Myners needs to provide a convincing response to Sir Tom McKillop’s letter or resign. But, as of yet, we’ve had neither outcome. Indeed, all we’ve heard is a denial from Alistair Darling that the latest revelations make Myners’ position unsustainable, and some waffle from Gordon Brown about how Fred Goodwin’s pension is now a matter for UKFI. There have been similar evasions in the case of Jacqui Smith. You’ve got to wonder whether Brown hopes the G20 will make these issues go away, or whether he’s purposefully holding off until after the festivites are over. If it’s the former, then it’s a

David Blackburn

The view from Threadneedle Street

Despite appearances, the G20 meltdown protest around the Bank of England is fertile ground for the Conservatives. There is an enormous middle class presence here that is nothing short of livid with the government’s economic policy. I spoke to a group of young women from south east London who would have looked more at home Sloane Ranging than in the midst of an allegedly anti-capitalist demonstration. They were aged 18-24, the age group the recession is now hitting hardest, and they made it clear they were opposed to nothing other than “excessive bailouts and stimulus at the expense of hard pressed taxpayers” and the government’s “headless chicken approach”. They expressed

James Forsyth

Clegg’s Obama regret?

There’s a hilarious item in Richard Kay’s diary today about Nick Clegg—and it isn’t an April Fool. Here are the key quotes: “‘I am really annoyed,’ [Clegg] told me. ‘As it was not a state visit I understood I wouldn’t get to see [Obama]. But when I found out Obama was meeting the Queen and David Cameron I got on the phone to David Miliband to ask him what was going on. ‘Frankly, it doesn’t look good for Cameron to see him and for me not to.’ … At one point he turned to Cable and told him: ‘If I do get to go, I will give Obama a copy

Peter Hoskin

PMQs live blog | 1 April 2009

Stay tuned for PMQs coverage from 1200. 1200: And here’s Brown, fresh from his meeting with Obama. He welcomes the US President on “behalf of the people of the UK”. And then: “I’m proud that we’re hosting the G20 meeting”. 1202: Brown bats off a question about Lord Myners by effectively saying that the matter of Fred Goodwin’s pension is in the hands of the UKFI. 1203: Good start from Cameron. “Before getting on to the G20, I’d like to bring up the matter of MPs’ expenses. MPs may groan, but I’m fed up with politics being dragged through the mud.” Cameron calls for quicker reforms and a meeting between the party leaders.

Peter Hoskin

Press conference shock: Brown and Obama will do “whatever is necessary”

Brown and Obama’s joint press conference sure was a slog. For all his polish when it comes to setpiece speeches, Obama waffles on when questioned – and Brown’s probably even worse. Downing Street will be pleased enough, though. The US President seemed to go out of his way to refer to his “personal friendship” with “Gordon”. And at one point he even claimed: “I agree with everything Gordon’s said”. No DVD-related snubs here, then. As for actual substance, there was very little. Perhaps the most revealing moment was when Brown got a little flustered over a question on Britain’s capacity for a fiscal stimulus; rattled on about fiscal stimuli that

James Forsyth

Exploiting divides

Listening to the Today Programme this morning I had a flashback to the run up to the Iraq war. I wondered if Sarkozy’s radio interview declaring that he was so unhappy with the options on the table that he might walk out was the equivalent of Jacque Chirac’s declaration on French TV that there were no circumstances under which he would vote for a second resolution on Iraq; that this would be the cue for Labour going on offence and blaming the French for everything. Obviously, Brown doesn’t have a Commons vote to win on the G20 and any attack on Sarkozy now would doom the summit. But if the

Peter Hoskin

Protesting the protesters

Danny Finkelstein has the final word on the anti-consumerism and anti-capitalism protests going on today: “I think that [the anti-consumerists] have looked back at 5,000 years of human history – at pestilence and famine and disease and degradation, at genocide and civil war, at fear and loathing, at bigotry and ignorance, chauvinism and dictatorship – and concluded that our biggest problem is… shopping. … Instead [progressives] should start with an acceptance that in the long violent saga of mankind we have rarely done anything as benign as going shopping, rarely devised anything as socially advantageous as property rights and the rule of law, rarely enriched the poor or enhanced lives as

Peter Hoskin

Obama! Obama! Obama!

Make no mistake: Obama has landed. The US President’s arrival at Stansted yesterday makes almost all of the frontpages and is leading most news coverage. One of the many questions on the lips of Labour-minded people I speak to is whether all this is helping or harming Gordon Brown. With much of the other G20 coverage focusing on either splits between the countries or compromises that are having to be made, there is – rightly or wrongly – a sense that Obama is here to hold things together. Indeed, the “after the break” preview for the News at 10 last night started with something like, “Obama arrives: but can he

Tuesday

31 Mar 2009

Peter Hoskin

A new attitude towards Pakistan

After yesterday’s siege in Lahore, there’s a revealing item in the Times of India today about how Pakistan’s neighbour is changing its attitude towards the local terror threat: “…this attack is forcing India to change the way it has viewed the terror threat. Until now, India has believed that terrorism against India could be stemmed if only the Pakistan state willed to do so. This premise looks facile now… …India has to quickly redraw its approach to Pakistan. At the highest levels of the government, the new mantra for Pakistan is “containment” or “quarantine” of the terror cancer until it’s weeded out. That, of course, will be very, very difficult.

Peter Hoskin

Darling’s surprise for businesses

One for the surprising folder. Alistair Darling has today announced a measure for businesses which seems fairly useful. And he’s done so with little expectation and even less fanfare. So what is it? Well, the 5% increase in business rates, planned for this year, has been spread out over three years. So businesses will face a 2 percent rise this year, with the remaining 3 percent coming over the following two years. The numbers suggest that over 1.5 millions buildings will be affected, with businesses “saving” £600 million this year. Of course, it shouldn’t be forgotten that business rates are still going to rise, and there’ll be other catches as well (e.g. I expect

Alex Massie

Department of Fast Food

Andrew Stuttaford, exiled in New York, thinks the creation – and about time too – of the kebab-flavoured* Pot Noodle demonstrates that there’s hope yet for the Old Country. He has a point. The Kebab Pot Noodle will be a particular boon to rural dwellers. City folk, however, should remember that this new product cannot hope to surpass the majestic sight – and taste! – of a kebab pizza which is then deep-fried. *”Flavoured” is used in the loosest possible sense of the term, obviously.

Peter Hoskin

An air of resignation descends on Westminster

So Gordon’s Summit will start with calls for two of his most prominent ministers to resign ringing in his ears. Of course, there’s the continuing brouhaha over Jacqui Smith and her expense claims. A revealing PoliticsHome poll, released this afternoon, finds that a majority of voters (56 percent) think she should step down as Home Secretary – with only 36 percent thinking she should remain in the post. Despite his support for Smith, the PM will find it difficult to ignore that level of public disapproval. And then there’s Sir Tom McKillop’s letter to the Treasury Select Committee, claiming that Lord Myners, the City Minister, knew more than he admitted

Peter Hoskin

Brown delivers his G20 sermon

The symbolism was blatant. Here was Gordon Brown in St Paul’s Cathedral, delivering a speech on the moral dimensions of the credit crunch. It’s stuffed with words like “faith” and “virtue”, making it all quite unnerving. Then again, I think the country needs effective politicians. Not a new god. You can see what Brown’s trying to do. Until now, his pronouncements ahead of the G20 summit have been more or less bogged down in technical lingo about regulation and tax havens. This was an attempt to do something different; to put a fresh, more human, spin on the rhetoric of the Crunch. On that front, I’m not quite sure it worked. While Brown had some

Peter Hoskin

Expenses investigation to be brought forward

Sky are reporting that the investigation into MPs’ expenses by the Committee on Standards in Public Life is to be brought forward. It was originally going to publish its findings after the next election, but now they’ll come out before the end of the year. Of course, to some extent, any effort to deal with the situation should be welcomed. But, just as with Gordon Brown’s suggestions yesterday, there’s still plenty of room for doubt and cynicism. Will the committee’s findings change all that much? Will polticians cooperate with it? Should things be happening quicker? Given Nick Clegg’s claim that he, Gordon Brown and David Cameron could just “sit down tomorrow” and “agree a new

James Forsyth

There are good expenses as well as bad expenses

Reading the coverage of MP’s expenses in the papers today there is a tendency to view those MPs who are the cheapest as the best value. But think this isn’t necessarily true. Take the MP’s staffing allowance: I’d wager that those MPs who spend close to the full amount and don’t employ family members are actually better MPs both in terms of serving their constituents and holding the executive to account than those who don’t claim as much. Now, there are obviously expense claims which are being made that abuse the public’s trust. For instance, even if MPs should have a second home there is no justification for them being

Peter Hoskin

Fourth choice Smith

In light of the speculation surrounding Jacqui Smith’s future, this passage from Steve Richards’ column today is worth pulling out: “I am told [Jacqui Smith] was not Brown’s first choice [for Home Secretary] and not even his second. Indeed, one government insider tells me three others were approached but had no desire to go near the unpredictable nightmare of the Home Office. Smith’s narrative also highlights the fickle nature of politics. Within a year she could have lost her cabinet job and her seat.” It does suggest that Brown would have few qualms about replacing Smith; especially given her recent troubles. But it also makes you wonder whether anyone will really