Society

Friday

Peter Hoskin

Why we should worry about Pakistan

The footage the Guardian have of a girl being flogged by Taliban fighters in Swat valley, Pakistan, is a difficult watch.  As one man hits her, she screams out and begs “Either kill me or stop it now”.  Quite simply, it’s sickening, and utterly indicative of the barbarism of these Islamists.  It’s indicative, too, of how entrenched the Taliban are in Pakistan.  According to the Guardian’s source, they are encouraging the circulation of this footage as some sort of statement of intent.  Given recent events in Pakistan, you sense that the Taliban’s influence in that country is spreading, just as this video is spreading from mobile phone to mobile phone. 

Peter Hoskin

Two narratives for the crunch

In today’s New York Times, David Brooks sets out two “general narratives” on the cause of the financial crisis – the “greed” narrative and the “stupidity” narrative.  According to the greed narrative, we’re in this mess because the financial sector swelled beyond control.  While the stupidity narrative asserts that “overconfident” bankers just didn’t have clue what they were doing. Why does this matter?  Well, because whichever narrative we subscribe to (or, rather, whichever we subscribe to more; I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive) should determine how we deal with the crisis.  As Brooks puts it:   “The greed narrative leads to the conclusion that government should aggressively restructure the financial sector.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Darling picks an unfavourable metric

“Everything we do is about jobs,” Alistair Darling declared on The Today Programme this morning. In one sense this is the right thing to say politically, it is the prospect of losing their job and not been able to find another one that worries people most in a recession. Indeed, after the Democrats had polled and focus-grouped how best to sell their stimulus plan, they moved to a message almost solely about the jobs it would save and create. But on another level, Darling has picked the worst metric for the government to be judged on. Unemployment is a lagging indicator and the Department for Work and Pensions predicts that

Peter Hoskin

Waking up to spending cuts

There’s an intriguing post by Allegra Stratton over at the Guardian’s politics blog.  In it, she cites Fraser’s ten reasons for a Tory government to cut public spending,  and suggests that there’s a “growing number” of Labour folk who are thinking similarly: “…this camp – I suppose you can call them “Blairites” – do not see any contradiction in demanding [a stimulus in the next Budget], followed swiftly by a longer term pledge to bring down the level of spending by the state. They are not thinking of one-off chops (appealing as a surgical removal of £25bn on Trident or £4bn on two new aircraft may be to some) or

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Should Boris be answerable to a Commons select committee?

Boris’s evident frustration with the House of Commons’ Transport Select Committee (footage above) is making waves. Yesterday in Parliament devoted about a quarter of the programme to it today, and Martin Bright writes that: “Walking out of a select committee hearing (however tedious it is for the Mayor of London to be asked awkward questions about the job he is doing) is just unacceptable.” But I fail to see why the London Mayor should be answerable to a Commons Select Committee for London Transport? The Mayor of London is elected by the people of London and should be held accountable both by them and the Assembly Members that they elect,

Peter Hoskin

Politicians take note: expenses controversy makes you less popular

Uh-oh.  The grassroots have spoken, and it seems Eric Pickles has taken a hit for his recent car-crash performance on Question Time.  ConservativeHome’s latest shadow cabinet ratings have the party chairman’s approval rating dropping a full 20 percentage points – from 70 percent in February to 50 percent in March. Of course, Eric Pickles’ TV nightmare pales in comparison to the controversy that Jacqui Smith’s got herself mired in, and that’s reflected in a separate survey by Politics Home, also released today.  Their PHI100 ‘performance tracker’ gives the Home Secretary the lowest score ever achieved by a member of the Cabinet. I know, I know, it’s pretty obvious that polticians will become less popular when they fiddle

Peter Hoskin

Why Brown shouldn’t expect a significant bounce

Let’s face it: Brown’s having his moment in the sun.  The content of the G20 communique may have been awfully thin (see Fraser’s must-read analysis here), but it’s delivered backslaps from Obama; some big, headline-grabbing numbers; and an opportunity for our Dear Leader to play the statesman.  And it seems to have worked.  Despite a few qualms here and there – and a surprisingly combative interview with Alistair Darling on the Today Programme – the overall tone of the papers is positive, and you’d expect Labour to get a poll boost on the back of it.  Well done, Agent Brown.  Mission accomplished. And yet, to my mind, the sun will

Thursday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

G20 Photo of the Day

Photo: ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images Say what one will about Gordon Brown, at least the United Kingdom wasn’t represented by this clown*. *That would be Silvio Berlusconi, silly.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Is this Brown’s new ‘PBR moment’?

In the PBR, the government predicted that the British economy would start growing again by the third quarter of this year. Brown and Darling have both subsequently tried to put some wiggle room into this pledge, which now they seem almost certain to fail to meet. I wonder if this prediction from Brown today, reported by the Washington Post, will come back to haunt him in the same way: “Together, these actions give us confidence that the global economy can return to trend growth even faster than the International Monetary Fund is predicting,” Brown said. The IMF is predicting that the global economy will start growing again in 2010. It

Peter Hoskin

Does Brown’s G20 statement contain the mother of all Brownies?

Brown’s just delivered his statement to close the G20 summit, and it’s all about the big numbers.  That $1 trillion injection into the global economy made an appearance, but it paled beside Brown’s claim that “we’re in the middle of a fiscal stimulus that is worth about $5 trillion by the end of next year”.  Hang on.  Brown was talking about a $2 trillion stimulus only yesterday, so where’s the extra $3 trillion coming from?  I haven’t seen details yet, but Brown’s rhetoric – “Our central banks have pledged to make expansionary policies as long as they are necessary, and in whatever ways they see fit” – seems too guarded

Peter Hoskin

Brown’s headlines take shape

Word is that the G20 summit is closing in on $1 trillion package of measures for the global economy.  Nick Robinson breaks it down thus: — Increased IMF funds: $500bn — Increased IMF Special Drawing Rights: $250bn — New Trade Finance package: $200bn No it’s not the same sort of “fiscal stimulus” that Brown and Obama have been pusing for over the past few weeks, and I’m still curious about how how much of it will be “new” money.  But it looks like Brown will achieve two of his main objectives: to come out of today claiming to have arranged something major, and to snare some nice headlines with big

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The Colour of Newsprint

Jack Shafer  – entertaining as ever – mounts a spirited defence of yellow journalism: “Being rambunctious to the extreme, yellow journalism is misunderstood. At its best, yellow journalism was terrific, and at its worst, it really wasn’t all that bad.” Quite so. Newspapers are an entertainment just as much as they’re a source of, like, news. That’s one reason why you can make a decent argument that, taken on its own terms, the News of the World – the yellowest of our papers – is also the best paper in Britain. Shafer adds this: One of the biggest enemies of yellow journalism in the 1890s was Adolph Ochs, who purchased

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Mandelson: Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water

Peter Mandelson’s op-ed in the Telegraph today makes an obvious but important point that is in danger of getting lost amidst all the talk of new settlements and a new capitalism: “In the rush to build a new capitalism, we need to preserve what worked from the old. Politicians need to agree not just what failed to work over the last decade, but what worked well. The increasing retreat of economic nationalism in the 20th century and the growing reach of open markets fall squarely into that category.” Say what you like about Mandelson, but his commitment to free trade and opening up markets is admirable. The next time a

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

The spectacle gets under way

‘Eat Bankers For Breakfast’. At 7 am this morning the great pin-stripe banquet was due to start as protestors gathered outside the London Stock Exchange intent on disrupting the day’s business. After four hours, only a handful of hungry suit-scoffers had gathered under the slogan and their meagre buffet was being supervised by hundreds of idle cops. Meanwhile, the market delivered its verdict on the prandial protest and yesterday’s quiet riot: the FTSE surged through 4000 and the Bank of England’s three-monthly report confirmed that credit conditions were easing and that mortgage approvals were up. Over at docklands, the Excel Centre had been sealed off and sealed off again. Two

Peter Hoskin

Killing off the “do nothing” charge

Seems like the Tories are trying to kill of Gordon Brown’s “do nothing” charge once and for all.  After David Cameron went out of his way, in PMQs yesterday, to point out that the attack has hardly helped Brown – and is only indicative of the PM’s love for dividing lines – it was telling to hear George Osborne repeat the analysis on this morning’s Today programme.   But why put in the effort if it’s doing Gordon little good?  Perhaps the Tories are worried about it after all?  I rather think that they’ve come to see it as an annoyance; something that – however ineffective and disingenous it may

Peter Hoskin

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

James Forsyth 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 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 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