Brian Walker As a student many years ago, I wrote a Finals paper in what I hoped was the style of the political correspondent of the Spectator Alan Watkins, whose lightly worn authority I greatly admired. Much good it did me; I came nowhere near a First unlike David Cameron, whom Alan has been writing about today in one of his occasional pieces for the Independent. With his usual world-weary wisdom he points out that attempts to wage class war against Cameron …
The week of the pre- Budget report is as good a time as any to review the state of the UK’s morale. Judging from comment on two big news topics, bankers’ bonuses and the Iraq inquiry, it could be better. Despite globalisation and climate change, history still influences actions as much as ever. The City is not exactly the most popular set of institutions just now. But when the second diminutive Frenchman in two centuries casts aspersions on a prime …
Alan Shatter the Fine Gael TD who has long been a family law specialist, has asked in a speech worth reading in full, how severe was clerical child abuse north of the border. We already know one that one case cited came from Termonbacca boys’ home in Derry. Shatter said: “There is no reason to believe that clerical sexual abuse stopped at the border. I am calling on the Government to engage directly in discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive; …
If we stand back and examine it, the concept of equality that Marty is raising again is interesting isn’t it? There’s an ambiguity about equality that’s somewhere near the heart of the problem. Equal value per unit certainly, just like parity of esteem – you can’t argue that the Irishness/Britishness is somehow existentially superior to Britishness/Irishness. Is it essential to practice affirmative action or positive discrimination to redress the balance of the past; or does that create a backlash more …
In spite of our common humanity and the shared pressures of globalisation, we still tend to live in separate worlds – silos is the cool word. Even public humiliation isn’t always enough to shake people out of them. Think politicians, think bankers. It’s a fact of life, although maybe not an immutable one, that if you deal in money, you take home more of it than you would if you dealt in spuds. In spite of everything, bankers at RBS …
The heat is being put on the Vatican to clean out the stables in a peculiarly Irish fashion, where in spite of everything, respect for the niceties still dominates. That at any rate how it seems to this very amateur Vaticanologist. The Taoiseach in a long fuzzy statement has just explained how letters were exchanged in 2006 – 2006! – through diplomatic channels over a request for cooperation with the commission. The Vatican are terribly anxious to have it placed …
Thanks to Gonzo for posting the long overdue consultation paper on a Northern Ireland Bill of Human Rights. It’s clear that Monica’s list is damned with typically oily faint praise from Shaun Woodward. However, I believe the consultation is getting off on the wrong foot. There is a strong case for creating a NI Bill which would be, as near as we can make it, basic and fundamental to Northern Ireland rather than supplementary to a British Bill. This is …
From here in London, judging from the coverage national and regional, (though I’ve haven’t been catching the newsjocks) we’re either sleep walking to collapse or we believe it’s bluff. Apart from a comment wrapped in Wales from the Guardian’s Mike White, the UK nationals have hardly bestirred themselves. Yawns are coming at me from Belfast – are they trying to tell us we’ve been here before? Some raised an eyebrow over Marty topping that Bel Tel poll (but the size …
In the latest effort to try to monetise internet versions of the press, Johnson Press, owners of 300 regional papers including the Newsletter, have launched an experiment to charge for the content of 6 papers (but not the former old lady of Lower Donegall St). Ex- Scotsman editor Tim Luckhurst backs the move on rational grounds but doesn’t discuss other models. The Times report quotes Media Guardian’s Emily Bell’s telling point: “If you have content which broadly can be found …
Well, Scottish Nats in the 21st century are handling the politics of independence very differently from their Irish forebears in the 20th. Today, St Andrew’s Day with headline support for independence hitting new recent lows, Alex Salmond has revealed plans for a referendum on, not one, not two, not three, but four options. The cute one is devo max that would remove all powers to Scotland except – except – the monarchy, the army and foreign affairs. I’m with commentator …
History sometimes does repeat itself, the first time as tragedy, the second as farce. That’s what forcing a crisis over the latest Stormont stand-off amounts to. The parties became spoiled by the over-reverent attention paid to them during the Blair-Ahern era. Now we’re down to the monkey antics before the organ grinders enter the ring. The circus is hotting up. Exasperating as the cat-calls are between the DUP and Sinn Fein, somebody has to hose them down. But British and …
I’m right up on tiptoes to make this point, but might the Protestant case against Home Rule not seem just a little more convincing even to its critics in the light of the great paedophile cover –up? If the Roman Catholic Church retained strong authoritarian traits and clerical privilege above the law as late as the 1990s what was it like a century before? Not that I ignore the beam in Protestant eyes. This article in the New York Times …
Can anybody explain to me why Peter is stuck in the groove of voluntary coalition? And there I am, going on about cutting him more slack! Sure, we can see that if all other parties ganged up against Sinn Fein, that would comfortably exceed a 65% majority threshold by almost 10%. If however the DUP were put in solitary, the margin would just scrape by but would still be enough, 66%. Even with designations scrapped, why should Peter assume that …
Scottish politics are getting very murky indeed. First, the UK government suddenly rushes out a White Paper about awarding Holyrood extra taxation and other powers along the line of the Calman report ( extract below the fold). In principle this was agreed by all pro unionist parties in Westminster and Holyrood. But there are two catches. First Cameron’s Conservatives refused at the last minute to go along with the Labour proposals for obvious political reasons, although George Osborne pledged in …
Seumas Milne, the Guardian’s most left wing senior staffer is the first London -based commentator I’ve noticed to pay serious attention to the state of our politics for a long time. Today he discusses the links between the rise of republican violence and the Stormont stasis. He begins with an excellent point about why current events should command wider attention. “From the way terrorism is discussed in the British media you might easily imagine that most political violence in the …
Here’s a point I hadn’t thought of ( there are some). The Chilcott inquiry isn’t competent to rule on the legality of the Iraq war, according to a set of unnamed judicial figures and other lawyers the Guardian’s legal affairs corr has talked to. This is sure to be hotly debated and Chilcott himself will have to give an answer in one of the early public sessions which start today.. Is there a hint here that one of the sources …
As the UK national media had ignored the latest Stormont kerfuffle, they were hardly likely to sit up and pay attention to the weekend convolutions from La Mon House. Ears did prick up though when dissident republicans spoke in language they could easily understand. The obvious conclusions, fair and unfair, will be drawn: the more nationalists think the DUP are screwing Sinn Fein, the more the dissidents gain in credibility. While Peter Robinson didn’t address this directly, he showed he …
By public demand Gordon Brown’s early efforts to keep the inquiry into the Iraq war secret were defeated by the chairman himself Sir John Chilcott, former father confessor to the intelligence community and NIO chief. In that role, he had probably the most extensive knowledge of anyone of MI5’s role in the province and throughout the UK. I can feel hackles rising already at the sight of his pedigree but even the most grudging of his critics have to admit …
Sunday Times columnist Dominic Lawson certainly inherited father Nigel’s splendid disdain for group think over world scale matters like climate change and spending out of a recession. I marvel how exquisitely he gets right up the noses of Irish and British alike in a few phrases, over that notorious qualifier. In the case of Thierry Henry’s handling of the ball, which led to the French scoring a decisive goal in their World Cup eliminator against the Republic of Ireland, an …
Gender progress happened more quickly in the Church of England than you might think. The big battle was lost over 20 years ago, when Graham Leonard the Bishop of London lost the vote and the argument over Christ’s will and left for Rome soon afterwards. For the Irish, the battle lines can be confusing. At the height of the row, I remember Dr Leonard telling me his favourite church in Ireland was Derry Cof I cathedral because of those foundation …
