Brian Walker Nothing apart from guns for all makes the US seem quite so foreign as the Great Health Insurance debate. The holy grail of universal health cover is far from a done deal. Having narrowly passed the House, it starts all over again the Senate. The Murdoch-owned Wall St Journal’s (still free) coverage gives us the true fruit of the right wing vine. First, on costs it sounds a lament for the rich the reader is expected to sympathise with. “The …
What on earth is Gordon Brown trying to say? On the one hand, “I will not risk British lives if Afghans do not end corruption “ On the other: “ We will not walk away”. Well, are we in or out? All we have in a few sentences of typical boilerplate is more Brown confusion and tetchiness from the near-rebellious chiefs of staff. Of course we know British nerves are stretched, waiting on Obama. So why expose yourself now Gordon, …
In his latest attack on the poor performance of the Republic, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Dan O’Brien targets the whole political culture. The Irish problem is not just what governments do but what they fail to do. Dan argues for wholesale institutional reform and hankers after a government of experts rather than bungling sometimes venal amateurs. Who I wonder would be his ideal taoiseach or finance minister? He complements British departmental cross cutting (perhaps over- generously) and pins much of …
An interesting take by the Guardian on the crescendo of poppyness as Remembrance Sunday approaches.. “An observer from another planet might suppose tomorrow’s Remembrance Day ceremonies would at the least be tinged with anger, and might provoke bitter protest. They will not, of course, despite the growing protests of some soldiers’ families. That is no thanks to the dubious new interpretation of remembrance that is evident in the stridency with which poppy-wearing by celebrities and newsreaders and X-factor judges is …
At the risk of being pelted with bricks, metaphorically I hope, my sympathies have swung back towards MPs. I’m not alone. After they’ve rubbed MPs’ noses in it so thoroughly, much of the press are starting to clean them up again. The Indy details the anomalies that will create two classes of MP by taking five years to phase out the present system, one class, those standing again, the other, the new boys and girls. In an open invitation for …
The big news about Europe this week is way beyond David Cameron. It was EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes who was mainly responsible for splitting the big banks and having a big hand in General Motors to back off from their sale to Magna on the grounds that the Canadian firm’s drastic restructuring plans could run into trouble over state aid. That’s what the EU is most effectively about – setting fair rules for a global market. On Cameron, the …
In a welcome sign that we no longer need or deserve special treatment, it’s clear that Northern Ireland is not going to remain the one area where multiple mandates are allowed, as noted by Mick and Pete. Looking ahead, now that devolution is more or less established, the profile for most senior public representatives inevitably shifts away from their role as parliamentarians and focuses on them as ministers. This may create difficulties for the DUP in particular, with their games …
“It is time to ask whether the fight against those who are intent on murdering British citizens might better be served by diverting into the work of the UK Border Agency and our police and intelligence services much of the additional finance and resources swallowed up by the costs of maintaining British forces in Afghanistan.” Kim Howells, former foreign officer minister and now chair of the PM’s advisory Intelligence and Security Committee breaks a taboo to ask a fundamental question. …
Why is there a dearth of public intellectuals in Ireland? Andreas Hess, an American sociologist currently teaching in UCD poses the question in an Irish Times opinion piece pegged to a RIA symposium later this week. The exercise seems prompted by the fall-out from the recession, recognising that the roots of Irish problems lie deeper than in a discussion about money. The interplay of ideas and events shapes the future. In Britain and Ireland we like to preen ourselves as …
News that the Scottish Lib Dems have decided to sink the SNP’s referendum 2010 Bill is a dog bites man story . Alex Salmond will hardly be surprised. But is his strategy of blaming the unionist majority in Holyrood for denying the People’s right to have a vote on independence still paying off? The latest You Gov poll may be a significant straw in the wind. It’s Alex’s first setback with public opinion since the SNP minority government was formed …
While it’s great crack if you’re an anorak, the frantic speculation about the top Euro jobs doesn’t show off my old colleagues in the Westminster lobby at their best. Some are helping to keep Tony Blair’s candidacy for the presidency alive, others are floating David Miliband as “ foreign minister” while the Indy in Sunday thinks it sees a dark plot in it all to make Mandy the Labour leader. It’s all so parochial . At times, it even touches …
Why do MPs require two homes anyway? In the firestorm over MPs’ expenses, attention is turning to what MPs actually do in the constituencies that eats up so much time that a second home is necessary. This goes to the heart of an MPs role. – is s/he more of the amateur social worker Matthew Taylor defends than a lawmaker? An entry in Our Kingdom puts it well. A lot of this local effort is really part of the permanent …
A great blast in favour of academic freedom and the power of ideas has come from Vernon Bogdanor, whose latest work The New British Constitution (here reviewed by a slightly more conservative figure, Tony King) has immediately become a classic. For those who need the assurance, Vernon is a firm believer in the efficacy of devolution for the UK which in his view has become a quasi-federal state. In this New Statesman piece, Vernon gives a powerful valedictory thrust at …
Should the Ulster Unionists finally federate with the Conservatives and the SDLP with Fianna Fail? In each case in their present state of eclipse, the prospect of becoming part of a bigger machine must be sorely tempting. Below the surface however lurk huge problems. Unionists like Sylvia Hermon are sturdy individualists and want to remain big beasts in the local zoo. For the SDLP the attractions may at first glance be clearer, but who’s rushing to vote Fianna Fail these …
Brian Cowen’s hasty switch from Blair to Bruton as the favoured Irish candidate for the presidency of the EU council is a wise move by the government leader most in need of maximum European goodwill. The unelected taoiseach would be as good as anybody else, given that the word from the Brussels summit is that they want a soft chairman from the now dominant centre right bloc and not a traffic stopper. After 10 years as PM which ended under …
Although we risk getting snowed under with posts about parading, this latest overview is worth another entry. In last night’s Commons debate the linkage between devolving justice and policing and a new parades regime has never been put more clearly by Peter Robinson. I recommend reading it in full. Devolution will not take place unless or until the final Ashdown report is approved. There’s still no news on when that report will even be published (why not – isn’t this …
I like to think kindly of the better side of the churches and admit to being completely fascinated by their politics. Here then is the magisterial analysis of what many see as the Vatican’s power grab for Anglican traditionalists, written by that great theologian of ecumenism Hans Kung, whose right to teach theology was revoked by JP2 because of Kung’s repeated criticisms of the then Pope’s “mediocre conservatism.” “Clearly, the well-meaning Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, was no match …
Just to show that Fine Gael aren’t completely isolated, here is Lord Bingham the almost impossibly illustrious former Lord Chief Justice and senior Law Lord calling for the abolition, not the further reform, of the House of Lords. Since it is widely believed by those outside the House of Lords itself that it should not, in its present form, continue to exist, and since the only models of reform suggested – appointment, election, or a combination of the two – …
The battle lines over the future of the UK in Europe are been drawn up around Tony Blair’s so far shadow candidacy for the post of President of the Council under the Lisbon treaty. Gordon Brown has set aside the old personal rivalry to launch a campaign for him, if Blair says the word. Brown’s main reason surely, is less a new found love of Tony than a chance to exploit Cameron’s hopeless muddle over Britain’s place in Europe and …
English Directors of Public Prosecutions past and present are setting a record for newsworthy comment. First, the present incumbent Keir Starmer cried shame at Cameron’s idea of replacing the Human Right Act. Note that Starmer wants to catch up with NI practice and substitute “public” for “Crown” prosecution service). And now his predecessor Ken Macdonald makes a powerful, piercingly honest case shorn of humbug for using information gathered through torture by foreign agencies and the non-prosecution of MI6 officers allegedly …
