Brian Walker

How does disclosing evidence of torture harm the national security of the United States? A question wholly distinct from providing evidence of the US’s exposed position in national and international law. The judges in the English High Court who have read the papers are quite clear. Given [the documents’] source and detail, they would … amount to powerful evidence. None of the contents at issue could possibly be described as sensitive US intelligence…. Moreover, in the light of the long …

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Gordon Brown’s utterance of the dread word “depression” was ‘a slip of the tongue” at Prime Minister’s Questions, his spokesman hastily asserted, minutes later. Another one. Less than two months ago, he “saved the world.” Picking on the Prime Minister for the odd “misspeak” ( an old Watergate era word) may seem like a silly game played only by political journalists, but it may also reveal the real state of his mind. Prime Minister’s words do matter and can merge …

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Interesting to see how two old colleagues both Labour supporters of one kind or another, have radically different takes on the wildcat strikes in their columns. Polly Toynbee in the Guardian, disillusioned with Brown since his 2007 stumbles but with nowhere else to go, makes the convincing charge against him and Mandelson of tin ear for the underlying workers’ case – namely, fear of a new and irresistible extension of the Brown policy of achieving non-inflationary growth at the cost …

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Nurse suspension over prayer ‘could lead to thousands more’ On the face of it, a case of militant secularism as severe as Christian militancy or jihadism. Petrie said the incident that led to her suspension occurred after she visited a woman in Winscombe in December. She said she asked the woman: “Would you like me to pray for you?” after putting dressings on her legs. The woman replied “No, thank you”, and Petrie insists she did not press the matter. …

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What is “British” (or indeed “Irish”) labour these days? Wildcat strikers at any rate are clear it’s non-foreign, but what’s “foreign” in the EU? Next question: what is a “British” company? The Guardian exclusive takes the traditional view as the basis of their story about massive if legal company tax avoidance. e.g.: The UK-based drinks giant Diageo plc has transferred ownership of brands worth billions of pounds, including Johnnie Walker, J&B and Gilbey’s gin, to a subsidiary in the Netherlands …

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The burning issue for abortion rights campaigners in Northern Ireland now is the removal of the scandalous refusal of the NHS in Great Britain to perform abortions on NI women free. This petition for MPs calls for the government to use its significant powers of regulation to allow women from NI free abortion care on the NHS in Britain. So the latest is not a new story but the latest development in an ongoing campaign, carried in the Observer. Internet …

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We know in our guts that the strikes supporting the Lindsey oil refinery dispute make a powerful point. As they reveal deep fears of wider unemployment, they also expose government weakness. The immediate official response does no more than play for time. Employment Minister Pat McFadden last night said he had asked Acas to examine claims that British workers were being illegally excluded from some major engineering and construction projects. This is a dangerous moment. The first wave of sympathetic …

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The anxiety and frustration created by the Stena Voyager incident is a reminder of our vulnerability at sea, even on our local pond which can suddenly turn into a funnel of fury during a storm. These passengers were lucky there was no storm, unlike the passengers of the Princess Victoria, almost exactly 56 years ago. And whatever the improvements in design, ships doors will remain vulnerable, as the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster grimly reminds us. Brian WalkerFormer BBC journalist …

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Picking up from Mick’s blogburst, MSM treatment of Eames/Bradley is worth a review, including their blogs I think . (I hope most agree). Response to the report was fairly muted and not over-prominent. These days, what ‘s a bill of only £300 million? You have to rise to a least a few billion to make most front pages now. You wouldn’t know it, but careful monitoring of the Europa event showed that the widely reported rows and pushing and shoving …

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At first glance the IMF and Institute of Fiscal Studies reports on the state and prospects for the British economy are very depressing. The FT leads the chorus Britain is facing the deepest recession of any big industrialised economy, the International Monetary Fund signalled on Wednesday as it said that the UK economy would shrink 2.8 per cent this year…The IMF forecast for the UK is 1.5 percentage points below its previous estimate. But let’s be counter-intuitive. I’m going truffling …

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Not a live blog but some of the main elements of the Eames/ Bradley presentation that immediately struck me. It was quite impressive. Integrity combined with political wariness both shone through. There was a small wobble over the “acknowledgment payments” though but they got back on track. At almost an hour, the presentation was too long and apt to stray into sermonising. It was not a presser and they took no questions. Good to see that the disruption from Frazer …

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Does the appearance of corruption in the House of Lords matter? Yes it does, on all sorts of grounds. It sets a terrible, high-rolling example to the fledgling legislators elsewhere, who are not above caring about the odd bob or two in the pubic service (quite legally, of course). Some might come to believe, as Lord Taylor appears to, that the system is there partly to make money and like him, they have ” broken no rules” – yet. The …

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The latest ComRes poll for the Independent confirms the clear trend of the past three months, last registered a fortnight ago in the Times by Populus and the Telegraph by YouGov before Christmas – that the Brown surge was a dead cat bounce. That speculation about an 09 general election now looks as stale as last month’s loaf. By Andrew Grice, the Independent’s Political Editor The Conservative Party lead over Labour at the opinion polls has rocketed from five to …

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The think tank Centre for Cities has placed Liverpool, Belfast and Hull on “red alert” status in a review by Oxford Economics of the social, economic and environmental strengths and weaknesses of 64 cities in the UK. The Centre is a think tank backed by the Local Government Association, an umbrella lobby body for councils. Belfast’s is one of the “core cities “ studies. The main message i is that the recession is wiping out many of the gains of …

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Revealed: Labour lords change laws for cash We selected 10 Lords who already had a number of paid consultancies. The three Conservative peers did not return our calls and a Liberal Democrat and an Ulster Unionist both declined to help after meeting the undercover reporters. Moonie offered to help for a fee of £30,000 a year and Snape indicated that he would charge £24,000. By contrast Lord Rogan, the Ulster Unionist peer, said: “If your direct proposal is as stark …

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Peter Robinson’s reply in the Belfast Telegraph to Ed Curran’s two recent columns Dear Peter and Reg, do we really need two unionist parties now?.. and Could Tory pact hasten end of UUP at the next election? is the clearest evidence yet that electoral politics dominate everything he does in and out of the Assembly. His vision of a two party system is now out in the open. “I believe that in the future the time will come when unionism …

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We are trying to achieve closure; we are trying to say there is a basis on which banks can say it will get no worse than this.” Lord Myners , an insider brought in from the top of business and banking by Gordon Brown to add expertise as City Minister has given the frankest interview so far on the state of the financial crisis. Ministers appear to be trying so steady nerves now by admitting we were “ on the …

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GCHQ, the signals intelligence agency, are now in a position to monitor terrorist operations like Omagh. according to a Guardian story which includes the byline of their highly regarded security correspondent Richard Norton- Taylor. But can they listen into networks across the border? In an effort to clear the UK’s secret listening post of failing to prevent the 1998 bomb attack that caused the biggest massacre during the Troubles, sources close to the security services revealed that they now have …

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I make no apology for making a straight lift from Simon Jenkins, on the theme that, faced with the fears and gloom of recession, we’re all seeking comfort in throwbacks – Obama does old fashioned rhetoric and takes the Lincoln route by train, nostalgia is sweeping Pop, Ken Clarke is back, old brands are nourished, we mourn Woolies etc. Next, bring on the Ovaltinees. And now! Get this for irony! The Printed Blog. From where else? California. All is not …

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Mandy made it back after two resignations . Even David Blunkett is rumoured for some sort of return after two. Can Peter Hain come back after just one departure? I can’t see it somehow, as unlike either of them he has to apologise formally to the House, which is quite a big deal. His abortive and unwise deputy leadership campaign showed he has neither the party backing nor the political judgement needed at the present time. Peter is an upper …

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