Posts

Morning becomes electric

Waking up to the latest news emanating from the European Union can be an electrifying experience these days. France particularly seems to be going through the mill at the moment. Maybe it has something to do with its revolutionary tradition - although one can't help thinking that the preponderance of paving stones (cobbles or setts) in their streets and squares might have more than a little to do with encouraging it. This was the reason the Albanian authorities, also experiencing civil unrest, have taken up the paving from the main boulevard in Tirana outside the Prime Minister's office to prevent them being used as projectiles. French protesters have gone beyond chucking stones, though, and are setting fire to vehicles and public buildings. Images of the flaming clock tower of Limoges town hall crashing through the roof revived uncomfortable memories of the collapse of Notre Dame's spire in the catastrophic fire of 2019. The cause of that traumatic conflagration was accide...
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Tell it like it is

At last, President Zelensky has lost his patience and spoken exasperatedly of Trump's fixation with Putin. This is a risky strategy but he obviously feels that Trump's latest shabby deal to gain Putin's diesel fuel, and his apparent order to switch off the Starlink drone monitoring system, leaves him no option. These actions have served to emboldened Putin as winter sets in, leaving Ukraine's civilian population exposed to intolerable levels of Russian bombardment. The fact that Trump, always capricious and unreliable, appears to have acted in a fit of pique only serves to make matters worse. European leaders are cautioning Zelensky to tone down his rhetoric but many will applaud him for his candour. Having held the Russian advance at bay for years Ukraine has reached an existential crisis, leaving Zelensky little option but to speak his mind in the hope of galvanising his European allies into action. He may also, of course, be appealing to a US audience in the run-up t...
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Jam tomorrow - conference sketch

In a powerful and emotionally charged speech to the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool today Andy Burnham set the tone for his premiership up to the next general election and beyond. The question now must be, though, with so many of his aspirations requiring the endorsement of the electorate at that election, what's he going to do for the next three years? His direction of travel may be much clearer but the can was largely kicked down the road, with so many 'big ticket' items on hold until spring 2029 in the hope of winning a full Parliamentary term in which to implement them. To be fair, there is quite a lot to be getting on with in the meantime but it's highly unlikely he will gain a majority of the historic size of the one bequeathed him by his predecessor, and sticking to Starmer's manifesto pledges could mean losing momentum and finding himself - always supposing he wins - struggling to deliver what he promised today. If a week is a long time in politics thre...
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The brave music of a distant drum

Work has begun on updating the UK government's so-called 'War Book', which hasn't been looked at in decades. According to the House of Commons Library, this exercise is not about military preparedness for imminent conflict " but reflect[s] the government’s ‘whole-of-society’ approach to defence and national security."  Hence, presumably, recent advice that has seeped into the public domain about stocking up on tinned food, bottled water, torches, a battery radio and candles. Well, we live in an increasingly uncertain world and you never know. But, while the dust is blown off the Cold War advice and precise details of the new version remain unclear so far, I think it's becoming glaringly obvious that the climate crisis and growing international bellicosity (which feed off each other - as it were) will be felt at home in food shortages, power blackouts and rampant inflation, maybe as soon as this winter. How much we can realistically hedge against this as pr...
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Freedom's path

England comprises over 84% of the population of the United Kingdom and yet has no vote when it comes to independence referenda (if and when reluctantly granted) on the future of the Union - is this fair? I pose the question in light of yesterday's historic meeting of the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in Cardiff - dubbed the 'Celtic Summit' - in pursuit of a perfectly l egitimate common aspiration to independence and the dissolution of the United Kingdom. To answer my own (probably rhetorical) question, I would say that one can hardly envisage a situation where a constituent nation in a liberal democracy is kept forever in thrall to a union against the settled will of its people. In a UK marriage one partner has only to state that the union has broken down irretrievably for the unwilling partner to be unable to contest this reason. It's known as a no-fault divorce.  In reality, the United Kingdom was a series of shotgun weddings. As I have written about...
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What a week! - snippets and gleanings

It's over a year since I last did one of these slots so now seems as good (or bad) a week as any to revive it: Dire straits In the latest of Donald Trump's crazed foreign policy misadventures, he has now succeeded in closing not one but two of the world's most important maritime passages: the Strait of Hormuz, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, and the Bab al-Mandab, gateway to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Before he does any more damage to the world economy can someone please put this deranged lunatic in a strait-jacket. Kronos ate his children Jacob Coxon quit his lucrative job at Anthropic this week fearing the strong likelihood that unfettered AI development could destroy humanity. Coxon (27 going on 15, with a distinct Harry Potter vibe) looks like just the sort of Gen Z Silicon Valley/Bay Area geek who would press ahead with such research without any regard to its real-world consequences. Luckily for us he seems neither a narcissist nor nihilist, appearing instead to...
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In praise of Vigil Aunties

In Mao's China the Neighbourhood Committees (Juweihui) were a mechanism for keeping tabs on community activities, countering crime and stifling political dissent. The Gao Ma (grandmas) or Dama (aunties) were elderly women empowered by the Chinese Communist Party to maintain order on behalf of the Juweihui and report back on any infringements. As such, rather like the historic concierges in post-Revolutionary France, they were the frontline of state surveillance, commanding fear and affection in equal (or perhaps unequal) measure. In light of recent well-publicised events in Middlesbrough, I find myself pondering the advantages of such social management at the  grassroots level. I realise that this is potentially a busybodies' charter or, as in the cases cited above, something even more sinister. Where even existing Neighbourhood Watch schemes in this country are often sneered at as "curtain-twitchers" (having been a Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator myself in the past...
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