The Mirror Crack'd

Joe Biden's disastrous performance in the first head-to-head live TV debate of the US presidential race has left Democrat officials and media commentators reeling. In what The Hill trenchantly, if unkindly, described as "a 90-minute senior moment" the 81 year-old sitting president and Democrat candidate appeared confused and rambling in his responses. Even Donald Trump looked surprised, commenting on one Biden answer "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. And I don't think he knows what he said either." It was excruciating and deeply saddening to watch. A kind and decent man Biden may well be but to see him go into meltdown at such a critical moment was little short of tragic - for America and the world. Senecence isn't necessarily a problem for a head of state (think of the late Queen at 96) but senility - or the appearance of it - certainly is. Within the last hour Biden has said that he will not give way. Frankly, it shoul

At the weekend I went on the Restore Nature Now march through Central London and, talking to a young fellow marcher, realised that I've been protesting like this for the best part of sixty years! For the record, yes, it made me feel very old. On the other hand, when I considered the overall success rate of protest (of which more anon) I think, on balance, it was worth the effort. Our actions may not have been decisive but they were clearly influential, morally if not practically, although there were some notable victories, if only partial. We will never know, of course, whether things would have improved anyway without mass protests but at least we didn't allow the forces of chaos and division to go entirely unchallenged. My first march must have been a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) 'ban the bomb' rally at the Menwith Hill military base in North Yorkshire (then the West Riding), a US 'listening post' throughout the Cold War period. I was an idealistic t

Cunning linguistics I've always loved acronyms for their ability to succinctly capture new phenomena in contemporary society. For example, NIMBY made its appearance in the USA in the 1970s and, as is the way with these things, rapidly crossed the Atlantic to our shores. Standing for 'not in my back yard' it neatly skewered the middle-class tendency to object to any planning proposal which might adversely affect a white collar community in terms of loss of amenity, with the subtext being that the motivation was selfish. In other words it was perfectly okay to build it somewhere else, which usually meant in a poor neighbourhood.  The three-day week A relatively recent arrival to acronym corner is TWATS. Standing for 'Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays' it reflects the shrinking working week spent in an office post-Pandemic. It is also applied to those electing to work from home on Mondays and Fridays. As a result, a new city-centre phenomenon has emerged whereby Thurs

What are the odds on that? From Partygate to Fluttergate. Yes, shock horror, hold the front page! Tory insiders in Downing Street are seemingly at it again. Not partying while folk die in droves on this occasion but placing bets on the basis of privileged information while their boss, the self-proclaimed champion of standards in public office, is fighting a crucial election campaign. Not a good look I think you'll agree. Specifically, some of his inner circle have (allegedly) been beating a path to William Hill (other gambling outlets are available) to wager on a July election. Sunak says he's "incredibly angry", although whether at the substance of the allegations or their public revelation is unclear. "Integrity, professionalism and accountability"? I wouldn't bet on it. What he meant to say was... Much hilarity this morning watching James (not so) Cleverly, trying to brush aside an aide's unguarded comment on the Rwanda deportation scheme. James S

The current UK general election campaign has exposed something of an identity crisis within the Labour Party: is it, or is it not, a socialist party? On the campaign trail recently the leader of the party, Sir Keir Starmer, unequivocally described himself as a socialist. His shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, on the other hand, said she was a social democrat and on the Politics Live Election 2024 programme on BBC2 today Labour Peeress, Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, stated that Labour is a social democratic party. So who's right. The terms democratic socialism and social democracy are not interchangeable and should not be used as such. The strands carry different emphases within the 'broad church' of socialism, mainly around their willingness (or otherwise) to embrace, or at least tolerate, capitalism. The high-profile breakaway from Labour to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981, which in turn led to the formation of the Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) in 1988, demonstr

The success of the right in the recent European elections suggests a weariness with liberal democracy, but what's the alternative? Not a very palatable one, I suggest, but there can be little doubt that the post-War western model of democracy is a busted flush. Small wonder, then, that illiberal democracy, or outright autocracy and demagoguery, seems to be becoming the norm worldwide. 2024 has been hailed as the year of elections. As Time puts it: "Globally, more voters than ever in history will head to the polls as at least 64 countries (plus the European Union) - representing a combined population of about 49% of the people in the world -  are meant to hold national elections, the results of which, for many, will prove consequential for years to come." The notion of illiberal democracy, as advocated by the rightwing prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, is gaining ground, but whether it can even be described as a type of democracy is open to question. It may preserve