The Mirror Crack'd

Or is it Victor Meldrew? Either way, I don't believe it! These days we often hear the despairing cry "nothing works!" In reality I'm sure things do work, it's just that nothing seems to work as well as it once did, despite all the tech that is supposed to deliver the sunlit uplands of seamlessly efficient customer service*.  I'm not sure this isn't just nostalgia (which, admittedly, is not what it was) or senescent misremembering. Perhaps nothing was ever that wonderful but a combination of fourteen years of Tory government neglect, Brexit and a Covid pandemic has certainly done nothing to improve matters. The whole public realm seems in a state of disarray while, at the same time, our growing reliance on the internet, AI and algorithms to improve things is leading us into a cul-de-sac,  or maybe that's down a blind alley. The NHS is often singled out as a prime example of the lack of joined-up thinking in the provision of an efficient modern public h...

"Make no mistake, we will get to grips with the bulging benefits bill blighting our society."  This was the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, talking tough to the Mail on Sunday today. Meanwhile, his Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall, was taking a more emollient line with Laura Kuenssberg on BBC1. I got the distinct impression the two politicians were playing nice cop, nasty cop. Back on May Day, that international celebration of workers' rights, I wrote a piece entitled  Welfare, workfare, warfare in which I explored the concept of the 'nobility of labour', often attributed to the 19th century Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher, Thomas Carlyle. I wondered then if Rishi Sunak had been reading him. Now I wonder if he left a copy on the desk in 10 Downing Street for his successor to browse. In his book, Past and Present, first published in 1843, Carlyle wrote: "Labour is Life: from the inmost heart of the Worker rises his God-given...

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024 gets its second reading in the House of Commons next Friday. This Private Member's Bill, commonly referred to as the assisted dying bill, was tabled by Labour MP, Kim Leadbeater, sister of the murdered MP, Jo Cox. It is the first opportunity for MPs to debate this controversial issue since 2015, when Rob Marris MP's Private Member's Bill failed to make it onto the statute book. I sincerely hope Ms Leadbeater's attempt will fare better. Having read through the explanatory notes prepared by her to accompany her Bill, they seem to me, as a layman, to be thorough, reasonable and practicable and I urge anyone interested in this subject to read them. My only doubt was over the clause allowing a proxy to sign the consent form if the patient is unable to do so. This was not a concern over fraudulent signing, rather over how a patient unable to write his or her signature would be able to self-administer the fatal substance.   But...

England - 1088 'What's a king without a kingdom?' 'A man, sire. And a man fights for what's his.' The king had been thinking aloud and the thirteen year-old lad's unexpected reply to his rhetorical question caught him off-guard. It was a bold response but, rather than being angered, he felt chastened by it. It was profound coming from one so young and junior in his service though prompted, he knew, by genuine love and loyalty rather than impertinence.  At a moment of grave peril so early in his new reign he valued candour, a commodity in short supply at court. He had followed his father, the Conqueror, as King William II less than a year earlier and now faced widespread rebellion. At such a time he could ill afford self-pity, much less self-doubt. He blamed himself for allowing a brief moment of self-indulgence in front of his page.  Since receiving the devastating news at Eastertide of his brother Robert's challenge the lad had been his closest companio...

Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States of America, just became its 47th. In order to win the election Trump had to gain 270 votes from the Electoral College; he got 279. He also won the popular vote decisively. More than this, the Republican Party now commands a majority in the Senate, and the House of Representatives looks set to go the same way. This will represent a hat trick for Trump (or perhaps that's a red MAGA baseball cap) and when he finally takes office in January he will hold all the levers of power. He has regained control not by a narrow and contested margin but emphatically. Many people will find this deeply disturbing, both within the US itself and internationally, but I don't feel as panicked as I thought I would. While I find Trump an utterly loathsome man and deprecate his return to the White House, the American electors have made their democratic decision and I'm obliged to defer to that. It's their choice to make but this is not merel...

The Spanish royal family may be Bourbons but their reception on a visit to Paiporta today certainly took the biscuit. Four days after the catastrophic DANA (Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos) flooding in Valencia, Southern Spain, King Felipe, Queen Letizia and Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, received a less than warm welcome when they arrived to inspect the clean-up operation and console residents - in fact they were pelted with mud by angry crowds and cries of "murderer" were directed at the king. At one point the queen was reduced to tears, while elsewhere in town Sánchez was bundled into his car which was kicked and hit by protesters as it sped off. The crowd's animosity had been provoked by the regional government's failure to warn of the impending deluge, or swing into action with a rescue operation when it hit. Support from the state had also been slow to arrive and was inadequate when it did, leaving an army of volunteers to start the clean-up operation. There ...

After an agonisingly protracted leadership campaign the Conservative Party at last finds itself with a new leader - or should I say another new leader. Yes, after months of campaigning amongst Tory MPs to whittle six candidates down to two the party membership has made the final selection, with the 130,000-odd card-carrying faithful choosing Kemi Badenoch. The outcome, though by a narrow margin, will have surprised few but here's the thing, only one third of Tory MPs (around forty in their post-election slimline ranks in the Commons) supported her candidacy. Unsurprisingly, she was at pains in her acceptance speech this morning to promise a prominent role for her defeated rival, Robert Jenrick. Whether this will be enough to secure her position is anyone's guess - this is the Tories we're talking about after all - and judging by Jenrick's wife's facial reactions it could be a bumpy ride. Jenrick was all smiles but behind him Michal Berkner's eye-rolling and tok...