Cameron's Folly

Ich bin ein Englander,
Frau Merkel!

One of my favourite pieces from Yes Minister is the piece where Jim Hacker, brushing off a local issue of seemingly little importance, has it explained to him that the issue could compromise him electorally.  He suddenly reassesses his interest, slips his hand inside the lapel of his jacket, and proclaims "but they are my people, and I am their leader!  I must follow them!"  David Cameron could have said as much today as he launched what his advisor should have called a brave initiative.  

Oh No, Not Again...

Lord Moulton of Forgettery

We've discussed Britain's problem with history before, or rather its predilection for forgetting when it comes to its past indiscretions.  But a segment on the Channel 4 News last night was utterly astonishing.  Their business correspondent Sarah Smith nabbed a doozie with what might best be referred to as a proper posh toff from the city in discussing the extensive investments of the Qatari sovereign wealth fund in London.

Pat Finucane: Why Killing A Lawyer Matters

Pat Finucane, 1949-1989

David Cameron today apologised to Geraldine Finucane and her family for the role the British state played in the murder of her husband.  Pat Finucane was a Human Rights lawyer, and had successfully prosecuted several trials in defending Nationalists against the State.  In a difficult time, human rights were being breached regularly; internment without trial had been regularly deployed in the North, and Catholics were systematically discriminated against.  The State was effectively a protestant, loyalist, unionist machine, designed to suppress the growing minority.  In those circumstances, if the State turned its beady eye on you, the avenues for protection were limited.