September 2012
1 post
Tbilisi Revives Soviet Traditions
Recent developments in Georgian politics have brought shame to the European community. These issues are not the result of the policies of the current government, which was recently applauded by former Belgian Prime Minister Wilfried Martens, but are the result of political moves made by the opposition. Indeed, the “Georgian Dream” party continues to rampage on after numerous...
August 2012
3 posts
Mother of Moors Murders victim Keith Bennett
Winnie Johnson was an ordinary mother whose life became defined by the tragic death of her son, 12-year-old Keith Bennett, who was murdered by Myra Hindley and Ian Brady in 1964. Despite her unrelenting quest to find him, she died not knowing where he had been buried – and not knowing about the existence of a letter that might reveal his whereabouts.
Winnie Johnson was born in 1933 in Ardwick,...
Civil Service reform is as desirable as it is hard
It is a brave government that even considers shaking up its bureaucracy. Not only do the upper echelons of the Civil Service cultivate a very particular sense of self-esteem, but they are bound by an esprit de corps that ministers challenge at their peril. The very hint of an end to permanent appointments or a substantial increase in the number of political appointees will face resistance of the...
July 2012
2 posts
Don't give up on British sport yet
“This tournament’s always tough,” a tearful Andy Murray said, tears beginning to flow freely, only moments after losing the Wimbledon final yesterday to Roger Federer. It was the start of a gracious and surprisingly open-hearted tribute to his opponent, which, if nothing else, did for the legend of the dour, unsmiling Scot.
It was as if we had to wait for his defeat to be...
June 2012
2 posts
6 tags
Georgia’s Liberal Revolution: An Example for the...
How do you go from a state close to bankruptcy to a model city, according to leading international agencies? This is a feat that has taken Georgia just a few years to achieve, thanks to liberal and proactive reforms.
Upon accession to power in 2003, Mikhail Saakashvili identified corruption as the main enemy his government had to face. This corresponded with the high expectations of the Georgian...
6 tags
Dominic Lawson: You can accuse the banks. But...
If it were possible for bankers to become even more the social pariahs of the age, it might have been achieved by the decision to spend €100bn of the eurozone bailout fund to prop up a selection of submerged Spanish banks. Once again, two popular sentiments are given full expression. First: why should we pay to rescue these well-remunerated idiots from the consequences of their own foolishness?...
May 2012
1 post
6 tags
Time for Nato to fill in the blanks on Afghanistan
As if one insoluble problem were not enough, world leaders moved directly from discussing the woes of the eurozone at Camp David at the start of the weekend, to the equally intractable challenges of the Nato summit in Chicago at the end of it. Even without the thousands of protesters lining the streets, the meeting would not have been an easy one. And the issue at the top of the agenda is the...
April 2012
1 post
6 tags
An unlikely protest pin-up for the summer's...
Protesters will not be allowed to ruin the Olympics, organisers vowed after Trenton Oldfield’s Boat Race invasion. But the role of civil disobedience in British history could itself be hailed with a theatrical tribute to the suffragettes at the London Games’ opening ceremony.[[MORE]]
Details of the inaugural ceremony, devised by the Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle, are tightly...
March 2012
1 post
5 tags
The Lawrence case is far from over
It took the full weight of the Macpherson inquiry to expose the institutional racism that hampered the Metropolitan Police investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence. Now, fully 19 years after the teenager’s fatal stabbing, evidence from secret Scotland Yard files, published in this newspaper today, suggests there may be more – and worse – to come.[[MORE]]
That one of the leading...
February 2012
1 post
7 tags
Not the sort of help Mr Miliband needs
With friends like these… For the umpteenth time since he became Labour leader, Ed Miliband must have been cursing his trade union supporters, after the leader of Unite, Len McCluskey, suggested that protests could be timed to disrupt the London Olympics.[[MORE]]
And it is a sad reflection on Mr McCluskey and some of his colleagues that their first response to the approach of the greatest...
