I don’t want to seem indifferent to suffering, and I don’t want anyone to accuse me of minimising the likely effect of the recession, because the coming months will very probably be a lot tougher – for millions of people – than the boom times we have all recently enjoyed.
The column can be read here.
Continue reading A Deep Recession
There are all sorts of reasons for hoping that Barack Hussein Obama will be the next president of the United States. He seems highly intelligent. He has an air of courtesy and sincerity. Unlike the current occupant of the White House, he has no difficulty in orally extemporising a series of grammatical English sentences, each containing a main verb. Continue reading Barack Hussein Obama
A million jobs to be gone by Christmas. That was one of the chirpier headlines in the weekend papers, and oh boy, I don’t think I can take much more of this doomstering.
Spending an hour with the FT is like being trapped in a room with assorted members of a millennialist suicide cult. If their pundits are to be believed, the skies of the City will shortly be dark with falling bankers, and then for the rest of us it’s back to the 1930s, with barrels for trousers, soup kitchens and buddy can you spare a dime.
By this time next year, if the pessimists are right, Gordon Brown will have nationalised most of the British economy and a representative of the Treasury will be attending the editorial conference of The Daily Telegraph. Continue reading Are we on the verge of a recession?
The Plan has been written by two young politicians who have discovered first hand how inert is the machinery of the British state, and how intense is the consequent anger on the doorstep. They offer an analysis of why people are sick and tired of politicians, and what can be done about it. Douglas Carswell, is the forward-looking MP for Harwich and Clacton, and Daniel Hannan the firebrand MEP for the South of England. You can read more about Douglas here and about Dan, here.
Britain is heading in the wrong direction. The British people are giving up on politics and politicians. The Plan is a book that sets out how to put Britain on the right track again.
The Plan proposes to restore meaning to the ballot box, freedom to the citizen and dignity to Parliament. It puts forward a radical legislative programme to:
Douglas and Dan show how a future government could actually shift powers back, from Brussels to Westminster, from Whitehall to town halls, from the state to the citizens.
Things do not have to be as they are. The Plan shows how we can change our country for the better.
The Plan is available ‘from all good bookshops’ from October 6th and the ISBN is: 13-9780955979903 or order your copy direct at: www.Renew-Britain.com
Isn’t it time Gordon Brown stopped the FTSE stampede?
Whoa there. Hold your horses, folks. The rustle of alarm is turning into a scuttle, and the scuttle is turning into a drumming roar of feet in flight. As the economic position gets worse, it is reported that this country is starting to see some notable departures.
Is Peter Mandelson and his business nous our only hope? Continue reading Peter Mandelson: make London more competitive, not less
Press Release
Mayor’s statement on resignation of Sir Ian Blair
2-10-2008
“Sir Ian Blair has made a lasting and distinguished contribution to policing, in London and across the UK, for the last 34 years.
He will be especially remembered for his successful introduction in London of the Safer Neighbourhood teams and for falling crime levels virtually across the board.
In the face of a chronic and dangerous terrorist threat, he can be very proud of his record in helping to keep millions of Londoners safe from harm.
But there comes a time in any organisation when it becomes clear it would benefit from new leadership and clarity of purpose. I believe that time is now.
And following a meeting with Sir Ian yesterday, he has agreed to give someone else the chance to offer new leadership for policing in London. And I am sure he has done the right thing.
I will always be grateful to Sir Ian for the productive start he has made to our plans to tackle serious violence and to reduce disorder on public transport.
He leaves having made London safer and with our gratitude and best wishes. There is no doubt that he will continue to make a significant intellectual contribution to crime fighting in the UK and abroad.”
See GLA site