The British prime minister and the President elect of the European Commission are apparently talking to each other and saying helpful things, in the tradition of consensus democracy, after a bitter personal contest. It has never seemed to this blog too significant who was in charge of what in Europe. What matters is what institutions […]
There is general agreement the Cameron’s defeat is an historic moment but exactly what kind of moment is unclear. Initially hopes are raised that having asserted the right of the European parliamentary majority to nominate the Presidential candidate for the European Commission , EU leaders will wake up to the very real prospect of Britain […]
Many are saying that the Prime Minister has played his cards badly over Europe, even some who basically agree with him. The big mistake was to quit the Centre Right group in the European parliament, thus detaching from the association where plots would be hatched. This has isolated the UK in the parliament itself, leaving […]
This Blog has long been railing about the ineptitude of post 9/11 Western foreign policy (led by the US/UK), of which the mounting chaos in the Arab world and the stand-off in Ukraine are ready symptoms. Now we learn that Syria has started bombing Isis positions in Iraq. So the arch enemy Assad is now on the […]
My latest novel, Hitler’s First Lady is getting positive feedback that it is a real page turner because its explosive and shocking take on historical facts. Here are the questions which I am continually asked: Was Hitler gay? Was the British Royal family looking for a peace deal with the Third Reich? Did Churchill reach […]
Without getting into the specifics of any of them, this blog is concerned about the cost to taxpayers of big set piece trials covering public issues from corporate fraud, through phone hacking, to sex crimes, which have a very high cost to taxpayers running into many tens of millions, yet which nevertheless achieve a low conviction […]
The answer must be yes. Not least because to embark on the convoluted marathon which is Labour’s election process, in the run up to the General Election would be a suicide jump for the Party. Ed Milliband has done much to make Labour a very effective Opposition, as well has pulling the party together after […]
Sir Malcolm Rifkind, once a Tory foreign Secretary, made a little intervention in the Commons today earning him a news clip, to urge restraint in building bridges with Iran, likening the potential relationship as similar to that with the Soviet Union in the Cold War. What drivel! There is a generation of Western politicians who […]
The US and Iran are discussing what to do to curb the ISIS advance in Iraq and how to bring stability to this stricken country. The talks are informal and they are at official rather than leader level. But they are happening and that fact alone is the most significant diplomatic development in the this […]
The Tory hierarchy is looking a bit the worse for wear. It is beginning to take on aspects of the last year of the Major and Brown governments, with hostile briefings, rows and leaks, as ambitious acolytes try to distance themselves from a busted flush and position themselves for election defeat followed by a new leader. They […]