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Anders Breivik wasn’t a “lone wolf”, he was part of a movement
Right-wing pundits are now very keen to tell us that the Norwegian terror attacks were not caused by right-wing anti-multicultural ideology.
The fact that Anders Breivik quoted Daily Mail articles in his manifesto and forged links with the same anti-immigration groups lauded by our tabloid press is apparently neither here nor there.
He was just a lone nutter okay? And besides, if it wasn’t for multiculturalism, then there wouldn’t have been a problem there in the first place.
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Why the Euro deal on Greece is still likely to fail
The EU thinks it’s saved the Euro, again. It hasn’t.
This is a deal, summarised here, that to coin the current vernacular, kicks the euro down the road until the autumn, but which has no hope of delivering a real solution.
Why not?
Because, clause 1, no one knows if the Greek people will, as yet, put up with the austerity that is demanded of them. But what we can say with certainty is that the austerity demanded will not deliver growth, whatever this document claims.
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Time to really start worrying – the Euro crisis is getting worse
I might be premature (always the risk when commenting on markets) but – it looks to me like the Eurozone Bank Stress tests have utterly failed.
They are only two reasons for doing these tests – either the aim is to genuinely test if the banks are healthy enough to take possible losses and identify which banks require more capital OR the aim is simply to reassure the markets that the banks are fine.
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The 1981 Irish Hunger Strike: 30 years on
contribution by Sean Oliver
The victory of Sinn Fein’s Paul Maskey in the West Belfast by-election was such a foregone conclusion it barely made the news. Mr Maskey pledged to continue the `proud and strong legacy’ of predecessor Gerry Adams.
This vote marks the latest success for Sinn Fein’s electoral strategy, and a legacy of an earlier watershed moment of recent Irish history — the 1981 hunger strike which took place thirty years ago. Indeed, it is an astonishing contrast – the then seemingly intractable and bloody with the power sharing arrangements and forward moving political process today.
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As European politics fractures further, where do we stand?
An excellent piece in the FT today by Peter Spiegel today argues that tensions over the Euro and immigration could see an unravelling of the European project. But maybe the most interesting part of the article is the final lines, worth quoting at length.
We may be witnessing a generational change in European political dynamics. Traditional left-right divisions have narrowed. No mainstream social democrat now advocates centralised economic planning, just as no conservative candidate seriously questions the underpinning of the welfare state.
Isn’t it time for a referendum on Europe?
contribution by Mark Seddon
The mere mention of the words ‘Europe’ or ‘European Union’ is almost bound to make eyes glaze over. The last time that people were actually asked to register an opinion as to whether Britain was better off in or out of this political, social and economic union was back in 1975.
They would like us all to believe that any new referendum that gave this generation a chance to pass judgement on the European project would be an exercise in vulgar, dangerous populism.
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Scottish Labour’s rout is part of a broader centre-left problem
In one sense, last night’s results in Scotland were as extraordinary as the SNP victory in 2007. Then, the vote was in Tony Blair’s last months as Prime Minister. Now it took place amidst a Labour resurgence not seen for years. And yet Labour in Scotland faced a rout.
So, what’s gone wrong? Well, first, credit where it’s due, the SNP have run an impressive campaign. They have focussed their air war on Labour’s key weakness – Iain Gray is a boring, uninspiring man; Alex Salmond a bombastic leader most couldn’t help but admire. But much more important surely was the complete lack of any Labour vision for Scotland.
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The end of the Telegraph as the paper of record
contribution by Tim Fenton
There was once a time, and within living memory, when the publication now known as the Daily Telegraph was justifiably considered a paper of record. The separation of news and comment was such that it was not a problem for Guardian readers, finding their preferred selection sold out, to take the Telegraph instead but by-pass the comment section.
True believers, too, had no problem with this approach: just in case the piece being read didn’t tell them what opinion the paper held, an editorial or pundit column would be discreetly signposted. Sadly, yesterday brought another example of just how far standards have slipped.
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Portugal serves as a warning for Osborne’s plans not a justification
This morning George Osborne claimed that Portugal provides a warning to the UK. He’s probably right – just not in the way he thinks he is.
Osborne seems to believe that events in Lisbon provide a rationale for his cuts package (the steepest amongst the major economies).
To listen to the Chancellor one would assume that the profligate Portuguese have been merrily spending away for the past few years and only now are being forced to adopt Osborne-style austerity measures – if only they’d had the foressight to start cutting earlier. This is abject nonsense.
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Can we really become a powerhouse like Germany, as many want?
One facet of the recent economic debate in the UK around policy and rebalancing that I’ve found interesting is the attraction of Germany to both the left and the right.
This is perhaps unsurprising, the ‘German model’ of export and investment led growth is exactly the model that many policy makers seem to be aiming for.
There has always been something of a fascination with ‘Rhineland Capitalism’ on bits of the British left (notably Will Hutton), but recently the right, perhaps thrilled at German attacks on ‘crass Keynesian’, is also showing a great deal of interest.
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Why Germany was wrong to abstain over Libyan UN vote
contribution by Marie-Noelle Loewe
Germany’s decision to abstain from the vote in the UN Security council demonstrates that when it comes to taking international responsibility, it remains undecided about what its role should be.
But before accusing Germany of cowardice and indecision, one has to understand certain aspects of the national German psyche.
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WikiLeaks, Swiss banks and the myth of protecting Jewish assets
Wikileaks has been handed confidential information by banker Rudolf Elmer, which threatens to reveal Swiss banking complicity in tax evasion and other criminal activity.
Accordingly, Elmer is to go on criminal trial for breaking Swiss bank secrecy laws.
One thing you can expect to hear around the build-up to this case is that Swiss banking secrecy was enacted to protect Jewish assets from the Nazis during the 1930s.
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How Poland is pushing for gender equality in Parliament
contribution by David Mentiply
Last week the Polish Sejm (parliament) passed the Parytet law which will see radical changes to Poland’s electoral landscape. At every General Election, all political parties in Poland must ensure that 35% of their local candidates are female.
In a deeply religious and socially conservative country, this could represent a breakthrough in attitudes towards women and their role in civic society.
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We subsidise BAE more than we contribute to the EU every year
contribution by Tim Fenton
Much is made by the anti-EU brigade of the supposedly huge cost of bodies like the European Parliament. But, in reality, this body costs each EU resident around 3 Euro a year, which at today’s exchange rate is two and a half quid.
The UK’s net contribution to the EU budget for 2010 was 3.3 billion – that’s pounds, rather than euro.
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Is it the end for Silvio Berlusconi?
Despite a massive majority, the Italian Prime Minister is days away from bowing out. His third election victory in April 2008 was saluted as “historic“: nobody in Italy’s democratic history had ever won such a huge majority.
Yet in two and a half years, all the Italian government managed to knock out was a number of controversial immunity bills (which critics slammed as “tailor-made” to protect the scandal-ridden PM from prosecution) and a series of anti-immigration measures dictated by Berlusconi’s openly xenophobic coalition partners the Northern League.
Otherwise, the Berlusconi ship started treading water pretty much from the off.
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Why Ireland should default on its debts and start afresh
There seems to some hesitancy on the Left and with Labour politicians on how to respond to Ireland’s crisis. Or at least, no one is taking a strident position. Only Alistair Darling seems to be around, while Pat McFadden (neither are in the shadow cabinet) seems to be supportive of the bailout.
This is politically and economically short-sighted; we should loudly oppose the bailout and say Ireland should, for its own sake, default on its debt and restructure them.
Here are some reasons why.
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Help clean up Corporate Lobbying in Brussels
contribution by Nishma Doshi
Public spending cuts, tax evasion and the lack of proper financial regulation – these are the “solutions” to a financial crisis and a recession.
Instead of investigating as to why the banks collapsed or even considering regulating them to ensure that this never happens again, the European Union has handed bankers a blank cheque, supporting bail outs and demanding austerity when governments find themselves in dire straits.
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Hague’s farcical attempt to establish ‘supremacy’ over EU law
contribution by Gareth Winchester
William Hague has announced that he will publish a Parliamentary Bill which he claims will ensure that the UK remains sovereign in matters involving EU law – through a “Supremacy Clause”.
Cue the Euro-sceptics: “Hurrah! Soon we’ll be free of the tyrannical Eurocrats!”
There is only one problem with this: in the legal profession Hague’s actions are technically known as a complete load of bollocks.
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How investors are holding the Irish economy to ransom
Saving the Anglo Irish Bank has cost Ireland £29bn and other financial institutions (notably Irish Nationwide and the Allied Irish Bank) bring the total up to £43bn – the equivalent of a third of GDP.
The government has been forced to talk about “sharing the pain” with the banks’ creditors and “restructuring” the debt (not meeting interest payments on time).
Unsurprisingly, institutions holding Irish government debt are getting twitchy, and on Friday, Citigroup held a conference call where Finance Minister Brian Lenihan was to reassure hundreds of City of London investors.
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What’s behind the rise of German Greens?
According to polls the German Greens, who already have the most MPs they’ve ever had, are seeing an unprecedented rise in the polls seeing them neck and neck for the first time with the SPD, the German version of the Labour Party.
So what’s to account for the rise which, like in Sweden, does not seem to have effected other parties to the left of the centre?
One explanation is that the new right-wing coalition’s decision to extend the life of existing nuclear power stations has hit a nerve in a nation that has had a vibrant anti-nuclear movement for many decades.
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You can read articles through the front page, via Twitter or RSS feed.
» How the UK could pay for its demographic “time-bomb”
» Osborne’s time is running out, even amongst friends
» BBC goes along with govt spoiling tactic on disabled people
» The ‘madness’ of terrorism and other offensive terms
» Palestinian children routinely jailed for throwing stones, report finds
» What are people like Melanie Phillips calling for then?
» Anders Breivik wasn’t a “lone wolf”, he was part of a movement
» The famine in Somali is no natural disaster
» Will tomorrow be the day people start to question Osborne’s competence?
» The inequality rarely mentioned in Westminster: Scotland’s land
» How child-beating teachers were STOPPed 25 years ago
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