Back in 1993 or thereabouts, soon after the Soviet Union collapsed, there was the first wave of excitement about Newly Rich Russians steaming in to the London property market, driving house prices up. This caused interest among the UK security services who ran some discreet enquiries among estate agents to […]
My latest plan is to rewrite underperforming and sloppy English on websites. And get paid lavishly for it. Many websites are nice in technical design, but clumsy in expression. No surprise there. The capacity of people in the UK to write sharp, accurate English is plummeting. Good grammar and good writing […]
The victory of England over Germany in the friendly football international this week brought back memories of this odious memory: the England team giving Nazi salutes when England played Germany in Berlin in May 1938. According to some versions it was Sir Nevile Henderson, HM Ambassador in Germany, who applied […]
A reader asks: Do you approve of the current US and UK policy to appease nationalist Albanian threats of violence? There may be people out there who do not follow the Kosovo problem with close attention. Just to remind them that the long-running attempt to the EU’s bright young Laura […]
The Pedant General makes an observation on my posting about the Four Attributes of Economic Success: I think you have still missed one thing. Whilst the rule of law is the essential underpinning without which none of the four political aspirations can take root, the rule of law will not […]
As world leaders grapple with rival ideas for tackling the global financial crisis, keep an aghast eye on what the EU under France is up to in redefining European security. President Sarkozy and President Medvedev have come up with a proposal to hold a major OSCE summit in mid-2009 aimed at […]
Russia, says the Guardian, is opting for a charm offensive to try to see off the deployment of sophisticated US missile defence systems in Poland and Czech Republic. It did not take long for the Obama team to encounter the complexities of Poland and points East: President-elect Obama has spoken […]
The BBC wonders whether a picture of North Korea’s Dear Leader Kim has been faked. Surely the much more pertinent question is, why is he wearing that ridiculous anorak when visiting troops? Are he and Dick Cheney by some chance related? I was at the Auschwitz commemoration in 2005 and […]
Fascinated by the fascinating subject of diplomatic memoirs? Check out a magnificent article in the latest edition of Diplomat magazine: At their worst, diplomatic memoirs offer cliché piled on cliché, the wordily pompous intertwined with the coy, the self-important and the banal. Hardened professionals tiptoe quickly for the exit when they stumble […]
Iain Dale identifies the top ten qualities a ‘good’ Prime Minister needs: 1. Decisiveness2. Conviction3. Understanding the motivations of Middle England4. Being a good negotiator5. Being a good conciliator6. Having a good TV presence7. Being a good parliamentary performer8. Having a thick skin9. Being able to cut through civil service bullshit10. […]
