As the European Parliament elections loom, the sheer horror of the Conservative Party’s idea of leaving the ‘mainstream’ EPP party bloc comes to the fore. I have written about this here. But behold now this onslaught from Tory Grandees, no less. The Independent is scurrying to catch up. The argument […]
This is so grisly an analysis of how President Obama is whittling the Clintons down to very little, it might almost be true. Hence Hillary Clinton’s tentative responses on North Korea?
Have a look at the excellent analysis by Max Atkinson of Hillary Clinton trying to sound robust while also not being too specific on the subject of how the USA might respond to North Korea. As the video clips show, she is choosing her words so carefully that it all […]
The goings-on in and around North Korea and its nuclear ambitions takes us back to our old friend Negotiation. See eg this early piece I wrote in April last year about Power and Purpose: Part of getting what you want is projecting a sense of Power and Purpose, so that when […]
Is here. It links to Brian Barder arguing against the very idea of any UK referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, and being struck that even many Labour List readers do not agree with him (Note: Barder long sentence advisory warning) Over on the always interesting Labour List blog, this post (reproduced […]
The claim by the defence of Radovan Karadzic that he had a deal with Richard Holbrooke ("This is it – leave public and political life in Republika Srpska and you won’t have to go to the Hague." "OK…") is back in the news again. Back in mid-1996, only a few months […]
An interesting article in the Guardian about the use of hi-tech tracing technology to help put pressure on Uzbekistan to stop forced child labour in the vast Uzkek post-Soviet cotton fields: "We became aware of real problems in Uzbekistan," said Alan Wragg, Tesco’s clothing technical director. "Government-organised forced child labour […]
My latest droll article for DIPLOMAT magazine on the strange twilight world of Diplomatic Expulsions is available here: You know the story. Only too well. Your spouse yells at you for what you have done. Or for what you have not done. Or for what you have come to represent in […]
Eeek. According to Nick Cohen in the Observer the Cameron Conservatives are heading for the Outer Darkness: After the European elections, British Conservatives will leave the company of Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy, Fredrik Reinfeldt and the other moderate centre-right leaders who gather under the banner of European People’s party. Although […]
The Fraud Squad lick their lips: A former Labour minister was facing a fraud probe last night after taking £16,000 of taxpayers’ money for a mortgage that did not exist. Elliot Morley claimed £800 a month for a home in his Scunthorpe constituency, even though the mortgage had already been […]
