Tory Bear does some digging on the Labour Party’s zany allies in the European Parliament. And strikes gold. Or does he? He is unimpressed with Mr Andrzej ("It is impossible to rape a prostitute!") Lepper: Where to start with their leader and the sleaze, the criminal activities and the general […]
As the lugubrious examination of UK MPs and their expenses drags on, the way new Parliamentary candidates are chosen attracts keen interest. The Bracknell constituency has been selecting the Conservative candidate to run for Parliament next time round, using an Open Primary format. Uber-blogger Iain Dale was one of the seven people […]
The BBC is running a radio series on FCO Valedictory Despatches, a now lost art-form in which Ambassadors gave Whitehall the benefit of their Views on leaving a post and/or leaving the Foreign Service altogether. One of my first postings on this site described my successful late-night lunge to suppress freedom […]
This is a fascinating account of Thomas Jefferson’s time in Paris as an early US diplomat before the French Revolution: an article written in 1872. Many striking points of interest and insight. Such as Benjamin Franklin’s view of Diplomacy: Benjamin Franklin’s excellence being, that he conducted the intercourse of nationson […]
Here – via Arts & Letters – is a fascinating article by Eric Hoover exploring how far we can identify common characteristics among the current (or any) ‘young generation’ which are going to echo far into the future: Kids these days. Just look at them. They’ve got those headphones in their […]
The latest developments on the Torture issue – the speech by MI5 chief Jonathan Evans and then the High Court decision in favour of release of secret US material concerning Binyam Mohamed – are (in their different ways) further important steps towards clarifying how if at all we deal with […]
A great diplomatic flurrying around the latest vote by the UN Human Rights Council in effect condemning Israel. The resolution passed seems to be this one. The resolution welcomed the earlier Goldstone report which condemned human rights abuses by Israel and Hamas alike. But it also contained a long list of condemnations […]
Reader Ken Buxton writes to point out the elegant writing and political prescience of Lawrence Durrell, author of the Alexandria Quartet. I had a shot at that massive work years ago and reeled away defeated. But I recall a stunning, lyrical description of an early morning duck-shooting expedition. The reader […]
Remember the hard wrangling on how the so-called new EU Embassies would be set up under the Lisbon Treaty and its External Action Service? No you don’t. So look here. Some very important issues at stake here, namely who ultimately gives the orders to these missions. Is it the EU […]
