Gary Younge writes an interesting piece in the Guardian on the tendency of America and others to excuse irrational behaviour through claiming the moral high ground of victimisation. It seems as though other people are beginning to feel the same … Continue reading →

The rather bitter-sounding book by Derek Scott, one of Tony Blair’s former advisors, is getting a lot of coverage at the moment. A section was extracted yesterday in the eurosceptic Sunday Times, which (amongst the vitriol, speculation and attempts to … Continue reading →

It was basically complaining at my rather off-hand dismissal of American fears of and reactions to terrorism. (For the full comment, which is reasonably argued, and should really be read in full before reading this post, see here.) I�m sorry … Continue reading →

It has to be said, Manic has a great talent for getting things spot on: 1. The War on Terror is a lie that will not protect you from terrorists 2. The War on Terror is being used to curb … Continue reading →

Yesterday’s Daily Mail was amusing, but has got some people pissed off. It’s a load of overblown bollocks, that’s for sure. But one thing this whole business has done is turn me from loosely pro-hunt (I grew up in the … Continue reading →

Interesting piece in the New York Times about the US Embassy in London (here registration required). Well, I say interesting, but for anyone who’s had the misfortune of wandering through Grosvenor Square at any point in the last three years … Continue reading →

Yay for Sir Patrick Cormack! OK, I’ll admit here I’m biased as I used to work for the man, like him personally and still meet him for a drink on a semi-regular basis, but top work! “By this time, and … Continue reading →

According to Fareed Zakaria (the editor of Newsweek International, but writing in Foreign Policy), Europe is “the only other player with the resources and tradition to play a global role… U.S. and European goals on most issues are quite similar. … Continue reading →

Looks like the European Constitution debates are going to continue to hot up. The upcoming Labour conference could see a clash between the pro and anti camps within the party come into the open. This could be a good thing, … Continue reading →

Gerry Adams, the leader of the IRA’s political wing Sinn F�in, writes in the Guardian about his hopes and doubts for the new Northen Irish peace talks due to take place later this week, nearly twenty years after the IRA … Continue reading →

Most US news sources seem, understandably, preoccupied with coverage of the third anniversary of the World Trade Center disaster. Having said that, there is a good deal of coverage of other major events, from scary rumours of an imminent North … Continue reading →

Poor old Gordon Brown. First he sees a bunch of his ministerial allies disappear back to the backbenches, then he sees the return of Alan Milburn to the Cabinet in an apparent challenge to Brown�s control over Labour�s election strategy, … Continue reading →

The man�s quite possibly the biggest tit in Britain. The UK Independence Party (I refuse to call them UKIP on principle, and certainly refuse to pronounce it in the particularly stupid way they seep to prefer) is a pathetic enough … Continue reading →

Was having a chat in the pub last night with a friend of mine, who seems pretty upbeat about Kerry’s chances come November. He’s been ‘doing the electoral college math’ and finds the good senator from Massachusetts coming in with … Continue reading →