Reino Unido (Continuación)

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Tony Blair has an important speech to make later this week. It will probably be his last opportunity to influence decisively the public debate on integration and diversity that has so dominated his time in office. Since 1997, race and immigration have steadily climbed the list of voters' priorities. They have now, according to Mori polls, arrived in the top slot, of more concern even than health or education.Tangled up in this debate is a string of emotive issues, from racism and extremist terrorism to veils and the role of faith in a secular society. Over the past near-decade, New Labour has zigzagged its way through the territory; early achievements such as the Macpherson inquiry have been lost from view in a wave of anxiety and fear that followed 9/11.…  Seguir leyendo »

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After a US State Department analyst had described his country’s relationship with Britain as “totally one-sided”, his government issued a quick denial, asserting that the relationship “is indeed a special one”. The problem with that riposte is that it lacks any tangible examples.

The Americans cannot argue that Tony Blair succeeded in persuading them to accept a major role for the United Nations in Iraq. Nor that he convinced the president to restart the roadmap peace discussions between Israel and the Palestinians. Our extradition treaty with America is wildly unequal and there are few British companies with contracts to “rebuild” an Iraq still in the process of being destroyed.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Jonathan Swift made a famous Modest Proposal in 1729 that the babies of the Irish poor should be eaten to prevent them growing up to a poverty-stricken life of crime. It was, of course, satirical. But nearly 300 years later I would like to make a modest proposal about babies that is almost as shocking, yet not at all satirical.

I’ve come reluctantly to think, especially after the senseless killing of Tom ap Rhys Pryce, that perhaps some babies, in the public interest and to prevent them growing up to a life of violence, should be forcibly taken from their mothers and adopted.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Scottish independence is now an even more popular cause in England than it is in Scotland, according to the opinion polls. It seems that many Sassenachs do not see why there should be so many Scots running England when they have an expensive Parliament of their own.

This is bad news for Gordon Brown. Certainly, he must hope not to fall victim to the same xenophobic ridicule dished out to Britain’s first Scottish Prime Minister, James Stuart, Earl of Bute.

As Samuel Johnson so frequently deplored, mid-18th-century London was full of Scots on the make, grasping the opportunities proffered them by the 1707 Act of Union.…  Seguir leyendo »

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There is, in a world of uncertainties, at least one comforting and incontrovertible truth. There’s one law for all. isn’t there? Well, no there isn’t. In this country some minority and religious groups have their own courts dispensing justice in commercial cases, neighbour disputes and divorce.

This week there has been a furious debate about whether these courts complement the national law or threaten it. The debate has been stoked by the revelation that in southeast London there is an unofficial Somali court that deals with criminal matters.

Previously, tribunals such as the Jewish Beth Din have worked as courts of arbitration in civil matters.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión EuropeaDefensa y Seguridad,

The first thing to say about the replacement for our existing Trident defence system is that Tony Blair’s claim that it has to be decided this winter, before he goes, is ludicrous. You know that. The defence White Paper, which he will unveil on Monday, is all about cutting a dash as he departs and sucking up to an arms industry at present in a state of hyperventilation.

The second thing to say is that the price tag he will quote at the dispatch box will be purely notional: plucked from the air and doomed to prove a grotesque underestimate. You know that, too.…  Seguir leyendo »

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In the hours after the UK won the right to host the Olympics, Jacques Rogge turned to Ken Livingstone and Tessa Jowell and reflected on the positive headlines. "Enjoy it," the president of the International Olympic Committee told them. "That's probably the last positive coverage you'll have between now and 2012." Isn't it depressing that just 16 months have passed and yet all who feared the Olympic bid might get bogged down in a quagmire of whingeing have been proven right?

Here's a summary of the issues thus far. The financing of the games is going to bankrupt us. At least they would if they went ahead, but the chances are that terrorists are going to blow them up anyway.…  Seguir leyendo »

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I think the word is panic. Last week the prime minister, chancellor of the exchequer, home secretary, defence secretary, trade secretary and Scots ministerial expatriates galore travelled in a posse north to a Labour conference in Oban, like a bunch of Spanish hidalgos racing back from the fleshpots of Madrid to quell a revolt in their home province.Their objective was to suppress one man, Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National party. An opinion poll had shown support for Salmond's crusade, an independent Scotland, rising to 52% of the electorate. Those regarding themselves as Scottish had risen from half to three-quarters in 25 years, while those saying "British" had halved to just 20%.…  Seguir leyendo »

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I’ve long had this one, pleasant fantasy: which is that, somehow, people get what they say they want, but it all happens in some kind of parallel existence and I don’t have to suffer from their preferences. Examples might be Osama bin Laden is left in Afghanistan, speed cameras are removed, there’s a Lib Dem government or Ken Livingstone becomes mayor of London.

On Sunday I was thinking about Scotland. A series of weekend polls seemed to be suggesting that the Scottish National Party could come out top in the elections in May, and that right now a majority of Scots would favour a move to complete independence from the United Kingdom.…  Seguir leyendo »

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The current prime minister could hardly have put it more starkly. Nationalism "is ... the basest metal of politics, the politics of grievance". And, for once, the prime minister we are about to get agrees. Sever the ties that bind and "it's not only bad for economics, but bad for the solidarity that should exist ... across countries in the world".Are they belabouring Sinn Féin, the Daily Mail, some dodgy new government in Warsaw? No: it's that time of year again - conference season for the Scottish Labour party. And this time there's an edge of desperation to the Oban attack.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocialEuropaUnión Europea,

A young American friend last week visited Camden Lock, north London, and returned amazed. In a hundred yards he was offered brazenly in the street just about every drug he could imagine. It was easier to buy cannabis or cocaine than a cigarette or a can of beer. The experience could have been repeated in any city centre in Britain. The drug market is totally unregulated and as a result totally dangerous. Welcome to 10 years of Tony Blair’s “war on drugs”.

This war makes the war on terror look like a pushover. The latest figures from the European drug monitoring agency indicate that Britain leads the continent in cocaine and heroin use and is equalled only by Denmark for cannabis.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalTerrorismo InternacionalEuropaUnión Europea

The destruction of a reputation through the media is a tactic we have seen before when serious police errors have come into the public domain. Duwayne Brooks, the witness to Stephen Lawrence's murder, suffered years of arrests, on charges from rape to stealing a car (his own), but they were always dropped or thrown out of court. It is no surprise then that Mohammed Abdul Kahar, shot last June in his home in Forest Gate, east London, by police looking for a dirty bomb, got the full treatment.

The family was reported as living it up in expensive hotels before the police let them move back into their home; Mr Kahar had reportedly spat at soldiers in their barracks, saying he hoped they would "die in Iraq"; then he was arrested on suspicion of making pornographic pictures of children on the computer he had bought second hand to study maths and English.…  Seguir leyendo »

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King Thibaw, the last monarch of Burma, adored his white elephant to distraction. The beast was so rare that its capture caused national rejoicing and it never left the royal palace. Its tusks were studded with gems, and sprays of diamonds covered its forehead. A gold plaque listing noble titles hung round its neck. Gold umbrellas protected it from the sun, and over its gilded trough rose a great mirror to reflect its majestic beauty. No riches were too precious for the elephant, for on its prosperity rested the good fortune of the king.

There was only one sensible question for the Commons select committee on the Olympics to ask the games minister, Tessa Jowell, last Tuesday.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión EuropeaDefensa y Seguridad,

The cabinet is expected to have its first discussion today on a decision that will have momentous consequences, of the kind that surfaces once in a generation. We could be forgiven for assuming it is a forgone conclusion. But is it? The issue is the future of Britain's nuclear deterrent, now in the form of four submarines, each able to carry 16 US Trident missiles, each of which can carry 12 warheads. In the Commons yesterday Tony Blair repeated his well-worn, indeed predictable, view that Britain should retain an "independent" nuclear deterrent, a position echoed by Gordon Brown in the summer as he began to dress up in prime ministerial clothes.…  Seguir leyendo »

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It is disappointing that the debate on aviation's role in climate change is guided more by emotion than facts. George Monbiot's call for a freeze on all new airport construction, and the introduction of a national quota for landing slots, is a case in point (Drastic action on climate change is needed now - and here's the plan, October 31).He lays much of the blame for climate change at aviation's door, but he ignores some basic truths. UN scientists from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimate aviation's contribution to global carbon emissions to be just 2%. To put things in perspective, road traffic contributes 18% globally, while the fossil fuels used to generate heat and power contribute 35%.…  Seguir leyendo »

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What is it about a desert that drives men mad? On Monday morning the prime minister stood on the Afghan sand and said: "Here in this extraordinary piece of desert is where the fate of world security in the early 21st century is going to be decided."

Tony Blair was talking to soldiers he had sent to fight the toughest guerrillas on earth for control of southern Afghanistan. He told them: "Your defeat [of the Taliban] is not just on behalf of the people of Afghanistan but the people of Britain ... We have got to stay for as long as it takes."…  Seguir leyendo »

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Curves are in fashion. Not just in The Sun and Vogue, but also in The Economist, Prospect and, well, The Times. In a recent Spectator article William Skidelsky pointed out that many of the latest fashionable intellectual ideas are based on graphs.

It started with Malcolm Gladwell’s incredibly successful book The Tipping Point, for instance, in which he argued that the incidence of, say, criminal behaviour or the purchase of Hush Puppies travelled along a similar curve to that of an infectious disease.

More recently Chris Anderson’s book The Long Tail provided a graphical account of the rise of the internet.…  Seguir leyendo »

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I am passionate about this! cried Tessa Jowell as she gave evidence on the London Olympics to MPs yesterday. And I thought, oh no, give me politicians who are not passionate; give me politicians who can add up.

Like the Chancellor. I bet Gordon Brown is worried and furious about these Games. The extent to which the Treasury trusts the Olympic planners is clear from the fact that they have demanded a contingency fund of 60 per cent of the budget for cost-overruns, compared with a normal construction contract which would require just 20 per cent. London 2012 has, and always did have, the makings of an economic nightmare about it: a massive, unfunded infrastructure project on sites we didn’t yet own, built on land contaminated to a degree we hadn’t yet discovered, with uncertainties from transport to security to, well, everything, but with one unyielding and deadly certainty to it: we had to do it by the summer of 2012, a fixed and extremely brief timescale.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Polly Toynbee has launched a magnificent but spectacularly dangerous argument for mass surveillance across Britain (CCTV conspiracy mania is a very middle-class disorder, November 7). With sweeping brush-strokes she trashes concern over CCTV, DNA databases and identity cards as a middle class "righteous indignation" underpinned by a sinister and self-absorbed "moral blindness". For Ms Toynbee, the battle against "gross inequality" is the only game in town, and we middle-class conspiracy nuts are getting in the way of solving that problem.

"The world is a dangerous place," she argues. "A heating globe threatens drought, war and mass migration ... Terrorists may blow up proliferating nuclear power stations."…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalTerrorismo InternacionalEuropaUnión Europea

You have to work a little to crack the Da Eliza code. Most headline writers, last week, stopped at the MI5 chief's flurry of oddly precise figures: 30 petrifying plots pending, 200 terrorist groupings identified, 1,600 dodgy individuals under surveillance. And even when you got beyond such chill statistics, there were still red herrings swimming around. "It's difficult to argue that there are not worse problems facing us, for example climate change," she suddenly announced halfway through her timber-shivering lecture. Espionage boss demands more loft insulation? Where's the blood-stained brick road to Jerusalem there?

But then she began talking about "the roots of terrorism" and the coding grew more transparent.…  Seguir leyendo »