Category: Current Affairs

One of the benefits of closer relations between the EU and North Africa may be greater energy security. Not Libyan oil, but the enormous wastes of the north Sahara, and the possibilities there for solar power. Scientific American looks at a grand plan for solar in the South West of the US. We might want to think about doing the same in southern Europe or North Africa.

The Observer is reporting a Mirror story on a new MP expenses row, this time about the Speaker himself. Read the piece to see the not-particularly-gory details, but it centres around the use of air miles gained on official business for family trips to London.

Perhaps I’m wrong, but I thought the point of Air Miles was to enable travellers to get some payback on their travel, and to keep them loyal customers on whatever airline it is. Certainly, the frequent business travellers I know use Air Miles for themselves, even if they earn them on their company’s dime.

I therefore just don’t understand the rules that ban Ministers and officials from using Air Miles gained on official business for their own purposes. It’s not like stealing office supplies – you don’t pay extra to get Air Miles. I suppose one reason for the ban might be that it discourages people from booking unnecessarily expensive flights, or travelling more than they need, but I would have thought that if that was the aim, more effective safeguards could be put in place, while still allowing people some small payback on the miseries of airline travel.

There’s a wider reflection here of a modern paradox: paranoia about use of “taxpayers’ money”, combined with a complete insouciance about the same public’s money when put into Barclays, Orange or one of the other big oligopolies. Public servants get lower average pay, few bonuses and much more public scrutiny than their private sector counterparts. They can’t travel first class (a friend who works in a senior role at a major bank is banned from travelling economy in case it reflects badly on the bank), they can’t accept gifts of more than £25 value, and, of course, they can’t use those free air miles. Honours, job security, and public sector ethos are meant to bridge the gap – but it’s a gap that’s starting to look pretty wide.

BBC reports: global warming saves a few rich white people. Hurrah! Out with the 4x4s!

It also kills lots of poor brown people, but hey.

How are the right-wing headbangers at Free Republic reacting to John McCain’s presumptive nomination as Republican candidate? Not well. Here’s a hopeful soul elsewhere on the site answering the question ‘what now?’:

For me, since I’m an Arizona resident, it’s pretty simple. I start agitating for Senator McCain to drop out and endorse a strong conservative dark horse candidate at the convention. I will continually remind him that he himself said that it is critical to the good of the country that the Dems not get in the White House and that he must ensure that by making sure a true conservative option is available to the country.
Refusing to do so is putting his own ambition above the good of the country. The country deserves his sacrifice again. I hope that his honor reminds him of this.

Also, some Freepers are still using GWOT unironically. Welcome to 2008, guys! Tired martial rhetoric goes in the corner over there.

It gave us the Euro, the European Union (rather than the European Communities) and common foreign and security policies, and all without a referendum. Thanks, Conservative party! BBC article.

Le Monde reports on a pro-referendum demonstration coming up tomorrow near Paris, and it’s interesting that the people calling for a referendum in France are the anti-business, pro-regulation brigade. Yes, the treaty is just too Anglo-Saxon and too liberalising, so there has to be a referendum, say the protesters (because of their deep personal commitment to direct democracy, of course).

Now here’s an odd contradiction: four parties from the European far right have come together in the European Parliament to propose a new pan-European party of ultra-nationalists. They need three other parties to join them for the party to get party rights in the Parliament, but their eventual goal is to have a member party in each state of the Union. Then they can presumably all join hands and hate each other. (BBC).

A number of MPs have renewed calls for a referendum on the EU constitution, reports the BBC. This is, of course, because of their deep personal commitment to direct democracy. The fact that a lot of the public happen to agree with their personal views on the constitution is entirely irrelevant.

Their deep personal commitment to direct democracy has outweighed the fact that a referendum on the EU treaty would be conducted in the pages of a ragingly paranoid press, and in an atmosphere where rational debate and consideration appears to be absolutely impossible.

It should also be noted that all those in favour of a referendum on the treaty are either Euro-sceptics or whatever you call people who want to declare war on Germany. But this is obviously just one of those remarkable coincidences. The only thing that brings them together is their deep personal commitment to direct democracy.

Douglas Carswell wants to cut down on boring speeches in the Commons and spend more time holding Government to account, according to . Interesting idea: if they can introduce Westminster Hall for extra debating, why not introduce extra scrutiny?

Really interesting article in Foreign Affairs this month, sets out very clearly the importance of building a liberal international order that can accommodate the rise of China rather than try and resist it. The article is mostly about the US, as is natural given its source, but there is a great deal that Europe needs to do to prepare for the new multi-polar world.