What now for Brown?
July 31, 2007
Gordon Brown looked rather uncomfortable sitting less than a golf-buggy seat’s width away from George Bush in all the papers on Monday. This was after the rather pained in-flight briefing that he’d given to accompanying journalists on his admiration for all things US, the importance of the special relationship and his apparently open agenda for the meeting with Bush.
Quite why successive British prime ministers always get manoeuvred into the phony informality of Camp David on their first meeting with US presidents is a mystery. Perhaps the location of the first meeting is the beginning and end of the special relationship that Britain allegedly has with the US. Lord Malloch-Brown gleefully assured us all a week ago that Britain was not joined at the hip with the US and that there would be a normal relationship. We wait with bated breath to see whether Brown will achieve anything different. Read more
War is the reason
July 30, 2007
One week ago, Tony Blair ceased to be prime minister amid extraordinary scenes. The contrast between the anti-war demonstrations in Downing St and Whitehall as he departed and the Union Jack-waving welcome which he had received in 1997 could not have been more stark. In the House of Commons, most MPs appeared keen to forget the Iraq controversy as they gave Blair a standing ovation. Read more
It’s our Underground
July 30, 2007
July 16th was another grim day for the history of London Underground, with the collapse of Metronet, which had been responsible for upgrading a number of tube lines.
The case for London’s underground needing huge improvements is accepted by everybody. We have the world’s oldest tube network and years of underinvestment from the demise of the GLC (Greater London Council) until now have cost us dear, in terms of second rate overcrowded trains on a grossly overcrowded system. When first elected the Mayor, Ken Livingstone pledged to improve the tube system but was in favour of funding it by either traditional Treasury borrowing, or by the issuing of bonds to Londoners who would thus invest in their own tube network. This was bitterly opposed by the Treasury and the case ended up in court and the Treasury position was, unfortunately for Londoners, successful. Read more
Spiking Trident’s guns
July 24, 2007
Four months ago, the Commons voted to continue work on the replacement of the Vanguard-class submarines which carry the Trident nuclear warhead system. Two months ago, the British government representative John Duncan addressed the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review preparatory committee, in which he said that there was no inconsistency in the British position of both replacing Trident and supporting the NPT. Read more
Brown’s 12-point plan for constitutional change
July 10, 2007
Last week, Gordon Brown made a surprising start to his premiership when he proposed a whole series of constitutional changes in the Commons.
He put forward a 12-point series of reforms, which would see the government surrender powers on the declaration of war, requesting a new general election, recalling Parliament, ratifying international treaties, scrutiny of public appointments, oversight of intelligence services, the appointment of judges, the appointment of Church of England bishops, prosecutions in serious criminal cases, control of the Civil Service, the granting of passports and the granting of pardons. To many, this may seem a bizarre list of “powers” for the government to hold in the first place. Read more
People not profit
July 7, 2007
The Labour deputy leadership election did a lot to push Britain’s housing crisis up the agenda. Dagenham MP Jon Cruddas repeatedly raised the issue, calling specifically for more council housing, a demand backed by the Defend Council Housing campaign. Their efforts had an effect and the direction of debate turned to how to solve the housing problems faced by so many people in Britain. Read more
