Honours mean little especially when the head of the Treasury gets a knighthood in this of all years. However Michael Sheen who has played Blair twice and now Frost gets an OBE. Most odd for a 39 year old actor who has hardly touched greatness.
Maybe Brown thinks he will make a good war leader!
I am not religious in anyway. However I was hooked by this mornings Today programme edited by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. Some of his pieces were enlightening and were lead in the main by the sacked Stourton.
The BBC has made the most ill judged decision in his sacking. Just compare him to the awful Evan Davis and then decide where the axe should fall.
Come on the BBC, reinstate Stourton without delay!
The escalating crisis in the Middle East changes the dynamics rather for Obama as he prepares to take office. Obviously the economy will be his priority, but it will take a while for him to do anything on this that will make a difference.
Gaza gives him the opportunity stamp himself on the world stage without delay. What will he do? Will he be different and attempt a new approach?
As usual Robert Fisk puts his views bluntly. He is right, what will the latest bombing solve?
Brown needs to be careful. His NY spin will be the economy and how he and Obama can save the world. Obama may have other ideas.
Here we go. Brown is becoming more delusional as time goes by. Just read his “leaked” New Year message, Recession 'a test of character'. His main point seems to be:
In next week's New Year message, the prime minister is expected to urge the public to "display the same spirit" as their predecessors did in World War II.
There is no stopping him as he attempts to move all the blame on the current weakness in the UK economy onto others, and the solutions also.
Then there is the new Labour spin that Obama will come to the rescue:
He will also describe US president-elect Barack Obama as a "catalyst" for tackling global issues.
Next we will have Brown suggesting that he meet Obama in a ship off Newfoundland just as Churchill meet Roosevelt in 1941.
Have you started smoking cigars Gordon?
There is little point in a few words trying to sum up Pinter’s life. Few will ever surpass his influence in any field.
A coincidence that on the day I read The Same Man (see below), Pinter joins Orwell and Waugh in another life.
There are not many (Freud, Keynes and Marx come to mind) that had more influence in the 2oth century and still do today.
A sad passing.
This book, The Same Man, was been sitting on my desk since I purchased it soon after publication. It is fascinating and I read the 200 odd pages in one sitting. It charts the parallel lives of Waugh and Orwell and argues, correctly, that the were in fact postulating the same thoughts, hence the title.
What stuck me most of all was the concluding chapter, which takes the books title.
You have to read the book to fully appreciate the arguments put forward. It has frightening conclusions on how the modern world is governed and educated.
New Labour fits the world they dreaded perfectly.
What luck to see a preview of Frost/Nixon. Peter Morgan does it again. It is brilliantly written and produced. Frost has never been convincing in his interviews. However he took the risks and reaped the rewards with the Nixon interviews. A must see.
Who comes out on top in the end? It is far from clear cut.
What is going on behind the instant apology by Bob Quick? Something is not quite right here. Clearly there is no leadership at the Met but what else? Is this to do with the arrest of Damien Green or Boris’s involvement in the resignation of Blair?
The Government and the Met need to get a grip and fast, otherwise we are going to have police force without credibility. Perhaps we have reached that point already?
Surely it would beyond Mandy to leak this. So who then?
The obvious conclusion is that the investigation into Damian Green is now at an end.
Where does this leave the police?
This post by the indispensible Robert Peston drops Brown’s policy right in it. In the blog he says that the taxpayer may not get all of the loaned money back. And then this:
What some may therefore see as worrying is that there is no sign right now of the Bank of England, or the Treasury or the Financial Services Authority being endowed with such bubble-busting powers.
In other words, Brown has not done enough or tackled the underlying problems. The banks are now starting to admit their errors. It is about time Brown did the same!
Not that anybody had any doubt, but Kinnock was a complete wind bag on Marr this morning, whereas was Hague was pithy and pitched his answers spot on to Marr’s awful questioning.
The point was proved at the end of the programme when Hague’s quotes on the social fund proposals lead the news.
What should be remembered is that this is a stunt by Labour’s spin machine to test the water. The latest proposal will not see the light of day. Dizzy has already fallen through the trap door.
This is just a diversion from the real crisis in the government at the moment which is split on what to do about Jaguar. So the spin on the social fund has worked, as Jaguar did not get a mention.
Rentoul in the Indy this morning sets out the Government's dilemma with his usual precision.
So it takes Opec to hit back over Brown's ludicrous claims today on oil prices.
Mr El-Badri, Opec's secretary general, told the BBC the UK had benefited more than most countries from high oil prices because its taxes on petrol and oil extraction were the "highest in Europe".
"Instead of looking at Opec he should look at his policies and try to reduce taxes," he told the World at One. "Then he can talk to us."
Again where are the Tories on this. Why does it take someone from Opec to make these sensible if obvious comments.
If The Tories do not start instant rebuttals every time Brown makes the headlines, the election is going to be a one horse race.
Brown really is becoming delusional. A pity that Dr Anthony Clare is no longer with us. He would have a field day.
Just today Brown said this:
he had given "no thought" to an election in 2009. I thought the guy was a politician!
he insisted the country had been "the victim of a global downturn". Nothing to do with my policies mate!
he said it was "unfortunate" that the UK had been "unable to avoid being affected" by events elsewhere. Really. So it is not the global economy after all!
he said "We face problems, many of which we have no control over," Apart from when the economy does well. Then it is all down to Brown.
Enough said.
More importantly he is getting away with these silly statements that he no doubt believes. The Tories have no response. They had better get one quick otherwise 4 more years of opposition beckons, on matter what the UK Polling Report says
If anyone can argue against this UK Polling Report Blog about why there will be an early election, then go ahead.
If the economists are right about 2009 then stand by for an early poll.
How ironic that Brown has been able to use Iraq to sideline the awful economic news of the last couple of days. Clearly borrowing is now out of control as the latest figures indicate.
What other smokescreens has Brown got up his sleeve to kick the economic news down the news agenda?
They have used Iraq, what next for Moses and Mandy? I bet they let the election rumours run and run. January and February will bring more dreadful economic and financial news. So what do they do? Call an election on 26th February.
More surprising things have happened!
Old Mandy loves it. This must be the quote of the day from the old master:
Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, said last night that Woolworths’ fate provided a warning to other long-established high street names.
He said it was a “company that didn’t march forward with the times, didn’t change with the times in the way you need to in an increasingly competitive marketplace”.
Lord Mandelson said that many of the sacked staff would have a good chance of finding work elsewhere in the retail sector.
Nothing to do with Labour economic policy of course. It is the last para that is total rubbish. Sad but he is getting away with it.
Where is the Tory response?
Does Explorer have to be bundled with Windows for some reason better known to Microsoft?
I have been using it for years until some months ago when I installed Firefox. I have never looked back. It is much faster and can be customised.
Microsoft’s products are taken for granted by most of us, but with the latest serious security flaws, is not about time that Explorer was decoupled from Windows and user’s were offered better alternatives?
After all, how secure are Microsoft's products?
Although tonight's edition was fairly good, I suggest the programme needs a revamp. I find it a struggle to get to the end most nights, especially after the 11pm news round up.
The programme has a new editor. Maybe he could start by bringing in Ed Stourton in time for an early election?
I am pretty sure Ed has no wish to go on presenting Today until next September.
The man who's resigned his government post this morning has declared that it "beggars belief" that Dutch company TNT could be brought in to advise Royal Mail on its operations.
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