http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/?service=Rss http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/vanessa-mock-a-reputation-forged-by-putting-off-difficult-decisions-1824933.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/vanessa-mock-a-reputation-forged-by-putting-off-difficult-decisions-1824933.html <p>He is known for being a poet and a skilled political operator, but despite having just clinched the prized post of becoming the EU's first President, Herman van Rompuy has remained silent on his ambitions for Europe.</p> Commentators Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/amy-jenkins-we-cant-help-ourselves-our-love-affair-with-skinny-just-goes-on-1824940.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/amy-jenkins-we-cant-help-ourselves-our-love-affair-with-skinny-just-goes-on-1824940.html <p> In a brief interview with Women's Wear Daily, Kate Moss, below, talks repeatedly about making jam. </p> Commentators Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/andrew-grice/andrew-grice-blair-beaten-but-a-coup-for-brown-nonetheless-1824946.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/andrew-grice/andrew-grice-blair-beaten-but-a-coup-for-brown-nonetheless-1824946.html <p>Tony Blair knew the game was up a week ago. He admitted it in telephone calls to Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel. It was clear that the job described as "President of Europe" was going to be nothing of the sort. After eight years of navel-gazing, the European Union had finally decided to appoint ... well, someone to chair meetings of its 27 leaders. Big deal.</p> Andrew Grice Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/denis-macshane-at-last-britain-wins-a-eurotitle-1824959.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/denis-macshane-at-last-britain-wins-a-eurotitle-1824959.html <p>Listening to Justin Webb stuttering himself into silence on Today yesterday morning was a reminder of how poorly trained London-based journalists are on how Europe works. Webb was a master of Capitol Hill in Washington and unrivalled in reporting the nuances of US politics. But when it comes to Europe, the Westminster-White City media bubble is lost. </p> Commentators Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/the-truth-is-out-there-21112009-1824964.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/the-truth-is-out-there-21112009-1824964.html <p>*A convicted serial arsonist has been told he can keep his $50,000 firefighter's pension. Lieutenant Jeffrey "Matches" Boyle, who used to worked for the Chicago fire service, was sentenced to six years in prison in 2006 for eight counts of arson but released last year. The Firemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago withdrew his pension but a judge overturned the decision after Boyle appealed, The Chicago Tribune reported.</p> Commentators Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/christina-patterson/christina-patterson-what-we-can-learn-from-the-sikh-in-the-bnp-1824962.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/christina-patterson/christina-patterson-what-we-can-learn-from-the-sikh-in-the-bnp-1824962.html <p>So, the BNP is about to welcome a Mr Rajinder Singh. And, quite frankly, it's a bit of a shock. Members of the party that wants to put the "great" back in Great Britain are meant to look as though they've spent their lives in bunkers, safely locked away from sunlight, or people who've been in sunlight. Ideally, they should look as though they live on internet porn and chips. </p> Christina Patterson Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/philip-norman-the-human-drama-that-unfolds-in-every-snatch-of-overheard-conversation-1824961.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/philip-norman-the-human-drama-that-unfolds-in-every-snatch-of-overheard-conversation-1824961.html <p>The other morning, I was waiting in the concourse at London King's Cross – wondering why all mainline stations nowadays have to smell of Cornish pasties – when a hugely tall, long-legged Buddhist monk sat down on the bench beside me, fumbled inside his brown robe and took out a mobile phone.</p> Commentators Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/paul-woolley-it-is-the-best-and-worst-of-times-for-anglocatholic-relations-1824949.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/paul-woolley-it-is-the-best-and-worst-of-times-for-anglocatholic-relations-1824949.html <p>Today's meeting between the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and Pope Benedict XVI is likely to reflect the best and worst of times for Anglican-Catholic relations.</p> Commentators Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fiskrsquos-world-scars-of-the-past-reveal-britains-doomed-empire-in-hong-kong-1824966.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fiskrsquos-world-scars-of-the-past-reveal-britains-doomed-empire-in-hong-kong-1824966.html <p>Up on Diamond Hill, the British Second World War pillbox looks like one of Enver Hoxha's frontier bunkers, a dome of pre-stressed concrete with rectangular gun slits, the last remnant of Britain's imperial disaster in Hong Kong, a reminder of that most terrible of Christmas Days in 1941. And here, amid the detritus of that ferocious Japanese victory, Kipling hits it to a T: </p> Robert Fisk Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-may-prevention-is-better-than-cure-for-the-young-unemployed-1824776.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-may-prevention-is-better-than-cure-for-the-young-unemployed-1824776.html <p> Three months after official Government figures showed that one in five of 16 to 24-year-olds were out of work, latest figures show a worryingly high amount of young people are still searching for work. </p> Commentators Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:18:54 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ben-chu-the-ideology-that-supports-big-finance-1824647.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ben-chu-the-ideology-that-supports-big-finance-1824647.html <p> I've post many blogs describing the bizarre scene of elected politicians dancing to the tunes of a discredited banking sector. </p> Commentators Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:45:17 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/sam-zarifi-if-afghanistan-fails-who-will-pay-the-price-1824628.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/sam-zarifi-if-afghanistan-fails-who-will-pay-the-price-1824628.html <p> Debate about the risks faced by the international community in supporting President Hamid Karzai’s “corrupt” Afghan government regularly omits the people that matter most: Afghans. </p> Commentators Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:43:00 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/sam-zarifi-if-afghanistan-fails-who-will-pay-the-price-1824601.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/sam-zarifi-if-afghanistan-fails-who-will-pay-the-price-1824601.html <p> Debate about the risks faced by the international community in supporting President Hamid Karzai’s “corrupt” Afghan government regularly omits the people that matter most: Afghans. </p> Commentators Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:30:28 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ben-chu-britains-european-confusion-1824529.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ben-chu-britains-european-confusion-1824529.html <p> The appointment of the new EU council president and high representative has helped to expose some of the confusion at the heart of the British debate about Europe. </p> Commentators Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:13:18 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ruth-spellman-why-do-women-struggle-to-break-into-top-boardrooms-1824527.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ruth-spellman-why-do-women-struggle-to-break-into-top-boardrooms-1824527.html <p> When it comes to getting the top jobs, sadly, women are still lagging behind men. A report published this week by the Cranfield University School of Management reveals that growth in the number of women on FTSE 100 boards has stalled over the past year. T </p> Commentators Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:56:03 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/douglas-alexander-fighting-together-for-a-safer-future-for-the-worlds-children-1824470.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/douglas-alexander-fighting-together-for-a-safer-future-for-the-worlds-children-1824470.html <p> Earlier today, I visited World Vision's UK headquarters to hear first hand from their staff about their latest campaign: 'Child Health Now'. </p> Commentators Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:47:06 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-the-real-reason-obama-is-not-making-much-progress-1823863.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-the-real-reason-obama-is-not-making-much-progress-1823863.html ]]> <p>Almost a year after Barack Obama ascended to the White House, many of his supporters are bemused. His healthcare bill is a hefty improvement but it still won't provide coverage for all Americans, and may not provide a public alternative to the over-charging insurance companies - if it passes at all. His environmental team is vandalising the vital Copenhagen conference by saying the US – the single biggest emitter of warming gases – will not sign up to any legally binding restrictions there. He has placed the deregulation-fanatics who caused the New Depression, like Lawrence Summers, in charge of the recovery. Despite the real improvements on Bush – such as the end of torture, the resumption of stem-cell research, and opposition to the coup in Honduras – many people are asking: why he is delivering so little, so slowly? </p> Johann Hari Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/steve-richards/steve-richards-party-leaders-still-fear-the-holiday-test-1823867.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/steve-richards/steve-richards-party-leaders-still-fear-the-holiday-test-1823867.html <p>I wonder if any of the party leaders has booked a long holiday in the sun over Christmas and the New Year. In my view they would deserve one, but I am almost certainly in a tiny minority of about three voters on this issue. In the current climate most would probably fume with outraged indignation if they say saw Gordon Brown or David Cameron relaxing in the sun during the depths of a bleak midwinter. </p> Steve Richards Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/terence-blacker/terence-blacker-a-great-day-for-famous-dogooders-1823869.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/terence-blacker/terence-blacker-a-great-day-for-famous-dogooders-1823869.html <p>Today is our national caring day. Across the country, people will be involved in activities – sporting, musical or just plain odd – which will raise money for charity. On the BBC, the famous will be doing their bit by playing the fool, putting on silly costumes and generally allowing the giving, good-natured side of their personalities a public outing.</p> Terence Blacker Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mary-dejevsky/mary-dejevsky-cashmachine-man-in-need-of-withdrawal-1823873.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mary-dejevsky/mary-dejevsky-cashmachine-man-in-need-of-withdrawal-1823873.html <p>O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! I have arrived at the local cash-machine to find no one there. And by no one, I don't just mean there's no queue, although there isn't. I mean that there is no one lingering, lurking, sitting, lying, sleeping or otherwise occupying the space between the door of the NatWest bank and the door of the Costcutter store where the machine is sited.</p> Mary Dejevsky Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/andreas-whittam-smith/andreas-whittam-smith-reforming-the-banks-wont-be-easy-ndash-but-it-can-still-be-done-1823871.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/andreas-whittam-smith/andreas-whittam-smith-reforming-the-banks-wont-be-easy-ndash-but-it-can-still-be-done-1823871.html <p>The announcement in the Queen's Speech that there will be stronger legislation to curb the banks is no more than a staging post. For the action of one government in one territory cannot be the end of the matter. Banking is largely an international business. Individual units will undertake as great a part of their activities as possible in markets where regulation is lightest. It is as certain that banks will try to avoid controls on their activities by moving their locations as it is that rich people will seek to dodge taxation by the same means.</p> Andreas Whittam Smith Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/susie-rushton-the-raw-truth-about-tv-chefs-in-the-flesh-1823870.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/susie-rushton-the-raw-truth-about-tv-chefs-in-the-flesh-1823870.html <p>Its catchline was, inevitably, "Days out don't get bigger than this!" and in one sense this was true. Olympia's Grand Hall, once you get inside and look up at its Victorian glass-and-iron barrel-vaulted roof, is indeed grand.</p> Commentators Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/geoff-mulgan-only-with-an-act-of-political-courage-can-we-recivilise-our-economy-1823874.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/geoff-mulgan-only-with-an-act-of-political-courage-can-we-recivilise-our-economy-1823874.html <p>Over a year after the darkest days of the financial crisis, many now hope for a return to business as usual. Others argue we'll only avoid future crises if for-profit financial services are balanced by institutions driven by different values and business models. </p> Commentators Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/steve-connor-huge-potential-balanced-against-ethical-fears-1824104.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/steve-connor-huge-potential-balanced-against-ethical-fears-1824104.html <p>It is easy to get confused over stem cells. It doesn't help that there are several different types of stem cell but the one involved in this proposed clinical trial happens to be the most powerful and the most controversial – embryonic stem cells.</p> Commentators Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-lichfield/john-lichfield-the-hand-of-dieu-ndash-but-with-heads-hung-1824115.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-lichfield/john-lichfield-the-hand-of-dieu-ndash-but-with-heads-hung-1824115.html <p>Jubilation struggled with embarrassment in France after Thierry Henry's "main de Dieu" qualified les Bleus for the World Cup finals. On the whole, embarrassment won. </p> John Lichfield Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/simon-carr/the-sketch-ed-balls-the-dull-thud-of-a-party-next-door-1824111.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/simon-carr/the-sketch-ed-balls-the-dull-thud-of-a-party-next-door-1824111.html <p>Can't they put Ed Balls into law? Make him the subject of a Guarantee? Can't he be a right that every parent has? If for the first time Balls was put on a statutory basis millions of people would be certain of access to him.</p> Simon Carr Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-lichfield/john-lichfield-dream-ticket-may-send-the-rest-of-europe-to-sleep-1824100.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-lichfield/john-lichfield-dream-ticket-may-send-the-rest-of-europe-to-sleep-1824100.html <p>They will be cheering in the bars of Riga and stomping their feet in the pubs of Rotherham. Europe's dynamic duo is... Herman van Rompuy and Baroness Ashton. </p> John Lichfield Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ben-chu-are-foreign-troops-really-the-problem-in-afghanistan-1823576.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ben-chu-are-foreign-troops-really-the-problem-in-afghanistan-1823576.html <p> It's often asserted, here for instance, that the presence of US and Nato troops in Afghanistan is stoking violence in Afghanistan, giving the Taliban an opponent against which to organise nationalist resistance, and that the best way to help the local population is to pull those forces out. </p> Commentators Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:45:40 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/matthew-norman/matthew-norman-no-wonder-the-queen-raised-an-eyebrow-while-she-read-it-1823094.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/matthew-norman/matthew-norman-no-wonder-the-queen-raised-an-eyebrow-while-she-read-it-1823094.html ]]> <p>From a Queen's Speech modelled more closely on adolescent sex than parliamentary convention (hours of breathless anticipation, then wham, bam, thank you Ma'am, it's over in about two seconds), I learned two things.</p> Matthew Norman Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/david-davis-crunch-time-for-a-botched-mission-1823095.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/david-davis-crunch-time-for-a-botched-mission-1823095.html <p>It is not uncommon in British history for the early stages of counter-insurgency campaigns to be littered with mistakes and false starts. Few, however, can have been pursued with the uncomprehending incompetence of this Government in its actions in Afghanistan.</p> Commentators Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/guy-adams-twitraunts-are-no-flash-in-the-pan-1823101.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/guy-adams-twitraunts-are-no-flash-in-the-pan-1823101.html <p>On old Route 66 just outside LA, there's a museum marking the spot where, in 1940, two brothers called Dick and Mac McDonald opened the world's first restaurant which made hamburgers on a production line – thereby spawning an entire, artery-clogging global fast-food industry.</p> Commentators Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/adrian-hamilton/adrian-hamilton-you-cant-choose-a-camel-this-way-let-alone-two-horses-1823100.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/adrian-hamilton/adrian-hamilton-you-cant-choose-a-camel-this-way-let-alone-two-horses-1823100.html <p>Dithering is not necessarily a bad thing in international affairs. If President Obama is right to procrastinate over more troops for Afghanistan (as he is), you could equally argue that the European Union leaders are doing us all a favour by taking their time in deciding the new posts of President and High Representative.</p> Adrian Hamilton Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/douglas-alexander-ignore-the-fashionable-criticism-your-governments-aid-is-effective-1823105.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/douglas-alexander-ignore-the-fashionable-criticism-your-governments-aid-is-effective-1823105.html <p>Every year British taxpayers are helping save the lives of millions of people in the developing world. They are doing so because their money is being carefully and rigorously targeted at improving health care in some of the most disadvantaged nations in the world. As a result of the efforts of donor governments, international institutions such as the World Bank and NGOs real progress is being made. Polio, once the scourge of the poor worldwide, is on the verge of eradication, more than 4.5 million people are being treated for TB and a further three million now have access to life-saving drugs.</p> Commentators Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/simon-carr/the-sketch-more-a-living-will-than-a-queens-speech-1823213.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/simon-carr/the-sketch-more-a-living-will-than-a-queens-speech-1823213.html <p>"Check against delivery". That was the instruction on the front of the Queen's Speech. It's the one thing we don't have to worry about with our head of state. She won't get seized with inspiration and announce a "November Guarantee to create 30,000 jobs".</p> Simon Carr Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/damian-chalmers-europe-is-in-love-with-symbols-but-the-reality-is-much-more-dull-1823223.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/damian-chalmers-europe-is-in-love-with-symbols-but-the-reality-is-much-more-dull-1823223.html <p>At the last European summit 18 days ago, the continent's leaders were discussing international issues of critical importance. Today, they meet again, and the drumroll is just as deafening – but the agenda doesn't match. Rarely, if ever, has there been such a distinguished gathering and such political investment to consider such undistinguished jobs.</p> Commentators Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/andrew-grice/andrew-grice-a-belated-attempt-to-force-the-hand-of-the-tory-gamblers-1823214.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/andrew-grice/andrew-grice-a-belated-attempt-to-force-the-hand-of-the-tory-gamblers-1823214.html ]]> <p>The early morning radio and television headlines yesterday gave the game away: the Queen's Speech will include more public service reforms, including measures to provide care for the elderly in their own homes. Oh, and by the way, one of the Bills will ensure the Government halves the huge deficit in the public finances in four years.</p> Andrew Grice Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/michael-brown-a-waste-of-her-majestys-time-ndash-and-parliaments-1823212.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/michael-brown-a-waste-of-her-majestys-time-ndash-and-parliaments-1823212.html <p>"My Lords and Members of the House of Commons, I know this speech is a complete waste of my time – and yours. I will have to return in 26 weeks' time (although I know many of you in the Commons will not) when my new government will at least have a mandate to introduce a programme for a full Parliament – backed by the authority of my people. </p> Commentators Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/lisa-markwell-private-lives-are-a-thing-of-the-past-1823104.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/lisa-markwell-private-lives-are-a-thing-of-the-past-1823104.html <p>It is now safer to assume that nothing is really private any more. The news that our mobile telephone billing information has routinely been sold by T-Mobile employees to the highest bidder is just the latest in the chip, chip, chipping away of our closely guarded personal information. Those cold calls to ask if one was about to finish a mobile phone contract were always suspiciously prescient, and now we know why. </p> Commentators Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/victoria-summerley-lets-big-up-the-junction-1823102.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/victoria-summerley-lets-big-up-the-junction-1823102.html <p>Clapham Junction has long held the reputation of being the busiest railway station in Britain – indeed, there are signs on the platforms stating so. It's not the busiest in terms of passenger numbers – Waterloo holds that particular claim to fame – but it is the busiest in terms of rail traffic. Apart from the Waterloo services, trains from Victoria – the third busiest station in the UK – pass through, along with trains from the West London line.</p> Commentators Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/peter-oborne-and-james-jones-in-defence-of-dispatches-1822986.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/peter-oborne-and-james-jones-in-defence-of-dispatches-1822986.html <p> Anti-Semitism is the most notorious form of racism. Its long and hideous history culminated in the Nazi Holocaust and its still exists as a powerful and very dangerous force in the 21st century. </p> Commentators Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:41:22 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-rentoul/john-rentoul-camerons-biggest-uturn-1822900.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-rentoul/john-rentoul-camerons-biggest-uturn-1822900.html <p> How much do the "progressive" Conservatives care about poverty? </p> John Rentoul Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:13:58 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/douglas-alexander-ignore-the-voguish-nonsense-aid-works-1822892.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/douglas-alexander-ignore-the-voguish-nonsense-aid-works-1822892.html <p> Every year British taxpayers are helping save the lives of millions of people in the developing world. They are doing so because their money is being carefully and rigorously targeted at improving health care in some of the most disadvantaged nations in the world. </p> Commentators Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:07:00 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ben-chu-ignoring-the-issue-on-israel-lobbying-1822834.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ben-chu-ignoring-the-issue-on-israel-lobbying-1822834.html <p> Denis MacShane seems to argue on this blog that because Israel "has the worst press of any UN member state in the British media" the notion that Britain has a powerful and successful Israel lobby is somehow wrong. My esteemed colleague John Rentoul backs him up here. </p> Commentators Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:33:15 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/steve-connor-climate-change-is-like-a-disaster-in-slow-motion-1822400.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/steve-connor-climate-change-is-like-a-disaster-in-slow-motion-1822400.html <p>There now seems to be a growing disconnection between the message that scientists are sending out about climate change and the corresponding reaction of politicians and the public. As the experts issue increasingly dire warnings about what could happen to the world's climate system if we don't do something about carbon dioxide emissions, politicians prevaricate, the public becomes more sceptical and we all continue to burn more fossil fuels.</p> Commentators Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ashley-jackson-ordinary-afghans-long-for-a-government-that-will-keep-its-promises-1822415.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ashley-jackson-ordinary-afghans-long-for-a-government-that-will-keep-its-promises-1822415.html <p>As the government in Kabul and the international community continue to dither over the best way forward, spare a thought for the ordinary Afghan. As dispiriting as it may be to read about the foot-dragging in a newspaper, those facing the real-world consequences know all too well what negligent government may have cost their country.</p> Commentators Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/steve-richards/steve-richards-a-queens-speech-too-far-not-if-the-government-turns-radical-1822426.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/steve-richards/steve-richards-a-queens-speech-too-far-not-if-the-government-turns-radical-1822426.html ]]> <p> A couple of years ago I saw a play in which a violent act was committed in the first scene. Or at least I thought I witnessed a violent act. </p> Steve Richards Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mark-steel/mark-steel-brown-cant-even-stick-to-his-own-nonsense-on-afghanistan-1822434.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mark-steel/mark-steel-brown-cant-even-stick-to-his-own-nonsense-on-afghanistan-1822434.html <p> Bit by bit, as happened with Iraq, the reasons for staying in Afghanistan slide into gibberish. So Gordon Brown's reasons for the war seem to change every week. </p> Mark Steel Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/carola-long-beautys-in-the-eye-of-the-researcher-1822433.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/carola-long-beautys-in-the-eye-of-the-researcher-1822433.html <p>All the single ladies (as Beyoncé might say), are you looking to meet Mr Right, or Mr Right Now, or any other partially correct males who have stepped out of the pages of a dating manual? Then forget about sparkling wit or wearing something chic, because pseudo-science has come to your rescue once again, like a knight in a shining lab coat.</p> Commentators Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/hamish-mcrae/hamish-mcrae-china-will-soon-export-its-ideas-as-well-1822428.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/hamish-mcrae/hamish-mcrae-china-will-soon-export-its-ideas-as-well-1822428.html <p> It will not quite have the significance of Nixon in China – I can't see an opera about it – but President Obama's visit there does have huge significance. </p> Hamish McRae Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/terence-blacker/terence-blacker-look-out-the-locals-are-revolting-1822436.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/terence-blacker/terence-blacker-look-out-the-locals-are-revolting-1822436.html <p> Positively the last word on the strange saga of Elizabeth Truss, the Dave's Darling would-be MP for south-west Norfolk, and her run-in with the Turnip Taliban: it was not about sex or even about using Google. </p> Terence Blacker Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/philip-stevens-aid-we-give-to-the-third-world-is-more-harmful-than-helpful-1822437.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/philip-stevens-aid-we-give-to-the-third-world-is-more-harmful-than-helpful-1822437.html <p> Despite record levels of foreign aid for health, almost no progress is being made in improving child mortality in the poorest parts of sub-Saharan Africa. </p> Commentators Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/amol-rajan-a-british-politics-of-national-greatness-1822260.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/amol-rajan-a-british-politics-of-national-greatness-1822260.html <p> David Brooks argues that Americans have lost some of the optimism for which they were famed. He says the rise of China accentuates their sense that they have largely abandoned an enterprising spirit and energising culture that marked them out from competitors. </p> Commentators Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:32:10 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/denis-macshane-what-dispatches-didnt-say-about-the-israel-lobby-1822259.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/denis-macshane-what-dispatches-didnt-say-about-the-israel-lobby-1822259.html <p> Last night’s Channel 4 Dispatches Programme on Jews and their influence in Britain failed to ask or answer one question. (So, too, did the fuller report by James Jones and Peter Oborne). Why, if Jews are held to have such occult lobbying power, are they so spectacularly unsuccessful? </p> Commentators Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:30:49 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-rentoul-do-the-polls-flatter-labour-1822222.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-rentoul-do-the-polls-flatter-labour-1822222.html <p> n ICM poll in The Guardian this morning gives the Conservatives a 13-point lead, roughly the same as the 14-point lead in our ComRes poll for The Independent on Sunday at the weekend, and another 14-point lead from YouGov in The Sunday Times. </p> Commentators Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:22:34 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ben-chu-its-the-incentives-stupid-1822211.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ben-chu-its-the-incentives-stupid-1822211.html <p> Steve Randy Waldman, who writes the blog interfluidity, has produced a brilliantly compelling analysis how and why the US financial regulatory system failed - and why it is likely to fail again under the present reform proposals. </p> Commentators Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:50:28 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/philip-stevens-aid-alone-will-not-help-1822122.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/philip-stevens-aid-alone-will-not-help-1822122.html <p> Despite record levels of foreign aid for health, almost no progress is being made in improving child mortality in the poorest parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Many countries are going backwards. </p> Commentators Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:59:36 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/jeremy-laurance-are-we-expecting-too-much-from-medicalised-sex-1821727.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/jeremy-laurance-are-we-expecting-too-much-from-medicalised-sex-1821727.html <p>The launch of Viagra in 1998 was a landmark. Within weeks it became the world's fastest-selling drug, within four years it was being used by 20 million men worldwide, and within a decade it had spawned a dozen rivals.</p> Commentators Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/baroness-susan-greenfield-we-agonise-too-much-over-looks-1821742.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/baroness-susan-greenfield-we-agonise-too-much-over-looks-1821742.html <p>It is a complete nonsense to suggest that only airheads can look attractive and that brainy girls are condemned to a life of dowdiness.</p> Commentators Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/david-usborne-the-president-knows-china-has-the-power-to-spoil-his-agenda-1821748.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/david-usborne-the-president-knows-china-has-the-power-to-spoil-his-agenda-1821748.html <p>These foreign trips of Barack Obama are always such heady affairs. Thousands cram castle plazas in Prague or – even before his election – boulevards in Berlin. But China is proving quite a lot different. Rather than witnessing another love-fest, we are left to ask, who is more afraid of whom during this visit?</p> Commentators Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vanessa-mock-shadowy-race-but-with-the-right-result-1821753.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vanessa-mock-shadowy-race-but-with-the-right-result-1821753.html <p>It is nothing new for the EU to be blasted for being an opaque and shadowy bureaucratic behemoth, but the search for an EU President has triggered some of the most strident criticism yet of the way Brussels operates. </p> Europe Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mary-dejevsky/mary-dejevsky-yes-we-can-slash-the-budget-deficit-that-is-1821763.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mary-dejevsky/mary-dejevsky-yes-we-can-slash-the-budget-deficit-that-is-1821763.html <p>One of the priorities of this end-of-term Government, to be presented in tomorrow's Queen's Speech, is something called a Fiscal Responsibility Act. As outlined by Gordon Brown to the Labour Party conference, it will oblige the Government to cut the budget deficit in half over the next four years.</p> Mary Dejevsky Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-peter-mandelsons-assault-on-science-1821758.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-peter-mandelsons-assault-on-science-1821758.html <p>The political class has been entranced for a year now by the camp charm of Peter Mandelson: the Comeback. The de facto Deputy PM glides from yacht to Downing Street, receiving awed applause for the cut of both his suits and his jib. It feels almost vulgar, then, to mention his policies. Yet Mandelson is enthusiastically pushing Britain further down a path that is damaging one of the great tools for human progress – scientific research – and slowly corrupting the medicine you take and the air you breathe. </p> Johann Hari Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-can-we-please-stand-up--for-michael-mcintyre-1821757.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-can-we-please-stand-up--for-michael-mcintyre-1821757.html ]]> <p>Like most parents of teenagers, I have grown used to the experience of the television's sound being turned off when I walk into the room. It is a reversal of the relationship that used to exist between the generations. Forty or so years ago, parents would do this to shield their children from something which might shock them. Now it is our children who turn the sound down to protect our ears from obscenities which they regard as suitable only for adolescents.</p> Dominic Lawson Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/donald-macintyre-palestinians-throw-down--challenge-to-obama-and-un-1821751.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/donald-macintyre-palestinians-throw-down--challenge-to-obama-and-un-1821751.html <p>As so often in the Middle East, we have been here before. The latest suggestion – that a frustrated Palestinian leadership would unilaterally declare a state and invite international recognition for it – is not new. It was made a decade ago by Yasser Arafat when Benjamin Netanyahu, then as now, was Prime Minister. It was made again after the collapse of the Camp David talks a year later, when then Prime Minister Ehud Barak, like some of Mr Netanyahu's more hawkish ministers now, threatened to annex the most populous settlements in the West Bank in retaliation. And as the second intifada – and Israel's determined military response to it – gathered momentum, nothing came of it. </p> Middle East Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/michael-mccarthy-tis-the-season--for-berry-baskers-1821764.html http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/michael-mccarthy-tis-the-season--for-berry-baskers-1821764.html <p>In New England, such is the breathtaking beauty of the autumn foliage, people make special trips to gaze open-mouthed on the leaves turning russet and crimson, and they've even been given a name: "leaf-peepers". They have their own hotlines. </p> Nature Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/kevin-rudd-australians-have-a-duty-to-admit-their-past-crimes-ndash-and-say-sorry-1821767.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/kevin-rudd-australians-have-a-duty-to-admit-their-past-crimes-ndash-and-say-sorry-1821767.html <p>I recognise this is a difficult, complex and sensitive area of policy. But the nation must continue to lift its game in doing whatever practicably can be done to provide for the proper protection of children. Let us today, in this Great Hall of this great Australian Parliament, seize this day and see this national apology to our Forgotten Australians and our Child Migrants as a turning point for the future. </p> Commentators Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/arabella-weir-have-it-all-if-only-men-would-let-us-1821765.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/arabella-weir-have-it-all-if-only-men-would-let-us-1821765.html <p>So the headmistress of a private girls' school wants her pupils to realise they "can't have it all", ie a good career and a fulfilling family life. Actually, she's wrong, because statistically those girls are likely to end up with well-paid careers, meaning they'll be able to afford childcare having gone back to work after having kids.</p> Commentators Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/douglas-alexander-amp-bert-koenders-the-moral-imperative-behind-a-copenhagen-deal-1821666.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/douglas-alexander-amp-bert-koenders-the-moral-imperative-behind-a-copenhagen-deal-1821666.html <p> Next month's climate change meeting in Copenhagen is even more important in the fight against poverty than the 2005 G8 meeting at Gleneagles. </p> Commentators Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:29:33 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/jack-riley-with-this-patent-application-apple-risks-losing-its-shine-1821657.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/jack-riley-with-this-patent-application-apple-risks-losing-its-shine-1821657.html ]]> <p> In the economy of the internet, we pay not with our wallets but with our eyeballs, those slivers of time devoted to the glancing at adverts on web sites participating in a fragile balancing act where the content we demand for free must be paid for by attention we'd rather not give away. </p> Features Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:12:40 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/nick-herbert-meatfree-mondays-wont-save-the-planet-1821612.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/nick-herbert-meatfree-mondays-wont-save-the-planet-1821612.html <p> Sir Paul McCartney arrives in Brussels today to recruit support for his ‘meat free Mondays’ campaign. The argument seems so easy: cut down meat consumption, slaughter methane-belching cattle, and the planet will be saved. </p> Commentators Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:20:31 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ben-chu-a-sorry-argument-for-not-apologising-1821610.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ben-chu-a-sorry-argument-for-not-apologising-1821610.html <p> "Political leaders shouldn't attend Remembrance Day services. They weren't even born when the First World War broke out. It's meaningless and costs them nothing." Understandably, no one ever argues this. </p> Commentators Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:16:11 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/renouncing-islamism-to-the-brink-and-back-again-1821215.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/renouncing-islamism-to-the-brink-and-back-again-1821215.html ]]> <p> Ever since I started meeting jihadis, I have been struck by one thing – their Britishness. I am from the East End of London, and at some point in the past decade I became used to hearing a hoarse and angry whisper of jihadism on the streets where I live. Bearded young men stand outside the library calling for "The Rule of God" and "Death to Democracy". </p> Johann Hari Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:35 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/alicia-douvall-the-knife-is-never-a-short-cut-to-beauty-1821246.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/alicia-douvall-the-knife-is-never-a-short-cut-to-beauty-1821246.html <p>No one is born hating their body. It is an attitude that develops over time. Cosmetic surgery, with its promise of an otherwise unobtainable beauty, can instead result in an endless battle with your self-image. </p> Commentators Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/nick-clegg-dont-waste-our-time-bring-forward-real-reform-1821248.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/nick-clegg-dont-waste-our-time-bring-forward-real-reform-1821248.html <p>On Wednesday, all the pomp and ceremony that Parliament can muster will be rolled out for the Queen's Speech, setting out the Government's list of new laws for the coming year. But the glitz and glamour will be based on a complete fiction. Parliament will find it difficult to pass any of the bills promised in the Queen's Speech this year – there are just 70 sitting days left before it is dissolved for the general election, too little time to debate and approve the Government's latest legislative shopping list. The current average time taken for laws to make it from first reading to royal assent is 240 days.</p> Commentators Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/tim-montgomerie-key-test-for-camerons-belief-in-localism-1821257.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/tim-montgomerie-key-test-for-camerons-belief-in-localism-1821257.html <p>The most important thing that happens today is that Liz Truss is confirmed as the candidate for South West Norfolk. Liz is exactly the kind of MP who will enrich the Commons: intelligent, an independent thinker, she doesn't come from a conventional Tory background but is nonetheless a champion of grassroots Conservatives. I hate to think how many good people have been discouraged from political service because of the intrusive public examination she has put up with over recent weeks.</p> Commentators Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/jeremy-laurance-let-down-by-the-reality-of-swine-flu-1821279.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/jeremy-laurance-let-down-by-the-reality-of-swine-flu-1821279.html <p>Forgive me if this sounds callous, but I am finding it hard to conceal my disappointment about swine flu. For years I have been writing about the "next flu pandemic" and its potential to cause catastrophe, on the basis of what virologists told me. </p> Commentators Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/philip-hensher/philip-hensher-computers-have-got-a-lot-to-learn-about-grammar-1821281.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/philip-hensher/philip-hensher-computers-have-got-a-lot-to-learn-about-grammar-1821281.html <p> We're all getting, I fear, a computerised reading device for Christmas, allowing us to read the complete works of dozens of novelists through the magic of a seven-by-four screen. What happens if the logical conclusion is reached, and the computer takes to reading what we write, and judging it, too?</p> Philip Hensher Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/lars-lokke-rasmussen-a-hardheaded-pragmatism-must-dictate-talks-in-copenhagen-1821282.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/lars-lokke-rasmussen-a-hardheaded-pragmatism-must-dictate-talks-in-copenhagen-1821282.html <p>The Copenhagen Agreement should capture progress already achieved in the negotiations and at the same time provide for immediate action from next year. The Copenhagen Agreement should be political by nature, yet precise on specific commitments and binding on countries committing to reach certain targets and to undertake certain actions or provide agreed finance.</p> Commentators Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-lichfield/john-lichfield-what-a-relief-to-be-driving-in-disguise-1821280.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-lichfield/john-lichfield-what-a-relief-to-be-driving-in-disguise-1821280.html <p>By their cars shall you know them. Not any more, it appears. Parisian motorists, disliked all over France for being over-aggressive, under-friendly and simply for being Parisian, have found a way to camouflage their origins. </p> John Lichfield Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/paul-collier-history-is-repeated-as-tragedy--in-the-new-scramble-for-africa-1821278.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/paul-collier-history-is-repeated-as-tragedy--in-the-new-scramble-for-africa-1821278.html <p>For the past few months Guinea has been ruled by a young army captain who led a successful coup. Not that you'd necessarily know about it: the regime has only hit the world news twice. The first time was for shooting 150 pro-democracy demonstrators: international protest at this abuse has now escalated into an arms embargo. The second time was when the regime signed a $7bn resource-extraction deal with the Chinese. This infusion of money has made a mockery of international pressure. </p> Commentators Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/yasmin-alibhai-brown/yasmin--alibhaibrown-how-libel-laws-silence-our-democracy-1821273.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/yasmin-alibhai-brown/yasmin--alibhaibrown-how-libel-laws-silence-our-democracy-1821273.html <p>Never mind the fatwas, I say, and don't get hyper-agitated by the PC platoon, we who do not find rape jokes hilarious and who rebuff the fond nicknames "Paki" and "retard" and believe careless language can sanction cruelty and injustice. Though accused daily of impeding freedom of speech, we do not have the muscle or money to destabilise that fundamental entitlement. The real pressures that turn to actual curtailments of free expression lie in confidentiality contracts, unspoken loyalties between power and those it seduces or buys up, thought-control in the name of anti-terrorism and the monstrous English libel laws, more draconian than in any other Western nation. </p> Yasmin Alibhai-Brown Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/bruce-anderson/bruce-anderson-why-the-public-are-wrong-over-our-mission-in-afghanistan-1821272.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/bruce-anderson/bruce-anderson-why-the-public-are-wrong-over-our-mission-in-afghanistan-1821272.html <p> A majority of the public wants to withdraw from Afghanistan. A majority of the public is wrong. Two conclusions should be drawn from this. First, thank God that we are a representative democracy, not a plebiscitary one; second, we urgently need a government which can command public respect. But even with such a government, headed by a prime minister who could offer leadership, this would not be an easy war to fight. Britain's role in Afghanistan is beset by paradoxes and cultural complexities.</p> Bruce Anderson Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/rhiannon-harries-im-in-the-middle-of-a-chain-reaction-ndash-and-i-dont-like-it-1818805.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/rhiannon-harries-im-in-the-middle-of-a-chain-reaction-ndash-and-i-dont-like-it-1818805.html <p>A couple of years ago I went on a date with a self-confessed food snob. When he began quizzing me on my favourite restaurants, I knew judgement was imminent. "What if I say Café Rouge?" I ventured suspiciously. His incredulous guffaw summed up the popular consensus on global brands and chains – they might be the places where we drop most of our salary day in, day out, but the only acceptable justification is convenience. We are not allowed to genuinely like them. </p> Commentators Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/rupert-cornwell/rupert-cornwell-obama-will-be-on-trial-with-the-911-accused-1820847.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/rupert-cornwell/rupert-cornwell-obama-will-be-on-trial-with-the-911-accused-1820847.html ]]> <p>At the time, as America reeled from the horror of the 11 September attacks, the idea seemed perfect: a remote and instantly available high-security prison for the country's most implacable enemies – "the worst of the worst", as the Pentagon boss Donald Rumsfeld called them, when the place opened for business in January 2002.</p> Rupert Cornwell Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/james-fergusson-obama-is-haunted-by-gorbachevs-ghost-1820848.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/james-fergusson-obama-is-haunted-by-gorbachevs-ghost-1820848.html ]]> <p>It has become a pub bore's cliché to argue that we will never prevail in Afghanistan because no foreign power ever has: not even the Russians, whose nine-year occupation cost the lives of 14,000 of their soldiers and 35,500 wounded, and which ended in humiliating retreat in 1989. Those Cassandras irritate Western leaders, whose response is to insist that it is different this time. "We are not an occupying army," Gordon Brown told the BBC on Friday. "It's not like previous interventions.... We are actually creating the conditions by which the Afghans themselves, and not an occupying army, can run their own affairs."</p> Commentators Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/sarah-sands/sarah-sands-the-skys-the-limit-for-our-daughters-1820851.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/sarah-sands/sarah-sands-the-skys-the-limit-for-our-daughters-1820851.html <p>At a party last week for London's 1,000 most influential people, Rachel Whetstone, of Google, noted there was something unusual about the gathering. "Where are all the women?" she murmured to me. </p> Sarah Sands Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/susie-mesure-parents-ndash-is-your-buggy-necessary-1820854.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/susie-mesure-parents-ndash-is-your-buggy-necessary-1820854.html <p>Pity Maclaren. Not only has the great stroller recall cost it dearly in terms of mummy goodwill, but the "fingertip amputation" débâcle risks turning a former buggy benchmark-setter into the pariah of the pushchair world.</p> Commentators Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/a-c-grayling-the-art-of-manipulation-when-people-become-mere-pawns-in-a-game-1820853.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/a-c-grayling-the-art-of-manipulation-when-people-become-mere-pawns-in-a-game-1820853.html ]]> <p>Describe someone as Machiavellian and in that one word you describe him as devious, cunning, crafty, scheming – and above all, manipulative. By this we mean he achieves his ends by manoeuvring people in ways they do not quite understand, at least until it is too late. He does it by blandishments and flattery, or by tricks and sleight of hand; sometimes he does it by playing different interests off against each other, by pulling secret strings, by concealing his true aims with artifice and ruse, and always by misleading those whom he is getting to do what he wants. These were among the techniques that Niccolo Machiavelli advised a prince to adopt in ruling a populace.</p> Commentators Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/matthew-bell-the-iiosi-diary-1820852.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/matthew-bell-the-iiosi-diary-1820852.html <p>It looked set to be a case for Sherlock Holmes, but the mystery of Richard Caring's dead deer has been solved. The owner of top London restaurants The Ivy and Le Caprice tells me he has found the person who shot two prize stags and left them dying outside his Somerset retreat. "It was a local lad," he says, "but it's all over now, thank goodness." Despite offering a £15,000 reward to find the culprit, Caring tells me he has decided not to prosecute. "What's the point? He would only be fined twenty quid and let off." The killings were thought to be part of a rural backlash against rich metropolitans moving into the area, but he also tells me he has received a hundred letters of support from locals. Caring, who is worth an estimated £360m, has annoyed some with his extravagant building work at the house he bought in the grounds of Pixton Park, Auberon Waugh's ancestral home. But Caring is himself an enthusiastic countryman, spending most weekends blasting birds out of the sky. </p> Commentators Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-rentoul/john-rentoul-labour-must-read-the-tories-book-1820850.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-rentoul/john-rentoul-labour-must-read-the-tories-book-1820850.html <p>A week is no time at all in politics. Some things take a long time to change, and political parties are among the most resistant. That is the lesson of a new book to be published in January. The Conservative Party from Thatcher to Cameron, by Tim Bale, a rising star of political science at the University of Sussex, sets out to answer two simple questions: why did it take the Tories so long to do what they had to do in order to regain power after 1997; and how were they able, after 2005, to put things right so quickly? These are questions that go to the heart of understanding what is happening in politics today.</p> John Rentoul Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/joan-smith/joan-smith-depression-is-more-deadly-in-the-male-1820856.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/joan-smith/joan-smith-depression-is-more-deadly-in-the-male-1820856.html <p>In 2003, the German goalkeeper Robert Enke played a single match for the Turkish football club Fenerbahce. Enke was on loan from Barcelona for the opening match of the season, a home game against Istanbulspor. Fenerbahce lost 3-0 and furious fans rounded on the goalkeeper, hurling abuse, bottles and mobile phones. Clearly shocked, Enke left the club after only 13 days, protesting that he "had not deserved the hate they showed me". Despite this setback, Enke's star soon began to rise: he signed for Hanover and played for the German national team, raising expectations that he would represent his country at the world cup in South Africa next year. All that came to an end last week when he committed suicide by stepping in front of a train.</p> Joan Smith Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/janet-street-porter/editoratlarge-nurses-are-not-heroines-they-are-professionals-1820959.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/janet-street-porter/editoratlarge-nurses-are-not-heroines-they-are-professionals-1820959.html <p>There's been plenty of hand-wringing over the news that from 2013 all new nurses will have to spend three years studying for a degree to qualify. At present the majority train for two or three years and are awarded a diploma. Critics claim these higher standards mean that trainee nurses will spend time sitting in lectures when they could be learning practical skills on the job, and widespread concern has been expressed that the profession will attract the wrong kind of applicants, more concerned with their careers than carrying out menial tasks.</p> Janet Street-Porter Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/juliet-lyon-our-prisonbuilding-binge-is-a-badge-of-national-shame-1820954.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/juliet-lyon-our-prisonbuilding-binge-is-a-badge-of-national-shame-1820954.html <p>The fevered rate of prison building, at a cost of £170,000 per place, is now set to propel the UK past most of our Eastern European neighbours for prison capacity. Overuse of custody has become a badge of political toughness rather than a matter for national shame.</p> Commentators Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/alan-watkins/alan-watkins-mr-browns-good-week-comes-too-late-1820858.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/alan-watkins/alan-watkins-mr-browns-good-week-comes-too-late-1820858.html <p>Oddly enough, Mr Gordon Brown has had quite a good week. He has held a Labour seat at a by-election, admittedly a safe one, but these days anything can happen. He has proposed a new tax on undeserved gains in the City to virtually universal applause. And he has been attacked in The Sun newspaper, so winning the sympathy of most of the audience. It will not make the slightest difference. Once trust goes, the Prime Minister – any prime minister – is finished. That is the accepted wisdom of the moment, and in Mr Brown's case it is probably right. Even so, the convention deserves closer examination.</p> Alan Watkins Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/geoffrey-wheatcroft-gordon-browns-very-public-decline-1820373.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/geoffrey-wheatcroft-gordon-browns-very-public-decline-1820373.html <p>In a well-worn phrase, Marx wrote that history repeated itself, first as tragedy and then as farce. What we are witnessing at present, in the form of the Government and the Prime Minister, is both at once: a political farce, and a human tragedy. The farcical collapse of our government can be contemplated with detached amusement, but the personal disintegration of Gordon Brown is awful to behold.</p> Commentators Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/howard-jacobson/howard-jacobson-nick-griffin-looks-as-if-hed-be-light-on-his-feet-so-heres-what-to-do-with-him-1820375.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/howard-jacobson/howard-jacobson-nick-griffin-looks-as-if-hed-be-light-on-his-feet-so-heres-what-to-do-with-him-1820375.html <p>The following is by way of addressing a thorny problem – what should the British Broadcasting Corporation do about the British National Party and what should the British National Party do about the British Broadcasting Corporation. The BBC argues that as long as the BNP garners substantial votes it has a right to appear on Question Time. And the BNP argues that when its leader is invited on to Question Time he is lynch-mobbed. Whatever happens in the future, there will be no pleasing the British public, some of whom will never stomach the idea of Nick Griffin being allowed to express his views on the BBC, while others will continue to argue that after his party's success in the European elections he is as entitled as the next politician to do his thing. After long consideration, I believe I have a solution to the impasse.</p> Howard Jacobson Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisks-world-hatchets-and-hostages-ndash-the-old-days-of-maos-revolution-1820380.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisks-world-hatchets-and-hostages-ndash-the-old-days-of-maos-revolution-1820380.html <p>Who remembers Anthony Grey? I do, because while he was beginning his calvary in Peking, I was covering the antics of the Chinese Cultural Revolution's men in London for the Sunday Express. At one point, these Maoist diplomats emerged from their London embassy brandishing sticks and hatchets, and a copper chased after one unarmed Chinese attaché as he ran off to the local Tube station. </p> Robert Fisk Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/robert-verkaik-evidence-mounts-that-practice-was-rampant-1820546.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/robert-verkaik-evidence-mounts-that-practice-was-rampant-1820546.html <p>It was Mr Justice McKinnon, the judge at the Baha Mousa court martial, who first summed up the deepening sense of disquiet over the truth behind the abuse committed by British soldiers in Iraq.</p> Commentators Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/the-truth-is-out-there-14112009-1820377.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/the-truth-is-out-there-14112009-1820377.html <p>After the historically low turnout in the Glasgow North East by-election (32.97 per cent) on Thursday, it seems valid to ask what is a vote worth. For those who voted for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg last week, the answer is exactly $180 (£108) after he secured a third term by spending a record $100m (£60m) on his election campaign.</p> Commentators Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/christina-patterson/christina-patterson-didnt-we-have-a-lovely-time-the-day-we-went-to-basra-1820376.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/christina-patterson/christina-patterson-didnt-we-have-a-lovely-time-the-day-we-went-to-basra-1820376.html <p>What do you do when you've bombed the living daylights out of a country? Well, you go on holiday there, of course! If an awful lot of people have died there as a result of a decision made by your prime minister (100,000 according to the most conservative estimates, a million to the least), then clearly the best thing to do, once it's all died down a bit, is pack your Ray Bans, your bikini, and your guidebook (which might, it's true, be a little bit out of date) and take off. Lovely massages at the spa. G&Ts by the pool. What could be nicer?</p> Christina Patterson Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000