Commentators

Steve Richards: Cameron is following in the footsteps of Hague

Both sought to modernise their party. In both cases, the results were mixed

Inside Commentators

Hamish McRae: Tax if you must, but do so effectively

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

First and foremost tax must raise revenue; but then only at the lowest possible cost

David Davis: Why this ferocious desire to impose hair-shirt policies?

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

As the dignitaries gather for the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, dark clouds are gathering over environmental policies. Copenhagen itself has been presaged by troubling signals that it will be harder than usual to get agreement. These will probably be resolved, but it is debatable whether that will make any real difference. In Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the international community promised cuts by 2000. In Kyoto in 1997, they promised even greater cuts by 2010. Neither happened.

Jane Merrick: Design, schools and pure humbug

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

Construction, profitability and poor design mark academy schools

Jacob Zuma: Aids is killing our people but working together we can fight back

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

We need extraordinary measures to reverse the trends we are seeing in the health profile of our people. We know that the situation is serious. We have seen the statistics. We know that the average life expectancy of South Africans has been falling, and that South Africans are dying at a young age. We have seen the child-headed and granny-headed households, and have witnessed the pain and displacement of orphans and vulnerable children.

Terence Blacker: Protecting a country gone to the dogs needs licences help

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

By now the story has become such a media archetype that it almost writes itself. There is the grim housing estate, the baby-sitting session that turns into a nightmare, the traumatised aunt or grandparent, the shocked neighbours, the remorseful parents.

Mark Steel: Things can happen when you travel on a Virgin train

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

It seems that it is being run by philosophers from the 13th century

Richard Dalton: Patience is a virtue when dealing with Tehran

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

The Iranians take entry into their territory without permission very seriously and will investigate thoroughly to assure themselves that they understand how and why it happened, and exactly who the yachtsmen are. The UK, on the other hand, wants to see the release of people who are believed to have made an innocent mistake through bad luck, misjudgement or problems with equipment. The Iranians are going to talk tough for their domestic audience – but we should not assume right off the bat that these positions are incompatible.

The Sketch: Snap-happy Miliband would be no card shark in the negotiating chair

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

After five days of working behind their diplomatic veil, the Foreign Office came out into the open. They do best out of the media gaze, everyone knows, away from the glare of the studio lights, playing their subtle, five-dimensional master-game.

Farah Mihlar: A welcome step, but crisis of displaced people is far from over

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

After six months of being held in detention camps, 130,000 Tamil internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been granted a basic human right – freedom of movement.

Andrew Buncombe and Omar Waraich: Arrival of more troops will arouse suspicion in Pakistan

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

While it is to Afghanistan that additional American troops are being dispatched, Barack Obama's administration has made it clear that its policy is dependent on "getting it right" in neighbouring Pakistan – a country that has very different regional priorities to the US.

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