Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 129

Whether it's North Korea or Iran, sanctions won't work | Simon Jenkins

UN security council threats against Pyongyang and Tehran act like an elixir to the regimes, while their people continue to suffer

North Korea has set off a third nuclear test explosion. It has done so in defiance of the UN, America, Japan and even, reportedly, its sponsor, China. It has said to hell with everyone, in a brutal comment on western economic sanctions.

The UN security council met yesterday and Washington threatened "significant consequences" – code nowadays for "tighter sanctions"....

These faces from the ice age give the lie to our idea of civilisation | Simon Jenkins

The British Museum's ice age exhibition proves beyond doubt that human beings are born to make art and cannot escape it

On a grassy plateau high above Derwentwater in Cumbria stands the stone circle of Castlerigg. It offers a panorama of the Lake District that stretches up to Borrowdale and across to the Catbells ridge, with the giants of Skiddaw and Helvellyn lofty to the east. All around are peaks, valleys, mists and spirits of the place. I doubt if anywhere in England has a more exhila...

Tory metrosexuals won the gay marriage vote – but at what cost? | Simon Jenkins

I agree that gay marriage is right. But the true test of tolerance lies in its treatment of intolerance – and we failed that test

That is it. Gay people can marry, the logical conclusion to half a century of campaigning for homosexual civil rights. The dinosaurs have been faced down. David Cameron and his Tory metrosexuals, bloodied but unbowed, have triumphed over the nasties. The 21st century has arrived. Marriage is a union of two grown-up people who claim to love each other. Matter closed....

We can count hard cash, but what is the value of beauty? | Simon Jenkins

In planning, defenders of nature are 'nimbies', opponents 'vandals'. To end the shouting match we need a new language

Where to bury nuclear waste? It must be in impermeable rock and "for ever". One community, Copeland district, welcomes it, but its higher tier authority, Cumbria, says no. Meanwhile the energy minister, Ed Davey, wants to put up lots of wind turbines, while the environment minister, Owen Paterson, does not. The transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, wants to drive a high...

UK intervention in Mali treads a familiar - and doomed - path | Simon Jenkins

Does Mali pose an 'existential threat' to the UK? Hardly. Intervention will bring only more trouble

The government is going for gold in mission creep. Just a week ago David Cameron clearly indicated there would be "no boots on the ground" in Mali. His office declared there was "absolutely" no question of British troops entering the conflict "in a combat role". Britain would lend two C-17 transports and that was it.

To this was soon added a surveillance plane. Now there...

Cameron's speech told Europe's emperors to get dressed | Simon Jenkins

The EU's elder statesmen tried to run before they could walk. We may not like it, but Cameron's call was brave and timely

Good heavens, it was a baby. The wicked fairies assumed that so long and painful a labour meant David Cameron's Europe speech would be a limp monster all the world would hate. Instead it is a healthy, bouncing thing, with even Cameron's critics patting its head and admiring its dimples.

Wednesday's speech was to the point, workmanlike and devoid of fudge and platitude. It ha...

Politics Weekly podcast: Cameron promises EU referendum

David Cameron made an unequivocal pledge to hold a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union this week - providing he wins the next election.

In a wide ranging speech on Britain's historical position in European politics, he attempted to make a case that the country was better off in the EU - but only if there is substantial reform in Brussels. He promised that if other European leaders met his demands, he would lead the campaign to keep Britain in the union.

However, his conce...

Wars like Afghanistan should never be a theatre for celebrity | Simon Jenkins

Prince Harry may shine as a soldier, but he's just a pawn in a political game – adding celebrity dust to a senseless conflict

A prince appears to have killed an enemy in battle. When Prince Harry was asked on television whether "if called upon, you will fire, and presumably you have and will kill the enemy?" Prince Harry said: "Yeah, so lots of people have … everyone's fired a certain amount." Question and answer might seem ambiguous, but the tabloids went berserk. The remark was no more...

Should 'true story' films such as Zero Dark Thirty and Argo be rated L for lie? | Simon Jenkins

Inaccuracy in journalism is taken seriously, but film-makers happily play fast and loose with the facts

Should films that lay claim to truth be free to lie? The old question is raised again by two now on general release. Argo tells the story of the escape of American diplomats from Iran in 1979. Zero Dark Thirty tells of the more recent killing of Osama bin Laden. Both are already controversial.

The first, Argo, has understandably enraged the British ambassador in Tehran at the time, Sir John G...

Europe: no more talk of in-or-out. Let's think opt-outs| Simon Jenkins

The EU treaties are not fit for purpose, but leaving makes no sense. Negotiation is possible without risking free trade

The stupid Euro questions refuse to go away. Are you in favour of Europe? Do you want to leave Europe? Do you want an in-out referendum? Do you want to be Switzerland or Norway? They stumble on through a storm of cliches, about sleep-walking, club members, departure lounges and minutes to midnight. The brain softens. The public screams, then it yawns.

On Friday the prime minis...