Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 151

The alternative vote is fine in theory. But politics is a practical business | Simon Jenkins

Until Stephen Fry and co deliver a voting system along US or French lines, I'll stick with the devil I know: first past the post

Electoral reformers, everyone knows, are quiche-eating, cardigan-wearing, sandal-flapping no-hopers. They are nerds who take 15 syllables to stammer out proportional representation by alternative vote, with most people falling asleep. Real men use first past the post.

Besides, everyone also knows that the reformers have no idea what they want. They profess to want...

Will Hutton's naive pay review won't stop the bosses' bonus racket | Simon Jenkins

Will Hutton's new strategy for top public-sector pay is flawed. Bonuses are not about performance and incentive – just greed

Ask people how much they should be paid, and experience suggests they will err on the side of generosity. Ask the same question of senior executives and generosity will be extreme. They will agonise, dig deep into their consciences, "think of the firm", grab the money and run. Query this approach and they will hire non-executive directors, remuneration committees, human ...

The hesitant saviour: how Germany bestrides Europe once again

Berlin's revival is symbolic of the country's new role as generous leader of ever-closer union

Germany was an empire, a mishmash, a dictatorship, then a shipwreck. For the two decades since reunification, it has at last been a normal country. But it is no sooner normal than it is thrust back on parade. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has emerged from the financial crash of 2008 the unchallenged impresario of the eurozone.

She rescued the currency from disaster last year and salvaged...

Those who've flunked pensions reform for 40 years can hardly complain now | Simon Jenkins

Pensions review: Lord Hutton merely reflects the widespread view that individuals should take responsibility for their families' future

Radical? This is going off the map. The Hutton report on public sector pensions continues the coalition's mass slaughter of sacred cows, beasts that have been munching stubbornly away throughout the Thatcherite era. David Cameron and his ministers know neither timidity nor caution. Already this week they have delivered two blockbusters, a report by Tom Winsor...

Politics Weekly: Liberal interventionism and British foreign policy

Colonel Gaddafi's forces appear to be gaining momentum against the rebellion in Libya prompting calls for military intervention in Europe and the United States.

With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan still unresolved, the calls for further use of force in the Middle East is hugely controversial.

So is the best policy simply to let events run their course? Or can the doctrine of humanitarian intervention be revived?

And, as western governments re-examine their policies and connections to regimes ...

'No-fly zone' is a euphemism for war. We'd be mad to try it | Simon Jenkins

Cameron's urge to dust himself in military glory may be strong, but he should not interfere in the Libyan rebels' cause

Happy days are back for the sofa strategists and beltway bombardiers. After the miseries of Iraq and Afghanistan, a Libyan no-fly zone is just the tonic they need. If you zero in from carrier A, you can take out the Tripoli air defences while carrier B zaps the mercenary bases and carrier C zooms with special forces to secure the oilfields. You might tell the Americans to go ...

For the LSE, in thrall to a dictator, Gaddafi was pure roast duck | Simon Jenkins

The school's association with Libya's leader is just an extreme version of the predicament now facing all UK universities

Pity the poor university. Told for 25 years to get into bed with big money, the London School of Economics found big money sometimes stinks. This week, as the Blairites bobbed and weaved their way out of the sleazy embrace of their friend, Gaddafi of Libya, someone forgot to tell the old school tie. The LSE thought it was helping the cause by giving Gaddafi's son a dodgy...

We decry cuts, but spare the Philip Hammonds who fritter cash | Simon Jenkins

Against prestige projects like aircraft carriers, the Olympics or high-speed rail, the poor taxpayer hardly gets a look-in

Anyone opposing the glamorous high-speed rail project of the transport secretary, Philip Hammond, is a nimby. Or so he says. Critics of his HS2 line are Aylesbury luddites, Brackley reactionaries, Great Missenden moanies. Macho ministers do big projects, like high-speed trains, aircraft carriers and turbine parks. Those who oppose them are wimps. To Hammond it is...

Restoring Christchurch's bell tower is a first step to easing the city's trauma | Simon Jenkins

The spire lost in New Zealand's earthquake matters. Obliterating past treasures or leaving the scars of ruins never helps

The collapse in Tuesday's earthquake of the bell tower of ChristChurch cathedral is a tragedy both for those killed and for the heart and soul of New Zealand's second city. The tower was the focus point at the heart of this charming, peaceful chip off the old British block. Its loss is symbolic of the tragedy. It should be rebuilt at once.

Cities vary widely in their a

Britain can push democracy or weapons – but not both | Simon Jenkins

David Cameron's arms-sale tour has mired him in typical liberal interventionist hypocrisy. Better let the Arab world sort itself out

I must be missing something. The present British government, like its predecessor, claims to pursue a policy of "liberal interventionism", seeking the downfall of undemocratic regimes round the globe, notably in the Muslim world. The same British government, again like its predecessor, sends these undemocratic regimes copious weapons to suppress the only...