Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 17

Sunak’s plan for carbon capture is good news: he shouldn't muddy it with party politics | Simon Jenkins

Consensus on tackling the climate crisis is what’s needed now – and direct action against CO2 must be the next move

For as long as the United Kingdom needs to use oil and gas, we should be making an effort to capture any resulting CO2 and store it. That clearly makes sense. It also makes sense to produce our own oil and gas, so we are less beholden to exporters (though of course ours, too, would be sold on the international markets).

So far, so good for Rishi Sunak’s twofold announcement today in ...

Even in the heat of war, there must be dialogue. To save lives, a new grain deal with Putin must be struck | Simon Jenkins

The result of his blockage of food exports could be mass starvation in poor countries. We should do all we can to avoid that

The recent collapse of the Russia-Ukraine grain deal spells disaster for millions. The year-old deal has allowed 1,000 ships to export food products from Ukraine by sea, including 80% of the grain going to the World Food Programme. The biggest recipients of Ukrainian grain have been China, Spain, Turkey and Italy, but 57% of it went to 14 countries currently defined as most...

The answer to Britain’s housing crisis lies in its towns and cities – not the countryside | Simon Jenkins

The Conservatives are right about making urban areas denser, but their proposed planning reform is an undemocratic mess

Yes, Britain’s housing market is in a mess. No, that does not mean 75 years of town planning should be torn up just to win the Tories a few more seats. Today’s speeches on housebuilding by the levelling up secretary, Michael Gove, and his boss, Rishi Sunak, are in part sensible, in part not.

They are right that there is no “need” for extensive new building over Britain’s countrys...

What do you get if greed is rife, government stupid and planning abused? Canary Wharf and other such horrors | Simon Jenkins

As big firms exit what came to be a symbol of the office age, we can finally start thinking about building truly civilised cities

When did you last go to an office? This week, as hybrid working moves towards being a legal right, Britain was revealed to be second only to Canada in the global work-from-home league. Since lockdown, its office working has fallen by more than a quarter, an average of one and a half days a week. Covid has revealed the truth, that white-collar staff are not 9-5 factory ...

What is the MoD taking in its tea? There's no way Britain will be in a three-front war by 2030 | Simon Jenkins

The outgoing defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has got the begging bowl out again. But his fearmongering about Russia and the Pacific is irresponsible

Britain’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, resigned at the weekend. In a farewell interview he predicted, ostensibly based on intelligence, that Britain would be “at war by 2030”. Conflict would be on one of three fronts. If Vladimir Putin loses in Ukraine, says Wallace, “he’s still got an air force and a navy … [he’s] not done with us yet”.

The assump...

Sunak says he can’t afford public sector pay rises – but look at the white elephants he’s happy to fund | Simon Jenkins

Spending priorities sum up all that is rotten in government. Where is the money for education and the NHS?

Rishi Sunak has now conceded public sector workers the sum he was told to pay them by their independent review boards last year, an average rise of 6%. Had he done so then, we might have avoided six months of debilitating strikes in education, health and other public services. Last year he said he could not afford it. He still says that, demanding that the shortfall of £5bn over two years mu...

Scottish politicians have the courage to decriminalise drugs, but Westminster is too timid to let them | Simon Jenkins

Objecting to capital punishment was once taboo too. Real change comes from politicians brave enough to speak up

The Scottish government declared last week that it wanted to decriminalise the possession of drugs for personal use. Possession of drugs in Scotland remains under the pre-devolution Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and, as the Scottish drugs policy minister Elena Whitham says, the current approach has “failed”. Scotland has the highest drug mortality rate in Europe. Drug use is polluting every ...

What’s the cure for an ailing NHS? You won't find it in birthday soundbites from politicians | Simon Jenkins

Serious debate about reform is dead in the water because political dogma and point-scoring are the order of the day

Everyone agrees that Britain’s 75-year-old NHS needs rescue and overhaul. But what does this mean? Surgery, therapy, the oxygen of cash, a slap in the face or just a hip replacement? And how is this to be decided? At that point agreement ends. There is silence.

This week the former health secretary Sajid Javid said the service’s current structure was “unsustainable” and in need of a ...

A plan to cut carers when the NHS is on its knees – do ‘red wall’ Tory MPs really think this will save them? | Simon Jenkins

The UK’s care sector needs workers from abroad, but rightwing MPs want to slash immigration to save face – whatever the cost

Britain’s national health service is, by any definition, facing a turning point. It needs help, not hindrance. Of the many stress points, the inability to move mostly older patients between hospitals and care homes is perhaps the most extreme. The principal reason has been the shortage of 165,000 workers in the care sector, or about 11% of its labour force. Crucial to this ...

The Partygate probe should have stopped at Johnson, and let his tinpot army fade into obscurity | Simon Jenkins

MPs feel they have to assert their authority after his insults, but going after his friends risks looking petty and partisan

The House of Commons privileges committee is besotted with Boris Johnson. No sooner did we breathe sighs of relief as he disappeared over the horizon three weeks ago, than the committee has hauled him back for another thrashing in the headlines.

This time it is aiming at his “friends and allies”, who called it a kangaroo court and a witch-hunt. These friends stand accused fo...