Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 28

Britain’s Kafkaesque boycott of Russian culture plays straight into Putin’s hands | Simon Jenkins

Banning sports stars and musicians perfectly fits the Kremlin’s narrative that the war in Ukraine is one of national survival

Wimbledon’s decision to ban Russian tennis players, including world No 2 Daniil Medvedev, is Russophobia gone mad. It implies that Britain regards all Russians as colluders in the actions of the Russian state and in Vladimir Putin’s outrages in Ukraine. This follows several European countries halting visas for Russians. The west appears so in thrall to Putin that it is aba...

Forget a gimmicky windfall tax. Energy companies should be forced to slash bills instead | Simon Jenkins

Who knows where that extra tax revenue would end up? There is a better way to help people struggling with the cost of living

When all politicians agree on something, it is probably a bad idea. A windfall tax on energy companies is currently in populist vogue and is superficially plausible. Thanks partly to reckless sanctions policies against Russia, British energy users have seen their bills rocket by 70% in the past year, with further hikes promised in October when the official price cap on a bi...

The clouds of Partygate may part for Johnson, but there will be another one along soon | Simon Jenkins

He stumbles from one fine mess to another. It is hard to know when there was worse custodianship of national affairs

Another triumph for Boris Johnson’s Houdini act. Partygate appears over with today’s announcement that the Metropolitan police has closed the file on Downing Street parties, with 126 penalty notices and reportedly no more for the prime minister. Rumours are that Sue Gray’s separate report on the parties will be published next week, but it is hard to see what it is likely to add, or...

Boris Johnson created this Brexit mess in Northern Ireland – and he should own it | Simon Jenkins

The prime minister lacks the authority to fix the problems his protocol has caused. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland suffers

Two of Boris Johnson’s most reckless chickens are coming home to roost. To get hard Brexit into law and topple his predecessor, Theresa May, he told Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist party that he would allow no border in the Irish Sea. He promptly allowed one, and signed a protocol to the Brexit deal to that effect. An enraged DUP is duly refusing to let the new Northern I...

Michael Gove is right about one thing: building more homes won’t solve anything | Simon Jenkins

The UK has enough housing to go around – the problem is that the market is inefficient

Boris Johnson’s Queen’s speech was largely empty of substance. So thank goodness for the housing and planning secretary, Michael Gove. In his contribution he never spoke truer words, at least if anyone understood them. He has dismissed housing targets as “Procrustean … arbitrary … perfect arithmetic”.

In plain terms, what Gove meant was that Johnson’s mantra of “build, build, build” (a parroting of his chief pa...

You say Partygate, I say Beergate – let’s call the whole thing off | Simon Jenkins

Enough with the point-scoring – Brexit, Northern Ireland and the cost of living crisis need our undivided attention

Partygate should be declared over, done with, expiated, spent. All known “criminals” who consumed a can of beer or glass of prosecco at the wrong time or place should be amnestied. Yes, it was outrageous. It was hypocritical and sickening to millions. Sinners sinned on all sides. But as the pandemic passes into history, let history be its judge. There are critical issues now on the ...

Let me introduce you to the plan for London’s latest eyesore – the slab | Simon Jenkins

For 15 years outsize developments have been making a mess of the Thames – and this South Bank scheme is among the worst

I could not imagine that London might inflict any more visual damage to the Thames than it has already done. No city on earth has made such a mess of its river. But one of its biggest and most aggressive office blocks has just been approved on the South Bank in the heart of the capital. The slab – or rather tower and slab – that was approved by Lambeth council in March is to loo...

The NHS used to be a religion. But the faith is being tested like never before | Simon Jenkins

England’s ‘dental deserts’ are just the latest blow. We have to learn from other countries that are getting healthcare right

Now England has “dental deserts”. According to the Association of Dental Groups, large areas of the country are devoid of their care. Dentists are leaving the NHS in record numbers – more than 2,000 last year alone – leaving an estimated 4 million patients having to go private, dial 999 or just suffer.

Not a week passes without a bad news cloud enveloping Britain’s healthcar...

Liz Truss risks recklessly inflaming Ukraine’s war to serve her own ambition | Simon Jenkins

The foreign secretary’s belligerent comments on Russia reduce Ukraine to a pawn in the Conservatives’ power struggle

The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, is playing with fire. On Wednesday night she described Russia’s Vladimir Putin as a “rogue operator” lacking rationality, and with “no interest in international norms”. As a result, she said: “We will keep going further and faster to push Russia out of the whole of Ukraine.” She is clearly revelling in her imagined proxy war on the Russian bear and...

Working 9-5 doesn’t mean being chained to a desk. Someone tell Jacob Rees-Mogg | Simon Jenkins

Office work has changed for ever, but the minister is leaving letters to civil servants as if they’re his butler

The joke must have seemed merry at the time. The “minister for Brexit opportunities” leaves a calling card on his absent officials’ desks saying: “Sorry you were out when I visited. I look forward to seeing you in the office very soon.” He also suggests in a Mail on Sunday article that they might like to stick to what he called “the shires” and forgo their London weighting allowance.

T...