Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 41

Why the Democrats should not impeach Donald Trump | Simon Jenkins

The wiser move would be to let Trump drift into exile, not stoke the sense of grievance among his base

There is a good reason for America’s Congress to humiliate Donald Trump this week, just days from his end of term. His incitement of violence against the Capitol merits his instant removal, as it does the alternative of impeachment. It would be a signal to the world that America is ashamed of this man and sees him as a mistake, a blip, a passing nightmare. The world should sigh with relief.

Beyon...

If Boris Johnson had any vision he would invest in people, not buildings | Simon Jenkins

The prime minister can’t resist his hi-vis and hard hat, but spending on quality of life and culture would be better for our communities

What do politicians desperate for headlines always promise? They promise to build something. On the day I heard my penniless local youth club was about to close, Boris Johnson offered a staggering £100m every week for 20 years to build just one new railway, HS2.

Last weekend it was announced that two-thirds of small youth clubs in England were facing closure, wit...

Covid has exposed how incompetent the British state is, from top to bottom | Simon Jenkins

It’s not just our ministers who are rotten – our whole system of government, from local to national, is at fault

Come the day of reckoning, who gets blamed? No one could call this week’s reopening of England’s local schools anything but a shambles. The prime minister has declared that all primary schools are “safe … very, very important to stress that” and must stay open. That appears not to apply where they stay shut, as in London and possibly Manchester, Newcastle, Slough, Brighton … and perhap...

If the Church of England worships online, how can its historic buildings survive? | Simon Jenkins

Congregations have shown great adaptability in the pandemic, and churches could again be at the heart of British life

We all know the future. It is online, home delivery, click and collect, view on demand. It is goodbye high street; farewell butcher, baker and Bricklayer’s Arms. But is it also goodbye church?

Normally Christmas is bumper season, not just for toyshops and turkey farmers. Three times more Britons – 2.3 million – go to church on Christmas Day than on any normal Sunday. Families who n...

Ditching Jenrick's 'mutant algorithm' is a win for localism | Simon Jenkins

The government’s centralised planning formula for new houses would have made Lenin blush. This U-turn is welcome

Planning secretary Robert Jenrick’s climbdown over his planning white paper is welcome. Its core proposal for houses to be built according to a Whitehall formula – the so-called “mutant algorithm” – emerged in August reputedly at the bidding of the building lobby, eager to boost their development land-banks in the south-east. It has collapsed under a barrage of protest from southern To...

John le Carré never won the Booker – but then he preferred it out in the cold | Simon Jenkins

The late novelist, who eschewed literary prizes, was a shadowy giant of post-war British fiction

John le Carré never won the Booker prize. His genre – a mix of espionage and detective thriller – wasn’t always in literary fashion even as it was hugely popular, selling some 60m copies. Le Carré refused to let his work be entered into literary prizes, though he did in his early career and in recent years had been recognised with honours such as the prestigious Olof Palme award. The complexity and de...

Boris Johnson would only have himself to blame for a no-deal Brexit | Simon Jenkins

The prime minister is in this mess because he has always considered his own interests before Britains

What Boris Johnson once described as a failure of statecraft now looms over Downing Street. As Britain prepares to end normal commercial contact with the rest of Europe, we must try to understand the endgame that is passing through the prime ministers mind.

Related: Brexit deal or no deal: your quick guide to the negotiations

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England is facing another needless Brexit disaster: care home staff shortages | Simon Jenkins

New immigration rules will stop EU staff being recruited by a sector that relies on them to fill its soaring vacancy rates

By far the worst-off victims of coronavirus have been elderly people. The worst-off victims of Brexit are going to be elderly people. As reported by the Sunday Times, on 1 January EU staff who care for older people in residential homes cannot be recruited to work in the UK, as they earn below a £25,600 threshold for skilled workers. This will apply whether or not there is...

Boris Johnson must give up on fishing: it's the only way to get a Brexit deal | Simon Jenkins

A breakdown in EU talks would cause more chaos than Britain can stand. He should plan to compensate the industry instead

Hold the fish. But has Boris Johnson the guts to do it? If one thing screams from the current, final trade talks between Britain and the European Union, it is that fishing cannot become a deal-breaker. It is an industry alive with romance, but it occupies just 0.02% of the British domestic output and employs just 12,000 people, fewer than benighted Debenhams.

Related: Brexit: U...

The UK's farmers face upheaval, but a reform to subsidies is needed | Simon Jenkins

British agriculture will be transformed utterly by bold new proposals

This is a good week to start a revolution. With Brexit now on the brink of deal or no deal, Britain could yet retreat behind a wall of tariffs and protectionism. But if a free-trade deal is done and borders stay open, the way is clear for British agriculture to be transformed utterly. Today a seven-year transition plan has been announced by the environment secretary, George Eustice. It switches the money, currently £2.4bn a yea...