Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 78

Ukip got what it wanted. Time to disband | Simon Jenkins

This single-issue party has been snuffed out by a combination of Brexit and an intransigent Theresa May – who now picks up its legacy

Today’s local election results have been terrible for Labour, but they have been terminal for Ukip. It appears to have lost every seat it has fought, even in its heartlands of Lincolnshire and Essex. On results so far, its poll share has fallen from 22% to little more than 3%.

The reason is obvious. The party that mutated from the Referendum party in 1997 was a c...

Jeremy Corbyn should do a Bernie Sanders, and go for broke | Simon Jenkins

The Labour leader has nothing to lose but the Blairite retreads who urge caution. Now is the time for him to reveal the passions that drive his politics

Let Corbyn be Corbyn. Just now, he is painful to watch. Pretending to be the next prime minister does not work, nor even pretending to be Labour leader. Watching Jeremy Corbyn as “not Theresa May” is Michael Foot for slow learners.

Two weeks ago Corbyn gave a storming opening speech to his London faithful in Church House, Westminster. It was pu...

Could Trump’s diplomacy resolve his North Korea crisis? There’s hope | Simon Jenkins

The threat of conflict is no property negotiation, but the president is conducting it with all his skills as a dealer, craving the eventual shake of the hand

So Kim Jong-un is just a 27-year-old millennial for whom it must have been “very hard” to lead his country at such an age. His ally, China’s president Xi Jinping, is a “very good man who I got to know really well and loves his country”. He is trying hard to resolve the “very difficult” Korean crisis. Of course Xi “doesn’t want to see turm...

Hipsters, heritage and housing – how cities can escape London’s shadow | Simon Jenkins

The mayors about to be elected in Birmingham and Manchester must use ‘soft power’ to get their regions on the map

Now it is Birmingham’s turn. After two years in which Manchester has hogged the headlines as England’s “second city”, Birmingham is out to reclaim what was once its title. Next Thursday, both cities and four others are choosing elected mayors in what is billed as a rehearsal for the 8 June general election. The vote is also a chapter in the devolution of Britain, and in Theresa May...

If we overreact to this attack on Paris then terrorism will ‘just never end’ | Simon Jenkins

When politicians such as Donald Trump rush to publicise terrorist incidents they turn violent crimes into global events and bestow celebrity on fanatics

“It just never ends,” says Donald Trump, referring to the shooting in Paris last night. He is right, but not as he means it. What never ends is the readiness of politicians to rush to publicise and thus enhance and promote terrorist incidents. Once again Islamic State’s useful idiots are turning a violent crime on a Paris street into a global...

The last thing Britain needs from Theresa May’s manifesto is policies | Simon Jenkins

Detailed promises cut and pasted are a hostage to fortune. The prime minister should give voters her priorities, but no more

Those of us who found ourselves climbing the same Welsh mountain as Theresa May last weekend recalled its ancient legend. Anyone who spends too long on Cadair Idris can be rendered mad or a poet. I am not aware of May’s poetry.

Related: Chickening out of TV debates is shameful. Why is May avoiding us? | Caroline Lucas

Related: With the rightwing papers leading the elect...

May has called a snap general election. Our writers respond | Zoe Williams and others

The prime minister goes to the country on 8 June hoping to strengthen the Conservative majority. What happens next? Continue reading...

The bombing of Afghanistan shows the US is led by a one-man wild card | Simon Jenkins

First Syria, now Afghanistan – obscene and pointless bombings. But Donald Trump has tasted the sweet cup of war and no one seems able to control him

Bombs are the fool’s gold of war. Imprecise, expensive and cruel, their strategic utility diminishes the farther they fall from a politician’s desk. The US, with Britain in tepid accord, has been bombing unstable Muslim states for 16 years and has delivered nothing but death and anarchy. But the bombs have warmed the souls of successive presidents...

Our target-driven corporate culture is failing customers | Simon Jenkins

Bound by rules to keep costs low, big companies can only deliver cheap, impersonal and poor services

It would take a heart of stone not to feel for United Airlines. The company had built a reputation for cost control. Its boss, Oscar Muñoz, . Fed up with bribing overbooked passengers who would not budge, even for $800, and needing seats for its own staff, it employed “an algorithm” to select passengers for compulsory “re-accommodation”. When one o...

His emotions have been stirred – but Trump’s bombs won’t help Syria | Simon Jenkins

From Reagan in 1982 to Bush in 2001, there is an ignominious history of US presidents meddling in Middle Eastern affairs. It never works

US airstrikes in Syria: what we know so far

There is nothing in the world more dangerous than an American president watching television. Donald Trump last night followed Ronald Reagan in 1982 and George Bush in 2001 as an isolationist turned interventionist in the Middle East. His past pragmatism towards Syria’s Assad regime and its Russian backers underwent a...