Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 83

Amber Rudd was right to leave Orgreave in the past | Simon Jenkins

Most public inquiries waste time and money. The proper place to debate public policy is parliament

Those who can’t rule today try to rule yesterday. This week’s demand by Labour’s Andy Burnham for a show trial of police tactics at the battle of Orgreave, 32 years ago, was a piece of pure politics. His rebuff by the home secretary, Amber Rudd, was proportionate and wholly reasonable.

We know what happened at Orgreave. The police reaction to the miners’ union picketing was excessiv...

Nissan got a sweetheart deal. Under hard Brexit, everyone will want one | Simon Jenkins

Britain has to trade openly with Europe, and vice versa. A soft Brexit is the only way to do that, and avoid a race to the bottom

Welcome to the wonderful world of Brexit PLC: a nod here, a wink there, something under the counter and “I-don’t-mind-if-I-do”. No one knows, yet, what a government minister or official said to the Japanese company Nissan, to secure a massive new investment in Britain’s biggest car plant in Sunderland. We can only be sure it is neither the first nor the last.

As Ther...

The lesson from tiny Wallonia – there is a way to prevent hard Brexit | Simon Jenkins

The Belgian region forced a giant EU scheme to unravel. Given the chance, Wales and Scotland could do the same

The fury subsides. The wounds heal. But as the trumpets and the drums depart, the same Brexit squabbles live on. What do we mean to do, really, about immigration, protectionism, sovereignty and trade?

Cut to Wallonia, a desperate corner of Europe. Its collapsed heavy industry lies ruined in a hilly landscape. Its politics are equally outdated, socialists battling Marxists. Yet Wallonia...

Kicking Philip Green is absurd. Here’s who MPs should be castigating | Simon Jenkins

The Commons wants to remove the former BHS boss’s knighthood, but what is it doing about the company’s chairman, former owner, accountants – and HMRC?

The House of Commons is never more absurd than when kicking a man when he is down. Sir Philip Green is finished, one of the most unpopular men in Britain, barely safe even on his own yacht. Indulged, pampered and praised for decades, his life’s work is in ruins. And all MPs can do is call him “a spiv” and vote to strip him of his knighthood, whi...

Stop obsessing about planes and trains, and start using roads better | Simon Jenkins

Ministers are dazzled by the idea of a third Heathrow runway and HS2. If only they were as excited about car travel

Infrastructure is the new kale. It is the latest fad on the block. Every politician wants more of it. To Labour and Tory, TUC and CBI, infrastructure is the acceptable face of borrowing and spending. All will be well if we just pour billions into concrete. But for what?

Related: HS2: the zombie train that refuses to die | Simon Jenkins

I am told that half the trucks on the M1 are...

Hinkley, HS2 and Heathrow show May’s team are out of their depth | Simon Jenkins

These three white elephants will waste 100bn of public money. Such a cave-in to the lobbyists gives a worrying insight into those close to the prime minister

When David Cameron departed Downing Street, he left three white elephants grazing the Whitehall grasslands. They had been awaiting their fate for years, kept going with fodder slipped them by their kindly keeper, George Osborne. Cameron never made up his mind what to do with them and so left them to his successor. Their names were Hinkley...

There is one sure way to save our ailing churches – give them away | Simon Jenkins

As desanctified, secularised buildings owned by the community or local trusts, ailing churches may just survive

There is no way it looks good. Two thousand medieval churches in England have fewer than 10 worshippers, and 8,000 more can barely muster 20. More Muslims go to mosques than Anglicans go to church. Yet almost all are listed as historic. These lovely buildings are simply emptying. Doors are locked. Grass grows in churchyards.

More than 900 churches are now on the English Heritage...

Theresa May has the party’s adoration for now. That won’t last | Simon Jenkins

The prime minister has crushed the Cameroons. But sidelined Tory remainers won’t be silenced for long

Theresa May’s task as prime minister is simple. The good ship Brexit has left harbour. Storms of unknown ferocity lie ahead. Hatches must be battened and crew encouraged. The Tory faithful, pro-Brexit but suspicious of endless backsliding by their leaders, need reassuring. Nothing else of substance matters, only reassurance.

Related: Will Theresa May’s speech appeal beyond Tory conference? Our...

Dismantle the child abuse inquiry and focus on learning lessons for the future | Simon Jenkins

There is rightly sympathy for those who suffered in the past, but resources need to be put into child protection for today’s needs and tomorrow’s victims

The inquiry into historical sex abuse of children was never fit for purpose and should be dismantled. Something may then be salvaged from the wreck. Like too many inquiries into past history, it was flawed from the start. The reason is that it confused two separate issues, a public interest in the failings of public administration, and a desi...

As long as greed governs global sport, corruption will be endemic | Simon Jenkins

Everyone in football knew what Sam Allardyce was talking about. His biggest crime was to embarrass the FA

Where there’s brass there’s muck, and where there’s muck there is usually a rake. The Daily Telegraph’s exposure of England’s football boss, Sam Allardyce, was just about fair within journalism’s code of conduct. There was prima facie suspicion of wrongdoing and no other way of securing evidence.

Related: Britain is no paragon of sporting virtue – let’s stop pretending otherwise | Mary Dej...