Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 88

The luvvies’ Brexit letter only shows most people vote with their wallets | Simon Jenkins

That our lucky stars of stage and screen benefit from the EU’s largesse should hardly be a clincher for anybody else

Who can possibly argue with 250 luvvies crying, “Remain!”? How can anyone reply when these gods cite everyone from “the Bard to Bowie” in their cause? They carry into battle Richard III, Sherlock Holmes, Elizabeth Bennet, the Red Queen, the Olympics, Love Actually, a dozen Hamlets and even the dear old Queen. They are actors, novelists, writers, directors, celebrities, names, al...

Unless Gove cuts prison numbers, he’s doomed to fail | Simon Jenkins

Michael Gove’s plans are welcome, as far as they go. But they won’t work unless the justice secretary addresses sentencing

Prisons are the fetid, dank dungeons of modern government. If de Tocqueville was right and you can judge a nation’s democracy by its jails, Britain is rotten. They are what you get when public service is left to fear-exploiting, headline-hunting, micro-managing politicians. You get a suppurating blister of violence, self-harm, drug abuse and recidivism. “Prison works” is a...

Books are back. Only the technodazzled thought they would go away | Simon Jenkins

The hysterical cheerleaders of the e-book failed to account for human experience, and publishers blindly followed suit. But the novelty has worn off

At last. Peak digital is at hand. The ultimate disruptor of the new information age is … wait for it … the book.

Shrewd observers noted the early signs. Kindle sales initially outstripped hardbacks but have slid fast since 2011. Sony killed off its e-readers. Waterstones last year stopped selling Kindles and e-books outside the UK, switched shelf s...

Fantastically crony-capitalist: that’ll be Cameron-land | Simon Jenkins

It’s all very well fingering Nigeria and Afghanistan. But our war on corruption should really start with a very British predilection for tax havens and avoidance

Was it a spoof? Was it a set-up? Was it real? Like a hologram from Madame Tussauds, the Queen, the archbishop of Canterbury, the prime minister and the Speaker of the House of Commons stood in a circle, while cameras roamed round them. They instinctively defaulted to type, discussing Kipling’s “lesser breeds without the law”. Ma’am, s...

Brexit could cause war? Utter nonsense, David Cameron | Simon Jenkins

Our prime minister has brought history into the EU debate, with no good reason and plenty of illiteracy

David Cameron’s history is rubbish. Whatever the virtues of remaining in the EU, his idea in today’s speech that “whenever we turn our backs on Europe, sooner or later we come to regret it” is nonsense. As for Brexit “raising the risk of war”, it is Project Fear gone mad.

The best thing that happened to medieval England was its defeat in the hundred years war and the end of English ambitions...

The once monolithic character of UK politics continues to fracture | Simon Jenkins

Local election results reflect distinctive paths being taken in devolved Scotland and Wales, but England is diversifying too

Local elections are a regular health check for Britain’s political parties. Results so far from Thursday’s vote suggest they should keep taking the pills. They leave the Tories relieved, Labour saying it could have been worse, Ukip alive if going nowhere and the Liberal Democrats barely out of their concussion from last year’s election thrashing.

Related: UK elections: S...

Donald Trump’s triumph is a lesson for Europe’s politicians | Simon Jenkins

Neglect voters at your peril, lest people turn to the deeply unattractive outsiders vying for their support

Donald Trump’s emergence as Republican candidate for the American presidency may yet be a blessing in disguise – albeit a heavy disguise. The reckless, belligerent, mendacious inexperience of the man is awesome. It is never good to see virtue in a bully or a thug. With no record of public service, Trump can be judged only on his private behaviour, and that is by all accounts de...

Reforming schools? This is more like a doomed exercise in control freakery | Simon Jenkins

Her primary testing regime has run into trouble – as, inevitably, will the rest of Nicky Morgan’s plans to turn schools into places fit only for robots

There is only one purpose in the government’s chaotic regime for primary school testing. It is control. No wonder headteachers are up in arms. The latest proposals for testing seven-year-olds have been variously delayed, leaked, abandoned and accused of “lacking in clarity”. They will, the teachers’ leader Russell Hobby said this week, “no long...

Someone to blame, someone to sack: why local government is a failed state | Simon Jenkins

Mayors can be the answer to local accountability, but George Osborne’s plans are inconsistent and unpopular

George Osborne knows it, Theresa May knows it, the Hillsborough families know it. We all know it. Britain’s national government may be a democracy, but its local government is a failed state.

There were plenty of moments in the Hillsborough saga when local accountability could have lanced the boil. Local pressure could have forced the Sheffield police chief to resign after the Taylor repo...

The Tories’ absurd school regime can’t even set a spelling test | Simon Jenkins

Bypassing local authorities was always going to end in trouble and, lo and behold, an exam has been published online

Anyone seeking a foretaste of David Cameron’s proposed national schools service need look no further than this week’s primary school test fiasco. The government has had to withdraw its new exam for six- and seven-year-olds because the questions on grammar, punctuation and spelling were leaked online.

So-called “academisation” is supposed to liberate schools from inefficient local...