Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 88

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...

The economics of Brexit – Politics Weekly podcast

Simon Jenkins, Polly Toynbee and Larry Elliott join Tom Clark to discuss the economic consequences of Britain leaving the European Union. Plus Suzanne Goldenberg in New York takes stock of the US presidential race

George Osborne launched a 200-page projection of what Britain’s economy would look like outside of the European Union this week and his analysis was damning: anyone who thinks that leaving the EU would be beneficial is “economically illiterate”.

But how robust are his figures? And c...

Here is the news: it’s usually bad – and that’s bad for us | Simon Jenkins

I used to believe that the media’s diet of misery was good for the morale of ordinary people. Not any more

If it bleeds, it leads. Fear projects. Bad news sells. Failure makes the front page, success goes to the back. So what is it this week with so many headlines about the Queen? I recall an edict once coming down from a newspaper proprietor that the boss was “fed up with so much bad news”. He wanted a “good-news paper”. We duly prepared a spoof front page. It reported: “No crashes at Heathro...

Why Countryfile is the most political show on TV | Simon Jenkins

This is a programme that both celebrates country life and holds it to account. Now it has an 8 million-strong constituency – David Cameron, take note

Countryfile is my guilty secret. On a Sunday evening, when I want to sit back and not think too much, BBC1 offers me an hour of alternative reality. It offers a Britain that is beautiful yet real, hard-working yet leisured, a place without streets, housing estates or crowds, yet unmistakably British. Its star presenter, Adam Henson, does not lie...

Will Obama’s Brexit intervention make a difference? | Simon Jenkins

The US president has declared his support for the remain camp. But Britons might not like outsiders meddling in their politics

Barack Obama is right. Britain is America’s closest ally and deserves its unswerving support in time of peril. If Britain wants his vote on the EU, that’s the way it will be. It’s high fives for Dave when the president arrives next week.

But hold on. Which Britain wants his vote, the inners or the outers? As the BBC would put it, if that is one American president agains...