Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 93

MPs back Syria airstrikes and Labour holds Oldham West – Politics Weekly podcast

Helen Pidd, Simon Jenkins, Gary Younge and Martin Kettle join Tom Clark to discuss an emotional Commons debate on bombing Isis in Syria and a Labour victory in Oldham West that has defied media expectations

Jeremy Corbyn’s first engagement with the ballot box as Labour leader came in the Oldham West and Royston byelection on Thursday. Corbyn was quick to claim credit for a swing towards Labour as the party held it with a thumping majority.

Joining Tom Clark this week to discuss it all are the...

Oldham West’s victory gives Jeremy Corbyn a chance to smile | Simon Jenkins

Jim McMahon swept to byelection triumph, but the result also marks the Labour leader’s first electoral test; one where the Tories were beaten into third place

“A vote of confidence in the Labour party,” said a relieved Jeremy Corbyn of his party’s victory in the Oldham West and Royton byelection last night. It was his first electoral test as leader and he passed. After a week in political hell, the sight of cheering supporters and waving rosettes must have been comforting beyond all expectatio...

It’s Cameron, not Corbyn, who is the terrorist appeaser | Simon Jenkins

If the prime minister were really concerned about Isis, he’d come up with a coherent military strategy

Prime minister David Cameron’s argument in the Commons for permission to bomb Syria was not based on any new or coherent strategy. As he himself pointed out, it merely follows the logic of a previous vote to bomb Iraq. Even so, like Tony Blair before the Iraq invasion of 2003, he had to rely on abusing his opponents, scaring the public and disseminating dubious intelligence.

Related: Jeremy C...

Cameron’s drive to bomb Syria is macho, foolish and must be stopped | Simon Jenkins

Labour has the power to prevent us getting into a conflict we cannot resolve. Jeremy Corbyn, for once, has got it right

Jeremy Corbyn’s challenge to David Cameron on the bombing of Syria is unanswerable, and every Labour MP knows it. So too is his explanation of his position in his letter to his party. A British prime minister’s statement on the eve of war should never be taken at face value. We have heard these bombastic calls to foreign aggression – festooned with jingoist opinion polls – to...

Every faith spawns its fables and myths. The trick is to puncture them | Simon Jenkins

A tale of 12th-century monks peddling sanctity for cash holds a lesson for today’s fearful Christians

The truth is out and in the headlines. Back in 1184 the monks of Glastonbury fabricated an edifice of myth about their monastery’s past for pecuniary gain. No, Christ did not come with his uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, to “walk on England’s green and pleasant land”. No, Joseph never brought the holy grail to the Somerset Levels. No, the churchyard thornbush was not his staff, let alone the crown...

Another big corporation is flagrantly dodging tax. This must be outlawed | Simon Jenkins

Companies such as Pfizer, whose deal with Allergan allows it to relocate to Ireland, should be forced to pay their fair share. A crackdown on tax havens would be a start

No invention of modern capitalism so enrages the public as does the tax haven. When giant corporations and very rich people choose not to pay their taxes, and government turns a blind eye, faith in the state crumbles.

The decision of the American drugs giant, Pfizer, to merge with Dublin-based Allergan, thereby “relocating” its...

From militant doctors to angry lawyers, professionals are the new union barons | Simon Jenkins

Modern technology is eroding deference to those once seen as pillars of society. They must adapt to survive

Some years back the NHS tried to kill me. I was batted back and forth between my local GP and the nearest hospital over a cancer check-up. In desperation, I finally went private. A cancer was found and removed in time. Had I stuck with the NHS I would probably have been another statistic in Britain’s dire record for late diagnosis and death.

Related: Robot doctors, online lawyers and aut...

Terror can only succeed with our cooperation | Simon Jenkins

The warlike response to the Paris massacre by western governments, the media and the rest of the world has answered the dreams of Islamic State

Think what your enemy wants you to do, and do the opposite. No maxim of war is so ignored.

Since last Friday’s killings in Paris, the world has answered the dreams of Islamic State. It has drenched their deeds in fame, glorified its perpetrators with vilification and defined them as warriors not murderers. Deeds of the most squalid horror have been “nat...

It’s not just Russia: Britain helped create this corruption in sport | Simon Jenkins

The doping allegations rocking athletics seem inevitable given how nations bow before those running sport

The Russians will go to Rio next year. Whatever decision emerges from the meeting of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Friday, the Russians will go to the 2016 Olympics. If sporting stars cheat they are banned. If sporting countries cheat they should be banned. But when everyone cheats, what to do? The answer is to panic, lie and then cover your tracks.

Relat...

Would Osborne really let councils decide on Sunday trading? | Simon Jenkins

The chancellor’s plan for longer Sunday hours gets one thing right: devolving power to communities to decide for themselves. If he really means it

Is Sunday special? Of course it is. I tend to work less, have a lie-in, do the garden, see more of the family. Factories, surgeries, banks and offices close. This is no longer to do with religion. I just prefer a day a week to be a little special.

Related: SNP set to block loosening of Sunday trading restrictions

Related: Sunday trading makes us fr...