Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 93

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...

The surveillance bill is as big a threat to state security as to personal liberty | Simon Jenkins

Nothing digital is secure, so the massive proposed extension of state powers in the ‘snooper’s charter’ could backfire

The surveillance bill has had a rough passage so far. Today the spooks were under pressure from left and right. Libertarians, nerds and the big computer firms were up in arms. The sceptred isle was up against the Spectred isle. So MI6 sent for Bond.

The past week has seen the most bizarre spinning. The BBC and the Times suddenly “managed to secure” exclusive stories about the w...

Tales of hi-vis New York chicanery from Osborne’s favourite author | Simon Jenkins

If the chancellor really aspires to emulate Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson, the subjects of Robert Caro’s biographies, we should be worried

It was an eerie moment. The former foreign secretary William Hague told the American biographer Robert Caro that he was George Osborne’s favourite author. Caro was pleased, not least as he was about to have dinner with Osborne at Downing Street. He was in town to address a packed Intelligence Squared audience at the relaunch of his 1974 biography of Rober...

The tax credits vote shows why Cameron should act on Lords reform | Simon Jenkins

The place to vote down unpopular policy is the Commons, not the Lords. This constitutional breach matters – and presents Cameron with his opportunity

If you are leftwing, last night’s House of Lords vote on tax credits was a triumph. If you are rightwing, it was an outrage. Such blatant tribalism indicates a rotten constitution.

The century-old convention that such a vote is unconstitutional honoured the principle that tax-and-spend was central to collective democratic responsibility. The dispo...

England’s churches can survive – but the religion will have to go| Simon Jenkins

The buildings are beautiful, but too many remain empty. They will regain their focus only if they convert to a communal role

England’s biggest, most plentiful, most beautiful buildings are its churches. They are also its emptiest. There are some 16,000 churches in total, and every now and then their owner and janitor, the Church of England, utters a howl of pain. This month a church report points out that more than a quarter of churches have fewer than 20 worshippers on a Sunday – fewer than 1...