Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 94

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...

What if the Chinese were to ‘raise human rights’ with us? | Simon Jenkins

The British could pretend to care about China’s human rights, but it would be impolite, pointless, hypocritical and probably counter-productive

British ministers are to “raise human right concerns” with their Chinese guests this week. What on earth for? It is impolite, pointless, hypocritical and probably counter-productive. We are cringing supplicants for Chinese capital – as we claim to be for Saudi “intelligence”. What has this to do with human rights?

The itch to pass judgment on other peop...

The EU is a sham. Vote no to let a new Europe take root | Simon Jenkins

Cameron’s battle for reform is a lost cause. Britain should walk out to secure the deal we really want

It is May 2017. The British voters have just done the unthinkable: they have decided, by a narrow margin, to snub David Cameron and “leave” the European Union. Trafalgar Square has gone wild with union jacks. Cameron’s ham-fisted renegotiation has won no real concessions from Britain’s EU partners. Project Fear has failed to convince a majority that Brexit would “cost every Briton £450...

Money has always trumped morals in the UK’s dealings with Saudi Arabia | Simon Jenkins

The fact that British man Karl Andree faces 350 lashes in a Saudi prison won’t halt our trade with the regime. So why not do business with other human rights ‘abusers’?

Should Britain break off relations with Saudi Arabia over the proposed flogging, apparently to death, of a 75-year-old businessman for having home-made wine in his car? Or should it take whatever money is going and remark that internal affairs are a matter for the regime?

Nothing in the compromising world of diplomacy has been a...

The No 10 handover has begun – and Osborne’s rivals have a target | Simon Jenkins

David Cameron may want his friend to succeed him, but he and George Osborne now have quite separate agendas

Power never works to rule. No leader should ever volunteer his or her termination in office. From the moment last summer that David Cameron announced he would resign before 2020, energy drained from his office. The Geiger counter over Downing Street fell silent. It crackled instead over George Osborne, Theresa May and Boris Johnson. One of them is the future for every Tory in the la...

‘Toffism’ is here to stay, but private schools aren’t helping themselves | Simon Jenkins

If private schools are to have charitable status for tax reasons they should extend their facilities to their state counterparts more often

No British government is going to ban its citizens from paying for a private school. No more would it ban private houses, doctors, cars or old-age care. Life is unfair, even when unfairness starts at birth. When communists tried to eradicate parental advantage they found party officials starting their own schools.

Related: Private schools organisation chie...

Jeremy Corbyn’s straight talking on Trident should be applauded | Simon Jenkins

Trident is useless, and Corbyn’s shadow cabinet should be ashamed. Their stance has more to do with global posturing than our national security

Labour’s shadow cabinet reaction to Jeremy Corbyn on Trident is astonishing. An end to Britain’s nuclear arsenal has been an article of faith to most Labour supporters for a generation. It has also been common currency of most defence analysts for almost as long.

Related: Corbyn’s Christ-like position may have nuked his chances of becoming PM | Polly T...