Simon Jenkins's Blog, page 94

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...

Crisis, what housing crisis? We just need fresh thinking | Simon Jenkins

Here are the most damaging myths about the policy issue that’s on everyone’s lips – and a few brutal realities

Housing is Britain’s top policy issue. It is the “crisis” of our day. London’s mayoral elections, says Labour’s Sadiq Khan, should be a “referendum on the housing crisis”. The migration crisis, the NHS crisis and the poverty crisis all pale before its awesome might. So what is the “solution”?

Related: Sadiq Khan urges Tory rival for London mayor to fight housing bill

Renting aids labo...

Why the west should listen to Putin on Syria | Simon Jenkins

As everyone knows, the only way to stop the slaughter in Syria is for the US and its allies to work with President Assad – and to stop worrying about what looks good

Putin is right. Everyone knows Putin is right, that the only way forward in Syria, if not to eternal slaughter, is via the established government of Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese and Iranian allies.

That is the realpolitik. That is what pragmatism dictates. In the secure west, foreign policy has long been a branch of domestic po...

With Hinkley Point, squandermania has reached dangerous new heights | Simon Jenkins

George Osborne is signing IOUs for megastructure projects on behalf of future British taxpayers – and yet no one dares call him to account

It is the costliest white elephant in history. No power station, perhaps no building, so expensive has ever been built anywhere. In a modest meadow overlooking the Bristol Channel is to rise a structure that will outstrip in extravagance the Three Gorges dam, St Peter’s Basilica, the Taj Mahal and probably the pyramid of Cheops. It is to be built – you gues...

Pigs to peerages: Lord Ashcroft’s act of revenge shows British politics at its venal worst | Simon Jenkins

Cameron’s use of the House of Lords to reward aides, cronies and donors might leave even Tony Blair astonished. Why not just sell off titles to fund political parties?

Britain has a long tradition of citizens returning home with the loot of empire and expecting glory and high office as a result. When Clive of India did so and was charged with massive corruption, he replied loftily, “I stand astonished at my own moderation.”

Related: Cameron faces fresh questions over knowledge of Ashcroft tax...