Category: April 2012

Did MI6 Agent Kill Spy in Bag?

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Sunday, 1 April 2012 at 11:48 am Now I know that the Daily Mail is doing it on purpose. Yesterday it put number 783 in the world-famous series of Questions to Which the Answer is No on the front page. The story comes complete with that adornment of the genre, the list of “The Unanswered Questions”. I … Continue reading Did MI6 Agent Kill Spy in Bag? →

A Pro-European Referendum, Revisited

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Wednesday, 4 April 2012 at 4:48 pm Just received an email news release from the wonderful Ian McKenzie, communications director of The People’s Pledge campaign for a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union. It announces that the campaign has appointed a new director, and it is he. Congratulations Ian. … Continue reading A Pro-European Referendum, Revisited →

“Defend Magna Carta from the Jackbooted Heel etc.”

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Wednesday, 4 April 2012 at 10:24 pm Some people were more interested in the trivia of my winding up Henry Porter, the Grand Pooh-Bah of Aynshunt Liberteez (© Sadie Smith), than in the serious subject of my last post, namely Europe. So, give the readers what they want, I say. Let us have … Continue reading “Defend Magna Carta from the Jackbooted Heel etc.” →

Labour’s fine economic record

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Thursday, 5 April 2012 at 5:40 pm I was looking at data on the New Labour governments’ record on the economy, when I came across this excellent presentation, UK Economic Performance since 1997, by Dan Corry, Anna Valero and John Van Reenen, at the LSE Centre for Economic Performance, 15 November 2011 … Continue reading Labour’s fine economic record →

The UKIP Bogey Bear, Still There

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Tuesday, 10 April 2012 at 3:13 pm One of the persistent derangements of the Conservative right is its obsession with the UK Independence Party. It uses the existence and occasional blip in popularity of UKIP as an argument for the Conservative Party to move to the right — which it usually phrases … Continue reading The UKIP Bogey Bear, Still There →

Vote Fool’s Gold

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Tuesday, 10 April 2012 at 12:00 pm The superficial appeal of the “independent” political candidate is glinting like fool’s gold again. This time it is Siobhan Benita, a “non-party” candidate for mayor of London (pictured). I can see why some sensible people are tempted to vote for her. Many Labour supporters find … Continue reading Vote Fool’s Gold →

“I don’t believe in wasting my time”

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Tuesday, 10 April 2012 at 4:33 pm A small Blair nugget spotted by Quentin Letts in the diaries of Michael Spicer, the Conservative politician who was a junior Energy Minister in 1989: Another tale in the Spicer diaries concerns the young Tony Blair when he was Shadow Energy Secretary. One day he sat down next to … Continue reading “I don’t believe in wasting my time” →

All Nick Clegg’s Fault

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Wednesday, 11 April 2012 at 10:32 am Running a coalition government requires the patience of, well, an NHS patient. Nick Clegg needed a bauble for the Budget. A tycoon tax, he thought. That is a good bit of posturing. They have it in America: a minimum rate of income tax that … Continue reading All Nick Clegg’s Fault →

“Complicity”: the haters’ favourite word

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Thursday, 12 April 2012 at 10:43 pm I know little about the Belhaj case, in which one of the leaders of post-Gaddafi Libya claims that British spies helped the Americans kidnap him in Thailand and ship him to Gaddafi’s Libya, where he says he was tortured. But knowing little about it … Continue reading “Complicity”: the haters’ favourite word →