By Steve Parkhurst, Senior Editor, USDR.
Looking at the news and opinion out of London each day.
8-13-17
This terrifying new political reality demands ignorance from our leaders, even if it risks war
Are we at war yet? Newspaper deadlines being what they are, you may, at the time of reading, be in a better position to answer that question than this column. With startling suddenness, the world has reached one of those moments when catastrophic news seems imminent: in which, indeed, the chief actors actually appear to be willing events to take the most devastating, unthinkable course.
Venezuela and Vichy: why does Socialist brutality get an easier ride than Fascism?
Venezuela’s agony is provoking spectacular gymnastics from British Leftists. While the oil price was high enough to cushion that country from the effects of a command economy, Labour hardliners held it up as a workers’ paradise. Now, though, Venezuela has toppled into the abyss: inflation is at 800 per cent, food and medical supplies have run out, blackouts are frequent and the government has awarded itself dictatorial powers.
The big issue: rightwing Tories would never let May adopt Labour policies
Vested interests will always prevent the party championing fairness
8-12-17
Whisper it, but the big news in the North Korean crisis is the return of quiet American diplomacy
August is the quietest month in the political calendar, an armistice for beach holidays and family time. It is also a month when armistices are broken.
The panic about a Brexit legal limbo isn’t justified
In widely reported remarks earlier this week, Lord Neuberger, the outgoing President of the Supreme Court, called for Parliament to tell our judges very clearly how rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) are to be dealt with after Brexit.
Ministers must decide what higher education is for
Successive governments have ducked the question of which degrees are actually public goods worth spending taxpayers’ money on.
8-11-17
The battle for Scottish independence is far from over
It is August and, except in Washington and Pyongyang, the square root of heehaw is happening. This poses certain difficulties for the residents of Grub Street. Desperate times call for desperate measures and if that means burning your hot take then so be it.
Election gambles that worked. And those that failed – like May’s this year.
And those that never were, such as 1978, 1991 and 2007. Prime Ministers tend to make the opposite error to that of their predecessors.
8-10-17
The crash didn’t “change everything”
What emerged in 2004 was less visible than what happened in 2007. But it is doing even more to shape our times.
8-8-17
It’s time to end the great leasehold service charge rip-off
There is a big political prize to be had for the Conservative Party to improving the rights of millions of property owners and bringing them up to equality
No political party in the UK can realistically solve the housing crisis
Young people are having a harder start in life than previous generations – but getting housing right is more important than cutting the cost of university
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Across The Pond is edited daily by Steve Parkhurst. Steve is a political consultant, a writer at his blog as well as a Senior Editor here at US Daily Review. Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveParkhurst
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