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Vive la change between us and the French

/li> 0 shares 32 comments Appetite for change: The French are clever, cleverer than us. But this leads them into the folly we avoid because we have no taste for brilliant schemes of government which lead to constant change When we watch France with all its woes, we have to remember that we are dealing with the Fifth Republic — which seems an awful lot of republics to us. What is lacking in the French system is a hearty dose of good old English stupidity. This is to paraphrase Walter Bagehot, the great Victorian writer on politics and finance. It is always somehow reassuring to find how something remains the same, despite our always being told that we live in an era of unprecedented change. What Bagehot wrote has a familiar ring today. The French are clever, cleverer than us. But this leads them into the folly we avoid because we have no taste for brilliant schemes of government which lead to constant change. A common British view of the French is that they are

Why the Eton crew could sink Cameron

/li> 14 shares 63 comments Class war: He said he was 'broadening' his party. Now David Cameron surrounds himself with OEs to an extent once thought unimaginable. Six of them operate in his Downing Street entourage How would you define a snob? And come to that — since we are all too obviously discussing David Cameron — what qualifies as a ‘raging snob’? The great Victorian novelist William Thackeray had a lot of fun with this a couple of centuries ago. Among his memorable creations was James Plush, a footman. When fortune smiled on him he styled himself ‘Jeames de la Pluche’  before ill fortune brought him back to earth. Cameron has reopened the class war by surrounding himself with ever more Old Etonians. For heaven’s sake, they cannot be the only repository of skill and brainpower! Snobbery is, in fact, unusual in a politician because the demands of power oblige him or her to make pals with supporters, whatever their background. Whether an individual w

Afghan exit - or is it a very long goodbye?

/li> 12 shares 7 comments The American appetite for interference on a global scale — something we used to believe was a Russian threat — continues to unsettle the world. President Obama remains in the hands of the security and foreign policy establishment in Washington. The end of next year is supposed to see a complete end to the American operation in Afghanistan. But it turns out that the U.S. is negotiating to retain no fewer than nine bases in the country, containing up to 10,000 troops. The feeble excuse is that they will not be American but Afghan bases merely used by the U.S. military and well paid for. On that argument you might contend that all the U.S. bases which peppered the globe during the Cold War were nothing to worry about. President Obama remains in the hands of the security and foreign policy establishment in Washington At least the British position is that we genuinely plan to pull our troops out by the end of next year. And, to judge from

BLACK DOG: Clegg can walk through walls!

/li> 9 comments One of Nick Clegg's perks in his Cabinet Office base is use of the 'secret' door One of Nick Clegg’s perks in his Cabinet Office base is use of the ‘secret’ door between the building and No 10 – the one famously locked shut in Yes, Prime Minister to annoy Sir Humphrey Appleby.  But what will happen when the Deputy PM is shortly forced by renovation works to relocate to the Scotland Office next door? Simple. Dog hears workmen will punch a hole in the wall into the Cabinet Office and thus maintain Cleggie’s ‘street-free’ access to No 10. Well, we wouldn’t want him to get his hair wet now, would we? Dissident Tory MPs determined to give David Cameron a bloody nose fluffed their chance. As the Prime Minister closed his pre-Christmas address to the party’s 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, chairman Graham Brady asked: ‘Right. Any questions?’ Before any rebellious hands could be raised, Dave seized his chance. ‘No? OK – let’s all go to the Smoki

Loser Letwin isn't a safe bet

/li> 12 comments Loser: Britain's Government Policy minister Oliver Letwin was forced to pay £100 to former Chancellor Lord Lawson after losing a bet over the Kyoto climate change deal Bumbling Tory Minister Oliver Letwin – who once let burglars walk into his house – has been forced to pay £100 to former Chancellor Lord Lawson after losing a bet over the Kyoto climate change deal. Letwin banked on it being renewed when it expired in 2012 – but it wasn’t. Global-warming sceptic Lawson said: ‘It was blindingly obvious that there would be no Kyoto successor. Oliver is one of the nicest people in politics, but it is disconcerting that our policy is based on the advice of someone so totally divorced from any understanding of practical realities.’            ********************** Labour bruiser Paul Farrelly is livid after the Commons upheld a ‘bullying’ complaint made against him by Emily Commander: the attractive clerk had helped him to mount his anti-phone hacking

BLACK DOG: Backpedalling time, Alastair?

/li> 15 comments Alastair Campbell has kept quiet about Lance Armstrong's recent relevations Why the silence from Iraq War dossier apologist Alastair Campbell on drugs cheat Lance Armstrong’s TV confession? He interviewed the cyclist in 2004, after the drugs claims had surfaced, and gushed: ‘Sheryl Crow, his pop-star girlfriend, greets me. Armstrong appears. A long, firm handshake . . . If you ask him a question, he answers it straight out.’  Even as Armstrong’s guilt emerged months ago, Campbell praised his ‘character’ and ‘intelligence’. Ruthless, bullying liar Armstrong cloaked his crimes in charitable do-gooding and  targeted newsmen who saw through him. Surely Campbell abhors that? Chain-smoking Rail Minister Simon Burns, shamed into giving up his £80,000-a-year Government limo ride to work from his Essex home, is said to be finding his 90-minute commute ‘purgatory’ because of the smoking ban on trains. A fellow MP once counted Burns paying 27 visits to a Co

Black Dog: Boris just crazy for Christine!

/li> 11 comments En route to his ‘pizzagate’ night out with the Prime Minister at the Davos summit, Boris Johnson flirted with elegant French IMF boss Christine Lagarde over the PM’s vow to hold a referendum on Europe. ‘Bien joué David Cameron, n’est-ce pas, ma cherie Christine?’ said the libidinous London Mayor (meaning ‘Well played Dave, eh Christine, my dear?’). ‘Ah, vive Grande Bretagne, vive Europe et vive Boris,’ purred Lagarde. A French envoy behind muttered: ‘Ils sont complètement barjots.’ Translation: Dave and Boris are crazy. Boris Johnson, right, took a shine to IMF boss Christine Lagarde, left *********************************************************************************************** Dog can scarcely believe a story about culture vulture BBC chairman Chris Patten told by BBC presenter, and star of The Great Comic Relief Bake Off, Martha Kearney. She says that when Patten was told about the ‘WATO studio’ – Beeb slang for Martha’s World A