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The commentators                    02-02-15

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...on UK politics

In waging a war on illiteracy and innumeracy, Nicky Morgan has fallen for a fascinating delusion: “war” as a metaphor for determined, effective action. In real life war is slow and incredibly destructive; and by the time it is over, nobody can even remember what the objective was.
- Zoe Williams, The Guardian

David Cameron sacked Michael Gove because he was frightened of the former education secretary’s unpopularity and is now determined to avoid a “Tories will cut your child’s education” campaign. This might be good politics but it’s not a good use of taxpayers’ money. More importantly it won’t help every child to reach their potential.
- Tim Montgomerie, The Times

An unconditional basic income scheme is not a cheap or easy solution. It would be a pathway to a different kind of economy. But for both left and right it would challenge the last vestiges of what French social philosopher Gorz called “the utopia based on work” which has sustained us for two centuries, but may no longer.
- Paul Mason, The Guardian

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As the May election approaches, we need to pick up optimism. Just as the afflicted Greeks have done in this last election. That may prove impossible if millions of our people carry on laughing bitterly and swim in deep pessimism. Satirists are citizens too. But they need to ask themselves some hard questions about what they do and how that might affect our futures.
- Yasmin Alibhai Brown, The Independent

The fact that Russian warplanes are now regularly and deliberately testing Britain’s air defences inevitably raises the question of whether, following the drastic cuts the Coalition has made to the defence budget, the British military is properly equipped to defend the nation’s interests.
- Con Coughlin, Daily Telegraph

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• Four Sun journalists face a retrial after a jury fails to agree on whether they illegally paid public workers for stories
  
• The Independent reports that phone-hacking at the Mirror group may have been worse than at News International
  
• Consultation ends on proposed guidelines which still allow police unfettered access to telephone records under anti-terrorist legislation that has been used to uncover journalists' sources
  
• The Guardian reports that security services regard journalists as "dangerous" and in the same league as terrorists and computer hackers. 
  
• A Lords committee is told that a proposed press regulator with no one to regulate has so far been given £900,000 of public money

- Trials and tribulations, a snapshot of a week in British journalism

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Comment digest courtesy of
Editorial Intelligence

January 30
Rape law
January 29
UK politics
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UK politics
January 27
Greece
January 26
UK politics

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January 23
UK politics
January 22
Chilcot inquiry
January 21
Page Three
January 20
Anti-semitism and Islam
January 19
Religion and freedom

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January 16
World politics
January 15
Election debates
January 14
Charlie Hebdo
January 13
Charlie Hebdo
January 12
Charlie Hebdo

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January 9
Charlie Hebdo
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Charlie Hebdo
January 7
UK politics
January 6
UK politics
January 5 
UK politics

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