Politics

By Richard C Roberts I vividly recall the 2001 last night of the Proms. I remember the tears rolling down my 12-year-old cheeks as Leonard Slatkin conducted a devotional rendition of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings in memory of all those who had died a few days earlier in the terrorist attacks of 9/11 – it was almost certainly the first time I cried at a piece of music (though by no means the last). When set alongside the manifold...

By Lock Bailey Anti-Semitism is rising in the world. One reason for the hate is the inability for many to separate the policies of Israel with the people of Israel. Few seem to see the distinction. Jodi Rudoren of the New York Times quoted Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman last week: “The first victim of war is nuance. The idea of having a nuanced opinion that recognises the suffering on both sides and the complications is almost impossible to maintain.” This past...

By Peter Shand @peter_shand89 Labour’s attack plan for the summer recess has been to complete a volte-face on last year’s holiday season, when leader Ed Miliband’s Shadow Cabinet up and left to go on their holidays and Ed saw the Tories take momentum in to the autumn. This year Shadow Cabinet Ministers are each being required to give a series of speeches on ‘The Choice’ between Labour and the Conservatives, which are beginning to amount to run of the mill...

By Guy Dorrell @GuyDorrellEsq On Saturday, Hamas appeared to have captured alive an Israeli junior army officer. Pundits immediately feared that ordinary Gazans would face an armed response more ferocious than anything yet seen in this already dirty and bloody conflict. Lieutenant Hadar Goldin seemed to have been taken during a firefight that saw two of his colleagues killed. In moments of huge uncertainty, one thing can be relied upon; Israel will do everything it can to have Lt Goldin...

By J T Coombes www.globalmagnacarta.com @GMagnaCarta   From the fall of Rome in 476 the recorded history of warfare has shown that the quest for power and then holding on to it has cost the lives of millions, if not billions of innocent people, manipulated into fighting by religious or political greed. As the war in Gaza turns into a bloodbath we are again witness to this constant barbarity and manipulation, with military thinking that has changed little over time....

By Elsa Buchanan As US and EU leaders outline the finishing touches on their Russian economic sanctions, experts say Putin needs to be integrated to the debate, not economically quarantined The European Union and the US have finally imposed punitive economic sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow's continued support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. But as EU members are giving themselves big pats on the back – these are the most extensive EU sanctions imposed on Russia since the...

Buying British Food and EU-US trade deal: Why you can’t have both, Mr Cameron By Elsa Buchanan David Cameron’s reshuffled government should be applauded for outlining a £400 million plan last week to boost the central government to buy fresh, locally sourced, seasonal British food. "Our long-term economic plan is all about backing the do-ers and the hard-workers – and no one does more or works as hard in Britain today than our farmers. By opening up these contracts, we...

  By J T Coombes @GMagnaCarta "The thinking that created the problem is quite incapable of solving it." Albert Einstein Compulsion is inherent within the human condition, often pushing us to extreme and destructive behaviour that is beyond comprehension. It is stimulated by many things, including the derivatives of harmless aspects of Nature. A poppy is a beautiful flower until turned into opium, grape and grain are nutritional foods until distilled into alcohol. Both then fuel the destructive compulsions of...

  By Elsa Buchanan The European Union has added more to its dangling bunch of carrots with a renewed offer of its Special Privileged Partnership (SPP) - a form of enhanced trilateral agreements - promising unparalleled support for Israel and the Palestinians if a peace accord is signed. But while the EU has successfully used greater political and trade ties to promote peace in the Balkans in the past, experts warn the member states’ offer is ill-timed, widely overlooked, and...