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FT.com / UK - Boom to bust-up
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T he British have been here before. The descent into acrimonious chaos of Gordon Brown's administration has disinterred memories of the 1990s. Then, the Conservative government of John Major was busy writing its political obituary. The Tories have since spent a dozen years in the political wilderness. On its present trajectory, Mr Brown's Labour government is heading for a similar fate.
History never repeats itself in the detail, but the sense of déjà vu is inescapable: the hubris and exhaustion of a governing party too long in office; rising public anger at economic failure; factional strife spilling over into struggles for the leadership; politicians who have surrendered strategic purpose to desperation to hold on to their seats at Westminster; and a sense abroad of declining British engagement and influence.
FT.com / UK - Landowners cast net wider to make a living
Mark Merison, head of the sporting department at property agents Strutt & Parker, groans down the phone when asked about shooting, a business valued at more than £1bn a year.
“It is extremely bad,” he says, “As a result of the recession, a lot of customers cannot be seen to do it and are walking away from their regular pheasant shoots.”
Defence Academy of the United Kingdom — Defence Academy of the United Kingdom
The Defence Academy is the UK's Defence higher educational establishment. It is responsible for post-graduate education and the majority of command, staff, leadership, defence management, acquisition, and technology training for members of the UK Armed Forces and MOD Civilian Servants, and for establishing and maintaining itself as the MOD's primary link with UK universities and international military educational institutions.
David Cameron: 'Fixing broken politics' speech: ePolitix.com
The full text of Conservative leader David Cameron's speech setting out his vision for reform of the British political system.
FT.com / Comment / Opinion - A Faustian pact that backfired spectacularly
It is hard now to remember the mood in Britain as it was in 1997, as the 18-year period of Conservative rule ended and Tony Blair’s Labour party won in a landslide.
There was an overwhelming sense that it was time, that this young, articulate, handsome leader was the man for the moment. The mood extended everywhere: even Hove and Wimbledon, whose very names epitomise the tea-and-cucumber-sandwich classes, voted Labour. Among intellectuals, the embrace was close to universal.
Their feelings in 2009 were recently summed up in the London Review of Books by Ross McKibbin, the left-leaning Oxford historian: “Who would care if the Labour party, politically and morally decrepit as it is, lost the next election? Would anyone lose a night’s sleep knowing that the present government was no longer in charge of our futures?” And that was before the scandal over MPs’ expenses broke.
FT.com / Comment / Opinion - It is time to update the ancient constitution
Alexis de Tocqueville remarked that the British see things very clearly but can see only one thing at a time. He had a point. The storm over MPs’ expenses and the issue of their accountability has led to talk of a “constitutional crisis” – understood as a loss of confidence in the political class. But the crisis is more profound than that.
It is not just the mores of the political class but the political system as a whole that is in crisis. For Britain has reached an impasse. The process of piecemeal reform – at which the nation excelled historically – is no longer adequate to the problems it faces. Britain needs a new constitutional settlement.
HANSARD 1803–2005
This site is generated from information from Hansard, the Official Report of debates in Parliament. Information presented here is generated from the publicly available XML files. Material on this site remains under Parliamentary Copyright. Within these copyright constraints, you are encouraged to use and to explore the information provided.
ESTA US Electronic System for Travel Authorisation
Welcome to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization Web Site.
International travelers who are seeking to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program are now subject to enhanced security requirements. All eligible travelers who wish to travel under the Visa Waiver Program must apply for authorization using the following process:
Finextra: Lloyds TSB savings Web site tops customer satisfaction poll
The Global Reviews 'Savings Accounts' customer experience benchmark found that Lloyds TSB leads the overall league with a score of 62%, followed by Barclays with 56%, Abbey 53%, Halifax 52%, Nationwide 50%. HSBC, Natwest and ING Direct scored 48% and Alliance and Leicester scored 44%, against the industry average of 52%.
FT.com / World / US & Canada - Bush and Brown in push to deal with crisis
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George W. Bush, US president, and Gordon Brown, UK prime minister, have agreed to step up co-operation over the crisis in financial markets. They are setting up a joint working group which will develop plans to monitor and regulate the banking system.
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