Instead of looking for the euro crisis to split Europe financially, should we be looking for the continent’s politics to fall apart instead? Politicians are losing touch with their voters in both the countries paying for the rescue and in the nations being rescued.
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If we’re lucky this is 1997 all over again. If we’re unlucky it’s 2000. The difference is whether the new dot.com bubble has three years before it bursts.
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If two-thirds of UK universities want to charge the maximum £9,000 a year tuition fees, then they’ve not got the point. It may not matter however: with that pricing policy, many won’t survive.
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Why is the UK government so opposed to touts getting their hands on tickets for the 2012 Olympics? When it cannot sell all 6.6m tickets for the London games, ministers may realise how useful touts are.
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Britain’s prime minister should resist all the calls to bring up “human rights” on his visit to Beijing. Why should one country tell another how to run its affairs – nevermind a tiddler like the UK trying to give lessons to China?
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The 25th anniversary of Live Aid is being used as an example of how generous people can be in supporting good causes. Nonsense: the concerts were all about commerce, not charity – self interest rather than selfless philanthropy.
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If the volcanic cloud that grounded UK aviation for a week has any silver lining it may be to provide a better understanding of risk. A safe flight is one that never takes off: the question is how much risk we are prepared to accept.
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Travellers expect their airlines to foot the bill for their enforced grounding. Airlines want governments to compensate them for their losses. Where are governments meant to find the money? Taxing travellers, presumably.
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The one company Labour’s proposed “Cadbury Law” would not have protected was Cadbury. Despite the French protection of their yoghurt industry, saving a chocolate company cannot be considered to be in the national interest.
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Perhaps it was just a pre-election publicity stunt, but the prime minister celebrated International Women’s Day by threatening action against companies that do not put more women on their boards. That’s rich from a man whose 22-member cabinet contains just four females.
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