Challenges

Challenges

“They slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.” Those words from the poem, High Flight by John Magee, were said by President Reagan on the afternoon of Tuesday 28 January 1986. They ended his address to the nation after the Challenger Shuttle exploded barely 2 minutes after its launch earlier that day. The seven astronauts on board did not disappear into the sky. As described in Adam Higginbotham’s magisterial, detailed and gripping account of the tragedy and…

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The annual St John PB Christmas crossword

The annual St John PB Christmas crossword

Political Crossword Clues 2024 Across 1.) Former mayor in Germany’s capital rejected by minister (6) 5.   President or Prime Minister represented in slow motion (6) 9.   Tory has upset stomach and the runs (9) 10. Brown reflected over political alliance (4)  11.  Political thinker bonds with opponents around a table (6)  12.  Imperialist suspicious over America being taken in (3,5)  14. Pardon minister’s assistant spinning over a message (8)  16. Red or nearly Blue (4)  18. Dictator for a…

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A brutal chart for Labour from the FT

A brutal chart for Labour from the FT

This chart in the FT shows how badly Labour have started, with business confidence in Labour falling like Hans Gruber from Nakatomi Plaza. The only positive for Labour is that they have a long time to turn things around but a Labour government being bad for the economy as a once in a century pandemic is not the narrative Starmer and Labour wanted. TSE

History today

History today

For me the single most significant event this millenium is the great financial crisis. I think it led to an expectation for the electorate that bailouts for the banks would become de rigueur for all companies if they ever got into difficulties and when non banks weren’t bailed out that led to resentment, particularly as living standards didn’t improve. I think it explains in part things like Brexit and Trump. TSE