Blog
8 june 2015, alea jacta est
Having just watched the eurovision (11 may 2014, the morning after) with my youngest - little more than a blatant attempt to stay awake after bedtime - I was struck, again, by how pervasive, in song and commentary, english was. Across the continent it's no longer a question of what language europe would adopt it had a lingua franca, but rather whether or not to officially adopt english. This is somewhat ironic, given that those who speak three languages are trilingual, those who speak two are bilingual and those who speak just one are english. Some 38% of europeans now speak english, well ahead of german (12%) and french (11%). The reasons for this are of course less olde england and more new world, but no less potent for that - and of course self-reinforcing. As more and more speak the common language, more and more want and even need it. In the european institutions, where 30 years ago french almost totally prevailed, some 70-80% of eu documents are now produced in that funny language where skating on thin ice can get you into hot water and fat chance and slim chance are the same thing. Even french oscars (the césars), much to my francophone other half's disgust, now go to english-language films. For the eu single market, this is a useful trend. Compared to the internal mobility of americans, the biggest barrier in europe is language. The ability to actually talk to each other is a crucial element in encouraging people to shop around and to work where they are needed. At a more philosophical level, can there ever really be a "community" let alone a "union" when its supposed citizens only actually speak to others of their own nationality ? Whereas once upon a time nations harnessed language to the cause of a common identity through compulsory use in universities, courts, civil service and the army, europe's language is emerging in a resoundingly "bottom up" way. The english may yet edge away from the eu, but at least the new neighbours will be able to communicate across the channel.
31 may 2015, copenhalfgone
A busy half-term, with relatives staying from australia, and then we hopped over to denmark for a few days, a first for my other half and the boys. It came on the back of a rather rash promise to visit legoland if my youngest got into the top stream in his new school, which he duly did; we hadn't considered which legoland he meant. We were also inspired by the bridge, and indeed it was a constant theme, as we took the train over it, walked through a new dock development for a sweeping view and then climbed the little-gem rundetaarn tower for an ariel panorama. The other side is malmo, and we also spent a surprisingly interesting day in the other half of greater copenhagen. There were election posters absolutely everywhere, but this was a strictly leisure visit. We ate well, squeezed in the libeskind-designed jewish museum, saw the sights (even the little mermaid) and in the dying hours a tuk-tuk from the new harbour showed us what we'd missed; a refeshing break.
23 may 2015, the alternative vote
Born of reaping the grim fate of being on the tory-led "establishment" side of the scottish referendum, the otherwise-excellent tristram hunt (aspiring shadow chancellor) has been talking about the eu referendum, following the emerging labour line in favour of staying in, but oppositiontunistically decrying cameron for failing in his much-vaunted reform negotiations. This does rather seem to be backing themselves into the corner of saying cameron failed and got nothing, but vote yes anyway to the same old eu. The main event is of course the prime minister getting out of his own corner, as he doesn't want to leave, but is leading a referendum where the country may very well vote to do that. There are worse things, as switzerlerland and norway know, than voluntarily being bound by the rules and paying the bill for full access to the single market without clocking up the air miles to brussels to negotiate them in the first place, but britain's place in the world outside the eu is a diminished one. It's also one that the much-maligned establishment doesn't want, and now the referendum is real eu leaders are already working to make reform as substantial as possible, and business leaders are coming out of the closeut and making the case for the pros of sharing not losing sovereignty. There is a route which enables the eurozone to merge much more in the fullness of time (see 21 february 2015, le demos nouveaux et arrivé !), but provides enough power and form to the slow-laners led by the uk as to maintain an equilibrium of powers that makes such second-class membership worthwhile. Whether the disgruntled brits though are going to vote for it (see 24 february 2014, sleepwalking towards the exit) is quite another matter.
9 may 2015, 331 not out
Tony blair was right, warning his successor as labour party leader, ed miliband, some months ago not to make the election a rerun of those before him "in which a traditional left-wing party competes with a traditional right-wing party, with the traditional result" of a conservative win. We took the kids to vote after work, and they were suitably interested in the morning to discover I now have a conservative mp for the first time in my life. Within hours, miliband was gone, as was his other half, justine, who I spent a very pleasant if obscure week with in kazakstan and krygystan in the 1990s. Clegg resigned too, as the final hope of reward for their noble narrative of national sacrifice proved entirely unfounded; the liberals now return to their traditional corner of also-ran eccentric think tank. For all the heat and light of ukip, the greens and the me-too welsh nationalists, they managed just 5 seats between them, although the lion that did roar was of course the scottish nationalists. I stayed up until after 4am to watch the biggest swings ever seen in the uk and the 100-year old political certainties of labour scotland come spectacularly crashing down as a 20-year student easily beat labour's shadow foreign secretary in a seat that had been labour since 1924, and gave a very decent speech. And on it went, until there were more pandas in scotland that conservative, liberal and, incredibly, labour mps (see 10 february 2014, less than chinese pandas). Although the new government's agenda, especially on europe, and a poor, poor labour result leaving a quasi-existential crisis for the main opposition will quickly become the legacy stories, the biggest one of all is the uk's now very-different politically-coloured nations: yellow scotland, red wales, london and northern/urban england and a blue south. And can we finally get around to changing the voting system as well, please: the snp's 1.5 million votes gave them 56 seats in parliament; ukip's 4m gave them 1.
3 may 2015, neither a n g e l o r d e v i l
I remain in mixed feelings mode about my adopted quasi-homeland of hungary. On the one hand my honorary consul role firmly co-opts me into supporting trade, investment and the large local hungarian community, with events such as a recent one in cheshire I anchored. Of course though the support is seen as wider, and indeed a couple of weeks ago I was a special guest at the house of lords where hungary took over the chairmanship of the international holocaust remembrance alliance from the uk. To hungary's credit there were many survivors, who pulled no punches, and a contrite and sensible minister who was ruthlessly frank about both the past and the present. Taking into account the extensive programme, of many years in hungary, I do feel this is all more than a foreigner-facing front, and a genuine attempt, at many levels of governance, to confront the past. However, the problem is how little that bleeds into the rather shocking present, where most hungarians still consider themselves victims: of the nazis, the communists and many now of the eu and western financial world. That is the foundation stone on which the brutal, nationalist, revanchist and blatantly racist jobbik party is built. Attempts to adapt to its move into the mainstream, dissolving its violent militia and claiming to have moved on from anti-semitism, are unconvincing. Its growth is frightening: coming third in the general elections, second in the european elections and recently winning an unprecedented by-election. Yes, across europe, not least with france's national front, extreme right wingers have been on the march for some years (see 21 september 2013, europe is not (too) right), but none are quite so disgraceful as jobbik, and none have marched so far. As in most european polities, the extreme is pulling the centre-right with it. As to my own role, in every world there is good and evil, but the worst of all I used to say was the vaguely-hungarian elie wiesel's silent observer.
18 april 2015, bibin there, done that
As the initial month's mandate approaches, we wait with trepidation for a new israeli government to be formed. We know already the prime minister will be the same man that played such a vile role in creating the atmosphere in which yitzchaq rabin, the last best chance for israeli-palestinian peace, was murdered in 1995 (see ...and that's how it ended). He held firm against the territorial compromise that peace required then, and he's held firm since, making something that was incredibly hard a generation ago virtually impossible now. This excellent diagram charts how israel has moved steadily from being a centre-left polity in the 1950s to a harder right one today. Bibi was on the far right of his party twenty years ago; today, he is its moderate anchor. It is hard not to see that somewhere in this period the final opportunity for a two-state solution passed, as the palestinians' grip on their ever-diminishing territory got ever less and israel's vested interest in keeping what they had ever greater. "We have no partner" became a self-fulfilling prophecy, as now there probably isn't. The respite in gaza came in september, yet there was no making hay while the sun shined. No plan, no progress; just more of israel and egypt's joint blockade: bankruptcy, bombast, blankets; broken, even as hamas surrendered control to the pa. Negotiations on re-opening the border have stopped entirely. Meanwhile the decades-long partnership with the pa that has more-or-less kept peace in the west bank has frayed to the thinnest thread, as bereft of even the pretence of a peace process palestine joined the international criminal court (which it has every right to do) and israel withholds the taxes it owes the pa and which maintain the whole edifice, pushing it towards bankruptcy and anarchy and leading it to withdraw security co-operation. Netanyahu maintains the possibility of a national unity government as a stick to beat his rightist coalition partners into submission with, but it's not hard to be assured that what will emerge will, again, be the most rightwing government israel has ever had. Alas, it will likely also be one of its most stable, and in september 2018 netanyahu would tellingly surpass david ben gurion to become israel's longest-serving pm. What an epitaph to what was once such an astounding civilisational beacon. An opportune time to take stock of these last years.
6 april 2015, and finally, the middle kingdom
Other half and kids in budapest; I'm back from china. An experience. Once through hong kong, spent time first in schenzen and then in chengdu - cities that no-one in europe has heard of, with populations of some 15 and 10 million. The first is probably the more remarkable, as while chengdu has a rich history of 3000 years, schenzen, a fishing village of 30 families in the 1980s, is a growth "unprecedented in human history" poster (only) child of various global "special economic zone" aspirations. I was privileged enough to stand in the city's nasa-style integrated command and control centre, and see a massive bustling metropolis of finance, industry and all means and manner of commerce, plus skyscrapers as long and as far as the eye can see. Its a rather drab version of hong kong cubed, with some fabulous gems interspersed, such as an amazingly designed airport (serving 36m a year) and some curios, like our hotel. It was nothing to our lodgings in chengdu, supposedly the biggest building in asia and a little world in itself. At restaurants, shops and markets we had a small glimpse of the prosperity dipping down ever deeper into the layers of chinese society, not that there aren't those layers below on whose backs, as in every society, wealth is built. We flew back to hong kong on an airline again no-one in europe has heard of (sichuan, with a fleet of around 100 planes, flying to a dozen international destinations, though mainly domestic). Chengdu airport was similarly impressive behind the scenes. This is a country bursting to break out into the world, as the aiib story, which broke while we were there, totemically shows. It was an eye-opening, and mouth-watering, few days. Photos here.
29 march 2015, captain’s log, stardate…
Having skirted around china philosophically for years, and indeed acted on it, I have only actually visited taiwan (see 12 october 2013, of masks and mopeds). Until, yesterday, when after 11 hours aboard the flying hotel that is cathay pacific's direct flight from manchester, I landed in a rather clammy hong kong, a day earlier than business required so I could see the place. It's not as big as china's megacities, and not quite facing quite their mass urbanisation issues and it seems more western, so hard (or maybe it's just me) not to fall into the tourist traps, especially with a warm sun, limited time and a bit of jet lag. Lots of masks, but even more phones clicking and recording away everywhere, at least amongst the touristiati; many have headgear with cameras permanently whirring away. Sat atop the peak, after a great tram ride, it's pretty breathtaking, indeed awesome to look down at what must surely be the biggest concentration of skyscrapers on the planet. The city clearly has a vibrancy, a restlessness and an energy from the mass of people and things so limited in space but clearly so bursting to push out. The markets were teeming, victoria park packed, the streets of causeway really alive and the remnants of the tented city in the administrative district evidence of how that energy can manifest itself politically. I didn't see everything though, as tiredness did eventually catch up on me, though I've an evening still to spend here, so we'll see what the night brings. After that, I'm into china proper, a whole other world.
14 march 2015, mend not make
As manufacturing apparently surges back in the locality (or at least politics surges to make that the narrative despite pesky statistics), to try and perhaps awkwardly bolt together several things: the social economy, the circular economy and the perennial sharing economy (see 23 december 2010, collaborative consumerism). The social is hard to define, but is essentially not for profit companies whose rationale is not to create monetary profit but forms of common good. The circular is the conceptual evolution of recycling, driven by the continual upgrade of consumer products like phones, even as their manufacture drains ever more expensive natural resource. The logic becomes to design products so their parts can be extracted at end of life and reused. As for collaborative consumerism, the great wave towards sharing not owning, despite the internet's ubiquity making it now feasible, seems stubbornly slow. The link between the 3 is trust, communication and common commitment within a community, for mutual benefit. Which perhaps explains why all are still very much minority interests, despite the effective tools for them to be mainstream. We are still in the age of the individual. We like owning things, like cars and houses, and we don't like reliance on others or sharing our needs and desires with communities beyond our family, friends or households. The communities we do like, like facebook friends (or I live on 20th century email lists), are those we selfishly define ourselves and they are rarely big enough or appropriately suited to share cars with or make peer-to-peer loans - so back we go to citroen or citi (my personal automotive and financial sponsors). I still don't need that drill in the garden shed, but I'm not yet ready to make it available to anyone outside my immediate circle of trust, even if it would pay me a morsel to do so, or in return someone a mile away would lend me a cable detector for the once a year I need it, rather than me having to buy one at b&q or call the handyman. Or, perhaps I am ready, and perhaps we are many and we're waiting for that tipping point and the apps and economies that will trigger it, making peer more fulfilling than profit, taking apart and sending back better than throwing away and access better than ownership. A different world, but perhaps not so radical a change as might at first appear.
8 march 2015, everything except a beach
Someone - alright the guardian - has picked up my idea of moving parliament up to manchester. In fairness, I only mooted the house of lords (see 1 november 2014, in scotland's wake), anyway ripe for transformation into a regional assembly like the german bundesrat, whereas mr jenkins would move the whole shooting match. Hats off to him. The minor wave of agreement to this that has swept the airwaves since the speaker announced the houses of parliament were no longer fit for purpose can be summarised as: you know what, if we were going to move the political capital anywhere it would be manchester - but that's not really going to happen, is it. Oh well. The narrative rides another, much bigger and more substantive wave, that has seen the praises of project manchester sung to extraordinary heights in the hallowed establishment pages of the quality press, with the likes of the sunday times, the economist and - excellent article alert - the financial times giving the devo manc (see 8 november, and so it came to pass) proposals legs, at least until the election. I am kvelling, with whatever the opposite is of chickens coming home to roost. Albeit from a different perch, I am rather proud to still be a part of it all.