…and you live in London, then you should be aware that the Metropolitan Police Authority is meeting this Thursday, November 22, to decide whether or not to sack Ian Blair.
While some MPA members are strongly Labourite, others are not - and they’re the crucial ’swing voters’ who’ll decide whether the Commander stays or goes. So [...]

The War Against Terror has reached a new high-point:
A British teenager who is accused of possessing material for terrorist purposes has appeared in court. The 17-year-old, who was arrested in the Dewsbury area of West Yorkshire on Monday, was given bail after a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. It is alleged he had a copy [...]

“The fact that an Iraqi has just tried to blow us up proves that Islamist terrorism has absolutely nothing to do with the war in Iraq. Also, we hate Ken Livingstone.” - here.

Noone’s going to like me for saying this, but I’m going to say it anyway:
The Democrats will lose the midterms. And that’s probably all they deserve.
Don’t get me wrong – that’s not what I want to happen. What I want is for the Republicans to be thrown out on to the street, and for the [...]

In today’s Britain, the ability to think logically appears to be under serious threat. This is most apparent when browsing sections of the blogoball* and when listening to our politicians.
Here’s a non-specific example of a particularly common error. Let’s say that A is a defined characteristic or experience and that X is a particular act. [...]

Dear Terry,
Many thanks for your letter. If you would be so good as to look behind you and use your binoculars to scan the horizon, there is an outside chance that you might locate the point.
The letter I refer to was printed in last week’s Economist, and relates to the Iraq war (yes, I know, [...]

On the 12th of October 2000, al Qaeda conducted a suicide bomb attack on the American destroyer, the USS Cole. Seventeen members of the crew were killed in the attack.
Those who define terrorism as the deliberate killing of innocent civilians might find it difficult to argue that this al Qaeda suicide bomb attack was terrorism [...]

Two stories from the afternoon of 11th September, 2001 that you won’t hear anywhere else.
1. I’m standing in Throgmorton Street with my face pressed against the glass of a private banking building. The TV in the corner opposite the reception desk shows the collapse of a tall grey structure. It’s the WTC, North Tower. The [...]

Sharpener readers with good memories may recollect that there is a certain common theme to my posts. They all have something to do with citizenship and passports (in a rather formal sense). This one is no different. It’s about David Hicks, the Australian detainee in Guantanamo Bay, who discovered belatedly that he was entitled to [...]

In August 2002 Craig Murray set off to Uzbekistan as HM Ambassador. For those of us a bit vague about the aftermath of the USSR, it’s bordered by Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kirghizstan, Kazakhstan, and what’s left of the Aral Sea after the appalling ecological impact of its massive cotton industry. Alongside cotton it produces natural [...]

When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do? - John Maynard Keynes
If you wanted to encapsulate in a single incident the reasons why the voters in just about every major democracy are losing faith in their politicians right now, you could do worse than to go back to Washington University, St [...]

You can define a thing in many ways, especially when it’s an abstract concept (”terrorism”, “democracy”, “British values”…). You can define to persuade, by emphasising features you believe people will find desirable (or, in some cases, undesirable). Alternatively, you can define to exclude, emphasising features some people will find it impossible to sign up to. [...]

Much has been said about the recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon and blockade of that country, with the apparent intention of putting back the Lebanese economy by 20 years.

[Israeli] Army Chief of Staff Lt-Gen Dan Halutz said the Israeli military would “turn back the clock in Lebanon by 20 years” if the soldiers were not returned.

Here I intend to approach the subject from a point of view of European (and especially European Union) foreign policy

As we approach the anniversary of the London bombings, have we learned anything from the first suicide-bombings on European soil?