Everyone agrees he was a nice man

​+I’ve just read Simon Kuper’s book Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK (Profile Books, 2023) which describes how many of our ‘leaders’ used their connections and charmed lives to sail through Oxford University and go on to their undeserved privileged places in our exalted constitution. It seems study and hard work were low down on their undergraduate lists of priorities. Kuper suggests that things have improved since the 1970s and 80s but I wonder. A story in the Daily Mail on 28th December, telling how Alastair Campbell’s son Rory has allegedly lost a pile (millions) of dosh in some betting syndicate he ran contains this juicy quote ‘In a 2018 interview Rory, who read Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford, said he spent 'the majority of time' at university 'playing poker and watching football'. Perhaps we should take a closer look at all those who did PPE—it appears that it may be overrated. Clearly the main lesson learnt was that time spent at this university set you up regardless of talent.
 
+Co-incidentally, another book I’ve been reading kind of takes up this theme: How Westminster Works . . And Why it Doesn’t, by Ian Dunt (Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 2023). Here we learn about a dysfunctional system of governance which bakes in the amateurism which makes our rulers believe they can just ‘wing it’ through any challenge. Generally speaking, the underpinning philosophy is called ‘generalism,’ which is to say our top people are Jacks (and Jills) of all trades, capable of transitioning to any new job given to them. One example of this that  comes to mind is the Secretary of State for Many Hats John Reid, who was placed at the top of more departments for about six months each I can’t remember how many. That he held so many positions however may suggest that Tony Blair had little confidence in anybody else (they may have been Brownites). Dunt’s book I think very accurately describes the ramshackle parliamentary culture which is maintained in Westminster, which of course suits the government of the day down to the ground. For most of the time the Commons bows to the executive, and as Dunt suggests this suits MPs admirably, since it saves them a lot of time having to think too deeply (or at all) about what they’re voting on. But as I discovered not so long ago, even the most inconsequential aspects of the Commons are rigorously controlled by the government, in this case whether or not the longest serving woman MP could take on the lead duties traditionally performed by the ’Father of the House’ as opposed to the ’Mother of the House.’  (At the time of my enquiry into that, the powers that be may have been worried that Diane Abbott could upset their applecart.) As we marvel at the muddling through nature of our politics we can rest assured that our democracy delivers all that we ask of it. .  ‘cos that’s the default position.
 
+Jimmy Carter, the former US President’s death at age 100 will bring on a brief flurry of rosy tinted tributes. But it is as well to remember that Carter was in the same mould as most US presidents and a corrective to the gush is needed—without taking away from his later humanitarian work. Perhaps his greatest failing was opening the door to Reagan and the intensification of the Cold War (which only ended with the arrival of Gorbachev).. Here’s an example of what happened in his halcyon days:
 
“Highly classified for years, PD 59 was signed [by Carter] during a period of heightened Cold War tensions owing to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, greater instability in the Middle East, and earlier strains over China policy, human rights, the Horn of Africa, and Euromissiles.
In this context, the press coverage quickly generated controversy by raising apprehensions that alleged changes in U.S. strategy might lower the threshold of a decision by either side to go nuclear, which could inject dangerous uncertainty into the already fragile strategic balance. The press coverage elicited debate inside and outside the government, with some arguing that the PD would aggravate Cold War tensions by increasing Soviet fears about vulnerability and raising pressures for launch-on-warning in a crisis. Adding to the confusion was the fact that astonishingly, even senior government officials who had concerns about the directive did not have access to it.”
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So lowering the threshold for nuclear war was not a Reagan invention. And at the same time that Carter oversaw a peace deal between Egypt and Israel we might ask what happened to massive US military support for the latter, which persists to this day with consequences seen over decades?