Neighbours of a dark star

Iran is surrounded by Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Iraq. Russia and Kazakhstan are across the Caspian Sea. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE are across the Persian Gulf. Oman is across the Arabian Sea. Iran is not just an evil empire on a dark star full of creatures bent on the annihilation of the human race; Iran is one of many states of Asia Minor. As an optimist I have to believe that none of Iran’s 13 immediate neighbours is egging them on to develop hydrogen bombs.

Scotland's police state

The Baroness Scotland saga rumbled on in our household. I looked the story up on the Mail website. It looks a clear case of more to it than meets the eye. Heavy policemen batter the door down of the Tongan maid. There are insinuations that they were trying to fit her up for a robbery. How ham fisted is that? You have to believe that Pat Scotland lied about seeing the maid’s passport before hiring her. That now becomes the crime: the unseemly scramble to cover her tracks supported by the apparatus of a police state.

It’s illegal not to cut the deficit

Gordon Brown turns up in Brighton for the Labour Party Conference and announces that he is going to make it illegal for the government not to halve the deficit by 2015. This will apparently give Middle England confidence that a Labour Government would achieve this target despite spending money hand over fist up until next year’s election. It is hard to think of a crasser insult to the general public. I just wonder if his audience is not the Americans and others who can see this country going bankrupt yet spending money unrestrainedly.

When it’s time to shut your fat face

William Hague says we have to take action against Iran. However, this is the statement of a man who will be sipping Pinot Grigio in his smoker while others go out and lay their bodies on the line. It seems that the Iranians are developing a nuclear capability and it may not be entirely peaceful. What would be really useful in this situation would be for Hague to shut his fat face and David Miliband to talk nicely with his EU counterparts to see if there’s anything they can do as a group.