Category: Britain
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Alex Mitchell’s WEEKLY NOTEBOOK – Update on the Mad Monk file
Popular ridicule spells political death for any political leader. That’s because it is almost impossible to overcome and undermines the capacity to lead and carry authority. In just 18 months Prime Minister Tony Abbott has managed to reveal himself as mad and bad. Now he’s a joke. What broke the back of his most loyal…
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Alex Mitchell’s WEEKLY NOTEBOOK – Top cop joins PUP and Parrot to rubbish Premier Newman
Two bizarre opponents have emerged to make life agonisingly difficult for the embattled Queensland Premier Campbell Newman in the closing days of the campaign for the state election on January 31. Mining billionaire Clive Palmer and Alan Jones, the millionaire commercial radio ham, have commenced personal vendettas against Newman alleging he is a “liar” and…
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Alex Mitchell’s WEEKLY NOTEBOOK – Canberra takes first step towards Palestine statehood
Maria Vamvakinou, Labor MP for Calwell in Victoria, has tabled a private member’s Bill in Federal Parliament calling for the diplomatic recognition of Palestine, a step already taken by the House of Commons in Britain and the parliaments of Spain and Sweden. Ms Vamvakinou, a co-convener of the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine group, told MPs:…
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Alex Mitchell’s WEEKLY NOTEBOOK – Labor’s betrayal of Gough’s free university education
In the early 1990s I asked Gough Whitlam for the greatest crime that the Hawke-Keating government had committed against his legacy. “HECS,” he replied unhesitatingly. I said that the Treasury argument was that the cost was growing exponentially as more people sought higher education and university budgets ballooned. Gough then delivered a short, sharp utterly…
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Alex Mitchell’s WEEKLY NOTEBOOK – Why Tony Abbott is called the Mad Monk
When I said Prime Minister Tony Abbott and some senior Cabinet members were suitable cases for clinical treatment, I meant it. Here’s just one reason why. At a Sydney press conference on September 19, Abbott said: “It is a serious situation when all you need to do to carry out a terrorist attack is to…
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There is nothing like a dame
Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the London-born monarchist and British Empire loyalist, has brought back knights and dames, another dumbfounding initiative never mentioned in the Coalition’s election manifesto. This was a step that even uber-royalist John Howard, now the Queen’s Warden of the Cinque Ports, didn’t dare inflict on the Commonwealth, but the “mad monk” has.…
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Churchill and the Spirit of ’45
1945 was a watershed year in post-war British history. Not only did it mark the end of World War Two but it also saw the humiliating defeat of wartime leader Winston Churchill in the landslide victory of a Labour Government. Nobody predicted a Tory defeat. Indeed, the mainstream media and the entire British Establishment were…
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The poet as hero
When the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) convened in Havana on January 28, proceedings began with a huge torchlight procession in tribute to the poet José Martí, born 161 years ago on that day. The celebration has been held every year since the revolution of 1959, but to have the participation of…
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Murdoch: serial ballot box thief
The question is asked frequently: how much influence does the Murdoch press have on public opinion? Because no accurate statistical research exists, there is no clear answer. The question usually arises in elections whether in Australia, Britain or the US. The Murdoch media goes into over-drive in support of one particular leader and starts to…
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Syria: US poised for yet another atrocity
The savagery and barbarity of US imperialism is once again to be unleashed on the people of the Third World. This time the target is the people of Syria. For two years they have suffered the bloodiest civil war imposed on them by regime-changers – principally the Western powers led by US, Britain and Israel.…