The Wit and Wisdom of... Robin Cook, Mk. II

The longer that I have served in this place, the greater the respect I have for the good sense and collective wisdom of the British people. On Iraq, I believe that the prevailing mood of the British people is sound. They do not doubt that Saddam is a brutal dictator, but they are not persuaded that he is a clear and present danger to Britain. They want inspections to be given a chance, and they suspect that they are being pushed too quickly into conflict by a US Administration with an agenda of its own. Above all, they are uneasy at Britain going out on a limb on a military adventure without a broader international coalition and against the hostility of many of our traditional allies.

From the start of the present crisis, I have insisted, as Leader of the House, on the right of this place to vote on whether Britain should go to war. It has been a favourite theme of commentators that this House no longer occupies a central role in British politics. Nothing could better demonstrate that they are wrong than for this House to stop the commitment of troops in a war that has neither international agreement nor domestic support. I intend to join those tomorrow night who will vote against military action now. It is for that reason, and for that reason alone, and with a heavy heart, that I resign from the Government.

Robin Cook resigning from the government, 17th March 2003. Wherever he is now, I'll bet he's smiling...

The Wit and Wisdom of... James Larkin

Ní uasal aon uasal ach sinne bheith íseal: Éirímis.

The great appear great because we are on our knees: Let us rise.

Extract from a speech by James Larkin, Irish trade unionist who between August 1913 and January 1914 led the strikers in the Dublin Lock-out

The Great Experiment

Sometimes it's not all on the Internets. Since July I've been a subscriber to the New Statesman, an inspired birthday present on the part of my parents. In this week's there is an article on 'Generation Jobless,' and there were some lines which hit right home:

Those young Europeans born in the 1990s, the eldest of whom turned 18 in 2008 and are now aged 23, have been through an experiment that is shared across the continent. It is an experience that young Europeans have not had in common since the austerity and rebuilding of the 1950s, but that was still a time of hope.

In many material ways the young people of Europe are the best-off generation, the first to live all their life with access to the internet, most of them in heated homes with hot running water, well clothed, well fed, and entertained, even many of the poorest. Yet all that means little if you are told repeatedly, having spent a decade and a half in education, that your labour is of no value.