Moral decay of British society
The entire British political class came together to denounce the rioters. They were right to say that the actions of these looters were abhorrent, and that the police should be given more support. But there was also something very phony and hypocritical about all the shock and outrage expressed in parliament. MPs spoke about the week’s dreadful events as if they were nothing to do with them. I cannot accept that this is the case. I believe that the criminality in our streets cannot be dissociated from the moral disintegration in the highest ranks of British society. The last two decades have seen a terrifying decline in standards among the British governing elite. It has become acceptable for our politicians to lie and to cheat. An almost universal culture of selfishness and greed has grown up.
http://rdd.me/w4r0scci
Meanwhile, in Abu Dhabi...
Models in full riot body armour and chemical survival suits waved cheerily for photographs, while one stall holder demonstrated a black breathing mask for use in a nuclear attack next to a tray of boiled sweets and a pot of free pens. In the British pavilion, defence minister Gerald Howarth came under growing pressure to explain the UK's role in arming dictatorial regimes in the region after the government revoked licences to sell arms to Bahrain and Libya. "Nothing to say today," Howarth told the Guardian as he waited -- fruitlessly as it turned out -- to greet Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, whose attention had been drawn to a handgun on a rival stand.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/21/abu-dhabi-arms-fair-idex-2011/print
"Smoking to end by 2050"
Smoking could “virtually disappear” in Britain within half a century, according to research by Citigroup. The broker has considered what a decline in smoking means for the tobacco industry. The habit has been on the wane since the 1960s, when just over half of adults in Britain smoked. That figure had dropped to a fifth by 2008. "The percentage of smokers is declining across the developed world, and the declines are more or less in a straight line in most markets," said the analysts. “If these trends continue, then by 2050, many important tobacco markets will have gone to zero smoking.” But Citigroup stressed that these were “extremely long-term” trends.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8246967/Smoking-could-disappear-by-2050-says-Citigroup.html
The End of the Party
Gordon Brown's abusive behaviour and volcanic eruptions of foul temper left Downing Street staff so frightened that he received an unprecedented reprimand from the head of the civil service, the Observer's Andrew Rawnsley reveals today. Sir Gus O'Donnell, the cabinet secretary, became so alarmed by the prime minister's bullying of staff that he gave the prime minister a stern "pep talk" and ordered him to change his behaviour. "This is no way to get things done," he told Brown. Rawnsley's book, The End of the Party, charts Labour's second and third terms in power and is based on hundreds of interviews with witnesses to the key events in the government's life, including cabinet ministers, No 10 officials and senior civil servants. When briefed about the loss of confidential data discs, containing the personal details of more than 20 million people, Brown leapt across the room and grabbed his deputy chief of staff by the lapels. Brown snarled into Kelly's face: "They're out to get me!"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/feb/21/gordon-brown-abusive-treatment-staff
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