Officially, William Barr addressed the American media about the Mueller Report this morning (Washington time) as the attorney general of the United States. In reality, as the loyal parroting of his boss’s no collusion mantra made clear, he was speaking as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer; a saner, jowlier, less car crashingly hilarious Rudy Giuliani. Seldom has the phrase “I serve at the pleasure of the president” had quite such a cloying, dismal ring. As the world awaits the “lightly redacted” report, the constitutional implications of that might seem worth a brief linger to those who care about such matters. We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras. Subscribe now Corruption comes in many forms, and not all of them as blatant or sensational as the allegations of dodgy dealings with Russians which Barr – flanked by morose deputy Rod … [Read more...] about Opinion: The Mueller report is a US version of the Butler review on Iraq
Opinion
A selfie festival is coming and opinions are very divided
What claims to be the country’s first ‘selfie festival’ is heading to Liverpool this year. Flamingo Factory - Selfie Rooms if described as the perfect place for Instagrammers and selfie lovers. Visitors will be able to have their very own mini photoshoot with friends using sets such as ball pools and flower walls. First the festival is heading to Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse, before it heads across the country stopping at Liverpool, Leeds, Preston and more. Those who go are promised they will be able to fill their boots with enough content for their instagram to last a year. But opinion is divided over Flamingo Factory's Selfie Rooms - these days even Michael Eavis can't please everybody with the Glasontbury lineup, so we knew this was coming. There are plenty excited about the festival, with Facebook user Katie Lockett saying: "selfie heaven" and "we need to go!!" Ashlee Kettle, tagged her friends and said: "This is something we HAVE to do!! Selfie time … [Read more...] about A selfie festival is coming and opinions are very divided
Opinion: If I was still in the EDL today, being banned from Facebook would have done nothing to deradicalise me
The Christchurch terror attack is a painful reminder to everyone that ideas matter. As a former member of the English Defence league (EDL) I welcome the news that the government plans to introduce internet safety laws. We should all welcome legislation that encourages social media companies to take stronger action to address the toxic spread of extremist ideas on their platforms. However, because I am a former member of the EDL, I do not envy the choices government or social media companies will have to make. On the one hand, neither can allow social media platforms to play any role in facilitating extremism. However, denying those with extremist views access to social media platforms, as Facebook has done today, will not tackle the underlying ideologies which fuel extremism, and doing so risks pushing the problem underground where it cannot be moderated or flagged at all. We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, … [Read more...] about Opinion: If I was still in the EDL today, being banned from Facebook would have done nothing to deradicalise me
Opinion: Capital gains tax backdown: Victory for the rich and powerful
Jesse Mulligan for The Spinoff OPINION: Well that was fun. The Capital Gains Tax "debate" (let's call it that, though it often felt like we were only hearing from one debating team – the one dropped off by parents in European cars) ended up being an instructive demonstration of the way political decision making works: it's not the best argument that wins, it's whatever the guys with the power want. This time it was about all sorts of power – the power of people who get asked to write opinion columns, the power of the wealthy to lobby for the protection of their own money and the power of Winston Peters to veto good ideas. But we shouldn't only blame those people – they wouldn't be able to get away with it if more of us were willing to vote against our own perceived interests. A backdown of epic proportions: How the capital gains tax died The tax that's better than a CGT, according to economists Young Labour furious at capital gains tax backdown, leak reveals It was … [Read more...] about Opinion: Capital gains tax backdown: Victory for the rich and powerful
Opinion: Four months in, Labour’s ‘Year of Delivery’ is a disaster
Danyl Mclauchlan for The Spinoff. Opinion: Just after 2pm on Wednesday, the capital gains tax proposal was pronounced dead by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. It's just the latest in a run of bad news for the government's much-vaunted policy projects, writes Danyl Mclauchlan. At the start of the year Jacinda Ardern declared that 2019 was her government's 'year of delivery'. Last year they were still figuring out how their phones worked. Next year is another election. This is the one that counts; the year they make good on those campaign promises of transformational change to our economy and society. They're doing this through four huge, hugely ambitious policy projects. Or, at least, they were. The tax that's better than a CGT, according to economists Government rules out capital gains tax Greens still determined to 'even up the playing field' after CGT dropped The first transformational project is KiwiBuild: the solution to the housing crisis. It doesn't appear to be going well, with … [Read more...] about Opinion: Four months in, Labour’s ‘Year of Delivery’ is a disaster