Never mind an Heil to Blair......

[econ21]

We are replacing moderate, advanced, socialdemocratic European civilisation for a brutal jungle not just by the replacement of governmental structures for Hobbesian strife, but by the very replacement of advanced Europeans for uneducated non-Europeans.

Forgive me, Louis, but of late you seem to be a risk of metamorphosising from my shining hero of European liberalism into something darker. Do not despair - there have been recessions before and there will be recessions again, European civilisation will endure. And yes, less educated people may have more children: it was ever thus. But the average education - and IQ - of the world will continue to rise nonetheless. And yes, Europeans may be advanced, but in the last three decades we have observed many non-Europeans advancing at a faster rate and I suspect they will catch us up or even overtake us, if they have not already. And do remember - those that have migrated to Europe and their offspring will become Europeans, if they are not already.


Back on topic: Ed Milliband is in tricky place with strikes, as all Labour leaders have been. He came to lead Labour on the back of trade union support but he cannot be elected to lead Britain if he is seen as their pawn. He has to assert is independence and so is doing so, albeit awkwardly. The fact that the recent strike seems to have divided the trade unions (in private, if not in public) provides an opportunity for him to do so, but I agree it's ungainly. My sympathies for the strikes were a little eroded yesterday, finding out the fireman's union leader was (is?) a member of the Militant Tendency (i.e. a Trotskyist). Ed's father may have been a Marxist, but his son is not and does not need to act like one.