When I was a White House correspondent for the BBC in Washington, one of the things I most enjoyed was the pointed wit of US presidential advisers. One was Robert Reich. He used to joke about the cliched belief of American (and British) conservatives that “smaller government” is always better.
Mr Reich, Bill Clinton’s Labour Secretary, is below average height and quipped that if Americans want smaller government, “here I am”. Another Clinton-era wit was that of Paul Begala. He summed up American (and British) politics by suggesting that it resembles “show-business for ugly people”.
Both commentaries come to mind this week during the strange annual ritual known as the British political conference season. It’s Labour’s turn now and – like the Conservatives last week – there is show-business style choreography at the proceedings. (I’ll leave judgements about ugliness to others.)
Labour is meeting in Liverpool and in a feisty mood because the party has achieved something they failed to do for years – winning big in Scotland. I was born in Clydebank on the outskirts of Glasgow and the old saying during my childhood was that on “Red Clydeside” Labour didn’t count votes. They weighed them instead. Over the past two decades, the Scottish National Party destroyed that complacency.
From 2015, the familiar wisdom among Scottish political observers was that you could find more giant pandas in Edinburgh Zoo (two) than Labour MPs from Scotland (one - out of 59 Scottish seats). But in last week’s by-election in Rutherglen, on the outskirts of Glasgow, Labour won a handsome victory. They now have two MPs north of the border while the SNP performed poorly and look tired and out of touch after 16 years in power. The Conservatives meanwhile are a minority party in Scotland.
In the Rutherglen election they managed just 1,100 votes, and embarrassingly lost their deposit. That’s the £500 a candidate pays to enter the race. It’s normally refundable, except if the candidate polls less than 5 per cent. The Conservative reached only 3.9 per cent. Meanwhile, in England, the Conservative heartland, a number of their MPs will not run again in 2024. The party looks so divided and desperate that prime minister Rishi Sunak claims that after 13 years in power they are now miraculously the party of “change”.
He said: “I want to change things. I want to do things differently and ultimately do what I believe is right in the long term.” It’s difficult for Mr Sunak to represent “change” since he has been a key player in backing Conservative policies for years. And his supposed “long term” thinking jars with his decision to cancel HS2, the biggest long term infrastructure project in England this century.
As for Labour, their leader Keir Starmer is for many voters still unimpressive
It’s the high-speed rail link which promised to connect central London to the great cities of the north, including Manchester. It’s difficult to believe that competent political advisers persuaded the British prime minister that he should use his own party conference in Manchester to announce the axing of fast train links so desperately wanted by so many residents of that great city. What were they thinking?
And as for “long term” planning, Mr Sunak suddenly cancelled a two-decades long building project of historic proportions to divert the money supposedly “saved” to small scale road improvements, local train lines and subsidies for bus fares. Long-term thinking means building for the future. Promising cheaper bus tickets next month is definitely not long-term thinking.
Moreover, Mr Sunak’s party colleagues do often pay lip service to Robert Reich’s conservative theme of “smaller government”, but even when it comes to “shrinking the state”, that’s not obvious from his policy decisions.
Mr Sunak suddenly announced a massive government anti-smoking drive aimed at young people. I happen to support his anti-smoking measures but traditional Conservatives usually call this kind of government intervention the “Nanny State” and “Big Government”.
And so Paul Begala’s sense of party politics as unattractive show-business – political posturing on stage – appears all around us. We watch these political performers, but the script is at times incomprehensible and the reviews are often poor.
The Conservatives even argued about whether multiculturalism in Britain has failed, an utterly bizarre discussion when the prime minister has South Asian roots. The impression from the Conservative conference therefore has been one of “change” – only in the sense that Mr Sunak’s ambitious colleagues are jockeying for position to change their leader – as seems likely – if he loses the next election.
As for Labour, their leader Keir Starmer is for many voters still unimpressive, and so the party conference will showcase what they see as his fitness to govern and his potential as a winner. (Although, it may not bode well that Mr Starmer’s speech in Liverpool began with a protester running onto the stage and throwing glitter at him.)
That’s why Labour’s success in Scotland is so important. Many Scottish voters seem to have come back to Labour after flirting with the SNP. The idea of Scottish independence has been postponed. A good showing in Scotland is essential if Labour wants to win power at Westminster, and that now seems within the grasp of Keir Starmer. His challenge is not only to echo the call for change. It is to demonstrate that he and his party are the change that is necessary for the whole UK.
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Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Greenwood 77')
Everton 1 (Lindelof 36' og)
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
THURSDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 10am:
Lucrezia Stefanini v Elena Rybakina (6)
Aryna Sabalenka (4) v Polona Hercog
Sofia Kenin (1) v Zhaoxuan Yan
Kristina Mladenovic v Garbine Muguruza (5)
Sorana Cirstea v Karolina Pliskova (3)
Jessica Pegula v Elina Svitolina (2)
Court 1
Starting at 10am:
Sara Sorribes Tormo v Nadia Podoroska
Marketa Vondrousova v Su-Wei Hsieh
Elise Mertens (7) v Alize Cornet
Tamara Zidansek v Jennifer Brady (11)
Heather Watson v Jodie Burrage
Vera Zvonareva v Amandine Hesse
Court 2
Starting at 10am:
Arantxa Rus v Xiyu Wang
Maria Kostyuk v Lucie Hradecka
Karolina Muchova v Danka Kovinic
Cori Gauff v Ulrikke Eikeri
Mona Barthel v Anastasia Gasanova
Court 3
Starting at 10am:
Kateryna Bondarenko v Yafan Wang
Aliaksandra Sasnovich v Anna Bondar
Bianca Turati v Yaroslava Shvedova
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The biog
Favourite book: Men are from Mars Women are from Venus
Favourite travel destination: Ooty, a hill station in South India
Hobbies: Cooking. Biryani, pepper crab are her signature dishes
Favourite place in UAE: Marjan Island
Series info
Test series schedule 1st Test, Abu Dhabi: Sri Lanka won by 21 runs; 2nd Test, Dubai: Play starts at 2pm, Friday-Tuesday
ODI series schedule 1st ODI, Dubai: October 13; 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 16; 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 18; 4th ODI, Sharjah: October 20; 5th ODI, Sharjah: October 23
T20 series schedule 1st T20, Abu Dhabi: October 26; 2nd T20, Abu Dhabi: October 27; 3rd T20, Lahore: October 29
Tickets Available at www.q-tickets.com
Stat Fourteen Fourteen of the past 15 Test matches in the UAE have been decided on the final day. Both of the previous two Tests at Dubai International Stadium have been settled in the last session. Pakistan won with less than an hour to go against West Indies last year. Against England in 2015, there were just three balls left.
Key battle - Azhar Ali v Rangana Herath Herath may not quite be as flash as Muttiah Muralitharan, his former spin-twin who ended his career by taking his 800th wicket with his final delivery in Tests. He still has a decent sense of an ending, though. He won the Abu Dhabi match for his side with 11 wickets, the last of which was his 400th in Tests. It was not the first time he has owned Pakistan, either. A quarter of all his Test victims have been Pakistani. If Pakistan are going to avoid a first ever series defeat in the UAE, Azhar, their senior batsman, needs to stand up and show the way to blunt Herath.
Wonka
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Results
2.15pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m
Winner: Maqam, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer).
2.45pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m
Winner: Mamia Al Reef, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
3.15pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 2,000m
Winner: Jaahiz, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel.
3.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m
Winner: Qanoon, Szczepan Mazur, Irfan Ellahi.
4.15pm: Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Cup Handicap (TB) Dh200,000 1,700m.
Winner: Philosopher, Tadhg O’Shea, Salem bin Ghadayer.
54.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m
Winner: Jap Al Yassoob, Fernando Jara, Irfan Ellahi.
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Results:
Women:
1. Rhiannan Iffland (AUS) 322.95 points
2. Lysanne Richard (CAN) 285.75
3. Ellie Smart (USA) 277.70
Men:
1. Gary Hunt (GBR) 431.55
2. Constantin Popovici (ROU) 424.65
3. Oleksiy Prygorov (UKR) 392.30
Places to go for free coffee
- Cherish Cafe Dubai, Dubai Investment Park, are giving away free coffees all day.
- La Terrace, Four Points by Sheraton Bur Dubai, are serving their first 50 guests one coffee and four bite-sized cakes
- Wild & The Moon will be giving away a free espresso with every purchase on International Coffee Day
- Orange Wheels welcome parents are to sit, relax and enjoy goodies at ‘Café O’ along with a free coffee
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
