LONDON // The seven-month-old coalition government in Britain is going into the Christmas break creaking and tottering but not yet in danger of falling.
The past few weeks, and the last seven days in particular, have not been happy ones for the country's first post-war coalition government - a cobbling together of the 307 seats the Conservatives won in May's election and the 57 taken by the Liberal Democrats.
Such a marriage of convenience between the centre-right and the centre-left was never going to be bliss. But what had seemed a workable if loveless union turned distinctly acrimonious this week after journalists secretly taped Liberal Democrat ministers sounding off privately (or so they thought) about their Conservative partners.
And this comes hot on the heels of student demonstrations across the country in protest against the government's decision to triple university fees, plus a renewed threat of strikes by public sector workers facing massive job losses because of spending cuts.
A sure sign that all was not well in the coalition has come in the past 72 hours with both the prime minister, David Cameron, and his Lib Dem deputy, Nick Clegg, finding themselves having to fend off suggestions of a rift.
"Of course, coalitions have their difficulties and their tensions," Mr Cameron said on Wednesday. "I would say look at the bigger picture - this government is delivering in terms of the real problems the country faces."
When asked by reporters what he thought of the description of the coalition by Ed Miliband, the Labour Party's new leader, as "a sham", Mr Cameron replied: "I think he's wrong. I think just sniping from the sidelines is not constructive."
The prime minister went on to describe a coalition that was putting aside political differences to work in the national interest.
Mr Clegg tried singing from the same song sheet, although clearly uneasy that two of his Lib Dem ministers had been secretly recorded moaning about the government's decision to cut housing benefits and child allowances while raising university fees.
There were fresh revelations yesterday with four junior Lib Dem ministers voicing complaints about their Conservative colleagues, including one who suggested Mr Cameron was not to be trusted and another who accused the chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, of being "out of touch".
Even those whinges, however, paled into insignificance with the gaffe made by Vince Cable, the business secretary and a crucial Lib Dem linchpin in the coalition, when he told undercover Daily Telegraph reporters that he had "declared war" on Rupert Murdoch's media empire.
The remark was particularly unwise as, next year, Mr Cable was due to rule - in a quasi-judicial and strictly independent way - on whether Mr Murdoch should be allowed to buy the 61 per cent of the satellite broadcaster, BSkyB, that he does not already own.
Mr Cameron was forced to swiftly switch the decision-making powers on the subject to another minister but, to the surprise of many, he kept Mr Cable in the cabinet, prompting Mr Miliband to say he was only doing so to keep the coalition together.
"I think now Vince and the government can move on and that is the end of it," insisted Mr Clegg, despite the fact that there were growing signs of unease within Conservative ranks.
John Whittingdale, the Conservative chairman of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said that Mr Cable would "almost certainly" have been sacked if he had been a Tory minister.
"I'm not happy, but nevertheless I accept that in a coalition we have to do things to keep our partners in the coalition content," he told the BBC.
"Equally, it's quite plain that Vince Cable is the second most important Liberal member of the coalition [the treasury secretary, David Laws, who resigned over a dubious expenses claim]. We have already lost one leading Liberal minister and the feeling was we cannot afford to lose another."
Christopher Chope, another senior Conservative MP who is secretary of the influential backbench 1922 Committee, accused Lib Dem ministers of undermining the government and said they should quit if they could not support its policies.
"What seems to be happening now is that Vince Cable and perhaps some other Liberal Democrat ministers want to be having it both ways," he told the BBC.
"They want to be able to support the government for the sake of keeping the Liberal Democrats in government and keeping their own ministerial cars, but then they want to be able to say to their supporters outside: 'Don't worry, I wasn't in support of that at all - I am rather against it'.
"You can't carry on like that as a minister because you are effectively undermining your own government."
Mr Clegg, however, insisted that people should not be surprised about ministers having differences of opinion in a coalition government.
"The most important thing is that we get on and work together in the coalition government to fix the mess that we have inherited from Labour. That is what people expect from us and that's exactly what we are doing," he added.
But with Labour now nosing ahead in the opinion polls for the first time in three years, both sides in the coalition know they must get their act together soon.
The year is ending badly for them. They must hope the New Year begins a lot better.
dsapsted@thenational.ae
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
How to help or find other cats to adopt
The%20Hunger%20Games%3A%20The%20Ballad%20of%20Songbirds%20%26%20Snakes
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%C2%A0Francis%20Lawrence%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3ERachel%20Zegler%2C%20Peter%20Dinklage%2C%20Viola%20Davis%2C%20Tom%20Blyth%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company%20profile
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The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.0-litre%20four-cyl%20turbo%20%2B%20mild%20hybrid%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E204hp%20at%205%2C800rpm%20%2B23hp%20hybrid%20boost%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E320Nm%20at%201%2C800rpm%20%2B205Nm%20hybrid%20boost%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E9-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E7.3L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENovember%2FDecember%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh205%2C000%20(estimate)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The specs: 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor
Price, base / as tested Dh220,000 / Dh320,000
Engine 3.5L V6
Transmission 10-speed automatic
Power 421hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 678Nm @ 3,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.1L / 100km
SWEET%20TOOTH
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Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
McIlroy's recent struggles
Last six stroke-play events (First round score in brackets)
Arnold Palmer Invitational Tied for 4th (74)
The US Masters Tied for 7th (72)
The Players Championship Tied for 35th (73)
US Open Missed the cut (78)
Travellers Championship Tied for 17th (67)
Irish Open Missed the cut (72)
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 290hp
Torque: 340Nm
Price: Dh155,800
On sale: now
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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