Bodblog

Mr Cameron's desire to reignite Blair style liberal interventionism with the proposition of the albeit scaled down Commons vote is a brave move. Some would also say reckless in the face of public skepticism and military risks. With the majority of Britons and just under half of Americans opposed to Syria intervention, it is obvious that the public is tired of expensive wars in terms of lives and money, backed up by the constant press reports of deaths of UK personal and justified oil conspiracies in the wake of the Iraq war.  The public don't hold the view that this is about chemical weapons, saving lives and thus a continuation of compassionate conservatism. The UK is in relative decline; we are now the world's 7th largest economy in £1.3 trillion of debt, and thus some believe we should sort ourselves out before helping others.  There is a belief that Britain should be more like the economically successful nations of Germany and Japan, with more of a domestic policy foc...

There is little doubt that Godfrey Bloom's comments were over exaggerated, old fashioned and borderline racist. However, with more and more of taxpayers money being spent on international development it is an issue that can't be shied away from for fear of being branded  racist. In fact, this year Britain will become the first G8 country to stick to a decades old promise to spend 0.7% of GDP. That's £11.3 billion a year, roughly £130 per taxpayer. Many will ask whether the policy is right given the current economic situation (which despite the recent improvements is still mired in £1.3 trillion of debt). Some believe we should act like Germany (which has cut its aid budget by £1 billion in 2012) or super rich Monaco (whose own austerity program has included the cutting of one departmental budget: foreign aid). Despite this, David Cameron has boasted of the policy, which plays well to his obscured but still present compassionate conservatism agenda. Public opinion on for...