Pondering the UK honours list leaks
MONDAY’S opinion columns covered a range of subjects from the Cabinet Office honours addresses leaks to the death of one of Scotland’s literary giants.
The Independent
The publication said the leak by the Cabinet Office of the addresses of those who have received New Year’s honours “bodes ill” for the government’s interventionist plans.
“Everything we know about its plans – revamping Whitehall departments, radical changes to immigration, additional controls on trade with Europe – suggest it will be the most interventionist government Britain has had since the 1970s. And the more a government intervenes, the more competent it has to be; the more complex an economy, the more damage bad administration can do,” the editorial said.
“The renegotiation of the UK’S trading arrangements with the EU is just the start. The shift from a carbon-intensive economy has so far proceeded relatively smoothly, though not swiftly enough. The next stages will be harder. This government will be judged harshly for its shortcomings, for it has set itself up to be more than a manager of the status quo.
“Our civil service is apolitical, loyal and hardworking, and this government is fortunate to have it. But there are weaknesses in the system, and the government should be extremely careful at pushing it too hard.
“Politicians can and should give direction but must respect the limits of the possible.”
The Telegraph
Its editorial raised concerns about pensions vulnerable to changing patterns of investment demanded by the requirement to meet net zero carbon emissions over the next 30 years.
It suggested “greater clarity” about the way portfolios are invested and that firms must be “far more transparent” about their commitment to net carbon zero, with calls for portfolios to divest from fossil fuels.
“MPS have suggested this could be done by way of mandatory disclosure by the financial sector of its ability to withstand the upheaval. They want a duty imposed on pension funds to take into account long-term environmental risks to protect their savers. However, the balance of investments will be hard to strike. Many might want their savings placed in renewable energy projects, but the system cannot invest solely in one sector,” the paper said.
“In the end, despite what [Greta] Thunberg [the teenage environmental campaigner] believes, it is the capitalist system, the economic growth it generates and investment in green technologies that will make it possible to move to a carbon-free future without triggering a global depression.
The Scotsman
The paper warned that the turbulent 20s are to follow “the chaos” of 2019 – raising the questions over whether the worst of Brexit is yet to come under Boris Johnson.
“Sitting, as The Scotsman does, firmly in the Remain camp, our fear is that Brexit will inevitably change Scotland and Britain for the worse.
“We believe leaving the family of the EU is a mistake and nothing that has happened since the 2016 vote has caused us to revise this position. In the short-term, that is undeniably true, at least from an economic point of view.
“Whether we go from a relatively small period of disruption to long-term decline rests on Johnson’s shoulders. He has committed to securing a trade deal on a perilously short timescale by the end of 2020.
“The UK is about to enter the most complicated part of the Brexit negotiations – the last three and a half years of chaos have merely been an appetiser – and plans to do this in less than a third of the time. It is either a masterstroke of negotiation or an example of reckless bravado in a politician who now believes he is invincible.”
The Scottish Sun
The paper paid tribute to Scottish author and artist Alasdair Gray who died at the age of 85.
“Scotland has provided a rich crop of detective writers who stand on the world stage alongside the best,” it said. “But, when it comes to challenging literary fiction, something that requires a bit more from the reader and something that says a little extra about the human condition, we are less well-represented. Alasdair Gray was Glasgow through and through but also an author and artist of worldwide reputation. Gray’s legacy will be his art, books and the impression he left in the minds of millions.”