Fings ain't what they used ter be

Good news – there’s some optimism in the British newspapers. Polly Toynbee in the Guardian finds much to be cheerful about in Britain. But she can’t resist a swipe at Tony Blair and gets off to a bad start by declaring that “miserablism is in the air”. On the contrary I think it’s going out of fashion and that Polly is, as often, a little behind the times. Even the Daily Mail comment piece is relatively upbeat having a justified pop at the Americans for their treatment of prisoners of war (their treatment of everyday prisoners, which is also grim, isn’t mentioned), writing off Charles Kennedy (and why not?) and praising Gordon Brown’s economic stewardship. A nice contrast to their gloomy piece yesterday about the size of the public sector which seemed designed to appeal to those who can’t cope with complexity and to carry on the tradition of giving their readership something to be angry about.

Odd thing complexity. Often those who can’t understand it are attracted to conspiracy. If they’re lefties all the evil in the world is the result of a few wicked capitalists. For right leaners it’s all a conspiracy of a few trade-unionists to blame.

In the Times the Mick Hume again lambastes Miserabilists but his fire is rather misdirected today mainly at politicians. He should turn his guns instead on the majority of his fellow scribblers who seem determined to see their glasses almost empty. Gerard Baker has an amusing list of irritating new words most of which have surfaced this year and Dean Godson provides a useful analysis of what’s wrong with American foreign policy especially in the middle East while Janet Daley gets in a lather about the difficulties she’s had contacting the people who run eBay.

The Guardian leader writer is justifiably cross about salaries in the City rightly branding them as unfair but offering no solution. Complexity rears again. My left-leaning pals are furious that the government hasn’t ‘done something’ but are stumped when asked what that something might be. Stumped apart from those dear old souls who still haven’t woken up to the negative impact* on an economy of high taxation.

More bad news for the Liberal Democrats over in the Independent. Apparently their MEPs are jolly cross with Mr Kennedy over the party’s plans for reform of the CAP. Perhaps the shock of their party having plans about anything has impacted* the MEPs. Elsewhere the Indy is concerned about the fate of the victims of the Pakistani earthquake as winter sets in; they do seem to have been doubly unlucky as their disaster hasn’t rung bells with the compassion fashion industry.

* can’t remember whether it should be ‘effect’ or ‘affect’ – hence the rather unsatisfactory ‘impact’, sorry.