News round up....

One wonders how many more years it will take till Africa and the rest of the world wake up to Zimbabwe's plight. Meanwhile, Zimbabweans are forced to drink sewage. John Sentamu has urged Britain to intervene and not to be deterred by accusations of "colonialism".

The Times reports that almost half of Britain's mosques are falling under the control of the extremist Deobandi sect. The majority of Britain's Muslims may be moderate, but the future of their religion, at least in Britain does not seem to be in their hands. I sometimes feel that as a non-Muslim I'm probably safer in a Muslim country such as Turkey or even Egypt than in Britain. At least in those countries the authorities recognise the threat that extremists face and are prepared to rein them in. Over here, the authorities are too paralysed by political correctness to do anything.

There is a devastating critique of the Northern Rock crisis by Melanie Phillips. The whole affair seems to be a symptom of much wider debt culture that has gripped Britain. We often look down smugly at our American cousins for being greedy and money obsessed. But our hugely inflated housing market and the resulting debt crisis goes to show that were not much better.

The Tory Party's relentless campaign to cease being the Tory Party continues (Meanwhile, Gordon Brown invites Margaret Thatcher over to Downing Street). Apprently, the Tories now think that wealth and economic growth are a bad thing. The title of the article in the Times pretty much sums up their attitude: "We’re too rich to be happy, say Tories – and only radical taxes will save us". Too rich??? Try telling that to the average Briton struggling to pay their mortgage!