Leading Articles
Leading article: Victor's justice
Published: 31 December 2006
One of the hopes of a more enlightened rule of international law is the turning away of the world from the death penalty, even for the most serious crimes of genocide. From the Nuremberg trials of 1945-46 to today's apparatus for dealing with war crimes based on the international court at the Hague, one of the profound shifts in legal attitudes has been the gradual disavowal of capital punishment
Leading article: Execution will do nothing to quell the violence
Published: 30 December 2006
Leading article: Slow but sure change in Northern Ireland
Published: 30 December 2006
There has been something of a balance of anguish for Northern Ireland politicians of late, as both republicans and loyalists have been bringing themselves to the point of making groundbreaking moves.
Leading article: Now wash your hands
Published: 30 December 2006
Something remarkable is taking place at the Luton and Dunstable hospital in Bedfordshire. The death rates of patients have dropped by 16 per cent in two years. The number of hospital-acquired infections is now the lowest in the region. Medical mistakes have been cut in half too.
Leading article: A conflict with dangerous regional ramifications
Published: 29 December 2006
Somali government troops staged a triumphal entry into the capital, Mogadishu, yesterday and the Prime Minister promised to dedicate himself to solving the country's myriad problems through peaceful means
Leading article: Double standards
Published: 29 December 2006
Charges of hypocrisy are flying around Westminster
Leading article: Power and influence
Published: 29 December 2006
Influence. Funny concept that. Not power exactly but the ability to nudge power, direct it as it were. Businessmen buying honours have power and influence. People have to listen to them. But government these days seems to have more influence than power.
Leading article: Openness ends before it has begun
Published: 28 December 2006
In certain respects the Freedom of Information Act has been a success in the two years since it came into force
Leading article: President Bush to the rescue?
Published: 28 December 2006
The administration of George Bush is not exactly known for its responsible stewardship of the environment
Leading article: The Gordon and Dave show
Published: 28 December 2006
Modern politics, we are told, is all about personality. A leader for today must be charming and telegenic; he (or she) must be a "people person" with oodles of that elusive quality "emotional intelligence". Friendliness, cheerfulness and accessibility are considered the essential ingredients for electoral success. So who, in a hypothetical election, would you think had the best prospect of becoming Britain's next Prime Minister?
Leading article: Not even Saddam's death will unite Iraq
Published: 27 December 2006
The whole truth behind the British Army's Christmas Day assault on the so-called Serious Crime Unit in Basra may never be known
Leading article: The people who really made Britain
Published: 27 December 2006
A list of 12 individuals who shaped British history has all the makings of a seasonal parlour game
Leading article: A hint of moderation and a touch of class
Published: 26 December 2006
Today or tomorrow, most of the stores that managed to resist price reductions in the weeks before Christmas will be starting their winter sales. From the season of excess eating and drinking, we pass effortlessly into the season of excess shopping. Whereas the ingredients of the festive dinner have remained remarkably constant over the years, however, shopping habits have changed to reflect every twist and turn in today's fast-moving society.
Leading article: Iran - A small step towards international unity
Published: 26 December 2006
Following months of wrangling, the UN Security Council has agreed to impose sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend a nuclear energy programme that Tehran insists is purely for civilian use and that others fear masks an intention to develop nuclear weapons. The formal discussion was brief, the speeches were to the point, and the vote was unanimous. Neither Russia nor China applied a veto.
Leading article: Is the glass half full? Why, bless us, so it is
Published: 24 December 2006
Is that a half-full glass we see, as we look back on another year? As a young newspaper, shortly to celebrate our 17th birthday, we are temperamentally bound to be optimistic. Although, at this age, the answer that might be expected by text message is YYSSW - "Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, whatever"
Leading article: Little symbol of the suffering of the Middle East
Published: 23 December 2006
Leading article: The crunch is still to come
Published: 23 December 2006
The 2012 digital switchover, when the BBC will simply become one media provider among many, will expose complacency and waste in the corporation better than any internal cost-cutting review.
Leading article: Merry Winterval
Published: 23 December 2006
All in all, though, there have been many worse preludes to the festive season; even the Prime Minister has given us all permission to wish each other Happy Christmas.
Leading article: Stranded passengers and poor service
Published: 22 December 2006
If it's not one thing that blights holiday travel in Britain, it's another. This Christmas it's an unusually long spell of freezing fog that is shrouding the world's busiest commercial airport, just as a record number of people are trying to get somewhere else in time for the festivities
Leading article: Humility in an age of celebrity
Published: 22 December 2006
For a century the conjecture of Henri Poincar�, a distinguished French topologist, remained just that - a conjecture
Leading article: Painful reality
Published: 22 December 2006
The European Union's announcement of the 2007 fishing quotas has provoked the usual outcry. Especially unhappy this time around are the cod fisherman of Scotland and Northern Ireland, who face the tightest quotas in the coming year. But a painful reality risks being drowned out by this clamour: present levels of cod fishing in Europe are, even with these latest restrictions, unsustainable.
Leading article: Airlines must pay the real cost of their emissions
Published: 21 December 2006
That the airlines by and large welcomed yesterday's European Commission proposals on carbon emissions tells us almost as much as we need to know. The Commission has produced a pusillanimous set of measures; they represent the lowest common EU denominator and will do next to nothing to curb emissions. Confronted with a choice between a quiet life and making a positive contribution to the future well-being of the planet, it is not hard to guess which way the Commission jumped.
Leading article: Gifts, bungs and corruption
Published: 21 December 2006
Yesterday's findings from Lord Stevens' inquiry into football corruption were unsatisfactory. Although he was happy with the probity of the majority of the transfer deals he examined, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner also revealed that some of the agents he contacted had failed to co-operate and that questions remain over 17 transfers. But rather than using this opportunity to name the agents or the clubs involved, Lord Stevens announced that his investigation, which has already lasted nine months, will continue. The day of judgement has been postponed yet again.
Leading article: This expensive and illiberal intrusion into our lives
Published: 20 December 2006
The Government chose the last day before the parliamentary recess to publish its promised "action plan" for the introduction of identity cards. And it came with one agreeable surprise
Leading article: An accelerating descent into lawlessness
Published: 20 December 2006
There is a weary inevitability about reports that the Sudanese government's Janjaweed militia has crossed the border into eastern Chad to attack refugees who had fled there from the fighting in Darfur
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