Russophobia- covering up the shortcomings of the West

You  can listen to me taking part in a radio discussion on Russophobia- and who is fuelling it- on Voice of Russia here. The presenter is Peter Lavelle.

I'm confused, can anyone help me?

My new piece for RT.com OpEdge

I'm confused. A few weeks ago we were told in the West that people occupying government buildings in Ukraine was a very good thing. These people, we were told by our political leaders and elite media commentators, were 'pro-democracy protestors'.
The US government warned the Ukrainian authorities against using force against these 'pro-democracy protestors' even if, according to the pictures we saw, some of them were neo-Nazis who were throwing Molotov cocktails and other things at the police and smashing up statues and setting fire to buildings.
Now, just a few weeks later, we're told that people occupying government buildings in Ukraine are not'pro-democracy protestors' but 'terrorists' or 'militants'.

You can read the whole piece here 

Cross Talk: Broken Ukraine

Above you can watch me taking part in the latest edition of Cross Talk on RT. Topic: Broken Ukraine.
While here is an interview with me on the latest developments in Ukraine on Voice of Russia radio.

The Intelligent Punter's Guide to the 2014 US Masters

TIGER WOODS may be missing through injury but there's still a great four days of action to look forward to in the first golfing Major of the year - the US Masters.
You can read the whole of my Guide to the first golfing Major of the year, here.

Hungary's elections: Don't be fooled by the labels

My new piece for RT.com OpEdge.

On the one side we have a government that has carried out renationalization, which has confronted the greedy foreign-owned energy companies, and presided over a rise in real wages and a fall in unemployment.

Also, this government imposed a bank tax and implemented other measures to help ordinary people – including a government-decreed cut in energy bills.

On the other side, there is an opposition alliance that supports further privatization, wants more policies to benefit global "investors," which is unashamedly pro-banker and pro-globalist and whose main alliance partner when last in government imposed swingeing cuts in public spending, destroyed state-owned companies including national airline Malev, and left millions of ordinary people worse off.

Now, you'd probably think that the government is question was "socialist’ or "leftist" and the opposition "conservative." But in fact, it is the other way round.

You can read the whole of the piece here.

On the Royal Mail sell-off, Tony Benn & privatisation in Serbia

My new Public Ownership column in the Morning Star.

It's Grand National day. In 1937, the world's most famous steeplechase was won by a horse called Royal Mail.
Just as well Vince Cable and George Osborne weren't around then as they'd have flogged the poor animal off for a fraction of its value - and left the old owners paying for its upkeep, with the new owners able to pocket the profits of future wins.
For, of course, this is what they've done to our Royal Mail. Quite rightly, the price the Royal Mail was sold for has come under attack, with the National Audit Office reporting this week that the government's actions cost British taxpayers £750 million in a single day, but while the fact that this national institution was sold for at least £1.6 billion below its real value is scandalous - and some would say criminal - it would be a mistake to base our critique of the sale solely on the basis that "they sold it off on the cheap."
For the fact is that even if the Royal Mail had been sold at its proper value, it would still have been the wrong thing to do.
The Royal Mail was a profitable publicly owned enterprise which had delivered an excellent service to the public for centuries.

You can read the whole column here. 

The Intelligent Punter's Guide to the 2014 Grand National

Who's worth a bet? Or what are your chances with the horse you drew in the sweepstake?

WITH winners at 100-1, 33-1 and 66-1 in three of the last five years, there can be rich pickings for those who bet on the victor in tomorrow's Grand National, due off at 4.15pm and televised live on Channel 4.

You can read the whole of my IP Guide to the 2014 Grand National here.
Good luck with your selections!

Russophobia- the obsession of the UK's elite, (but not of the people)

My new piece for RT.com OpEdge.

The gap between the views of the elites and the people in the UK is wider than at any time in the last 100 years.
I mentioned it in an RT OpEdge in September, and now the democratic deficit has once again been highlighted by the relentless attacks on Russia and President Putin from members of our political and media elite. We've seen article after article and heard speech after speech attacking Russia and its president for what has happened in Crimea, and regular attempts to scare the public about the Russian'threat'.

You can read the whole piece here.