1 Britain stays united (The Guardian) David Cameron
committed himself to a devolution revolution across Great Britain, including
votes on English issues by English MPs at Westminster, as he hailed the
Scottish people’s decision to remain inside the United Kingdom in the
referendum.
But he made clear the constitutional reforms
including in Scotland will not be delivered until after the General Election,
and in tandem with reforms in England. “We have heard the voice of Scotland and
now the millions of the voices of England must be heard”, he insisted.
The Prime Minister, vindicated in his decision to
stage a Yes No referendum, also revealed he has asked Lord Smith of Kelvin to
implement the Scottish devolution reforms set out by the party leaders in the
final weeks of the referendum campaign.
Cameron did not recommit himself to the Barnett
formula - the method by which resources are distributed on a population basis
across England Scotland and Wales. Both Labour local councils, Tory MPs and
Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, immediately insisted the Barnett formula has to
be torn up.
Farage also pressed Scottish MPs to make an
immediate commitment not to vote any further in English only issues, as he called
for a constitutional convention to discuss the whole future political
settlement in the UK. He said “The fact that three party leaders made
commitments on behalf of millions of UK voters means nothing. Why should I
stand by a panicky commitment to Scotland made by the Prime Minister?”
Some of Cameron’s remarks make clear that the offer
of further powers in Scotland is dependent not only on the next election, but
also a wider constitutional settlement including the exclusion of Scottish MPs
from voting on many issues confined to England.
2 The Ebola threat to world security (BBC) The UN
Security Council has declared the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa a
"threat to international peace and security". The council unanimously
adopted a resolution calling on states to provide more resources to combat the
outbreak.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned an emergency
meeting of the council that the number of Ebola infections was doubling every
three weeks. More than 2,600 people have now died in the worst Ebola outbreak
on record. Mr Ban said the "gravity and scale of the situation now require
a level of international action unprecedented for a health emergency".
He announced the establishment of an "emergency
UN mission" working with the World Health Organization (WHO) to combat the
crisis, saying he would convene a "high-level meeting" next week. The
council heard that the international response had to be three times bigger than
it was now to contain the crisis - the number of cases is doubling every two
weeks in west Africa.
3 Don’t write off our youth (Asha Iyer Kumar in
Khaleej Times) Youth-bashing based on assumptions of an interminable ‘gap’ has
been a pastime of generations. Our opinion about youth is often subjective and
biased. It strikes me as odd that we generally label our youth as irresponsible
and wild, even as we pride ourselves on our own children as incorruptible and
chaste, thanks to our impeccable parenting skills. The kids out there need a
lesson or two, but our own wards are immaculate. How lopsided we are with our
judgments!
Yes, boys and girls of our times are fast, furious
and fashionable, but are they really deserving of our constant criticism? Not
in my view. They are more grounded and discreet than we believe them to be, and
I have met youngsters and witnessed cases that bear out this fact amply. I will
not classify these as exceptions; to me they are representatives of hope.
In a recent discussion, a relative who runs a
voluntary organisation said to me that a majority of her volunteers were young
people, including students, and they were the most willing to donate for
charitable causes. I strongly believe that beneath the surface of their
impatience and mulishness is a deeply sensitised psyche. Much as they want to
splurge, they also want to find ways to kill maverick viruses. They want to
stop wars and save the world. They want to contribute to the betterment of the
human race, if only we will repose faith in them.
All carts have rotten apples, but the vendor counts
on the fair ones to earn his bucks. I put my money on the little girl who
stands up to the national anthem that plays at the end of a movie, on my pupil
who says that he values the life lessons I give him than the literature
lessons, on the dutiful boy who escorts his mother to the market, on the girl
who takes a wounded street cat home, and on millions like them, for they are
our only hope. Let us not judge our youngsters by the swear words and slapdash
manner, and write them off just yet.
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