The Best and Worst of the British Press
L O N D O N, April 27, 2001 -- The papers in Britain are in an uproar this morning after Thursday's announcement of 15 new Lords and Ladies — the first "People's Peers," or Lords and Ladies drawn from the general public. The problem is, the group elected does not really look anything like the general public.
"What a lord of rubbish — Seven knights, three professors, two chief execs and one Lady ... if these are People's Peers, I'm the Duke of Railway Terrace," screams The Mirror in protest.
Prime Minister Tony Blair spearheaded the effort to make the House of Lords more representative of the people, taking away a number of inherited titles, passed down from generation to generation, in order to make space for whomever desired to apply.
At the time of the announcement, the British thought it was a brilliant idea. But Thursday's announcement drew sharp responses from critics far and wide in the country. The intent of "The People's Peers" had been to choose ordinary, normal — but qualified — people to sit beside the remaining hereditary peers.
With this group drawn from the same elite circles, the modest proposal — almost revolutionary in this tradition-bound country — has completely backfired, according to the enraged press.
Show Them the Money — and Monet
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to the world on Thursday for a large "war chest" for the global battle against HIV/AIDS in the developing world. The Guardian recounts that Annan called it an "ethical imperative" that medical treatment be available for all. Annan pushed for the use of generic drugs and for $7 billion-$10 billion in funds to help prevent and treat the fatal virus.
In Africa, experts anticipate that AIDS will kill a third of today's 15-year-olds unless they receive proper treatment. Right now, 25.3 million Africans are estimated to have the disease.
The Financial Times reports the European Central Bank has refused to cut interest rates despite a recommendation from the International Monetary Fund. Since there is now worldwide concern about the potential for a global economic slowdown, the ECB's defiance surprised the FT, which noted "the bank should have cut rates a month ago." There is speculation that some European officials feel that Europe would be protected against an economic slowdown in the United States.
A Claude Monet painting not seen since 1895 made a reappearance on Thursday in London. The Daily Telegraph displays "Haystacks, last rays of the sun", a painting from the famed Haystacks series the Impressionist artist painted in 1890-1891. The painting, expected to fetch over $10 million when Sotheby's auctions it off next month, has been owned by the descendants of a private collector for the past 48 years.
Phoenix Has a New Friend
Phoenix was spared from a certain death on Wednesday, but The Times asks if Porky the pig will also be spared. Porky, a 10-year-old Vietnamese pig, is the treasured pet of George and Sadie Stone of Ruthwell Station village in Dumfriesshire.
Their neighbors are hoping that Porky, whom they call "a polite old gentleman", will benefit from the "refinement" of the current slaughter policy which benefited Phoenix the calf.
Phoenix is still the media darling here, though The Sun decided to put a giant bullseye atop her sweet picture aside a threat — "Vote Labour or the calf gets it!"
This hilarious picture accompanies an editorial that ridicules the publicity-friendly policies the Labour Party has introduced this week, less than six weeks before the likely June 7 General Election. "[Labour] resorts to rescuing cows and bribing prospective parents. Let them eat veal. Or not, as the case may be," says fiery columnist Richard Littlejohn.
The Times reveals that the Ministry of Defense is picking up the tab for a dozen servicewomen to have breast implants each year. Officials have owned up to paying $45,000 a year to help women who are "clinically desperate" about their measurements sculpt their figures.
The first beneficiary of this program, a corporal, said her 1994 surgery was to make her a "happier" soldier.