On 9th December a court in Orléans acquitted 49 people who had destroyed thousands of euros worth of GM corn of "acting in consort to seriously damage the property of another," even though they pleaded guilty. They convinced the judge that "the danger of the uncontrolled spread of genes" constitutes a "state of necessity." In other words, criminal damage is justified if what is damaged constitutes "an urgent and irreversible risk" to the environment. Since a far greater risk to the environment is the internal combustion engine, this judgement presumably opens the way for all responsible French citizens to burn their neighbours' cars.
A woman to run the FCO?
The contest for the top job at the foreign and commonwealth office, that of permanent undersecretary (PUS), will be settled in March. Among the favourites is John Holmes, ambassador to France, a smooth operator who has worked closely with John Major and Tony Blair. However, some say that Holmes's francophilia has dimmed his star. Another safe pair of hands would be Nato ambassador Peter Ricketts. Modest and unassuming, he is popular and has one of the best brains of his generation. A more radical option would be Nicola Brewer, not yet 50, currently the FCO's director of Europe. Jack Straw has shown a penchant for promoting bright young women, and Brewer, if chosen, would be the first female PUS. Three of the biggest beasts in the FCO jungle are thought not to want the job. John Grant, our man in Brussels; John Sawers, political director, in charge of the big nego-tiations like those over Iran; and Nigel Sheinwald, Tony Blair's diplomatic adviser, are all thought to have their eyes on Washington or the UN. Their reluctance to take on Michael Jay's mantle is understandable. The job is about management, not policy. Morale at the FCO is poor: diplomats complain about an increasingly managerial culture in which form-filling takes precedence over original thinking.
Fisticuffs with the Fabians
January's Fabian Society conference on the future of Britishness certainly struck a chord—with more than 800 people attending, organisers were forced to turn away those without tickets. What they didn't count on was how impassioned the debate would be. The final plenary in Imperial College's great hall was cut dramatically short after one member of the audience proposing a Marxist solution to Britain's multicultural conundrum refused to give up the microphone. After a struggle, she threw herself to the floor, shouting "freedom of speech," before marching onto the stage and hijacking proceedings from chairman Sarfraz Manzoor. The audience was given a vote on whether they wanted her to carry on, which she lost but continued anyway. Panellists Madeleine Bunting, John Denham, Sunder Katwala and Trevor Phillips were not amused. Phillips buried his head in his hands while Denham muttered about fascist tactics, before the session was called to an abrupt end.
Poet's corner
London's francophile literati are in raptures after a Camden Town house once occupied by Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine was saved from the property developers. The Royal Veterinary College, which owns the property, is now seeking a buyer sympathetic to the heritage of the house—where Verlaine once slapped his friend in the face with a fish.
Wintour
Patrick Wintour has been appointed new political editor of the Guardian, taking over from Michael White, who will have a more free-ranging writing role. Wintour, a long-time observer of New Labour, is from the sensible wing of the faction-ridden paper and will be an ally in editor Alan Rusbridger's struggle to make the paper more rigorous and objective.
Oxford's new media institute
Should Charles Kennedy's drink problem have been reported earlier? Should David Blunkett's affair have been reported at all? Does anything justify the hounding of Ruth Kelly? Now we may get the answers. Oxford University has teamed up with the Reuters Foundation to create an Institute for the Study of Journalism—a high-powered journalism research centre which will subject these and other media issues to forensic study. Timothy Garton Ash, the St Antony's-based writer; Tim Gardam, the former Channel 4 man and head of St Anne's; and Prospect contributing editor John Lloyd are the key figures behind the institute, which opens in September. Lloyd first rehearsed his thesis—that the news media are partly to blame for the low esteem in which politics and politicians are held—three years ago in these pages; now Oxford will bring its intellectual heft to bear on proving him right—or wrong.
