Labour zombies afraid of future
How bad does it have to get before Labour dumps its leader? wonders Matthew d’Ancona in the Spectator. After a spate of government resignations and a dismal 16% in the European vote, Gordon Brown’s party desperately needs to change. The problem, he argues, lies in the cowardly “pseudo-loyalty” of Labour’s new generation “paralysed by indecision” and ultimately over-dependent on the authority of the triumvirate of Blair, Brown and Peter Mandelson that resurrected the party’s fortunes in the nineties. Labour, he argues “cannot truly conceive what life would be like without these three chieftains”. Frightened of the future, Labour MPs console themselves that their catastrophic situation could be worse. Which for d’Ancona means that Labour is effectively dead, and Britain governed by “a parliament of zombies.”
Two camps, two theories, and two visions of France: 18 years after the massacre of 800,000 Tutsis, the precise role played by Paris is still the subject of heated debate, fueled by the findings of successive criminal investigations. 
Agree to new austerity measures or risk being kicked out of the eurozone: that’s the alternative presented to Athens on the day the euro group is meeting. It’s a situation Greek politicians have failed to avoid, regrets To Vima. 
At a time when Athens is still involved in debt restructuring negotiations with its private creditors, Neelie Kroes’ recent allusions to a Greek exit from the euro are a sign that European leaders are intent on preparing the terrain for such an eventuality.