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Not got a lot of time for blogging today but didn’t want these to pass without notice.

Matthew Norman in the Independent on why the real treachery against soldiers comes not from dickheads with placards but from Gordon Brown:

On Tuesday, even as the PM railed against the disrespect shown to the troops, an article in the new edition of the revered military journal International Affairs dealt with the crisis in British defence. Before concluding that the “state of degeneration (is) perhaps more serious than at any time since the end of the Cold War,” its authors touched on the “critical shortage” of helicopters in Afghanistan. Whether any of the dozen Anglians, or “Poachers” lost in combat died because of this, insufficient training, useless or non-existent body armour, or inadequate troop strength left them outnumbered, I’ve no idea. But many British soldiers have lost their lives and been wounded because their Labour overlords failed to equip, prepare and protect them properly, and more will do so in Afghanistan in the years ahead.

Timothy Garton Ash has an excellent breakdown of the Binyam Mohamed affair and why next week’s Foreign Office’s annual report on human rights violations around the world will be a farce.

In these circumstances, and given all we know from the high court, any decision other than to hand this over to the director of public prosecutions will inevitably be interpreted as a political cover-up. Until we have got to the bottom of this dark well, using the unrestricted searchlight of the law, any lectures the British government tries to deliver to others on respect for human rights will be dismissed as rank hypocrisy.

Arm of the UK state uses Guantanamo-style psychological warfare on environmental protesters:

The report, launched by the Liberal Democrats, said the music seemed “an attempt to deprive attendees of sleep”.

The report also highlighted the police approach to participants of a “festival picnic” procession mostly made up of families and small children. A helicopter ordered them via loudspeaker: “Disperse now, or dogs, horses and long-handed batons will be deployed.”