Tonight:
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THE riots in the City today as police clashed violently with G20 protesters outside the banks have naturally taken attention from the summit itself — which is what the participants presumably intended.
Nonetheless, there is now a real momentum behind the talks. President Obama set the tone with his pronouncement today that the world needs a “sense of urgency” to confront the economic downturn.
His host, Gordon Brown, added that world leaders were only “hours” away from agreeing a plan for economic reform. In fact, finding an agreed formula on reversing the recession will take rather longer, if it happens at all, but the sense of crisis is real. The OECD predicts a contraction of 2.7 per cent in the global economy this year. This bald figure translates into lost jobs, reduced incomes and more poverty — which has fuelled the protesters' anger.
Notwithstanding his optimism today, the Prime Minister's hopes of a grand consensus have already been dashed. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has openly declined to spend Germany's way out of recession. That decision in turn has been criticised by the Japanese prime minister, Taro Aso. Meanwhile, Frau Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, are demanding that the summiteers concentrate on establishing new global financial regulation. Such a commitment should be well within the scope of the summit.
The positive aspect of all this for Mr Brown is that if he secures agreement at all, it will look like a triumph. But a consensus on platitudes is not enough. Bolstering the IMF to help struggling economies is one priority: it may well mean redistributing power within it. Already the EU has committed itself to increasing IMF funding.
Another priority is to deal with the reality of protectionism; since the beginning of the downturn 17 countries have introduced protectionist measures. This is against the spirit of fair trade. As the Pope said in a letter to Mr Brown, the interests of poor countries must be a priority for the rich ones present at the summit. That means taking action against protectionism and making a binding commitment to complete the Doha trade agreement.
If Mr Brown can achieve that much, he will have done well.
New test fiasco
THE standing of Sats, taken by pupils at the ages of seven and 11, was already low following the extraordinary delays in marking the tests last year. Now their credibility is further diminished by this paper's report today that the agencies concerned permanently lost results from four London primary schools. This extraordinary incompetence has infuriated the schools involved; it will also add to pressure on ministers to abandon Sats.
The tests are intended to improve schools' standards by making their performance public knowledge. Just how greatly some of them have failed their pupils can be seen from the fact that, according figures just published, more than a quarter of pupils leave primary.school without passing the required standard in both English and maths. In some London boroughs this rose to a third. Plainly, after a decade of government initiatives to improve basic standards, this is a really shaming result.
Treasure House
JUST over 250 years since its foundation, the British Museum is to build a £135 million extension. It is a fine opportunity for the partnership of architect Richard Rogers to set its stamp on one of our most important buildings. If funding is forthcoming, the new pavilions will reinforce the Museum's status as a safe keeper of our culture. Meanwhile, a repository of a very different part of our heritage, Tate Modern, is to embark on expansion, with plans for a new extension now approved. These projects will give fresh life and space to two great London institutions — and millions of visitors will be the beneficiaries.
