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Sometimes, the Prime Minister must get the feeling he simply can't win.
Having been roundly lambasted for his apparent failure to support the victims of IRA bombs containing Libyan-supplied Semtex in their fight to gain compensation from Colonel Gaddafi's regime, he is now criticised for a U-turn in doing just that.
Mr Brown announced at the weekend that a Foreign Office team would be given the job of assisting the victims' families in their efforts to negotiate with the Libyan authorities.
William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, has said that his change of tack has proved that the Government has lost its "moral compass". Obviously, Mr Brown is reacting to criticism of his previous stance. It is still the right thing to do.
But the truth is that any political engagement with Libya is going to raise the possibility that British policy is dictated by the need to gain access to Libya's massive reserves of oil and gas.
As the Government found when the convicted Lockerbie bomber was released, there is almost nothing it can do or say that will put those doubts to rest.
What matters, however, is less Mr Brown's reputation for consistency and probity than the prospects for the families getting compensation for their bereavement - though no monetary payment can make up for their loss.
Libya's Saif Gaddafi has insisted that any claim must be settled in the courts. That is an advance.
And if compensation is the real priority, then it is worth considering the way the US handled the same problem.
As a result of American pressure in the course of trade talks, Libya paid £900 million into a fund to "normalise" relations with the US and part of that money was used to compensate American victims of terrorism.
To save face, the payment was funded by a levy on oil companies hoping to exploit Libyan reserves - including British ones.
It would be ironic if the British victims of IRA bombings were, in the same way, to be compensated through a levy on companies such as BP.
A solution may demand such compromises. It will, however, need more political will than Mr Brown has provided to date.
Sexism and the City
The Equalities and Human Rights Commission flexed its muscle to oblige City institutions to provide information on pay in terms of gender for its report published today.
The pay gap between women and men in financial institutions turns out to be even more marked than anyone might have expected.
In terms of performance-related bonuses, women receive 80 per cent less than men and nearly 40 per cent less in terms of basic pay.
Some of the disparity is because men tend to gravitate towards revenue-generating parts of financial institutions: dealers and traders and investment bankers, for instance.
And, in fact, performance-related bonuses are relatively fair and transparent as remuneration: if you make the money, you get a bigger bonus, regardless of gender.
What is more troubling are the apparent differences between men and women's basic pay from the outset, even for those doing the same job.
As the report points out, even well-meaning firms are often ignorant of their own gender pay gaps.
It would be a useful start if firms established the mechanism to review pay on the basis of sex: reform starts there.
Naked streets
The Mayor's proposal to expand the concept of "naked streets" deserves to succeed.
Boris Johnson wants most of Mayfair to follow the example of Kensington High Street, which has got rid of some road markings, traffic lights and kerbs, thereby reducing clutter and forcing road users to use their own judgment rather than simply obey instructions.
Transport for London will need to monitor any such schemes carefully to make sure that they do indeed reduce accidents.
But such streets could both put fewer obstacles in drivers' way and give pedestrians more freedom - thereby achieving the near-impossible feat of keeping everyone on London's roads happy.
Reader views (1)
If we accept that Libya has a fiscal responsibility to the IRA victims, then so do Sien Fein and the American contributers to NORAID.
- Very Very Angry At Paying Tax For Mp'S Expeses, Home Counties, 07/09/2009 14:38
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