There is no real alternative, alas

For once, I agree with the Economist

IF BRITAIN’S general election were simply a referendum on Tony Blair and the Labour government he has led since 1997, then there would be a real possibility that the voters would give him, and Labour, a slap in the face. That would also be The Economist’s instinct, though no doubt for different reasons. But it isn’t a referendum: it is a choice, one about which of the three big national parties offers the most credible and suitable government for Britain’s next four or five years. On that, our answer is the same as the one suggested by the opinion polls: the winner should again be Labour, led by Mr Blair.

Here we go!

For the last two years, I’ve been working with a group of colleagues in Cambridge on a project which has the modest aim of changing the world. It’s called the Ndiyo Project. (‘Ndiyo’ is the Swahili for ‘yes’.) Our aim was to rethink computer networking to make it much more affordable, environmentally sustainable and supportable than conventional PC-based networking. Why? Because the way we currently do networking is so wasteful and expensive that poor people will never be able to afford it. Yesterday, we presented a paper on our work at a big conference sponsored by (nice irony this!) Microsoft Research in Cambridge. BBC Online picked up the story and have reported it today. Our email inbox is already creaking at the seams. Stay tuned.