No sums at the Summit
IT IS rude of Mikhail Gorbachev to burst in on the London Economic Summit and talk economics. That, as he ought to realise, is not the idea any more, for it led to argument, and then to an absence of argument and, for that matter, of point. The meeting's theme for this year is building world partnership — what could be more anodyne? The summit sherpas have long since written the scripts, and do not want to spoil a smiling occasion with the dismal science. As the Prime Minister's sherpa explains every year, the summit is not a place for decision-making. It is a place for statements designed to make everyone feel good — last year it was Germany, this year, disaster relief. Next year, seal pups? Margaret Thatcher used summit meetings for one-to-one handbag work in the corridors, but her successor's interest must be to keep everything happy and statesmanlike. Some parts of govern- ment, said Bagshot, were dignified and some were efficient. In their 17 years, the economic summits, never notably effec- tive, have become grand shows of dignity. London's next is in 1998, and should be merged with Trooping the Colour, or, better still, Royal Ascot.
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