The death of Mikhail Gorbachev last night marks the end of an extraordinary time in world history, when the apparently inexorable changes that followed the Second World War were undone. He was the man who, more than anyone, drew back the Iron Curtain.
As leader, Mr Gorbachev broke up the Soviet Union but he was also responsible for the collapse of Communist rule in one East European country after another. By eschewing the so-called Brezhnev doctrine, whereby the Soviet Union reserved the right to intervene in satellite Communist states, as it had done catastrophically in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, he made possible the advance of democracy.
As he himself observed, he gave Poland back to the Poles, Hungary to the Hungarians. So it is not just the West who should pay tribute to him, but all those nations who achieved democracy and independence without war.
Mr Gorbachev was also very human, and the processes he set in motion took a turn that he himself found disturbing. Glasnost in Russia, a new culture of openness, and perestroika, the restructuring of a moribund economic and political system, came at a price in terms of unrest, the hijacking of the privatisation of Soviet assets and, ultimately, his own loss of power.
He was proactive in encouraging the peoples of East Germany and elsewhere to take power but he was more repressive towards the Baltic states. His great priority was to diminish the possibility of war between East and West; he succeeded. He brought Russia’s war in Afghanistan to an end.
One aspect of his reforms was his support for a free press, and he devoted some of his winnings from the Nobel Peace Prize to supporting the leading independent newspaper in Russia, owned by Alexander Lebedev, whose family now owns this newspaper. This engagement was evident when he addressed staff in 2009. It was a moving event.
A painful aspect of his death is that it throws into sharp relief the differences between Mr Gorbachev and Vladimir Putin. The reforms Mr Gorbachev introduced are being undermined in Russia now. He was distressed by the war in Ukraine.
We can be grateful to Mr Gorbachev. He changed the world, not just Russia, for the better.
A deal for TfL at last
It’s a deal. Transport for London has finally agreed a long-term, multi-billion-pound bailout package with the Government that it hopes will prevent the capital’s network from falling into “managed decline”.
The settlement includes £3.6 billion for maintenance and infrastructure projects, and will enable TfL to reinstate its Healthy Streets programme.
However, cuts are still coming. The deal leaves TfL needing £230 million by April 2024. Mayor Sadiq Khan concedes this will require fare rises and cuts to bus services.
Whether this is the denouement or merely the latest instalment in the partisan street battle between City Hall and the Department for Transport, the usual rules apply. It is Londoners who are paying the price.
Mr Khan has little choice but to accept this deal. TfL lost billions of pounds during the pandemic and revenue from fares remains 20 per cent below pre-Covid levels.
At its best, co-operation between the Mayor and central government sparks developments from Crossrail to the Northern line extension. Too often we see the worst. Any perceived short-term political gain from putting our city down will only derail Britain’s recovery.
