Today, the government has announced that 2500 post offices are to close. It’s hardly surprising (and not just because the scale of the closures was leaked, and because it’s been under discussion for a long time). People now prefer to have their pension or benefits paid into their bank account. They pay utility bills or [...]
On Thursday morning’s news, it emerged that protesters from Greenpeace had targeted Didcot power station in an attempt to shut down the coal-fired plant. Some of them chained themselves to a conveyor belt carrying coal into the station, while others headed for the top of the 198-metre high chimney. By abseiling from the top of [...]
A number of local authorities in the UK have started to fit microchips to dustbins so that they can monitor how much rubbish households are throwing away. Many commentators believe councils will eventually use the technology to charge households according to the weight of their waste.
Now, I think charging according to the amount thrown away [...]
The First Minister of Scotland, Jack McConnell, said that, as Scotland failed to qualify, he would be supporting Trinidad and Tobago in the World Cup football competition rather than England. This has generated a lot of comment, with an English company reportedly cancelling a pre-booked conference in Scotland in response to the First Minister’s “anti-English” [...]
More than 3000 English football hooligans have had to hand their passports in to the police before the World Cup to prevent them from travelling to Germany to cause trouble. This is considered such an important measure by the authorities that the penalty for failing to surrender a passport is a £5000 fine and up [...]
This week, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has come out in favour of a new generation of nuclear power stations. While it is unfortunate if he has pre-empted the findings of the government’s energy review, on this occasion I believe Mr Blair has made the right choice.
In an ideal world, we would be able to [...]
Today it has been widely reported in the media that the House of Commons public accounts committee have recommended that people who find themselves in trouble while on drunken stag weekends abroad should have to pay for consular assistance. The going rate is £84.50 per hour, but this charge is rarely applied.
Charge stag-nighters for bail-out, [...]
The most recent twist in the “cash for honours” saga currently afflicting the UK government has seen the the arrest of Des Smith, the man responsible for raising money for the City Academies scheme.
Some people have asked why donors to the Labour party, or to the Academies, are so keen to buy themselves a [...]
According to BBC News, the Scottish National Party (SNP) have drawn up a blueprint for the first 100 days of an SNP government, should they win a majority in the next elections to the Scottish parliament. Amongst the generally left-of-centre policies is, unsurprisingly, a plan to hold a referendum on Scottish independence.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4892814.stm
They say the ballot [...]