I have to say I find myself broadly on the side of the government in the recent row over the sacking of the government’s drug adviser. Scientific advisers are there to advise, but ultimately it’s the politicians whom we have elected to take the decisions. If we don’t like the decisions they take, we can […]
Like many people I was in two minds about whether the BNP‘s leader should appear on the BBC’s Question Time. Free speech is important, but you have to draw the line somewhere. However, after seeing Nick Griffin’s performance, I think his appearance has only made him look a fool. I came as little surprise to […]
When I go into any shop, I rarely buy anything on impulse. I go in to buy what I wanted. However, I can’t be typical. Shops spend a lot of time and effort making attractive displays to entice customers into buying things they didn’t know they needed, and they wouldn’t bother if it had no […]
One of the protesters taking part in the G20 protests in London claimed yesterday, “The only violence I witnessed that day was police violence.” Clearly he didn’t see the pictures on TV of people smashing the windows of a bank, while crowds of other rioters looked on and cheered. I don’t think the people breaking […]
News sources everywhere are proclaiming that Barack Obama has been elected the first black president of the United States. Yet as Mr Obama is of mixed African-European heritage, one can state just as validly that he is the 44th white president. A similar thing is true for Lewis Hamilton, said to be the first black […]
Whatever their view of the status of “hero” being given by the press to the British Olympic team, most people would agree that, if we’re considering them to be representing their country as opposed to chasing individual achievement, we should be congratulating the whole team. Equally, we should be proud of British people who excel […]
Today the Chancellor finally announced what the measure would be to compensate people who have lost out due to the income tax changes. They are going to give all basic rate taxpayers an extra £120 by raising the personal tax allowance by five times that amount. That was the solution to the problem that I […]
Last week the government seemingly did a u-turn over the scrapping of the 10 pence rate of income tax, although it is far from clear what form the compensation will take for people on lower incomes who will lose out under the new tax regime. It’s difficult to see how the government could have thought […]
It is now three months since smoking was banned in enclosed public places in England, bringing it into line with the rest of the UK. I have to say that, while Tony Blair’s government have been unpopular on some issues, and have been criticised for producing too much legislation, the Health Act 2006 is one […]
Remarks by the Conservative Party’s spokesman for Community Cohesion in today’s Independent must have left many people feeling incredulous. Sayeeda Warsi, a Muslim woman of Pakistani descent, says that the BNP have “some very legitimate views” on immigration and crime. Unfortunately, it appears that Ms Warsi (who, contrary to the report in The Independent, is […]
