“Black male headteachers in Britain’s state schools number just 30” is the startling headline on The Guardian’s website, and on the side of the front page of today’s printed paper. There are 127 female heads too, meaning that – in total – 0.7% of headteachers in the UK are black,...
After appearing on BBC World Service World Have Your Say to discuss the True Finns, I’ve now written a piece for Comment is Free about the same issue – you can read it here. The comments thread is full of bile, although there is one issue I would like to...
Tim Montgomerie has written an astounding piece at Conservative Home, entitled “We need to address the abusive relationship rather than just stop the latest punch from Brussels”. For Tim, like many Tory bloggers, any notion of accurate reporting goes out of the window when it comes to the European Union,...
Something has been nagging at me since the True Finns’ election success on Sunday. I think it’s because I am struggling to answer this question: why must True Finns be brought into a governing coalition? This question was brought into focus in a Twitter discussion with Mia Välimäki: http://twitter.com/mialeenasofia/status/60055951830556672 The...
Well, not quite, but figuratively speaking… Bear with me. The gentleman pictured is Gus Murray (on Twitter here), an Australian currently resident in Denmark. He’s a graduate of Copenhagen Business School, and has been involved in numerous startup businesses and seems to be well integrated into Danish society, but has...
In response to this story – that Republic’s “not the royal wedding” party has been prevented from taking place (Guardian story here), I mailed the representatives of Camden Council responsible for these matters earlier today. The e-mail I received back – on behalf of Labour Councillor Sue Vincent – is reproduced...
I saw this tweet earlier from Brian Duggan who works for EPLP in their London office: http://twitter.com/TheBrianDuggan/status/55944123059941376 I followed the link to the letters page of The Guardian, and this is what I get: Your report on the conviction of John Sweeney should be essential reading for some of my...
Denis MacShane has written an essay entitled “Europe’s parliament: Reform or perish?”, a paper which he says is a contribution to the debate about the future of the European Parliament started by Andrew Duff, Julian Priestley, and Anand Menon and John Peet. MacShane tries to take a position in which...
Some lines have been crossed in today’s news in the UK about European Union politics. First we have Liberal Democrat (yes, you read that right, Liberal Democrat) transport minister Norman Baker having a go at an EU transport white paper: We will not be banning cars from city centres anymore...
Like or loathe them but UK Uncut have been highlighting tax avoidance in the UK in a way no-one has ever done before. Vodafone, Fortnum and Mason… more on their site. But this is not a UK problem alone. Different corporation tax rates apply across the EU, and as if...
At the rally in Hyde Park yesterday after the March for the alternative, the first two speeches were given by Brendan Barber and Ed Miliband. I’ve used the text of the respective speeches (Barber’s here, Miliband’s here) to generate two Wordle clouds: Barber Miliband Quite an interesting contrast here, reflecting...
The photo above is not a mockup. It’s not a joke. It’s a genuine sign in the corridor on the second floor of the Rayne Building at St Anne’s College, Oxford. I was at St Anne’s for a conference earlier this week. The sign struck me as very odd… What...