Right then. We finally know the inevitable – David Cameron is the new Tory leader. It”s been a contest that has been dragging on for months, and now it’s final. He beat David Davis 2 votes to 1. So what should we make of it all? Cameron is clearly trying...
May 1997 and the euphoria of Tony Blair’s election victory feels a very long time ago. Blair suffered his first parliamentary defeat a few weeks ago over 90 day detention of terror suspects, and it seems that the tensions inherent in that debate are likely to burst forth still further...
It has been quite a cold week, and in Cornwall and Wales there was even some snow – see the picture to the right – a road on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. But as ever, the British have proven to be totally incapable of coping with it. The snowfall was...
OK, so I did not manage to get to the launch of LME. But today I signed up to become a member via their new website. It might not really win too many design awards, but the site is functional enough, and there is a kind of members area as...
OK, so you would assume that it should not be too complex. I am a member of the Labour Party, and the party is supposed to be pro-European. Within the party there is a group called the Labour Movement for Europe. This evening – 22nd November – they are holding...
There have been rumblings for a while about the inbalance in the UK political system where MPs from Wales and Scotland can decide legislation only applying to England. There was also the absurd example of Scottish MP John Reid, representing a Scottish constituency, but yet being Secretary of State for...
Somehow intuitively anyone who has visited the UK will tell you the same thing: the country feels very divided between the rich South East (where I happen to live presently) and the rest (where I grew up). There have been numerous studies about this matter in the past, and there...
Where else in the world would you see as many carpets as in the UK? Now, I don’t mean smart hand woven rugs from Persia. I mean nasty grey or blue acrylic carpets that seem to be found everywhere in British public buildings, and horrible patterned fitted carpets in homes...
There are some things that strike you as just plain odd in the UK. Have no fear – this entry, and similar ones to come, is not going to turn into generalised rants. It’s just that some things in the UK are a bit particular. The first of these that...
They are back. Or at least they look like they are trying a bit. The fuel protestors that did their best to bring the country to a halt in 2000 are trying to gear up once again. Seems things are staring slowly though. The population – in their infinite wisdom...
Gordon Brown has today launched a very thinly veiled attack on the European Commission’s trade deal with China on textiles in an article in the FT – summary here. His basic stance is towards those that have appealed for quotas is tough – protectionism is not going to save inefficient...
An Englishman’s home is his castle. So goes the old phrase anyway. In truth, it’s probably more likely to be a nasty, damp, poorly maintained house on a anodyne street in some suburban area. Oh, and the house will cost a fortune to buy or rent, the windows will let...