First up we have Is your Cat confused about the referendum on the voting system on the 5th May? With cat versus dog simplicity, some nifty graphics, and why AV keeps out the nasty dogs. It’s even good at explaining
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Why you should use Twitter lists
OK, you have worked our the basics of Twitter. If you haven’t, then read Jessica Hische’s excellent guide (even if it’s Mum, not Mom), and I’ve written a few words on Twitter for politics. Then read on, for this is a
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Why it’s not yet time to capitulate to Facebook
Joe Litobarski wrote a post earlier today entitled “Blogs are Dead… Long Live Facebook!” Like a lot of Joe’s stuff it’s a thoughtful case, but, ultimately – in my view – wrong. Far from becoming redundant, blogs are simply changing
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Black male head teachers: bad numbers indicate a problem, but can’t determine what that problem is
“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
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Comment is Free post on True Finns and populist parties
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
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Tim Montgomerie needs some relationship with the facts before attacking the EU
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
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The Guardian | The True Finns followed a well-known recipe for success
“The reactions to the election gains of Timo Soini’s True Finns (Perussuomalaiset) in Sunday’s general election in Finland have been full of earthquake metaphors. “A tremor hit the EU” is the way the BBC’s Gavin Hewitt describes it. If that
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Some reflections on coalition building (in light of UK and Finnish experience)
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
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Delightful irony as Koch-Mehrin runs an event on openness and suffers from it simultaneously
Thursday 12th April and Dr. Silvana Koch-Mehrin MEP runs an event in the European Parliament entitled “The New Rules of Openness”, together with LibertyGlobal. The poster advertising the event is shown above. The very same day the Vroni-Plag Wiki released
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Duff’s EP reform proposals prioritise institutional change over real leadership – misguided
The Constitutional Affairs Committee of the European Parliament yesterday backed Andrew Duff‘s report (PDF here) that proposes reforms to the way MEPs are elected. Most controversial is the proposal to create a Europe-wide list of 25 MEPs, essentially a transnational
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Why Homens da Luta should win Eurovision
I’m not in a position to judge the quality of their music, or indeed the quality of any music in the Eurovision Song Contest to be quite honest. But facing a series of political, democratic and economic difficulties succinctly outlined
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Portugal’s emergency loan – why ‘bailout’ is the wrong word
I was on the BBC World Service programme “World Have Your Say” (programme site, blog) earlier to talk about the implications of the election success of Timo Soini’s True Finns party in yesterday’s parliamentary election. The discussion briefly examined the
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