FacebookTwitterLinkedinGoogle+PinterestDiggemail17 May 2018 Jaw-Jaw in the Sun Impasse in Catalonia by J.R. Thomas Jaw-Jaw is better than war-war, said Winston Churchill. And also better than trying to govern Catalonia, might add Mariano Rajoy, the current Spanish prime minister. Mr Rajoy has had that unenviable task since last October when his gamble of forcing new
FacebookTwitterLinkedinGoogle+PinterestDiggemail17 May 2018 The Past Is Never Dead It isn’t even the past. By Neil Tidmarsh Let’s take a break from the Present this week, and escape into the Past with some current stories about heritage – Rome’s Colosseum, Marie Antoinette’s toy farm, Abraham Lincoln’s top hat – which can’t possibly have any bearing on
FacebookTwitterLinkedinGoogle+PinterestDiggemail17 May 2018 Dog Aggression Who’s to blame? By Lynda Goetz Last week, both The Times and The Telegraph carried a picture of an attractive young blonde woman cradling a pop-eyed Chihuahua with headlines to the effect that the poor creature had been attacked by an ‘out-of-control’ hound owned (would you believe!) by a Cruft’s
FacebookTwitterLinkedinGoogle+PinterestDiggemail10 May 2018 Grenfell Tower Inquiry Politics and Panels? By John Watson “Yes, but who?” That is the question posed by Sir Martin Moore-Bick, Chairman of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, when he heard that the Prime Minister is to appoint two panel members to assist with its second phase. Of course, he didn’t put it
FacebookTwitterLinkedinGoogle+PinterestDiggemail17 May 2018 Silver striver or skiver? The danger and futility of taxing the elderly. By Frank O’Nomics The UK faces a huge economic problem as a result of its ageing population. Recent projections of the increased money needed for education, health and social security spending by 2040 amount to an additional £63bn – the
FacebookTwitterLinkedinGoogle+PinterestDiggemail17 May 2018 Diary of a Corbynista Irish Eurovision Scandal by Don Urquhart 10 May The “smoking gun” I referred to in last week’s Shawsheet was picked up by a senior Labour politician. Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, seems to share my opinion of the Debbie Abrahams sacking. It feels to me like
FacebookTwitterLinkedinGoogle+PinterestDiggemail10 May 2018 Mind The (Gender Pension) Gap The pensions gap dwarfs that of pay. By Frank O’Nomics The waves of press coverage naming and shaming the worst corporate offenders when it comes to gender pay gaps have reached the point of overkill. The worst offenders seem to be financial services firms, and most have
FacebookTwitterLinkedinGoogle+PinterestDiggemail10 May 2018 Local Election Results Interest Rates Matter. By John Watson “Whew”, “Could have been worse”, “Not so bad mid-term”, “Corbynism’s high point”, sighs of relief echo in the bar of every Conservative Association. Yes, it could have been worse. No it wasn’t. But before they congratulate themselves on only having lost thirty-one seats,
FacebookTwitterLinkedinGoogle+PinterestDiggemail10 May 2018 Spoilt for Choice In so many ways. By Lynda Goetz This week there has been so much in the news that it has been really hard to work out what to focus on. Should it be universities (Cambridge vice-chancellor’s interview with Simon Heffer; Oxford’s removal of Theresa May’s portrait after student protests;
FacebookTwitterLinkedinGoogle+PinterestDiggemail10 May 2018 Diary of a Corbynista A Smoking Gun? by Don Urquhart 3 May The charity Homes 4 Heroes estimates that around 4,500 ex-servicemen are sleeping on the streets. Alexander Palmer served in an Army commando regiment but was discharged in November 2015 after his head was “crushed” in a violent attack. He suffered
