14 January 2016 The Monkey Puzzle How the ape about town would spend its money by John Watson To those who like acronyms, the discovery that there is an organisation called “PETA” or “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals” throws a dash of colour across an increasingly grey world. To those who are not… Continue reading Issue 36: 2016 01 14: The Monkey Puzzle (John Watson)
Category: Comment
Issue 36:2015 1 14:NHS 24-7
14 January 2016 NHS 24-7 Shaw Sheet’s personal experience of weekend health-care on the eve of the doctor’s strike. By Neil Tidmarsh. So the junior hospital doctors have finally gone on strike, in protest at Jeremy Hunt’s apparent attempts to transform the NHS into a twenty-four hour a day, seven day a week service. Coincidentally,… Continue reading Issue 36:2015 1 14:NHS 24-7
Issue 36: 2016 01 14: The Scot Nats in Westminster (Antoninus)
14 January 2016 The Scot Nats in Westminster by Antoninus Are you getting used to our group of 56 (but see below) SNP MPs in the Commons? You better had. Barring death or defection they’re going to be there until the next general election in 2020. You may have noticed they’re the third largest political… Continue reading Issue 36: 2016 01 14: The Scot Nats in Westminster (Antoninus)
Issue 36:2016 01 14:On the Wire
14 January 2016 On The Wire One false step… by Neil Tidmarsh The Times published a spectacular photograph this week by film-maker Seb Montaz-Rosset of a man walking a slackline between two hot air balloons high up in the sky. It’s beautiful but disturbing – even downright frightening – full of stress and danger and… Continue reading Issue 36:2016 01 14:On the Wire
Issue 35: 2016 1 07: The Glorious Struggle Begins
07 January 2016 The Glorious Struggle Begins by J.R.Thomas Finally the long awaited battle of London has begun; the two Mayoral candidates have at last emerged from the silent shadows, preparing their inspirational manifestos and polishing their searing rhetoric. The gloves are off and the press microphones set up for the opening salvos. Zak Goldsmith… Continue reading Issue 35: 2016 1 07: The Glorious Struggle Begins
Issue 35: 2016 01 07: Bums in the Butter (John Watson)
07 January 2016 Bums in the Butter Conflicts of interest go beyond commerce. By John Watson The lull following the New Year gives time for thought, and rather than wasting it on the minutiae which normally concern us (will the public go for Brexit? Which shadow minister will be sacked next? Who will win Big… Continue reading Issue 35: 2016 01 07: Bums in the Butter (John Watson)
Issue 35: 2016 01 07: Lessons of the Masters
07 January 2016 Lessons of the Masters Play up, play up and bend the rules. By Neil Tidmarsh Democracy can be a messy business. Election results are often unpredictable. Sometimes they’re unsatisfactory (the governments of Spain and Portugal are becalmed at the moment, as Turkey’s was between elections last year, because recent elections have produced… Continue reading Issue 35: 2016 01 07: Lessons of the Masters
Issue 34: 2015 12 24: The need for abuse, deceit and manipulation
24 December 2015 The need for abuse, deceit and manipulation An apology which says too much By John Watson The thirteenth stroke of the clock. “It’s quiet, Carruthers, too damned quiet”. Yes, we all recognise those little indications that, although everything may seem fine on the surface, matters will not stand closer scrutiny. In the… Continue reading Issue 34: 2015 12 24: The need for abuse, deceit and manipulation
Issue 34: 2014 12 24: Pass On The Right
24 December 2015 Pass On The Right by J R Thomas The more astonishing the remark, the more offensive the comment, the more the voters seem to love him. It could only be The Donald of course; who, having managed to get more than half a million names on a petition to ban him from… Continue reading Issue 34: 2014 12 24: Pass On The Right
Issue 34: 2015 12 24: Students or Vice Chancellors a Threat to Democracy?
24 December 2015 Students or Vice Chancellors a Threat to Democracy? Who is responsible for the lack of debate in universities? by Lynda Goetz It is quite possible that enough has been said and written about Oriel College’s reaction to student demands to remove the statue of Sir Cecil Rhodes (1852-1902), but since it ties… Continue reading Issue 34: 2015 12 24: Students or Vice Chancellors a Threat to Democracy?
Issue 34: 2015 12 24: Sovereignty in a Stable
24 December 2015 Sovereignty in a Stable Ultimate authority is not born in palaces. By Neil Tidmarsh This week, President Xi of China addressed world leaders at the World Internet Conference at Wuzhen, calling for state censorship of the internet in the name of ‘internet sovereignty’. Let’s think about that word ‘sovereignty’ for a moment.… Continue reading Issue 34: 2015 12 24: Sovereignty in a Stable
Issue 33:2015 12 17: “Je partage votre colère!”
17 December 2015 “Je partage votre colère!” by Richard Pooley In among the Christmas cards in our French postbox last Thursday was a glossy 3-page election leaflet – the first we had received from any of the eleven lists competing for our votes in France’s regional elections. The headline on page one, translated as “I… Continue reading Issue 33:2015 12 17: “Je partage votre colère!”
Issue 33: 2015 12 17: The Ticking Of The Clock
17 December 2015 The Ticking of the Clock by J R Thomas Fifty or so years ago, the advertising for Rolls Royce cars used to proudly claim that at 60 miles per hour the loudest noise was the “ticking of the clock”. Now, a very different Rolls Royce business also has its eye on the… Continue reading Issue 33: 2015 12 17: The Ticking Of The Clock
