Archive for the ‘British current affairs’ Category
How well do people know the basic facts on immigration?
October 31st, 2014 by Roger Darlington
A new survey by Ipsos MORI has checked public understanding of the numbers behind some key news stories in 14 countries. Let’s just look at two issues in two countries. When asked: out of 100 people, how many do you think are immigrants in this country? In the UK, the average guess was 24%, but […]
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As we turn the clocks back in the UK, around the world who does and who does not practice daylight saving time?
October 26th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
If you look at the world map on this web page, you’ll see that almost 80 nations – notably those of Europe and North America – practice daylight saving, but most of the rest of the world manages without this practice. The same web page provides some interesting facts on the practice: The USA has […]
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Bye-elections in the House of Lords
October 21st, 2014 by Roger Darlington
If you’re British and interested in politics, you’ll know that that we have recently had two bye-elections to the House of Commons: Rochester and Strood, where UKIP took the seat from the Conservatives, and Heywood and Middleton, where UKIP narrowly failed to take the seat from Labour. Even if you’re obsessive about British politics, it’s unlikely that […]
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At last, an article on the problems facing the British economy which is concise, clear and honest
October 20th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
What are the origins of the current deficit? “Contrary to the Conservative portrayal of it as a spendthrift party, Labour kept the budget in balance averaged over its first six years in office between 1997 and 2002. Between 2003 and 2007 the deficit rose, but at 3.2% of GDP a year it was manageable. More […]
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Today is Blog Action Day 2014 #BAD2014 and this year’s theme is inequality #Inequality
October 16th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Today is Blog Action Day when bloggers around the world post items on the same theme and this year the chosen subject is inequality. Conveniently this week Credit Suisse has published its annual Global Wealth Report. Among the mass of data, the report tells us that, taken together, the bottom half of the global population […]
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Understanding the difference between the deficit and the debt: the smaller one is going down but the bigger one is still rising
October 4th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
At this week’s Conservative Party Conference, the Prime Minister David Cameron told delegates and voters that the country has been “paying down its debts”. Is that true? Is it heck. At best, it was misleading; at worst, it was an outright fib. Let me explain briefly … The deficit is the difference in any given […]
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What’s wrong with the British political system?
October 3rd, 2014 by Roger Darlington
“I know the vast majority of politicians are in it for the right reasons but the entire political culture is geared around Westminster elections and the positioning needed to win them. The middle ground is where elections are won and so parties disproportionately focus on how to win votes and craft policies to appeal to […]
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How has market research changed in the age of social media?
September 24th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Less than two weeks before the referendum on Scottish independence, there was a YouGov poll suggesting that the ‘yes’ vote was in the lead but the actual result was a 10 percentage point victory for the ‘no’ vote. So was the YouGove poll flawed? According to the pollster’s Chief Executive Stephan Shakespeare, the poll was […]
Posted in British current affairs, Consumer matters | Comments (0)
Do we need an English Parliament?
September 22nd, 2014 by Roger Darlington
The failure of the Scottish voters to back full independence but the promise of more powers for the Scottish Parliament has led to a whole host of constitutional questions being posed, perhaps the most controversial being the so-called West Lothian question: why should Scottish MPs be allowed to vote on English laws? Some – especially […]
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After the Scottish referendum: 10 of the most pressing questions facing the union that is still the United Kingdom
September 21st, 2014 by Roger Darlington
The “Observer” newspaper today has the best part of no fewer than 22 pages devoted to this week’s referendum on Scottish independence and the implications of the ‘no’ vote for the nations, regions and cities of the UK. What this underlines is that one question has been answered (for the time being), but a host […]
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