Archive for the ‘British current affairs’ Category
If you were faced with an armed terrorist, what would you do?
May 25th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Would you attempt to flee the scene or would you walk up to the terrorist and engage him in conversation? Here in my home city of London, this week two Muslim fundamentalists hacked to death a soldier in broad daylight as he walked in a street in Woolwich. One remarkable woman, named Ingrid Loyau-Kennet, approached […]
Posted in British current affairs, My life & thoughts | Comments (3)
How many people work in the UK Government’s climate adaptation team?
May 18th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Thanks to the “Guardian” newspaper, we have the revelation that the number has been cut by the current Goverment from 38 to just six. Globally we have to act decisively to slow down and then reverse CO2 levels in the atmosphere but, in the meanwhile if we do not act to mitigate the impacts of […]
Posted in British current affairs, Environment | Comments (0)
The future of think tank communications
May 16th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
My son Richard Darlington has made this fascinating presentation:
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The rise and rise of UKIP – and why it won’t last (2)
May 14th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
It’s less than two weeks since the UK Independence Party did so well in the English local council elections [see my comments here] and the British political political scene has gone crazy. The Conservative Party is falling apart over the idea of a referendum on British membership of the European Union in 2017 and yet […]
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How many women are members of the UK Parliament?
May 9th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
This week, a new female Member of Parliament arrived at Westminster: Emma Lewell-Buck, Labour MP for South Shields. That brings the number of women Labour MPs to 86. The Conservatives have just 48, while the Liberal Democrats have only seven. Altogether, there are 146 women MPs out of a total of 650 – a proportion […]
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The rise and rise of UKIP – and why it won’t last (1)
May 5th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
British readers will be well aware that, in last week’s local elections in England, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) led by Nigel Farage, did spectacularly well, taking 23% of the vote and winning 147 council seats. Non-British readers may find this a very odd development and wonder what is going on. There are some very […]
Posted in British current affairs, World current affairs | Comments (2)
The chart that says it all on the MMR jab and the incidence of measles
May 3rd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Posted in British current affairs, Social policy | Comments (0)
At last, some good news: crime is falling
April 26th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Although I said “at last”, in fact crime has been falling – in both the UK and many other developed nations – for decades and I last blogged about this fascinating, and welcome, trend, about a year ago here. This week, we have the news that, in England & Wales last year, crime again fell, regardless […]
Posted in British current affairs, Social policy | Comments (0)
The need to test claims – or else
April 23rd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
All the time, people are making claims that are not challenged and tested. Sometimes the results can have life and death consequences, as revealed in this astonishing story of how fake bomb detectors were sold in strife-ridden Iraq. It is outrageous that someone should sell a device intended to save lives knowing that they did […]
Posted in British current affairs, Science & technology | Comments (0)
Tories still 6% behind in the polls
April 15th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
For all the publicity around the death of Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron’s self-evident wish to cloak himself in the Thatcher garb, the latest political opinion poll still shows the Conservative Party 6% behind in the Labour Party – but, of course, the General Election is not for another two years.
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