Archive for the ‘British current affairs’ Category
What (or where) is Cobra?
February 26th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
It is reported that British Prime Minister David Cameron has convened meetings of Cobra in order to plan the emergency evacuation of UK citizens out of strife-tern Libya. Cobra sounds really exciting. It evokes images of a venomous snake or – if you’re a movie fan like me – the 1986 Sylvester Stallone action film […]
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Tony Blair’s “A Journey” (5)
February 18th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
It’s taken me a month, but I have now finished Tony Blair’s 700-page memoir “A Journey”. You can read my review here.
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What exactly is the Big Society?
February 14th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
American leaders think big. Franklin D Roosevelt had the New Deal, while Lydon B Johnson had the Great Society – both of which changed the face of America. British politicians are not quite in the same league. Tony Blair had The Third Way (whatever happened to that?), while David Cameron struggles to advance the Big […]
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Tony Blair’s “A Journey” (4)
February 12th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
I continue to read “A Journey” by Tony Blair. Of course, the most memorable feature of his premiership was Britain joining with the United States in the invasion of Iraq. Blair devotes over 100 pages of the 700-page volume to the Iraq war. There are no new facts or revelations because there was no cover-up […]
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AV or not AV? That is the question
February 11th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
In the British House of Commons, there are 650 members elected by the ‘first past the post’ system. How many do you think obtain more than 50% of the votes cast? Well, the answer is only 270. If we change the voting system to the alternative vote (AV), every Member of Parliament will need at […]
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What’s wrong with multiculturalism?
February 7th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Last weekend in Munich, British Prime Minister David Cameron made a speech in which he pronounced: “Under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream. We’ve failed to provide a vision of society to which they feel they want to […]
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Save our libraries
February 4th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
So far, cuts in public expenditure have threatened the closure of over 400 libraries throughout Britain. On the Isle of Wight, 9 out of 11 are scheduled for closure. There’s a piece in today’s “Guardian” G2 supplement about these closures with particular reference to Ventnor library on the island. Now we have some great friends […]
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How much crime in your area?
February 2nd, 2011 by Roger Darlington
From today, citizens in England & Wales are able to find out which crimes have taken place on or near their street within the past month and which officers are responsible for their area. Information on crime is broken down into six categories – burglary, robbery, vehicle crime, violence, other crime and anti-social behaviour. Local […]
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Why do workers go on strike?
January 31st, 2011 by Roger Darlington
There’s a short discussion of this question on the BBC web site here – and my brother is quoted.
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Tony Blair’s “A Journey” (3)
January 31st, 2011 by Roger Darlington
I continue to read “A Journey” by Tony Blair. One the recurrent themes of the first half of the book is his New Labour passion for reform – or “modernisation” as he calls it – of public services: education, health, welfare, criminal justice and the civil service. He writes: “My boundless, at times rather manic […]
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