Archive for the ‘British current affairs’ Category
Why we need the Freedom of Information Act
May 18th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Last autumn, the Government sent up a new Cabinet Committee called Misc 33 to examine the future of the Post Office network. It was chaired by John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister. In the week in which the Government has confirmed the closure of 2,500 post offices, the following written exchange took place in the […]
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The leadership of the Labour Party
May 12th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
For 13 years, it has been completely clear that Gordon Brown was the best person to succeed Tony Blair as Leader of the Labour Party. All the rest has been political froth. Every leader has flaws but Brown’s talents are immense. Brown officially launched his campaign yesterday with an unfortunate gaff over use of the […]
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The long goodbye
May 10th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
As long expected, Tony Blair today finally announced his intended resignation as Leader of the Labour Party and therefore as Prime Minister of the Labour Government after 13 years as Leader and 10 years as PM. You can read his announcement here. During the day, I’ve been listening to extracts from his speech on the […]
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A chip off the old blog
May 3rd, 2007 by Roger Darlington
At least for a few hours, my son Richard is to become a blogger too. Richard is Media Manager at the think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research, and a former Special Adviser to Ruth Kelly. A fuller profile is here. The “Guardian” newspaper has asked him to provide the Labour perspective on the […]
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Questions about the UK political system
May 3rd, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Today there are elections in the UK at local level in some parts of England and at country level in Scotland & Wales. Although we are likely to have a new Prime Minister shortly, we don’t need to have a Parliamentary election for three years. Now some months ago, I gave a lecture to a […]
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10 years of Prime Minister Blair
May 1st, 2007 by Roger Darlington
It is ten years ago today that Labour took office with Tony Blair as Prime Minister. As he comes close to departing 10 Downing Street, how does one assess his tenure? Apparently, when asked about the historical effect of the 1789 French Revolution, Chinese leader Chou En-lai replied:. “It’s too soon to tell.” So it’s […]
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300 years of the Union
May 1st, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Today marks the 300th anniversary of the Acts of Union when the English and Scottist Parliaments combined into a single Parliament at Westmintser. Ironically, in just two days time, we might see the most serious threat to the Union since its creation. As I explained in this posting, on Thursday there is an election to […]
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How many should we imprison?
March 31st, 2007 by Roger Darlington
In my late 20s, I spent two years (1976-1978) working at the Home Office as Special Adviser to the then Home Secretary Merlyn Rees. I visited several prisons and officials always gave us a written brief beforehand. One of the figures in the brief was what was called the CNA (Certified Normal Accommodation) which was […]
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What’s happening in Scotland?
March 23rd, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Since 1999, Scotland has had its own Parliament, but the British national media hardly ever mention Scottish political affairs, leaving this to the Scottish media. As result, many people outside Scotland will not appreciate just how crucial are the elections for the Scottish Parliament to be held on 3 May. Ever since the creation of […]
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Democracy British style
March 7th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Currently not one member of Britain’s upper chamber, the House of Lords, is elected. In a series of up to 10 free votes, Members of Parliament in the lower chamber, the House of Commons, will vote tonight on whether they want a second chamber at all, and then on its possible composition – with options […]
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