British political institutions (3): the government

April 29th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

I like to attend short courses at the City Literary Institute in central London and I’m now doing a six-week course on “British Political Institutions”.  The third session of the course was delivered by the City Lit’s Director Mark Malcolmson and covered the executive, that is the government of the Cabinet and junior ministers.

I have myself written a guide to the British political system and you can read about government here.

In this session of the course, we had a discussion about the electoral system which, in Britain, is the first-past-the-post (FPTP), like the USA but unlike most countries which have a version of proportional representation (PR). FPTP is said to provide a clear result and a majority government, but we were reminded of several occasions – some very recent – when this has not been the case:

  • The minority Labour Government of February-October 1974 (when I was a Special Adviser in the Northern Ireland Office and fought the two General Elections of that year)
  • The Liberal-Labour (Lib-Lab) Pact of 1977-1978  (when I was a Special Adviser in the Home Offcie) which involved Liberals generally supporting the minority Labour Government without actually joining the government
  • The coalition government between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats from 2010-2015 when the Lib Dems had ministers at every level of government on the basis of a detailed joint policy programme
  • The current agreement between the minority Conservative Government and the Democratic Unionist Party whereby the DUP – in return for lots of extra expenditure in Northern Ireland – support the government on ‘confidence and supply’ terms

In my view, the case for proportional representation – on both moral and practical grounds – is a strong one.

Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)

What does the Korea summit actually mean?

April 28th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

A few months ago, war on the Korean peninsula looked dangerously likely, but incredibly on Friday President Kim Jong-un of North Korea and President Moon Jae-in of South Korea met, talked, and signed the Panmunjom declaration.

The BBC has highlighted five key moments in the programme and provided access to the full text of the agreement that was signed by the two leaders.

So far, it is largely words – although they are wonderful words – and now we have to see what concrete actions Kim takes and how his meeting with President Trump goes. Amazing times …

Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)

Ever considered applying for a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship?

April 27th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

A Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expand your professional and personal horizons by travelling abroad for up to two months, researching innovative practice on a topic of your choice. In 1970, I was awarded one to make a study of the American telecommunications system.

Everyone can apply, regardless of age or background, and no qualifications are required. Just a passion to make change happen in the field of your choice. How to apply

Applications for our next round of Churchill Fellowships are open from 27 April 2018 to 18 September 2018. These are for research trips in 2019 and beyond. Application timeline.

For 2019, the Trust will be awarding Fellowships for topics in these categories:

Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)

A review of the new film “The Leisure Seeker”

April 27th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

This is not typical Hollywood fare: a movie aimed squarely at the grey demographic and directed by an Italian. The title of this film refers to a 1978 Winnebago recreational vehicle owned by the elderly American couple John and Ella played by Donald Sutherland (now in his 80s) and Helen Mirren (mid 70s), two actors who are both at the top of their game.

He is suffering from worsening dementia, while she is riddled with cancer, but she decides that they can make one last special road trip together. Along the way, they have a series of adventures, some funny, some tragic, some wry.

There are many songs featured in the movie and one is the mid-1970s Themla Houston hit “Don’t Leave Me This Way”. In this story, there is a lot of ‘leaving’: some accidental, some deliberate, some temporary, some permananent. What will not leave the viewer easily are many poignant memories of this quietly moving film.

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Who was Millicent Fawcett?

April 24th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

It’s great that today we saw the unveiling of the first statute of a woman in London’s Parliament Square where there has previously only been statues of men (11 of them). The new statute is of Millicent Fawcett – but who exactly was she?

She was a campaigner for the right of women to vote, but she was a suffragist rather than a suffragette, favouring peaceful means of campaigning. You can read more about her statue and her life here.

Footnote: Two days later, I went to Parliament Square to see the statute which has photographers around the base of other women who campaigned for the female vote.

Posted in British current affairs, History | Comments (0)

Liberal Democrat leader calls for tech giants to be broken up

April 24th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable has called for Google, Amazon and Facebook to be broken up, comparing them to US oil monopolies that exploited their market power more than a century ago.

In an under-reported speech, Cable said recent scandals including the Facebook Cambridge Analytica revelations meant the tech giants had “progressed from heroes to villains very quickly”. He said: “Just as Standard Oil once cornered 85% of the refined oil market, today Google drives 89% of internet searches, 95% of young adults on the internet use a Facebook product, Amazon accounts for 75% of ebook sales, while Google and Apple combined provide 99% of mobile operating systems.”

Cable raised four concerns: the use of platforms such as YouTube “as a conduit for content which society regards as unacceptable”; the systematic spread of fake news; the firms’ sheer size, making them “a barrier rather than a boon to entrepreneurship”, and the inability of tax authorities to force them to pay their fair share. He called for mergers to be more closely scrutinised and for authorities to break up firms that exploit their dominance to harm consumers.

You can read the full speech here.

Posted in Consumer matters, Internet | Comments (0)

Why is the death penalty still in force in the United States and why is its use there in decline?

April 22nd, 2018 by Roger Darlington

I’m currently reading a fascinating book called “Enlightenment Now” by the American professor of psychology Steven Pinker. In the chapter on Democracy, he explores the odd position of the United States in relation to the use of capital punishment.

Over 100 countries have now abolished the use of the death penalty (including all European nations except Belarus) and, while some 90 countries retain the penalty in their law, most have not put anyone to death in at least a decade.

However, the USA is in the top five for the countries that still execute its citizens, together with China and Iran (which kill more than 1,000 annually) plus Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Why is this?

Pinker points out that in the USA, “other than for a few federal crimes like terrorism and treason, the death penalty is decided upon by individual states, voted on by legislators who are close to their constituents, and in many states sought and approved by prosecutors and judges who have to stand for reelection”. As he puts it: “The reason the United States is a death penalty outlier is that it is, in one sense, too democratic.”

However, Pinker explains that seven states have repealed the death penalty in the past decade, an additional 16 have moratoria, and 30 have not executed anyone in five years. He provides a list of reasons why, in his view, “The American death penalty is not so much being abolished as falling part, piece by piece.” Indeed he believes that worldwide “today the death penalty is on death row”.

I hope he is right.

Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)

A review of “Our Digital Future” by William Webb (2017)

April 20th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

This attempt, by a British professor who has worked for Ofcom and now runs his own consultancy, to predict the future in 10, 20 and 30 years time has three characteristics to commend it: it is short (just 120 pages), it is accessible (no specialist knowledge required), and it is eminently balanced (no over-optimism). The structure of the book is to start by looking at a dozen possible key enablers, then considering specific impacts in the home, workplace, travel, leisure and public services, and finally pulling together predictions for the world in 2027, 2037, and 2047.

For Webb, the key enablers will be the Internet of Things (IoT), augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) with useful advances in big data and robotics and autonomous vehicles as somewhat important. He notes that: “Most of these enablers are associated with business rather than the individual. Hence the change noticed by the individual may be relatively small compared to the change of the last 30 years.” Perhaps surprisingly, he believers that previous key enablers such as the Internet and broadband communications “have reached a point where they are not enabling anything new and so are unlikely to drive further innovation”.

Looking back over the last 10, 20 and 30 years, he identifies a special event in each decade: respectively the iPhone, the Internet and the mobile phone. Looking forward 10, 20 and 30 years, he anticipates that again there could be a special event in each decade and speculates that these will be respectively IoT, AI, and robotics. Interestingly – the book was written before the Congressional hearings with Mark Zuckerburg – he comments: “I would not be surprised if Facebook no longer existed 20 years hence, although there will be other social media platforms to take its place”. Presciently he writes: “Society may become ever-more concerned about changes wrought by digital and there may be some push-back.”

So how will different sectors change? The office will see widespread deployment of IoT, biometrics and robotics. Transport will not change materially but we will be better connected while travelling and there will be a gradual growth of driverless vehicles. Vehicle maintenance may decline. Agriculture and manufacturing will make extensive use of IoT. Retail will continue to decline. Construction and hospitality will witness little change.

Web concludes soberly: “In essence, the key gains will be in convenience, productivity and reliability. The world will be a similar place to today, but will work better.” He acknowledges: “This will strike many as pessimistic when others talk of flying cars, cyborgs and AI that is superior to humans. I would suggest that it is pragmatic realism.”

Full disclosure:  I currently serve with William Web on the 4G/TV Co-existence Oversight Board

Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)

The story of German scientists Fritz Haber and Clara Immerwahr and why the use of poison gas should remain a taboo

April 19th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

At about 5pm on 22 April 1915, French and Algerian troops on the Ypres front in Belgium noticed a lull in the German artillery fire that had been targeting their lines. Bracing themselves for an expected infantry advance, they were puzzled instead to observe a greenish-yellow cloud drifting towards them, then lapping over the tops of the trenches.

A Canadian soldier, AT Hunter, who witnessed what was the first use of chlorine gas in war, described a “passive curiosity turned to active torment – a burning sensation in the head, red-hot needles in the lungs, the throat seized as by a strangler. Many fell and died on the spot. The others, gasping, stumbling with faces contorted, hands wildly gesticulating, and uttering hoarse cries of pain, fled madly through the villages and farms and through Ypres itself, carrying panic to the remnants of the civilian population.”

This is the opening to an article in today’s “Guardian” which explains how a German Jew was behind the first use of gas in war, how his wife committed suicide, and why we should still treat the use of poison gas in war as especially abhorrent.

Posted in History | Comments (1)

British political institutions (2): the legislature (and how Berwick might be at war with Russia)

April 18th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

I like to attend short courses at the City Literary Institute in central London and I’m now doing a six-week course on “British Political Institutions”.  The second session of the course was delivered by the City Lit’s Director Mark Malcolmson and covered the legislature, that is the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the residual role of the monarch.

I have myself written a guide to the British political system and you can read about the legislature or parliament here.

In the course of the lecture, we talked about the odd history of what is now the United Kingdom and reference was made to an issue that was new to me: the idea that Berwick-upon-Tweed might still be a war with Russia.

It seems that, thanks to a bureaucratic mistake, all 12,000 residents of Berwick were excluded from the 1856 peace treaty between Russia and England that Queen Victoria announced at the end of the Crimean War.

This omission was made possible by a 1502 treaty between England and Scotland that succeeded in ending hundreds of years of land arguments over the tiny border town which had already switched sides 13 times.

You can read more about this fascinating vignette here.

Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)

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