Archive for April, 2010
The second leaders’ debate
April 23rd, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Last night, I watched the second of the three televised debates between the three main political leaders, this one hosted by Sky. The first debate was livelier than I expected and this one was even more engaging. Both Gordon Brown and David Cameron upped their game and did better, while Nick Clegg held his ground […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (1)
China trip (2): Dalian
April 21st, 2010 by Roger Darlington
I’ve now written up for my web site an account of the second stage of our three-week trip to China. This covers our time in Dalian and you can read it here.
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How corrupt is your country?
April 21st, 2010 by Roger Darlington
I’ve been asked to give a lecture on anti-corruption policies to a group of Chinese Government officials. I’m not sure yet whether I’ll do it. But, as I thought about the subject, I checked out one measure of the level of corruption in different countries of the world. Since 1995, Transparency International has published an […]
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Volcanic ash over Europe (2)
April 20th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
So many people and so many events have been impacted by the volcanic ash over Europe which has grounded flights for five days now. On Friday, I attended a seminar on postal services at the London office of Consumer Focus and my colleagues Rick and Keillin from Northern Ireland were unable to catch their flight […]
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How MI5 bugged Number 10
April 19th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
In the 1970s, I spent four years working in Government under the premierships of Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan. It was widely known that Wilson feared that MI5 was plotting against his administration but most of us though that he was being paranoid. Now, in this story, we learn that since 1963 the secret service […]
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China trip (1): Beijing
April 18th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
I’ve now written up for my web site an account of the first stage of our three-week trip to China. This covers our time in Beijing and you can read it here.
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Happy birthday Silvia
April 17th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Today it is the 60th birthday of my sister Silvia. I’m the only person alive who has known her for every one of those 60 years and I can’t believe that my little sister – she’s two years younger than me – has reached such an age. Silvia held a celebratory event in the Regency […]
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The first leaders’ debate
April 15th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
I was in China when the British General Election was called and missed the first week of campaigning, but it seems that the first week was quite low-key and there was no real movement in the polls. Tonight the election began in earnest with the first of the three leaders’ debates on ITV from 8.30-10 […]
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Volcanic ash over Europe (1)
April 15th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
When I first heard the announcement over loudspeakers on the London underground, I thought that I had misunderstood the news. But no, it really was a warning that volcanic ash from an eruption in Iceland was preventing flights from all UK airports. In all my six decades or so, I’ve never heard anything like it. […]
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The enemies of the Internet
April 15th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
A report by Reporters Without Borders, which fights for freedom of the press across the world, has cited several nations for their attempts to restrict freedom on the Net. The list of Internet enemies includes what Reporters Without Borders calls “the worst violators of freedom of expression on the Net.” Those nations are Saudi Arabia, […]
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