Archive for September, 2017


How to have a six-month honeymoon and see the world

September 30th, 2017 by Roger Darlington

Earlier this year in May, I had a holiday in Sri Lanka. You can read my account of the trip here. At one point in the holiday, we made an exciting train journey from a town called Nana-Oya to a city called Kandy. On the journey, I met briefly a good-looking young couple who were […]

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Why did the Conservatives lose the general election?

September 29th, 2017 by Roger Darlington

“The Conservatives would have won a 42-seat majority in June’s general election if they had secured the same level of support among minority ethnic Britons as they did among white voters, analysis has found.The report, by the British Future thinktank, identifies what it calls an “ethnic minority voting gap” that cost Theresa May 600,000 votes […]

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The one area where women always beat men

September 28th, 2017 by Roger Darlington

It’s called: living. In virtually every country in the world, women live longer than men. Centenarians are the fastest growing age group in the UK, with the number of 100-year-olds almost doubling over a 14-year period, According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics. Although they make up a very small proportion […]

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A review of the new film “Victoria & Abdul”

September 27th, 2017 by Roger Darlington

Queen Victoria has now replaced Sherlock Holmes as the most featured character on British screens. According to a study by the British Film Institute, the monarch is now jointly tied with James Bond on 25 films. This is thanks to “Victoria & Abdul” (2017) which is a kind of companion piece to the earlier “Mrs […]

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Have you ever heard of the name Chimene?

September 26th, 2017 by Roger Darlington

I know that I should be blogging about the nuclear threat from North Korea or the rise of the far Right in Germany – but these subjects are just too depressing. Instead I thought I’d mention a conversation I had on a recent visit to the cinema. I was served by a young, black woman […]

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The result of the German federal elections

September 25th, 2017 by Roger Darlington

Angela Merkel has won a fourth term as Chancellor of Germany but the far Right has representation in the Bundestag for the first time in the post-war period. How many seats has each party won, who do the parties represent, and which ones are likely to come together to form a government coalition? All is […]

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The most popular first names in Britain today

September 24th, 2017 by Roger Darlington

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has just issued its annual data for the names chosen last year for boys and girls born in England and Wales. I always use this material to update my comprehensive essay on naming practices all around the world. You can check out the section on British first names here. […]

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What is this thing we call a nation?

September 23rd, 2017 by Roger Darlington

Recently, we have been commemorating the 70th anniversary of India achieving independence from Britain which, at the last moment, resulted in the creation of Pakistan as well as India and subsequently – following a civil war – to the creation of another nation state Bangladesh. I have just returned from a short trip to Georgia. […]

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Election. election, referendum, referendum

September 22nd, 2017 by Roger Darlington

There are a lot of interesting polls going on around the world just now. Tomorrow (Saturday), there is a general election in New Zealand and the next day (Sunday) there is a federal election in Germany.  In both cases, the incumbent party is a Right of Centre one: the National Party in NZ and the […]

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“Brexit: Implications for Digital Citizens and Consumers”

September 20th, 2017 by Roger Darlington

This paper, published today and written for the Carnegie Trust by William Perrin, a fellow Board member of the Good Things Foundation, considers both the potential risks and opportunities Brexit brings digital citizens and consumers in the UK. Specifically, it explores: the regulation of the digital sector and telecommunications market; mobile roaming; data privacy and […]

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