Topic: Society

While writing a blog piece on the Establishment, I wanted to include statistics for the number of MPs, civil servants etc. who graduated from Oxbridge, Russell Group or any university, and how the subjects they studied compared with the…

The latest Economic Affairs (the quarterly journal of the Institute of Economic Affairs) arrived today. Its leading topic - Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) - reminded me that I never published the short talk I gave at an EU…

Further to the earlier post about the dumbest economic argument in the world, the perpetrator (Mark) has now published the results of his poll, which asked "-Who is best placed to decide what to build on any particular plot of land?-" He…

The latest spate of humbug surrounded the "British Jobs for British Workers" strikes. Even the application of the term "strike" was a piece of humbug. The protesters didn't work there, so how could they go on strike? This was secondary…

Vote Dave!  He has come up with a sure fire, water tight, can not fail, genius idea to save the future of this country.  It won't be long until we leave our front doors open again, teenagers will stop their underage drinking, boys will stop…

Just lent my copy of P.J.O'Rourke's -Give War A Chance- to a friend, so decided to replace my lost copies of -Eat The Rich- and -Parliament of Whores-, to re-read them (and extract a few quotes for this site in the process). Went into the…

It's been reported on the BBC website that the cost of the ID card scheme has risen to £5.31bn. Why can't the government make estimates that are even in the same ball park as the final figures? Every time they value it, the cost seems to…

I attended a lunchtime talk today by Harriet Sergeant, who has written a booklet ("Handle with Care", published by the Centre for Young Policy Studies back in September), on the disgrace that is our care system for children who have to be…

When will this government learn that the more it interferes in our lives the worse things get? Why do they insist they know better all the time? The latest piece of interfering comes in the form of a £30m initiative (paid for by us...) for…

A report by the London School of Economics for the Prince's Trust charity, entitled The Cost of Exclusion gives us a very dim view of our future. It appears that the benefits handout culture of Great Britain is producing a population of…

Sharp as always, Wat Tyler at Burning Our Money has posted today about the Waste Resources Action Programme or WRAP (how clever - I wonder what came first, the name or the acronym... mmm, I wonder?). Now, as you will have probably guessed…

The current government has taken the nanny state to new levels in the UK and now it is taking the term quite literally. Its latest piece of interfering is with the development of our young children - after all nanny knows best. The Guardian…

Can someone please inject some common sense in to the Environment debate? It is really starting to get out of hand and I fear will bankrupt us all! It seems that the major parties can justify doing anything just by linking it to the…

He's at it again, our Chancellor, talking about Britishness. That is one paranoid Scot. Does he not realise that dissecting Britishness is profoundly unBritish, and that real Brits have the self-confidence in our culture not to need to…

Britons have been indulging in a bout of self-flagellation over our bottom-ranking in a recent UNICEF report on childhood well-being. Each person, of course, chooses to blame the result on their personal -bête noire-. No doubt there are…

The tensions of excess, both in private and public sectors, are starting to display themselves in debates over the just level of wages for various occupations. These debates occur every now and then, usually provoked by a sense of disparity…

The Home Secretary announced yesterday that its ID card scheme will be linked to existing Whitehall databases. This is a complete U-turn from the plans the government has been pushing through for years to build a new clean system from…

Home Office, the deprtment declared "not fit for purpose" is still struggling to make any improvements. Today's papers are reporting that the two terror suspects who went on the run in August are still at large. According to the National…

The Guardian reports that the Government is creating a new database containing the details of every child in England from birth to the age of 18. It is justified on grounds of better protection and for improved coordination among different…

First the Government announced that parents that don't read and sing for their children will be helped to do so in new parenting centres and today's (21 Nov) papers are reporting that £4 million will be spent on "super nannys" (=child…

So, the Guardian claims to have successfully cracked the encryption of the prototype new ID cards[don't seem to be able to add the link today]. Everything from the dubious justification, through to the inherent dangers of allowing the…

The children's minister Beverley Hughes announced today that parents that do not read and sing for their children will be helped to do so. New parenting centres will be opening from next year to give parents advice. The minister says that…

So peers have decided that head teachers will be required to promote "community cohesion" and that this will be assessed by inspectors (Guardian). Schools work best where teachers are left to get on with the business of running schools, not…

Government intervention is always frustrating, but when it inflicts direct damage on people's lives, it is an altogether more serious and contemptible matter. Yet, this is happening on a regular basis to British families. We learn today of…