RAPID RESPONSES June 6, 2012 Going Swiss [Re: Britzerland: The UK’s relationship with the EU needs some Alpine air, yesterday] I was so pleased to read Ruth Lea’s sensible article. I’ve long believed that the argument that we needing to be round the table of the EU to exert influence was totally spurious, especially because every other member state has a contradictory [...]
Britzerland: The UK’s relationship with the EU needs some Alpine air June 5, 2012 AS THE Eurozone staggers from crisis to crisis, it is time to take a longer-term view of the relationship Britain should be developing with the EU in the twenty-first century. Firstly, there is the idea that Britain should use its influence to “reform” the EU as a glorified trading relationship, along the lines of the [...]
A reminder of the ancient ties of the crown to the City June 5, 2012 IT WAS a magnificent spectacle on the river in 1662. On Saturday 23 August, Samuel Pepys records in his diary that King Charles II brought his new Queen, Catherine of Braganza, to London in a celebratory flotilla that almost paved the surface of the Thames: “Anon come the King and Queen in a barge under [...]
We have no obligations to future generations: They’ll be better-off than us June 5, 2012 DAVID Cameron and Nick Clegg visited a tractor factory last month to re-launch their coalition government. Defending the austerity policy to the workers, Clegg said that it was aimed at eliminating government debt by 2017. He claimed that we have a moral duty to “wipe the slate clean” for future generations. He is confused. It [...]
Has the Leveson Inquiry degenerated into a show trial of journalists and politicians? June 5, 2012 YES David Bowden Supposedly set up to curb the excesses of the scurrilous tabloids, Leveson increasingly resembles a soap opera for broadsheet readers than a public inquiry. Breathless reports of “flame-haired vixen” Rebekah Brooks, sinister French lobbyists and secret back-room meetings with the all-powerful villain Rupert Murdoch: it’s a cracking watch. Yet, voyeuristic thrill of [...]
RAPID responses June 5, 2012 Young enterprise [Re: Gap in enterprise skills, Thursday] I live in Walsall and we run enterprise activities every week in both primary and secondary schools. We also have 30 enterprise champions from the business community who commit to at least five in-school activities per year. Educational business partnerships are already doing the work described in [...]
The Jubilee stands as a landmark to the power of the national idea May 31, 2012 THE Queen famously asked a group of economists, at the height of the 2008 financial crisis, “Why did nobody see it coming?” Of course, most mainstream economists didn’t predict it. However great their expertise, orthodoxies prevailed. And the same is true of pundits in other areas. Take the monarchy itself: fifteen years ago it appeared [...]
Driverless cars show the journey of discovery is a long and winding road May 31, 2012 SOMETHING important happened in Spain this week, and not just the continuing revelations of the depths of its economic crisis. Volvo announced that on a motorway just outside Barcelona a convoy of four driverless cars drove 123 miles on a public road, among other road users, perfectly safely. The vehicles travelled at 53 miles an [...]
Spain can’t save all of its banks without sinking May 31, 2012 ANYONE struggling to understand what former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez meant when he said his country was facing “total emergency” should take a drive through the suburbs of any medium-sized Spanish town. Lines of empty and half-built houses show exactly why the country’s banks are on their knees and why, sooner or later, Madrid [...]
Are NHS GPs right to plan strike action over proposed reform to their pension schemes? May 31, 2012 YES Hamish Meldrum It is with great reluctance that doctors have decided to take industrial action for the first time in 40 years. The strong “yes” vote occurred because the government decided to tear up a fair and affordable deal agreed just four years ago. It has been replaced with a scheme that will see [...]