The Prime Minister’s statement on the attack in Woolwich may be found here. He opened his statement: What happened yesterday in Woolwich has sickened us all. On our televisions last night – and in our newspapers this morning – we have all seen images that are deeply shocking. The people who did this were trying to divide us. They should know: something like this will only bring us together and make us stronger. Today our thoughts are with the victim [...]
As reported by The Telegraph and The Spectator, I’m publicly weighed every year in High Wycombe along with the Mayor and councillors. It’s an attempt to deter us from gaining weight at taxpayer expense. In each of 2011 and 2012, the cry was “And some more!”. After playing the panto villain in 2011, enough was enough by 2012 and, thanks to MyFitnessPal, Parliament’s gym, swimming and running across the Chilterns, this year’s triumphant result was “And no more!” In shock news, if you [...]
Tags: Health, Weighing In, Wycombe
You can choose whatever name you like for the two types of government. I personally call the type of government which can be removed without violence “democracy”, and the other “tyranny”. — Karl Popper Before the Lisbon Treaty, I had no interest in being an MP. That Treaty was introduced to sidestep democratic rejection of the near-identical EU Constitution: I saw democracy dying at the hands of fanatical advocates of European political integration. Previously, I thought it was enough to vote Conservative [...]
Tags: Democracy, EU, Europe, Liberty, Parliament, People's Pledge, Referendum
Chris Evans reminded us on Radio 2 this morning that today is the anniversary of Churchill’s first speech as Prime Minister — Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that [...]
Rescue plans to relieve pressure on A&Es have been ordered by NHS chiefs, amid confusion over whether extra cash is available to meet spiralling demand. The move comes the day after David Prior, chair of the Care Quality Commission, said that pressure of admissions on A&E departments was “out of control” and “totally unsustainable”. He said too many patients were arriving as emergencies, when they should have been dealt with by GPs, social care or other services. He urged widespread [...]
Tags: Healthcare, NHS, Wycombe
Remember the issue of The Economist with a textbook of “Modern Economic Theory” melting away? And HM the Queen asking why economists didn’t see this crisis coming? She might now ask why most economists have also demonstrated their inability to predict even the general pattern of events. Ludwig von Mises’ 1962 essay, The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science: An Essay on Method is never going to top the best seller lists but it does indicate why so many highly-trained professionals [...]
Tags: Austrian School, economics, Epistemology, Ideas
Polling is in progress today across the country. In Wycombe, we have elections for Bucks County Council and a by-election for Disraeli ward of Wycombe District Council. The BFP reports that our Town Crier has made a final appeal for people to vote. So far, turnout appears to be consistent with precedent for local elections: rather low. My wife and I voted this morning in West Wycombe. I understand people were turning out at a rate of about 10 per [...]
Tags: Buckinghamshire, Bucks County Council, Democracy, Elections, Wycombe, Wycombe District Council
Last week, I attended a dramatic and distressing exhibition in the House of Commons highlighting the hidden nature of contemporary slavery. The exhibition, built by students from the Central St Martin’s College of Art, depicted the four different kinds of slavery hidden away in our society. Curtains, doors, drawers and tea chests concealed the stories and photographs of survivors. The survivors who shared their stories with the Human Trafficking Foundation to create the exhibition attended the opening. Among them was [...]
Tags: Crime, Human Trafficking, Liberty, Slavery
Writing on his blog, Steve Cohen reflects on his experience of health campaigning with my predecessor Paul Goodman when A&E closed and more recently with me. He writes “NHS protest march would be revolting because too few people would bother“: I WOULD happily organise a protest march to call for the return of A&E to Wycombe… except I believe hardly anyone would turn up to back me. Oh, I know everyone talks earnestly about how they would mass in droves [...]
The issue of rider licensing is still causing alarm among motorcyclists. I have been contacted by riders and businesses who are concerned about the complications that the European Union has introduced to the British motorcycle licence through unwelcome directives. This issue is important because as well as being a great leisure and tourism activity, more and more people are using bikes to get to work as a cheaper form of transport than trains or buses, plus of course motorcycles are [...]
Tags: Bikes, Bureaucracy, EU, Licensing, Motorcycles, Parliament, Road, Transport
Steve Baker is MP for Wycombe. He was previously an RAF officer then a business software consultant. Find out more...
Steve holds regular surgeries in High Wycombe. If you would like an appointment, please call 01494 448408.
