Politics

Modern liberal conservatism

Constitutions and democracy

Mark Mardell points out that the French are changing their constitution to avoid a referendum: The French politicians from both houses were meeting to change the constitution so they could go ahead with the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon. I do wonder at the imperative among Europe’s political elite […]

Read More

The MacA-level, leading to the McJob or setting the mind free?

According to the BBC: Fast-food giant McDonald’s has become one of the first firms to offer its own nationally recognised qualifications. It will offer a “basic shift manager” course, training staff in skills such as human resources and marketing. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority said the company had been approved […]

Read More

Brown and Miliband insist it’s not the same, but …

“Parts of the Lisbon Treaty, signed by Gordon Brown last month, are no different from the abandoned EU Constitution, a report by MPs has said.” And of course, most of the other leaders of EU states have admitted the Lisbon Treaty is the democratically-rejected Constitution, dressed up to sidestep democracy. […]

Read More

MoD “official” voice mail message

A typically satirical military response to over-stretch, apparently predating Afghanistan, Gulf War II and the firemen’s strike, by an anonymous member of the armed forces, evidently in the Army, handed to me today: Ministry of Defence: Official Voice Mail Message Thank you for calling the British Army [sic]. I’m sorry, […]

Read More

Such a thing as society, even in London

Today, I had two pleasant conversations with strangers in London. Now this is not unheard of in the north, but who speaks to anyone in the City? People on bikes, it turns out, at the traffic lights. I asked after a bizarre three-wheeled scooter and had a great response from […]

Read More

Jeremy Clarkson’s ‘steal my ID’ stunt backfires

TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has been forced to reverse his position after he lost money after publishing his bank account details in a newspaper column. The Top Gear presenter rather rashly published his account details in a column in The Sun to back up his claims that the child benefit […]

Read More