As The Telegraph reported, in March the Met Office “slightly favoured drier than average conditions for April-May-June”. Yet we’ve had more rain than since records began. How could clever people be so wrong? Famously, the climate is a complex system. The usual example of how small changes in initial conditions can lead […]
Read MorePost Tagged with: "Democracy"
Paul Goodman on the LibDems’ abstention today
I was under the misapprehension that, since this is a Coalition Government, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats take the same whip. This misunderstanding was buttressed by the Number 10 website, which lists Alistair Carmichael as a Deputy Chief Whip (and number three in the Whips’ Office). via Are Liberal Democrat MPs […]
Read MoreA petition to ensure that biker related questions are compulsory in the driving theory test
Via Motorcyclists Matter – to ensure that biker related questions are compulsory in the driving theory test – e-petitions: In order to raise awareness of motorcyclists on Britain’s roads, Bennetts, the UK’s No.1 Bike Insurance Specialist, is campaigning to ensure biker related questions are made compulsory in the driving theory test […]
Read MoreThe Owen Plan’s questions are too obscure
Today, The Times has coverage of Lord Owen’s sensible ideas on Europe but, as my wife has pointed out, his referendum questions are too complex. Instead of asking “Do you want the UK to be part of the single market in a wider European community?” just ask, “Do you want […]
Read MoreThe latest Government stance on Kashmir
Last week, the Foreign Secretary launched the Government’s Human Rights and Democracy Report. The Report is a comprehensive look at the human rights work of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office around the world. The Foreign Secretary has said that 2011 will stand out as a positive year for human rights […]
Read MoreThe EU: who governs whom?
Via France election: Germany rules out reworking EU’s ‘fiskalpakt’ – Telegraph. Mr Hollande has called for a shift in strategy toward more growth-oriented measures including more public spending. But Mr Seibert said Angela Merkel would not accept “deficit spending” to feed economic expansion, and believed in “growth through structural reforms” such […]
Read MoreDemocratic self-determination is a basic right: both Kashmir and the UK should have referenda on who governs them
After Easter, I spent a week in Pakistan and Kashmir, visiting Islamabad, Thara, Sava, Dadyal, Mirpur and Skardu, which is in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan province. During a live news conference with Kashmir’s Prime Minister, I was asked why I take the time to support the cause of democratic self-determination for […]
Read MoreHow to repatriate 130 EU laws
This week Open Europe published a new report that shows how the Government could repatriate 130 EU laws on crime and policing, including the controversial European Arrest Warrant. The Government must decide before June 2014 whether a whole raft of EU police and justice laws, adopted before the Lisbon Treaty […]
Read MoreBuckinghamshire County Council Webcasting
Bucks County Council now webcasts its meetings. But what’s a webcast? It’s a transmission of audio and video over the internet. Video cameras capture our committee meetings and make them available for you to watch live. Webcasts are also available after the meeting, usually within 48 hours of the meeting. […]
Read MoreThe European Union’s failure by its own standards
The 2011 Legatum Prosperity Index includes a number of insights. The fourth article is “The European Crisis: Time to Rethink Integration?” In a sidebar, the author explains that the average confidence in a European Government is 12% lower than the Index average. Legatum suggests that European electorates feel increasingly excluded […]
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