For a contemporary and historical account of the scale of the state and its relations with nominally private business, I recommend David B. Smith’s excellent Living with Leviathan: Public Spending, Taxes and Economic Performance: In the last 90 years the proportion of national income spent by the UK government has increased […]
Read MorePost Tagged with: "New Labour"
Briefly at least, the Great British people joyfully shrugged off the burdens of a pessimistic and despairing elite
Zadok the Priest, I Vow to Thee My Country and Land of Hope and Glory played together on the BBC? A public and press rounding on the Beeb for their lamentable coverage of the Diamond Jubilee? A joy. Occasionally, someone – too often someone frothing at the mouth – will speak or […]
Read MoreLocalism Bill becomes law
Last week, the Localism Bill was passed into law. I was glad to support its passage. Through 13 years of New Labour, we witnessed continual moves towards centralised planning and micro-managing of our everyday lives. This new law will see central government interference cut and give power back to citizens, […]
Read MoreTony Blair and the Kellogg-Briand Pact
Via The Telegraph: Tony Blair sidelined the Cabinet over the decision to invade Iraq because he feared ministers would leak sensitive material to the press, the head of the civil service has said. For the moment, this speaks for itself and to the nature of the Blair government, but I’m looking […]
Read MoreThis Sceptred Isle – pupils will now learn the history of the United Kingdom
N.B. The author is Tim Hewish – my Parliamentary Researcher. As a Historian, I welcome the Education Secretary’s announcement at conference today that History, as a discipline, will be at the core of the curriculum. For too long, Labour had been allowed to reduce the significance of our history, preferring to re-write […]
Read More“We are a whole generation clearly suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, direly dependent on the State”
NB: The author is Tim Hewish, who I am glad to welcome as a local contributor. — Steve One of my local Wycombe friends asked me: Why, as a young person, should I vote Conservative? I initially came out with the usual blurb about the positives of Conservatism, but she […]
Read MoreA critical error of the Left
As Labour pours another £11bn of poison into the wells, I find myself reflecting on the economics of the Left, people who seem to be lamenting coming “Tory cuts” after so much “Labour investment”. In the first place, Labour plan their own substantial cuts. More to the point, Labour’s spending […]
Read MoreThey can’t go on like this
Via ConservativeHome:
Read MoreSir Ken Macdonald on Tony Blair
Via The Scotsman, we learn of Sir Ken Macdonald’s view of Tony Blair in respect of the war in Iraq: TONY Blair deployed “alarming subterfuge” to mislead the British people over the war in Iraq, one of his top law officers has said. Sir Ken Macdonald, who was director of […]
Read MoreCranmer: Conservatives launch Debt Clock
Via Cranmer: Conservatives launch Debt Clock: What you could buy with the interest on Labour’s debt: If Britain was not going to spend £63.7 billion a year on debt interest, we could: Abolish fuel duty, inheritance tax, and stamp duty or Abolish council tax or Pay for 1.5 million extra police […]
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