INTRODUCTION Social issues in the United Kingdom are often done with one side or the other claiming to be on the “right side of history”. But their knowledge of history is usually lacking. So the question was: what does history actually teach us about the resolution of social issues? The history of gambling has much to inform us on this. Let me explain. 1000-1845: THE RICH AND POOR COLLIDE Throughout the second millennium gambling was divided by class and moderated…
The second of my threads on the forthcoming local elections looks at two southern coastal councils which should be the epitome of rock-solid Conservative territory but this year will be representative of that party’s current electoral strength or frailty. These are among eight District Councils which normally elect by thirds but which, due to boundary changes, are having all-up elections this year. Fareham sits between Southampton and Portsmouth. The local council (which also includes part of the Gosport constituency) has…
There’s obviously the London Mayoral election, ten other Mayoral elections and the PCC contests but I’m going to look at a key Council. Nuneaton & Bedworth Council covers all or part of the Conservative-held constituencies of Nuneaton and North Warwickshire. The Conservatives took control in 2021 and in 2022 when half the 34 seats were contested, strengthened their hold and currently have 27 seats with Labour on 5 and the Greens on 2. Boundary changes have increased the seat number…
INTRODUCTION On May 15 2023 Mary Harrington gave a keynote address at the London National Conservatism Conference. She expanded on her work on transhumanism, doing her audience the courtesy of believing that they could understand her thesis. The NatCon audience work more by gut than thought (with some notable exceptions) but those that did have the wit to follow her were treated to a clean delineation of one of the political issues of our time: the transhumanist axis. SUMMARY OF…
Britain’s two longest-serving prime ministers since the 19th century – Margaret Thatcher (11 years, 208 days) and Tony Blair (10 years, 56 days) – have at least one thing in common. They both decided to work in parliamentary terms of four years (approx) and to seek re-election on each occasion in either May or June. They won every time – each PM adding two re-election wins to their victories from opposition. Perhaps they recognised that voters feel happier in Spring…
“Our priority is to stop the boats, which is why we have taken robust action to crack down on vile people smuggling gangs, deter migrants from making dangerous crossings and, alongside our French counterparts, intercept vessels. “This relentless action reduced crossings by 36% last year, despite numbers soaring by 80% in the Mediterranean, and more than 26,000 attempts were prevented.” UK Home Office, 8th March 2024. Barely a day goes by without news of some new Government initiative to Stop the…
Invest In Rad Tape To Save The NHS! The State of Process – The Process State – Maybe politicians read PB. I do wish they would read @Cyclefree’s headers, though. So the Chancellor is talking about investing in productivity to save money? Hmmmmm…. But before we think of the inevitable comedy of failure, what could we do different? What is the problem Chaotic and excessive processes slow work down – staff become a servant to the process, rather than the other way round….
I grew up in Rochdale. The town is classic ex-cotton Lancashire. Deindustrialised with little other than shopping and warehousing left – and the shops are largely gone. The town itself isn’t that big. Much of “Rochdale” is the communities that surround it – Littleborough, Milnrow, Whitworth, Heywood. The council dubbed these “townships”. In the 1980s. Yeah… Just as I grew up in the “township” of Wardle, communities of people originally from India, Pakistan, Kashmir and Bangladesh clustered into their own…