In Britain since the 1961 Suicide Act, a person can choose the time and manner of their death without being criminalised (if they fail). Plenty (mostly men) do so: 6,069 suicides in 2023, up on 5,642 in 2022, the highest rate since 1999. The data and analysis can be found here and here. There are some people who are unable to do so because of their almost total physical incapacity. Worth noting that all the very sad court cases brought to change the…
After the bashing the archbishop has received in the last few days these findings are no surprise. It says a lot about a supposedly Christian country that 42% of the country have not heard about the head of the Anglican Communion. Just a reminder that Justin Welby has lifetime membership of the House of Lords, hopefully Sir Gavin Williamson is successful in removing the unelected clergy from the Lords. TSE
WH 24 is now over, and the campaign teams are being wound down. Popping up in the campaign were various Brits seeking to give assistance to our transatlantic friends, Labour famously promised to send a troop of election helpers to the Democrats and Nigel Farage had job conflict between Clacton and Mar a Lago. The consensus of the British political class is that this is no big thing and campaigning across the pond is an established tradition. All well and…
Forget the naysayers. The Archbishop of Canterbury should not resign. He stands in the now well-worn – if not at all honourable (and who now cares anyway about quaint nonsense such as “honour“) – tradition of leaders of organisations in charge when something dreadful happens but Who Are Not To Blame. Why should he fall on his mitre when no-one else ever does. No. No. Clinging on like a limpet using a variety of grotesque shameless excuses is the British…
Fortunately for America, the number of states using the much superior alternative voting system (known as ranked-choice voting in America) is growing in America, even in presidential elections. TSE
I was wrong. Prior to the UK election I took the view that Starmer and Sunak were little different. The Blair settlement of the last 30 years would continue, and the UK would bob along in its sleep inducing political mediocrity. Then Labour came into power. Since 4 July a different Labour has emerged, one that is more socialist, aggressive to groups it doesn’t like such as farmers, or the old and who it targets for taxes. A Labour which…
The latest revelation about the prorogation scandal confirms Boris Johnson isn’t fit to lead anything. Quite rightly our current King was furious about how his mother was treated, Prince William was similarly furious about Boris Johnson’s role in ‘the greatest act of constitutional vandalism since Charles I sent soldiers to arrest five members of the Long Parliament’, I cannot see either asking Boris Johnson to form a government. TSE
We were out before 7am on polling day, putting one final leaflet out in my village. I’ve been at it for an hour, the fine drizzle is starting to get annoying, and then I cut a finger on someone’s gate. As I did my best not to bleed onto the leaflets, I did stop and ask – why do I keep doing this? On Thursday I stood as the Liberal Democrats candidate for the Central Buchan ward on Aberdeenshire council….