Month: July 2010

The Marching Season What a sorry sight to see riots in Belfast again. Let us not forget that at the root is the utterly preposterous ‘tradition’ of triumphalist Protestant marches passing through Catholic areas. This whole concept of celebrating a victory of centuries past by humiliating the losers, is the most distasteful and insulting aspect of the […]

Useless Jobs. Lord Tebbit, admired always by this Blog for his personal courage and public candour but rarely for his policy positions, has written an excellent article for the Times today. In an assessment of the road ahead for the coalition he considers the prospect of the unions bringing it down, as they did with the  Heath […]

Health Reforms The centrepiece of the government’s White Paper on Health is that GPs (I prefer the title Personal Doctor) will be in control together with the patient, of their diagnosis and treatment path, for the first time since the NHS was formed. This is the critical point. It is not about funding or who […]

Manhunt The manhunt for Raoul Moat has ended in the media spotlight and now the questions are coming thick and fast. At one level the hunt was a success, in that his shooting spree was brought to an end before he could kill or injure again. At another level he seemed to be able to outwit literally […]

The Synod The Church of England Synod has voted to reject the compromise proposal of Canterbury and York, to allow dissenting parishes to be overseen by a man bishop if they refuse to accept the authority of a woman bishop. Quite right too. The two Archbishops were grievously in error to propose it. Those who […]

Education Muddles I have from the beginning of this coalition government been uncertain about its eduction policies, which are mostly based upon the Tory blueprint, much of which I have criticised in the past. The latest muddles and mistakes over the school building programme, which should not have happened, confirm this department as the weak […]

The Church Of England There is renewed controversy over the potential appointment of a gay bishop. What marks the C of E out from the Roman Catholic church is the simple fact that the latter believes that religious doctrine and faith are set in the fundamental interpretations of the New Testament as written, which do not vary with […]

The NHS The reforms proposed by the Government to put GPs in charge of the patient and therefore where and how they should be referred, returns to the basic principle of healthcare. This is that the two people  at the core of a coherent approach to solving health issues are the personal doctor and the patient. Between […]

The Meaning of Sangin It makes perfect military sense, we are told, and it is not a withdrawal but a handing over. Whatever it is if it takes our troops to a less dangerous part of the country it is welcome news. Our troops have shown valour and courage in full measure, in sharp contrast […]

China’s Financial Power America and markets generally were relieved when China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) announced that it would not be dumping U.S. assets in a programme to diversify its foreign exchange reserves, the largest in the world. It said such a move was unnecessary. However it called upon the U.S to ‘genuinely take […]