…until the smoking ban in public places comes into force in England on July 1st. Yay! I was there in Scotland when it happened a year ago and was a resounding success. Smokers were giving up in preparation for the ban and publicans were forced to admit that their dire predictions of [...]

Filed under: Uncategorized, scotland, society on March 14th, 2007 | 8 Comments »

Thousands of bombs exploded, 22 on the streets of the capital on just one Friday; thousands of people interned without trial; pitched battles with the armed police forces and the British Army in urban streets; whole areas of cities effectively closed off to the security forces, run more by paramilitary organisations than the state; communicants [...]

Filed under: religion, tonyblair, ukpolitics on March 11th, 2007 | 1 Comment »

There is an interesting video debate here between two Times columnists about whether David Miliband should challenge Gordon Brown for the Labour party leadership.
If you know anything about David Miliband, the chances are that you know that he is (a) very clever and (b) young(er than Gordon). But, let’s assume that the priority of [...]

Filed under: gordonbrown, labour, ukpolitics on March 8th, 2007 | 5 Comments »

The Glasgow Herald reports that parts of the prison system are going to be taken over by the Church of Scotland. This made me laugh, although it is on the face of it a perfectly reasonable suggestion, as church groups including the Church of Scotland already provide other social services such as schools and [...]

Filed under: crime, religion, scotland on March 7th, 2007 | 7 Comments »

Having all but placed the Christian adoption agency matter to bed, after it was pointed out that they receive government funding and thus are required to follow the equal opportunities criteria set out by government, I am faced with a quandary.
Mosques in this country receive substantial government grants as part of a broader scheme [...]

Filed under: culture, gender, religion, ukpolitics on March 5th, 2007 | 16 Comments »

I had all these grand plans to actually post about something vaguely concerned with British politics…and then I was distracted by the Oscars (as I inevitably am every year, despite how much I claim I don’t care who wins) and the accompanying media diarrhoea about Al Gore.
Don’t get me wrong; I am a huge admirer [...]

Filed under: election2008, uspolitics on March 1st, 2007 | 1 Comment »

Rudy Giuliani, ahead in the polls for several weeks, has now overtaken John McCain as the favourite for the Republican presidential nomination. The time lag between the shift in the polling numbers and the adjustment of the odds is intriguing. Part of the explanation must be the fact that - as we’ve discussed previously - [...]

Filed under: election2008, foreignpolicy, rudyriuliani, uspolitics on March 1st, 2007 | 1 Comment »