Monthly Archives: December 2007

Visiting local Post Offices before Christmas reminded me just what a mess this government has made of one of the few remaining nationalised industries. If anyone still thinks nationalisation is the answer, they would be well advised to study the Post office as an object lesson in how not to run a business. It is [...]

We are witnessing one of those retail binges that characterise modern living. The retailers play games with the public, deciding when to lower prices and offer knock out deals to attract people to the stores. The people play games with the retailers, playing hard to get until the deals on offer spawn exciting headlines. More [...]

It is traditional at this time of year for commentators to misrepseresent the Christmas story, urging more social housing to deal with the problem of homelessness. If they read the bible story more carefully, they would see it was not a housing shortage but a hotel bedroom shortage that caused the trouble. This shortage had [...]

Happy Christmas to all my readers. Politics and comment has been left aside for the day.

The message of Christmas, that love can conquer hatred and vengeance, is a powerful and attractive one to people of all creeds and of none. Fear comes of hatred and begets more hatred. This UK government seems to be rooted in fear – fear of the reactions of people, fear of England, fear of the [...]

Today we learn that various NHS trusts have lost data concerning their patients. We seem to be living in a surreal world, where the government spins out the stories about data loss, to try to drive the stories about house price collapses, mortgage shortages, the credit crunch, the black hole of Northern Rock, overborrowing and [...]

The EU Constitution ID cards My personal subscription as a taxpayer to their badly handled Save Northern Rock campaign The South East England Development Agency The South East Regional Assembly Half their consultancy contracts telling them how to do things ?? I dont mind which half All red phased traffic lights Next years supply of [...]

A couple of days into the new Lib Dem leadership, and the press who once thought him media savvy are nostalgic for the golden age of Vince Cable as acting Leader. It is not surpising. The only thing he seems to believe in apart from the power of spin is the move towards a centralised [...]

The press has turned on Browns economic stewardship with a vengeance. For ten years I have tried to point out that Brown did not make the Bank of England independent, and that he had weakened it in a way which made it likely a future financial crisis would be handled badly. I lost the battle [...]

There is something I want for Christmas. It is a government which understands that people have seen through spin and are sick and tired of silly media games played by senior politicians. We are fed up with consultations that are bogus, with promises that are not kept, with side stories that try to distract from [...]