Highlights
Count Binface and electoral theatre
Don’t be a costumed loon — It’s trivially easy to stand for Parliament in the UK. Any loon can do so. You need ten electors to nominate you and £500 for a deposit – and it’s actually been getting easier. The deposit was introduced in 1918 (£150 – quite a lot of money then). Before […]
I hate this
But does it matter? — I don’t usually say that sort of thing here. I try to be more measured, less personal. I’m talking about the police face recognition vans obviously. This might not surprise you: I mean that I don’t like them. I’m an old git after all, a man who’s written here before […]
Where is my patriotism?
Come, love of country, fill my heart… — I do love Britain. I guess I love England more. London most of all. I hope that in my life I’ve honoured the place I live and not disgraced it or undermined it (I support England and GB in sporting events – I fly a little flag […]
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Union trouble
What’s with the unions? Can’t they see that working people in a globalised economy need smart, strategic representation, not belligerence? Strikes are uncool. Strikers are uncool. They’re aggressive, negative, out-of-date.…
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Tory softies blow it again…
The Tories are looking pretty pleased with their shadow chancellor’s inheritance tax plan but Brown’s on his way back to town – and he’s going to wipe the smile off…
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Is this thing on?
I’m testing a bit of CSS diddling with some random words that should show that I’ve figured out how to style a blockquote properly: “But why is it so small?”
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Stopping a run
So let’s go over the logic of a run on a bank again shall we. To begin with, I guess it’s worth repeating, a run is never a good thing,…
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Keen and Twitter
Read a bit of Andrew Keen at lunchtime. I do feel like I ought to. I like heretics. Still, it’s a pretty miserable read. Immediately cheered up when I got…
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Transforming trade unions
The debate about wage discipline leaves a lot unsaid. Unions, government and employers all have their points of view but none can acknowledge the simple economic truth that underlies the…
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Hacking the iPhone
I love this lad‘s story. I hope he can take this globe spanning triumph of geek ingenuity and teenage self-belief and build something really substantial on it. He’s just started…
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Mid-century masterpieces
Another great big muscular 20th Century prom last night, with exceptional music from the old Austro-Hungary. I’m a sucker for this kind of ambitious, cerebral and passionate music: something dark…
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Making TV news more open
Channel 5’s proposal to make TV news more honest should become a standard for transparency in media production. David Kermode announced that Channel 5 news is banning ‘noddies’ and some…
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OK. I give up
No one liked the idea of my tumblelog over at Bowblr.com (geddit?). Everyone said it was a stupid idea to abandon Bowblog after five-and-a-half-years, not least because I’d have been…