Returning to the history of those 2005 EU Budget negotiations. It was clear from the outset to anyone in the know (a) that there would be an increased EU budget, and (b) that those who Give and not those who Get would determine just how much bigger. Since […]
Being a speech-writer for a leading politician is not an easy job. I did it for two years, as the FCO official speech-writer for then Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey (now Lord) Howe. Sir Geoffrey set a high standard. He insisted on his texts offering the maximum amount of meaning and unrelenting logic […]
This AP story about a robotic street-patroller catches the eye. It took a while to invent one. But they were anticipated by Ray Bradbury back in 1951…
The goings-on in Canada over free (or is it free?) speech and the activities of Human Rights Commissions seem complicated to outsiders. So it is helpful to have the whole sorry business explained once and for all.
But there’s more to conservatism than low taxes, Jesus, and waterboarding at Gitmo. Conservatism is also a matter of honor, duty, valor, patriotism, self-discipline, responsibility, good order, respect for our national institutions, reverence for the traditions of civilization, and adherence to the political honesty upon which all principles of democracy […]
Reader Robbie has sent in a pertinent comment on my post about Objectives, Targets: Not sure I agree with you on the wider point about targets … Given the size and complexity of modern public service delivery, no Minister can reasonably be expected to have a strong sense of what […]
Back in 1998 in Sarajevo I gave a speech to The Congress of Bosniac Intellectuals. In it I talked about the role of ‘ethnic’ political parties and identity politics, praising the thoughtful words of Bosnian writer Ivan Lovrenovic: He said that the first step in renewing Bosnia and Herzegovina was the […]
If you have all the high moral authority of being a terrorist group leader, you have the right – nay, the spiritual duty – to question the integrity of others.
I am baffled. When I was civil servant I had to account scrupulously for the best part of 28 years for every penny of public money I spent and was responsible for. And I did. My record was spotless. In fact, when I took up the post of Ambassador in Warsaw I […]
Maybe I follow US politics too much. Those who wisely do not might like at least to be aware of one Professor Bill Ayers. As a younger man Bill Ayers had the full 60s’ experience to the point of being an original member of the Weathermen, a group of charmless people dedicated […]
