No Platform for Farage: Scotland leads the way

I realise I’m now blogging about a storm in a tea cup, but yesterday’s outing to Edinburgh by Nigel Farage needs discussing. Not in the way that Radio 4’s Today program decided to ‘discuss’ it, but rather to discuss the commendable actions of the few people of Edinburgh sufficiently organised/networked to get out and do the right thing.

Olympic Weapons of Mass Distraction

There’s been a lot of general anger on twitter and facebook over the last 48hours concerning the positioning of missiles on residential buildings for use during the Olympics. Its a terrifying thought in some ways, but its also kind of irrelevant to civil liberties, and a very big distraction from the more worrying, and lasting, changes brought on by the games.

Why the CPP investigation matters for York

Early this week, local newspaper The York Press reported that CPP, a major private sector employer in the city, was under a full investigation by the Financial Services Authority that could ultimately result in the firm, which employs 1000 people locally being disbanded. Although some form of outline deal has been made, its a situation that is far from over, and which has huge ramifications beyond its current staff.

A relaxed January

2011 was a year when just about everything imaginable happened. I was left worrying that this year would be no different, but actually, its been much quieter. Its not that bad stuff hasn’t happened, its just that many things haven’t been repeated. In fact, its hard to remember some of what was happening this time last year. So I had a look to see how January 2011 and January 2012 compare.

SOPA/PIPA

The unfolding saga of SOPA/PIPA is pretty unmissable. Sure enough, right when I thought I would be fine, I found myself needing to check something on Wikipedia on the day of the Blackout. I disagree with the proposed laws for a number of reasons, but I have to say I find some of the companies taking part in the protests quite self-interested in their actions.

Something in your eye, Mr Cameron?

I find the undertones of Cameron’s speech on Christianity quite disturbing. Whilst some have read it in a very favourable light, a look at the manipulation of American Evangelicalism by Karl Rove and other Republican Party Grandees should show just how dangerous this speech is. At a time when Bishops and other church leaders are raising their voices in opposition to

A Housing Culture Crisis?

Today’s revelations about the state of Britain’s housing make for grim reading, but tucked away behind a lot of the reporting is a fundamentally flawed attitude towards housing ownership as one of life’s ultimate aims. It may not be a stretch of the imagination to name it as a contributing factor to our current crisis.

UK Riots: Hopelessly Violent?

This has certainly proven to be a year of unrelenting, if deeply contrasting uprisings, and it shows no sign of abating, with India the latest to enter the fray with anti-corruption protests that saw more arrests than our riots did. If its possible to make objective comparisons between the #ukriots and all the other uprisings of recent months, then I intend to do it.

Church of England: Apart of the Establishment?

These have been very bizarre days. A friend suggested this had been the most stressful week for consumers of the news in some months – perhaps they’re right. The British establishment is suffering a wholesale loss of credibility before our eyes; bizarrely, the church is for once doing better than any other area of the British Establishment.

All quiet on the education front?

With the fight to defend the NHS and other health and social services taking precedence for many anti-cuts groups, it would be easy to think that the Higher Education struggle can be laid to rest. Nothing could be further from the truth. So many Universities have set fees at £9000 that the government will struggle to find the money to loan to students, even though the debt is technically “off-sheet” and therefore doesn’t count towards the deficit. This crisis is rather ironic, as the government has sought to reduce its role in Higher Education funding on the pretext of a national debt crisis.