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Continue reading →: The central problem of politics
Those running schools, nurseries and children's homes know that paedophiles are attracted to the opportunities presented by such work. However, the law of unintended consequences means that making a fuss about the problem and treating every applicant for a job as a potential paedophile will deter non-paedophiles, making the situation…
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Continue reading →: Will the Conservative Government tell the truth about British Education?
British students' grasp of English worse than foreign counterparts, reveals study – Telegraph. Margaret Thatcher's greatest failure was in education policy. As it turned out, breaking the coercive power of trade unions and setting the economy free was a waste of time, if not accompanied by a corresponding purge of…
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Continue reading →: Beautiful, but not for me…
I was invited to the UK launch of the Maserati GranCabrio, the convertible version of the GranTurismo, the car I am lucky enough to drive. Recently launched at Frankfurt, the one extant example is now on a world tour in advance of the the model going on sale next April.…
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Continue reading →: What is the best we can hope for from the Conservatives?
The Conservative Conference in Manchester is effectively the beginning of the Tory campaign for the 2010 General Election. We can confidently expect that Labour will pay the price in that election for its epic fail as a government. Once again Labour will leave Britain with worse education, more structural unemployment,…
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Continue reading →: Is Tim Worstall weird?
I realise that I’m weird about this. Tim Worstall articulates my concern about this case very well. That doctors should let a depressed woman die for fear of being struck off if they contradicted her "living will" is appalling. A physically healthy 26 year old who chooses to die is,…
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Continue reading →: Lady Bracknell meets the Blogfather
Iain Dale for Bracknell. That Iain wants to be an MP is clear. Why he wants it is less clear, at least to me. As a leading blogger and in-demand mainstream media pundit, he is reasonably influential. As a backbench MP, he will be a cipher. 70% of legislation comes…
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Continue reading →: The Yorkshire Ranter’s brilliant idea
The Yorkshire Ranter. He suggests setting up a website, tentatively named Whosekidareyou.com to monitor "…nepotism and backscratching influence peddling…" It would provide an invaluable service to all of us trying to understand the networks of influence that underpin the British Establishment. How wonderful if hovertext over an author's or politician's…
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Continue reading →: Germany cheats tourists
Wherever you go in the EU, shops advertise the VAT-free export scheme for tourists. I live in Russia, so I sometimes take advantage. I have never had a problem getting my form stamped by a customs officer when leaving the UK, France or other EU countries. Germany, however, is a…
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Continue reading →: Sinister quote of the day
Mandelson attacks 'extreme rightwing figures' for Gordon Brown pill 'smears' | Politics | guardian.co.uk. I don't like or trust Andrew Marr, Labour's proctologist-in-chief, but when Grand Pooh-Bah Mandelson utters the words… "I'm sure Andrew would agree that everyone has certain areas of their life that they'd prefer not to be…
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Continue reading →: Britblog Roundup No 241
nourishing obscurity: Britblog Roundup N241 – Best of Britain. It's up, over at Nourishing Obscurity. My thanks to James for my first Britblog mention ever.
THE LAST DITCH
Your blogger
Tom is a retired international lawyer. He was a partner in a City of London law firm and spent almost twenty years abroad serving clients from all over the world.
Returning to London on retirement in 2011, he was dismayed to discover how much liberty had been lost in the UK while he was away.
He’s a classical liberal (libertarian, if you must) who, like his illustrious namesake, considers that
“…government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”
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I miss the more traditional Anglican services that I remember from my younger years. I haven’t regularly attended church services…
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The Last Ditch by Tom Paine 
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