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Continue reading →: No Country for Young Children
No Country for Young Children by Theodore Dalrymple, City Journal 4 December 2008. The single most sickening aspect of modern British society is the fate of children bred to maximise state benefits. The most extreme recent example is the "British Fritzl," who kept his daughters in captivity and raped them…
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Continue reading →: Live blogging the Speaker’s statement
The Speaker's hands were trembling and his voice quavering. I wonder why. Though a professional politician of many years' standing, he was also reading closely from a prepared statement; his eyes never raised from the paper. I wonder why. He was even calling "Order" to a background of silence. Was…
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Continue reading →: £5 to save freedom of speech?
NHS Blog Doctor: £5 to save freedom of speech on the internet. I am not sure that paying a blogger's legal costs to defend a libel claim is quite going to "save freedom of speech on the internet," but secure in the knowledge that Alex Hilton (aka Recess Monkey) would…
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Continue reading →: Police and immigration given powers to demand identification
Police and immigration given powers to demand to see identification – Telegraph. Please read the linked story carefully and then tell me whether Labour is (a) deceitful or (b) incompetent. There really is no (c).
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Continue reading →: More operational independence?
Damian Green arrest: Cabinet in secret meeting over raid on Tory – Telegraph. The current Labour government seems to have no concept of the constitutional principle of the separation of powers. Parliament, as the legislature is there (to the extent it has not delegated the power to unelected EU bodies)…
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Continue reading →: There’s no “grace” in allowing debts to spiral
RBS chief executive promises six-months grace for struggling homeowners – Telegraph. The least enjoyable part of my otherwise delightful career was, as a young lawyer, assisting in the enforcement of mortgages for a bank. I took evidence from debtors under oath, questioning them about their outgoings so as to assess…
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Continue reading →: Sunrise, sunset…
BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Row over Green 'grooming' claims. Again with the guilt by association; BBC political editor Nick Robinson said when police questioned Mr Green – the Conservative's immigration spokesman – they had suggested to him that he had not "simply received leaked" information but…
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Continue reading →: Jacqui Smith at bay
Her Indian counterpart resigned because his ministry was responsible for the forces responding to the Mumbai terrorist incident and there were criticisms about the speed of that response. No-one suggests that he was personally responsible for the errors. No-one suggests that he was consulted in advance about operational matters. However,…
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Continue reading →: The heart of Islamist darkness?
Mumbai attacks: Are they British? – Telegraph. Let's hope the Mumbai attacks were not led by British muslims, but would it be surprising if they were? I fear that Britain has long been the heart of Islamist darkness. Muslim communities in the North of England – not far from where…
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Continue reading →: A chance encounter
One meets so many interesting people when travelling. On my flight today I fell into conversation with my neighbour, who works for a German chemical company and is responsible for its Irish, UK and Russian operations. He told me he was flying to Dublin. When I mildly remarked it was…
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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There are many reasons they’re not passed down, Tom. The Triune code, laid out in scripture in all reputable versions…
I’ve always tried to live my life doing no wrong but life isn’t like that so you make compromised but…
Hate to tell you this, but it’s not going to end until you end it. You think people to whom…
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First post (in case you want to read it from the beginning)
The Last Ditch by Tom Paine 
A little bird tweeted in my ear that it was time to come over and see how things are.