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Continue reading →: A question
This used to be my local when I lived in Cambridge. I remember it as a rowing pub and recall being targeted as soon as I entered on account of my height (6' 7") and (then) general fitness. I declined the proposal to take up the sport and rather regret…
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Continue reading →: NHS exports
NHS to export death in a corridor. The Daily Mash is being funny. But why not? The NHS already exported C.Diff and E.Coli around the world. In that context, isn't the idea of "exporting the NHS brand" rather flawed? Humans are mortal, fragile and in many cases neurotic. There is…
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Continue reading →: A message from the 1970s
A message from the 1970s on state spending – Telegraph. The 1970s were when my political views were formed. In that decade, I was suspended from my bog-standard comprehensive for my revolutionary activities. I was a member of a Maoist school students union, which organised the only pupils strike in…
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Continue reading →: Inflation rises “unexpectedly”. Well duh.
Inflation rises unexpectedly | Reuters. In what possible universe was inflation not "expected" to increase? Are we naieve enough to think that the economic gods would not notice the printing of money unbacked by value? Or that they are so stupid as to be fooled by the euphemism "Quantitative Easing?"…
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Continue reading →: A belated thank you note, one year on.
The Last Ditch: 'Mrs Paine' – 1956-2011. It is the first anniversary of Mrs Paine's death and I won't be blogging today except to say this. Among the unhappy memories of that time is also the recollection of the kindness shown to me and my family by the readers of…
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Continue reading →: Government “savings” in perspective
Government savings infographic in perspective | Burning Our Money | The TaxPayers' Alliance. This (click to enlarge) is the tool we need in our everyday conversations with the Thoughtless. The method to show them, in terms they can understand, that there are no cuts. No austerity. Just a fractional slowing…
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Continue reading →: Justice vs Social Justice 2
One of my old posts most found from Google et al is this one. People are curious about what "social justice" really means and rightly so. It is one of the most dangerous and deceptive phrases in current use and it pains me when even a "Conservative" like David Cameron…
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Continue reading →: In intellectual exile?
I have been wondering if I am really a libertarian at all. Don't worry. I am not going to join the army of people who think they know better than you how to live your life. I have just been thinking about my thinking. A holiday gives a chap time…
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Continue reading →: Inequality causes stabbings. Really?!
Chinese teenager stabs 8 people to death – Telegraph. Almost everything good, encouraging and promising about modern China can be traced to Deng Xiaoping's unleashing of market forces. Almost everything bad, distressing and depressing about it can be traced to the totalitarian rule of the Communist Party. Yet the Daily…
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Continue reading →: The weaponisation of politeness
Libertarians, classical liberals, whatever you choose to call us accept that others differ in their lifestyles and opinions. Whether we approve of their choices or not, we respect their right to make them. Unless that is, and until (and to the precise extent), they impede those of others. So why…
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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Almost. I think Archbishop Sarah is a Christian. I just think she’s at a loss to know how to reach…
It’s almost as if they are not actually Christian but simply a person being advised by woke PR people in…
She may be gone but you have all those wonderful memories :-)
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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First post (in case you want to read it from the beginning)
The Last Ditch by Tom Paine 
I’m sure there are a few fire and brimstone types they could have had instead of a woke woman. Putting…