This is not a party political site and not very partisan in any way. My emphasis has tended to be on the quality of debate and campaigning, and especially on the need to appreciate represtentative democracy (government through elected representatives whose own views matter), and to be sceptical of the claims of vox pop, "the people", social media, Crowd Wisdom, and "direct action".
The British state is right to have a growing international aid budget. How on earth could a screaming right-winger argue this? Well, BBC1's Big Questions asked my opinion on the matter and I surprised myself thus.... Read more...
I had a fairlydecent outing on the Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 today. Since I was defending the UK's behaviour toward Libya in recent years, that was about the best one can expect, I think. Read more...
Local libraries, like woodlands, seem to inflame the English middle class in a very special way. So it was good fun to go on BBC Radio 4's You & Yours and bat for the closure programme. Read more...
Here, courtesy of the best but most irritating TV news in the UK, is Henry Kissinger on the current Egyptian revolution (if that is what it is). It was a masterclass. Read more...
Yeah, so OK, BBC1's delicious, mostly youthful Countryfile didn't actually say that the alleged world food crisis would be solved by British allotmenteers. But... Read more...
The case against six protestors collapsed today in the wake of an extraordinary saga involving an erstwhile undercover policeman. Even now, early in the story's unfolding, it is worth saying that in principle the police are probably right to operate undercover amongst protestors, even at considerable expense. Read more...
I won't rehash my previous arguments about protest: you can find them here easily in the "handling protest" category. Now's the time to redefine the right to protest. Read more...
This week's Culture Show on BBC2 was as entertaining as ever, but Tom Dyckhoff shouldn't have been allowed his Tory-bashing moments in the piece on planning. (And a word on the Tea Party.) Read more...