politics
The religion of inequality
The other day, for no apparent reason, I pulled off the shelf my old second-hand copy of R.H. Tawney’s book Equality. It still has a ragged and discoloured dust jacket, with a tea stain on the front, and it was well used before I bought it, for £1, on a date, unusually, I failed to […]
A brief history of austerity
John Naughton observed the other day that neoliberal economists and their current weapon, austerity, have gained an unassailable intellectual hegemony. To claim that austerity is self-defeating and should be stopped is to be regarded as either foolish or mad. Ed Miliband, leader of a political party that was established – absurd idea! – to represent […]
Bigism
The Big Mac, which celebrates its fortieth birthday this year, must have started it. The obsession with bigness. By now we take it for granted, without a conscious thought. Everything you get is going to be big, by default, unless you make a special plea for small. Even then you might get something that’s only […]
Bombs over Iraq, then and now
1920s The Ottoman Empire collapsed after its defeat in the First World War, and the victorious British took control of Mesopotamia. In April 1920 the League of Nations granted them a mandate, effectively imperial rule until the country was ‘mature’ enough for independence, to administer the whole area, now renamed Iraq. Even before the mandate, […]
Parliament: a Martian sends a postcard home
My dearest brothers and sisters, You have dispatched me to London at an opportune time. The North Britons have but lately decided in a plebiscite not to withdraw themselves from their ancient yoking or ‘union’ with the South Britons – but only by a hair’s breadth. What contagion can possibly have taken hold of almost […]
Right to be forgotten?
If you’ve used Google to look for a personal name during the last few months you’ll have spotted this notice at the foot of some pages of search results: Some results may have been removed under data protection law in Europe. Click on the invitation ‘Learn more’ and you’ll discover that Google is attempting to […]
Diffyg gwybodaeth, diffyg democratiaeth
Am sawl rheswm leiciwn i ddim bod yn sgidiau Mark Drakeford, y Gweinidog Iechyd yng Nghymru. Yr wythnos hon mae ‘na reswm arall: arolwg cyhoeddus a gynhaliwyd gan ICM ar ran y BBC sy’n dangos bod 48% yn unig o oedolion yn y wlad yn gwybod taw e sy’n gyfrifol am y Gwasanaeth Iechyd yma. […]
Barbarians and idiots
It’s Saturday evening, and the three of us are sitting round the kitchen table after a meal, with the remains of a bottle of cheap but perfectly good red wine from Bulgaria. Its label says, ‘from the Thracian lowlands’. A. recalls that he went to Bulgaria on holiday, many years ago, in communist times. All […]
Weddings, town halls and local democracy
Last weekend our daughter Catrin got married, in Islington Town Hall. It was a fine choice for a wedding. The Town Hall is a large neoclassical building facing the main street, opened in the mid-1920s. The exterior is plain and conventional enough, though its unusually large, long windows suggest an open and welcoming attitude. It’s […]
On integrity
In writing a forthcoming book about the art of chairing I’ve found myself thinking about the idea of integrity. (Integrity, I maintain, is one of the essential characteristics that any good Chair should possess.) What is integrity? Does it mean anything substantial when used in relation to human behaviour? Why should it be important in […]