Some random jottings about current happenings:
I was slightly disconcerted this morning, lying in bed half-asleep with the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on in the background, suddenly to hear my own voice for a few seconds, apparently explaining that it’s OK to carry on eating in the middle of a famine. It was a trailer [...]
On the admirable New York University Aidwatch blog, Professor Bill Easterly has set us an interesting teaser. He asks us to guess the source of a document about British aid. In quoting his blog post below, I’m including a spoiler, so if you want to try to work out the answer for yourself, don’t read [...]
Today’s [London] Times rather sportingly publishes my letter, sent last week, disputing all three of a Times editorial’s reasons for condemning the decision of the Scottish Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, to release on compassionate grounds the Libyan convicted of involvement in the Lockerbie bombing, Mr al-Megrahi. My letter as published is the second one down [...]
I have no doubt that the Scottish National Party’s Mr MacAskill, Justice Secretary in the devolved government of Scotland, was right to release Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of complicity in the Lockerbie bombing, from prison in Scotland to enable him to spend his last few weeks on earth in his own country with [...]
Fresh and yet more noxious light has been cast on the working of the indefensible régime of IPPs (indeterminate sentences for public protection) by the sentences passed in May on the three people convicted of indirect responsibility for the death of ‘Baby P’, as the victim of their brutal ill-treatment or neglect was originally called [...]
Today’s (2 August 09) Observer has a longish article by Richard Reeves, the Director of the think-tank Demos, in which we are invited to accept that “The “Prog[ressive] Cons” have seized control of the party. Whether they can make it do their bidding is the biggest political question of the next five years.” This is [...]
