by Pete Quentin There has recently been a lot of (increasingly) confident talk amongst those who propose further integration of European defence. Javier Solana has been boasting of the EU’s military “successes” in Congo and Lebanon last year and talking up the “full operational capacity” of its new battle groups. Meanwhile the German presidency is… [Read More]
With half of the Europe project team conducting research on the continent, this week’s Tuesday blog entry will look sadly neglected. In the meantime, we can take a quick look to the US where a school choice revolution might be finally beginning in earnest after a few faltering starts. The sign of any real choices… [Read More]
This week marks ten years of National Marriage Week. And ten years of marriage-less Government policy. Marriage has been kept off the Left’s agenda in order to give people greater choice. Yet for all its democratic ambitions, the Left’s stance on marriage is jeopardising its very own principles.
John Reid, in honour of little known and even lesser practiced ‘Safer Internet Day’, has launched another barrage of verbal torpedoes over the issue of sex offenders using the Internet. The plan is to force released sex offenders to register their online identities (email addresses and usernames) with the government so that their communications with… [Read More]
David Cameron finally ended his impasse on that political nuisance called the European Union this week by challenging Jose Manuel Barosso and the EU’s leaders to end the prevalent ‘culture of hopelessness’ and confront its failings. In particular he attacked the EU on the CAP and development, fraud, its record on tackling carbon emissions and… [Read More]
In an intriguing twist to the story about Channel Four’s plan to make over its alternative Christmas Day message to a niqab-wearing Islamic Studies lecturer from Leicester, today’s Times reports the lady in question appears to have had second thoughts about appearing in the slot, claiming she hadn’t been told it was designed for broadcast… [Read More]
A few weeks ago, our airwaves and newspapers were filled with criticisms of the growing practice among Muslim women in this country of wearing the full face veil or niqab — at work or elsewhere in public. What had triggered this wave of criticism was license for it having been given by several prominent Labour… [Read More]
The European Commission is due to launch plans tomorrow for a ‘new generation’ of free trade agreements with the fast-growing ASEAN countries, South Korea and India. It is being hailed as the epitome of Mandelson’s drive to ‘Lisbonise’ EU trade policy in line with the strategy paper ‘Global Europe: competing in the world’ (Oct 06),… [Read More]
Some rather dry research into where the EU fits into citizenship teaching, and on the current teaching resources available on the EU, revealed this conundrum that at least made me giggle: QCA writes: “When deciding whether a resource is appropriate for post-16 citizenship, it is important to consider the following factors:…. 2. Is the content… [Read More]
Anyone, like the present author, who spent the bulk of their working life in the public-sector will know just how demoralising and counter-productive has been the recent imposition upon it of a managerialist culture. Formerly self-regulating professions like medicine and teaching have been reduced to box-ticking exercises carried out by hordes of fearful and demoralised… [Read More]