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]
On Monday 16 October, ministers from the EU’s 25 Member States agreed to provide €2bn a year in aid to developing countries to help them liberalise as per the terms of the ‘Economic Partnership Agreements’ (EPA). Dubbed ‘Aid for Trade’ by the EU Commissioner for Trade, Peter Mandelson, the money was supposed to be evidence… [Read More]
Forget their constantly escalating estimated cost and the security nightmare of hosting them in the capital, a far more profound and compelling reason why London should not host the 2012 Olympics is that doing so seems likely to provide the perfect pretext for the construction of a giant mosque there able to hold 70,000 worshippers… [Read More]
Since, and because, the government down-graded Cannabis to a class C drug, its use among young people has substantially increased. So claimed Roger Davy, a West Yorkshire magistrate and national spokesman on youth courts, according to a a reort in today’s Times entitled ‘Cannabis is linked to rising child crime and harder drugs’. Britain is… [Read More]
Courtesy of the Simpsons, we Brits are now subject on the last night of every October to the annoying ritual of being disturbed by incessant door-bell ringing by small groups of young children dressed up as ghouls who are being conducted by one of their long-suffering mums on a charmless round of ‘trick or treating’.… [Read More]