Future economic historians may judge this particular week to have been of seminal importance. This is the week the mass-market retailer Maplin announced that it would start selling a 3D printer, the Velleman K8200, for £700. A potentially revolutionary technology will be put in the hands of consumers. A 3D printer literally allows objects to… [Read More]
Friday saw the 65th anniversary of the founding of the NHS, a date marked in different ways by the health and political worlds last week. Civitas released a new report, After Francis, reviewing current evidence on NHS performance, the mood of the reform debate this year and how the service could go forward.
Parliament had its first chance to debate James Wharton MP’s private member’s bill, which proposes a referendum on European Union membership for 2017. Since such a referendum would be in the next parliament, the substance of Wharton’s bill is effectively meaningless – it’s constitutionally impossible to ‘bind’ a future parliament.
Lithuania has now taken over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It is the first time a Baltic state has ever held the 6-month Presidency. The outgoing Irish Presidency can give itself a pat on the back, having overseen the overwhelmingly complex task of securing an agreement on the EU Budget… [Read More]
Tomorrow is the 65th anniversary of the founding of the National Health Service. However, while a respected part of British national life and rightly lauded for its core principles, this year the service has faced considerable tumult; the fallout of Mid Staffordshire and the Francis report, investigations into high mortality at 14 other trusts, Morecambe… [Read More]
Kent police have been criticised for behaviour more related to meeting targets than to good policing.
Previously I blogged on the great difficulty the government appears to have in negotiating terms for new nuclear investment with nationalised (though not by our nation) power company EDF Energy. The company, which runs eight out of nine of Britain’s nuclear power stations, is a subsidiary of EDF S.A., a nuclear energy company controlled by… [Read More]
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is set to outline plans on Wednesday to curb ‘health tourism’ on the NHS, an issue which has crept onto the health agenda in recent months. Though Hunt hopes to work with GPs on the plans, the basic idea involves a tracking system related to a migrant’s NHS number. Estimates of… [Read More]
Last week, for the first time in my life, I attended the Wimbledon tennis championships. My wife entered the ballot for tickets last year (the closing date was in December) and she hit the jackpot: Centre Court, three rows from the front. We had a memorable day. Glancing up at the Royal Box, there was… [Read More]
This morning saw the launch of the ‘Our Biggest Market’ campaign, the pro-Europeans’ latest manifestation of the after ‘British Influence’ and ‘Business for New Europe (BNE)’ failed to gain media attention. This being an old book with a new cover, there was little new content either in the manifesto or in the speeches of Roland… [Read More]