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2008

A Terrible Decision

30 December 2008

I cannot believe a recent appeal court decision that is reported in today’s newspapers. Earlier this month, an earlier decision of a lower court was upheld not to cancel debts of over £2,000,000 that a client of the bookmaker William Hill had incurred to it in 2006 through placing bets with it over the telephone.


A bit of magic for the NHS?

24 December 2008

Disney is ranked number one in Fortune Magazine’s most admired entertainment industry category for 2008. It was also ranked number three across all US companies for people management and is one of the top performing companies in the world in terms of customer satisfaction. Key to Disney’s success is the clarity of its vision: safety,… [Read More]


Giving the Green light

22 December 2008

Last week’s EU Summit (10-11th Dec 2008) was hailed a victory by those lobbying the EU to stick by its Green credentials. In the run up to the summit, there were tell-tale reports of squabbling between Member States about the EU’s 20-20-20 targets on energy use, which were agreed in March 2007. For example, it… [Read More]


An Assortment of School Subjects by Any Other Name…

16 December 2008

In his regular column on education in last week’s Sunday Times, Chris Woodhead laid into the recently published Rose report on primary schooling in whose defence I posted a blog last week. If I return to its defence against Woodhead’s attack on it in this week’s posting, it is less in angry defiance of the… [Read More]


Time’s up!

This Wednesday (17th December), MEPs will vote on a proposal to end the UK’s opt-out from the EU’s Working Time Directive. If passed, the changes will make it illegal for workers to choose to work more than 48-hours in a week from 2011.


Could Hain have withstood a Grand Jury investigation?

11 December 2008

As previous experience could have predicted, the Crown Prosecution Service has dropped its 11-month investigation into donations to Peter Hain’s deputy leadership campaign. Thus Hain joins a growing list of politicians who acknowledge having failed to follow ‘the rules’ (or what ordinary folk call ‘the law’) but have yet to see the inside of a… [Read More]


State of reflection

It’s not often that you read a document produced by a regulator that actually has genuine feel behind it, but The State of Healthcare published by the Healthcare Commission today does. The dynamic of the text is a lesson, almost, in making a subtle political point. The tone is reflective and conciliatory (though, inevitably it’s… [Read More]


In Defence of a Rose in the No Longer Secret Garden

9 December 2008

It is not often, in fact I cannot think of any previous occasion, when I have found myself agreeing more with the opinions of David Aaronovitch than those of Michael Gove and Melanie Phillips. However, in relation to the merits of the Rose report on primary schooling, published yesterday, I find much to my surprise… [Read More]


Czech Mate

8 December 2008

The Czech Republic will assume the rotating EU Presidency from France on 1st January 2009. President Klaus, a pronounced EU-sceptic, will be at the member states’ helm as the EU continues to negotiate on the Lisbon Treaty and the climate change package, and significantly also for the EP elections in June 2009. It is certainly… [Read More]


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