http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/ Classical liberal comment on the news and current affairs en Copyright 2009 Sun, 22 Feb 2009 11:08:07 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss this link.]]> http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/new_blog.html http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/new_blog.html Misc Sun, 22 Feb 2009 11:08:07 +0000 Professor Adrian Smith, a civil servant who is currently director general of science and research, has found himself in hot water – ostensibly for expressing his true assessment of the new Diploma courses. http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/where_regret_is_due.html http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/where_regret_is_due.html Education Fri, 13 Feb 2009 15:55:41 +0000 Today, the HSJ reports on the departure of two chief executives recently deposed of their positions at two of London's biggest trusts - Barts and the London, and West Middlesex University. Here are some of the quotes from its sources: http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/shas_taking_up_the_stalinist_m.html http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/shas_taking_up_the_stalinist_m.html Health Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:57:32 +0000 resignation after unsuccessfully seeking to end the separate weekly assemblies for its thirty odd Muslim pupils she found on arrival being organised there. She sought to end them in the belief they were divisive. Instead, her attempt to do so raised a firestorm of protests from angry Muslim parents who accused her of racism. ]]> http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/sheffields_sorry_school_saga.html http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/sheffields_sorry_school_saga.html Education Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:19:34 +0000 writes Lara Natale. Czech Prime Minister/incumbent EU President Mirek Topolánek has suggested that they may even end up contributing to the Czech Republic’s existing disinclination to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. ]]> http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/a_crowded_marriage.html http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/a_crowded_marriage.html European Union Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:45:57 +0000 pages of the Financial Times to the House of Commons Health Committee - is proving both costly and hugely disruptive. ]]> http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/what_a_surprise.html http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/what_a_surprise.html Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:24:01 +0000 ‘Food Glorious Food’ sing fellow inmates of the workhouse in which the young Oliver Twist finds himself incarcerated at the start of Lionel Bart's musical named after the hero of Dickens' famous novel similarly named after him. A half a century on, the same startling discovery seems once again to have been made by the tv chef who also bears that same name. http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/food_glorious_food_it_seems_ol_1.html http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/food_glorious_food_it_seems_ol_1.html Health Tue, 03 Feb 2009 06:55:34 +0000 writes Lara Natale]]> http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/snowballing_eu_legislation_1.html http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/02/snowballing_eu_legislation_1.html European Union Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:53:46 +0000 As education secretary Ed Balls announces the further rolling-out of the government’s flagship academies, resisting ‘calls for a slow-down’, a significant hidden cost of the programme has been revealed. http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/01/freedoms_for_free.html http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/01/freedoms_for_free.html Education Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:34:57 +0000 a report by the CMO, Sir Liam Donaldson, the government has recommended that no child should drink before the age of 15; and that children between the 15-17 years should only drink under the supervision of adults. ]]> http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/01/put_that_beer_down.html http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/01/put_that_beer_down.html Civil Liberty Health Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:53:42 +0000 I read the news today, oh boy/About a lucky man who made the grade And though the news was rather sad/ Well, I just had to laugh, I read the paragraph. He blew his street-cred as a peer/ By being willing to make laws for cash. And though the bribe was rather small/ He didn’t notice it was just a trawl By 'papermen on look out for those to appall/ Their readers with from the House of Lords. http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/01/a_day_in_the_life_peers_of_lab.html http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/01/a_day_in_the_life_peers_of_lab.html Politics Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:19:46 +0000 YouGov): writes Lara Natale ... ]]> http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/01/representing_the_unrepresented.html http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/01/representing_the_unrepresented.html European Union Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:22:02 +0000 Last week education secretary Ed Balls called on schools to take more responsibility for low achievement amongst pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Part of the reason for a relationship between low performance and socio-economic disadvantage, he argued, is low expectations on the part of teachers. Although this approach garnered media interest as a new strategy for severing the link between background and performance, ‘poverty is no excuse for underachievement’ has been a long-time mantra of both this government and the previous one. ]]> http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/01/aspirations_and_inspirations_1.html http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/01/aspirations_and_inspirations_1.html Education Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:06:45 +0000 NHS Constitution has been released after almost a year of negotiations, at a reported cost of around £1 million of taxpayers’ money. Was it worth it? Will it really make a difference to patient care? ]]> http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/01/sometimes_doctors_do_know_best.html http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/01/sometimes_doctors_do_know_best.html Health Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:12:33 +0000 said Children’s Minister Dame Morgan of Drefelin. ]]> http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/01/has_the_childrens_minister_got_1.html http://www.civitas.org.uk/blog/2009/01/has_the_childrens_minister_got_1.html Education Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:59:47 +0000