By David Conway This week sees the unfolding in England of two long-running legal sagas upon whose outcomes the future of the rule of law there could depend. And not just there, its future could be affected throughout Europe and even beyond. The first legal saga is the resumption of the British Government’s ten-year long… [Read More]
The Macpherson inquiry of 1997/9 into the murder of Stephen Lawrence successfully imposed upon the MPS the description of ‘institutional racism’. Macpherson explicitly extended this description to all police forces: and in a series of approving quotes from other ‘experts’ he applied it also to British society as a whole. Given the opportunity, institutions such… [Read More]
By David Conway On Monday in the House of Commons, Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, said that he was keen to work with John Pritchard, the Bishop of Oxford, on extending the role of the Church of England in schools. His words have been taken to mean that the Government will support the creation of… [Read More]
By David Conway Coalition government almost invariably makes for bad government. This is because the need for compromise between coalition partners typically results in their adopting such a melange of mutually conflicting policies as precludes any of the more potentially beneficial ones from ever being able to achieve fruition. Britain’s current coalition between David Cameron’s… [Read More]
Two of three major UK aluminium smelters lost in last three years This week, Nick Clegg derided claims that environmental legislation was holding back industrial recovery as ‘utterly wrong’. But a new Civitas report reveals that, in fact, the UK’s draconian energy policy is causing the collapse of a successful British industry. ‘The closure of… [Read More]
Anyone observing British politics this month could be forgiven for thinking that the British government decided to extend April Fool’s Day in order to play a leading role in the month-long festivities. If late March’s petrol fiasco was not warning enough, the Coalition kicked off April by tying itself in knots over bemusing plans to… [Read More]
Lack of exchange rate policy is crippling hopes of economic recovery The strong pound is a key contributor to Britain’s languid rate of economic growth according to a new Civitas report. Despite a significant fall since 2008, the high price of the pound is still preventing exporters from pricing their goods and services competitively on… [Read More]
We have just published a new online report by Professor David Conway on faith schools. He concludes: “All would stand to benefit from such committed forms of religious education in the country’s state-funded schools, not simply because it would be likely to improve the educational performance, behaviour and well-being of the nation’s schoolchildren. They would… [Read More]
By Anna Sonny Sunday 1st April saw the official launch of the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) website. Introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, this new instrument enables citizens of EU member states to petition the European Commission for new legislation or for amendments to existing rules. The EU has frequently been criticised for the undemocratic nature… [Read More]
By David Conway When last month during an FA Cup quarter-final, the 23 year old Zaire-born former under-21 England international footballer, Fabrice Muamba, collapsed after a heart attack, a palpable wave of sympathy broke out for him among supporters of both teams at the north London stadium where the match was being played. Unfortunately, that… [Read More]