Fracking was in the news today, as government approval was given to fracking sites in Lancashire, despite the widespread local opposition to it, and against the wishes of the County Council. I am not surprised. Government spokespersons bombard us with promises of plans for local democracy and consultation; councils promise residents that their wishes will be…
The UK has done brilliantly at the Olympic Games. At the time of writing, we have 55 medals at a cost of £6.3m each, based on the investment of some £347m into elite sport since the last Olympics. The UK has a winning sports strategy. Young people are spotted, monitored, put into special programmes, encouraged to win,…
It has been a very bad month for those who care about raising our children in a way that develops their potential to the fullest and equips them for a secure future. (It is always an indication of trouble when the headlines refer to them as “kids”!) First, the extraordinary action of so-called caring parents to keep their children out of…
For close to a year I chaired the Lords’ Equality Act 2010 and Disability Committee. It was set up in June 2015 to examine the impact of the Equality Act on disabled persons, a group who had once enjoyed the protection of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, designed solely for them. Now all 9 “protected characteristics” (gender…
Recent depressing news reports that some graduates from lower performing universities go on to earn less after ten years in work than those who did not go to university at all (Institute of Fiscal Studies). Creative arts and communications studies graduates earned less than those who studied economics and medicine; women earned less than men and…
