Earlier this week I put down a Question asking the government how they assess value for money in public spending. I was prompted to ask the question when I heard the Prime Minister say that there was more to life than money. He said it in the context of the extra value we get from sport,…
“Taliban” by Ahmed Rashid – published I B Tauris 2000 with revised and enlarged edition 2010: This paperback, with excellent notes and appendices by a Pakistani journalist, is essential reading for understanding Afghanistan and its neighbours, especially Pakistan. It underlines the trauma caused by continuous warfare from 1979 to 1996, followed by the Taliban rule,…
Housing Benefit – always a difficult area of policy – is going to cause real problems in the coalition government. Boris Johnson has now parked his tanks on the Prime Ministers lawn. So watch this stand off – it could be very interesting. http://www.channel4.com/news/boris-johnson-joins-housing-benefit-row Where house prices are high Housing Benefit has to be high…
The Boston Consulting Group has produced a fascinating report on the power of the British Internet economy which now accounts for 7.2% of GDP. Based on advertising and online sales we are second only to the US in this dynamic sector of the economy. http://www.bcg.com/expertise_impact/publications/PublicationDetails.aspx?id=tcm:12-62986 Industrial sectors measured by the BCG put real estate and business…
The United Nations Relief and Works Administration (UNWRA) was set up in 1948 as a temporary measure to assist Palestinians, who had fled from the new state of Israel and its armies. Because no long-tem solution has yet been found for this problem, UNWRA now has 4.8 million people registered with it. Of these, about…
Today David Cameron will be phoning the French and German leaders to try and persuade them not to change existing EU treaties or make new one. The Conservatives are committed to a referendum if the EU powers are increased. The EU is still a sensitive issue for the Conservative Party and particularly delicate given the…
There is to be a debate on Wednesday in the Lords on the Browne Review of Higher Education. I fear I will not be able to participate, and 26 Lords have already signed up to speak. If I were to contribute, it would be along the following lines. I do not agree with the totally…
Listen to my reflections on the week ahead from the train coming up to London from Weymouth. http://audioboo.fm/boos/205319-the-week-ahead
The second reading debate yesterday on Lord Morris of Manchester’s Private Members Bill attracted a fair number of contributions. The purpose of the Bill is to provide support for people who have been infected with certain diseases as a result of receiving contaminated blood and blood products supplied by the National Health Service. The Bill…
