I was intrigued by news of a “glass floor” at the Tower Bridge Museum here in London and visited this weekend for the first time. The glass floor did indeed measure up to expectations. It runs down the middle of… Read More ›
Month: November 2014
The Pope is unkind to grandmothers, but he has lessons for us all
This post features excerpts from the recent speech by Pope Francis to the European Parliament on 25h November. The speech is wide ranging, addressing many issues currently affecting Europe, including: human rights versus responsibilities, our treatment of the elderly, the… Read More ›
The Magical Combination of Public Transport and IT
I have long believed that technology is most effective when it helps us to do the things we have always done, better and more efficiently. This is obviously the case for readers, with newspapers, magazines and books now being easily… Read More ›
Atul Gawande – Surgeon and Writer
Atul Gawande, the US based surgeon, Harvard academic and writer, will be delivering the BBC Reith lectures this year, starting on 25th November (BBC Radio 4). You can view an outline of the lectures here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/6F2X8TpsxrJpnsq82hggHW/dr-atul-gawande-2014-reith-lectures Gawande has recently published a… Read More ›
How could they build more houses in the 20s and 30s than now?
At a time when we are barely able to build 130,000 houses a year in the UK, it is interesting to note that we managed to build more houses, indeed many more houses, each year during the 1920s and 30s…. Read More ›
A Visit to Limoges
I recently visited Limoges in the Limousin region of France, for the first time, and would highly recommend it to anyone who has not yet visited. Limoges is a city of around 140,000 people, located in west central France, about… Read More ›
Party Policies on the Greenbelt – Summing Up
This is the last of my series on the main parties’ policies for building houses in the greenbelt. A disappointing roundup In summary, no party is currently proposing any relaxation in restrictions on the use of greenbelt land for housebuilding…. Read More ›
The LibDems and the Greenbelt
Continuing my series of blogs on the parties’ pre-election policies on greenbelt housebuilding, I now turn to the Liberal Democrats. I admit to a personal interest here, as I am a LibDem member and activist. ‘Pre-Manifesto” Housing Policy The LibDems… Read More ›
Labour and the Greenbelt
Continuing my series of blogs on party policies in relation to housebuilding on the greenbelt, I now turn to the Labour Party. Labour’s website does contain a short housing policy (you can read it here: http://www.labour.org.uk/issues/detail/house-building), which commits a Labour… Read More ›
John Major, the EU and Immigration
John Major has made a useful intervention in the debate about the EU and immigration. He appeared on the Andrew Marr show on BBC1 this morning, following on his well reported speech last week in Germany. Major repeated his view… Read More ›
Tories and the Greenbelt
It is not necessary to wait until the Conservative Party publishes its formal election Manifesto to know its policy on greenbelt housebuilding. We have known what it will be since 4th October 2014, when Eric Pickles and Brandon Lewis issued… Read More ›
UKIP and the Green Party agree: they do not want building on greenbelt land
UKIP and Green Party Policies on Greenbelt Housebuilding In my post of 14th November, I said I would be reviewing the policies of the major UK parties in relation to housebuilding on greenbelt land. I am starting with the Green… Read More ›
Will the Post May 2015 UK Government Permit Housebuilding on the Greenbelt?
Proposals for more UK housebuilding Many UK politicians, particularly from the Tory, LibDem and Labour parties, are promising to build more houses after the next election in May 2015 – whether it is 200,000 a year, 250,000 or even 300,000…. Read More ›
Alain Minc – ‘Le mal français n’est plus ce qu’il était’
While visiting France recently I saw Alain Minc interviewed on television in relation to his new book “Le mal français n’est plus ce qu’il était“. I decided to read the book and found it a useful commentary on current problems… Read More ›
Georges Simenon and Inspector Maigret…
I have read three of the Maigret novels of Georges Simenon over the past week. I was well aware of Simenon’s reputation as a crime novelist but had never read any of his work before; it is definitely a case of better… Read More ›
Michael Ingle - Interesting Times 