Recent Posts - page 5
-
Politicians need to level with the public
Peter Mandelson says politicians need to be more ‘honest’ Peter Mandelson said on the Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 last Sunday that Labour politicians should be more “honest” with the public about how they would cut spending if they form… Read More ›
-
Second visit to the London green belt – Dagenham
My second visit to the London green belt was to Dagenham, in east London. This is not such a salubrious area as Hadley Wood, the site of my first visit, but there is a substantial area of green belt very… Read More ›
-
A visit to the green belt at Hadley Wood, Enfield (North East London)
I recently visited part of London’s green belt, in the area of Hadley Wood. This was one of a series of trips I have made to areas around the capital where urgently needed new housing might be built if local councils… Read More ›
-
Building on the green belt: Nicky Gavron no, David Lammy yes
A major divide has opened up in the London Labour establishment between Nicky Gavron (Labour Chair of the London Assembly Planning Committee) and David Lammy (first declared candidate for the London Mayoralty election in 2016). Nicky Gavron’s view Nicky Gavron… Read More ›
-
The EU needs more, not less, federalism
The word ‘federalism’ has become, in the UK at least, shorthand for the concept of increased centralisation of power at the centre of the EU, away from the individual Member States. This is not a popular concept in the UK,… Read More ›
-
No way to run a common currency
Michel Sapin says German criticisms could drive French voters into the arms of the National Front The French Finance Minister, Michel Sapin, yesterday complained that commentators in Germany were being overly critical of France’s efforts to reform its economy. He… Read More ›
-
Workers who come to the UK from other EU countries are not migrants
The Financial Times published an excellent letter today from Piet Eeckhout, Professor of European Law at University College London. Mr Eeckhout was responding to David Cameron’s demands, in his ‘immigration speech’ last week, that people who come to the UK… Read More ›
-
Tower Bridge Museum and Engine Rooms
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 ›
-
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 ›
Michael Ingle - Interesting Times 