We are used to our civil liberties in the UK. We are comfortable with them. But this comfort can be dangerous. It makes us careless. We lose our vigilance, that vital vigilance that is the guardian of freedom. There is no better example of the damaging result of this carelessness than the tolerance and enforcement…
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How has David Cameron managed to distance himself from the Conservative’s poor public image?
David Cameron should be in a seriously painful public position, the knife of public opinion scraping viciously against his ribs, searching for his heart. But this isn’t happening, why not? The electorate hate disunity, infighting and squabbles, it looks especially bad in the Tory party because of the ‘nasty party’ image that still follows a…
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Our approach to organ donation is changing – but not rapidly enough
The UK is changing its approach to organ donation. Unfortunately, it is only a minor change. Previously, upon an individual’s death, NHS Blood & Transplant (NHSBT), the body which regulates and operates organ donation, had to seek the consent of the relatives of the deceased to ask if they wished to use their right to…
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University talks should embrace controversy, rather than censuring it
In February 2013, the deputy ambassador of Israel was invited to the University of Essex to give a political science talk; anti-Israel protestors attempted to storm the venue, and the talk was cancelled for security reasons. Then, in November 2014, a society at the University of Oxford organised a debate entitled ‘This house believes Britain’s…