Sean Haffey

Clark and the Feudal Spirit

2011-12-24T16:24:00.001Z

I've been trying to decide whether Bertie Wooster's Aunt Dahlia, who was famously direct in her language, would have called the Rt Hon Greg Clark an inveterate scoundrel, a lying toad or a congenital idiot. He was interviewed on Sky News last week. When talking about the government's proposed National Planning Policy Framework on TV on 21st December, he said "The purpose of the planning

Back to school

2011-11-28T08:13:00.001Z

My parents are to blame. Also my wife's parents. They made each of us feel that the most important thing we could do for our children was to see that they got a good education. I'm not saying we did perfectly in our attempts, but we certainly tried and it seems to me that the government should have a similar responsibility to the children of the land. Right now. Let's just leave that

Unforgiveable

2011-11-11T08:35:00.001Z

H Well, H, you know who you are. In the mid-1990s you had us around to dinner. I don't remember the main course, but the dessert was a simply exquisite home-made ice cream. Even as I write this, many years later, I find myself salivating at the happy memory, the subtle flavour, the delicious and sublime experience. I clearly remember saying what a remarkable and excellent dessert it was and

Bad Science, Good Deal

2011-11-08T11:13:00.001Z

A few years ago my older son gave me Ben Goldacre's excellent book, Bad Science. It is, quite simply, the best non-fiction book I've read in the last 10 years. For the rest of the week, the Kindle version is on sale at Amazon UK for just £2.49. This is an outstanding bargain and if you don't yet have a copy, I thoroughly recommend it. What's it about? In essence, it's about how to make sense

Whither Labour?

2011-09-27T20:32:00.002+01:00

Wither Labour? Well, here's the opportunity for you to say. How do you feel about Labour's chance of forming the next Government? Just vote below! &amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/5538440/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;It's the Labour Party Conference. Labour are ...&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

No smoke

2011-09-27T09:06:00.001+01:00

So Ed Balls thinks that he should suggest how we run the economy, does he? This is the same person who was Gordon Brown's key adviser when the economy was being systematically run down under the last Labour Government. Why would we put an arsonist in charge of the Fire Brigade?

3,000 More Houses in Hook?

2011-09-24T15:45:00.000+01:00

The standard way that government imposes a controversial policy is the following. Give it a really boring title. Claim it's just a draft, for consultation. Publish it during the summer holidays, or while MPs are distracted by party conferences or both. Deride those who oppose it as NIMBYs. Stress that the policy is in the national interest. Claim opponents don't understand the proposal or are

A Cat Cured My Headache

2011-09-16T08:39:00.000+01:00

In the words of Dara Ó Briain "Well, I know a woman and she had a terrible headache, and then she rubbed a cat on her head, do you know, two days later her headache was gone!" (He puts the case more forcefully and with NSFW language here.) The point is this: there's a good amount of stuff that's marketed to us daily that has no evidence to support it whatsoever. Now, I really shouldn't

Deliver Them from Evil

2011-08-15T14:29:00.002+01:00

As a youngster I belonged to a gang. Indeed, at times, I was a gang leader. We’d go out at night and hide in the shadows, ride our bicycles along quiet streets and slip between pools of light. I’d tell my parents “I’m going out with my gang” in the evening. Sometimes we’d “roof rattle”: throw stones onto the roofs of bungalows to make a noise and flee with mischievous glee the moment an angry

A Reef Too Far ..

2011-06-26T18:51:00.001+01:00

I have the pleasure of presenting another guest post by my travelling correspondent ... --- A Reef Too FarIn April I made a fool of myself and nearly drowned in the process.After a glorious four days in Tonga celebrating the wedding of a distant niece into a Tongan family, the guests had started to depart and we had another week to enjoy the sun and sand before leaving ourselves. We had had a

Don't Hurry Love

2011-05-27T11:28:00.001+01:00

I grew up in Africa where the mail system is somewhat different to the UK. If I wanted to post a letter from one town to another, I would have expected it to take a week or two. No, that wasn't a typo: I did say a week or two, even if the distance involved was perhaps 20 miles. That's how mail worked and what seemed normal to me. It was therefore a revelation when I came to the UK and found

Referendum Myths and Irrelevancies

2011-05-03T22:22:00.000+01:00

I am annoyed at the pathetic levels to which both campaigns have stooped and - in something of a rush - I've picked out some of the worst arguments from both sides. Anyone want to add to these? FPTP is Fairer / AV is Fairer An argument can be made for both systems on the basis of fairness. FPTP does select the single most popular candidate. AV does select the candidate that has the broadest

Boxing clever

2011-03-24T19:11:00.001Z

Today I feature a guest post by a friend of mine, David Burke. --- In Praise of Stand-Alone Post Boxes There is a Western European nation that suffers long, damp, moderately cold winters. To reduce energy use, it builds new houses with double glazing, walls, roofs and floors with high insulation levels and requires high performance gas boilers. Grants are available to upgrade existing houses. In

50p to set us free

2011-03-10T18:10:00.000Z

It wasn’t meant to be like this. Just a year ago Mervyn King was expecting inflation to drop back to its 2% target. Instead it’s well north of 5%. Petrol prices are up. The economy is stagnant. While the press and BBC have daily stories about “cuts”, no one talks about the fact that, even with these cuts, government debt continues to pile up and will do so throughout this Parliament. It’s time

Enough to set your teeth on edge

2010-12-12T15:53:00.002Z

I have a new tooth brush and I am not happy. First of all, it came in packaging that required garden shears to open. I tried the big kitchen scissors but I knew they would be no blasted good and I was right. I was ready at that point to throw the damn thing away (toothbrush, not scissors) but my dearly beloved wife said she would do it, as she always does when I get grumpy. So she got the

Save Your Green Fields!

2010-11-18T11:56:00.004Z

There is a pernicious paragraph of government policy that will unnecessarily lead to houses being built on hundreds of fields across the land. To explain what it is and why it matters is a little bit tedious, but I ask you to read this carefully because of the danger being faced. Across the country, local councils are engaged in a massive exercise. They are building a plan that will ultimately

The future is Not orange, but ...

2010-10-22T12:06:00.001+01:00

I would like to take a moment to defend the Liberal Democrats. No, I am not about to cross the floor. I am entirely comfortable in the Conservative party. However … Every day I listen to Today on Radio4 driving into the office and PM driving home. On several occasions I have heard interviewers score cheap points off LibDem MPs, asking how they can possibly be trusted as they have broken so

Just Pushing Your Leg

2010-10-02T19:22:00.000+01:00

There are, I believe, people who enjoy pain just as there are people with blonde hair or clever people or athletes or people who are inclined to be fat. I don’t understand this but I believe it’s true. I am not one of them. My motto is “No pain, no pain”. One of the really annoying things about pain is that once you have it, it tends to hang around for a while like one

The Thin Blue Line

2010-09-28T16:27:00.002+01:00

As we look to the future and how the UK government spends its money, it may be worth while looking to the past. How did we spend money then? Why have things changed? Fortunately, there is a wonderful web site that makes it possible to do just that. It's called UK Public Spending and it tracks budgets (and lots of other interesting numbers) over the past 20 to 30 years. I looked at it the

The next Labour Prime Minister

2010-09-18T21:55:00.002+01:00

As we move into the last days of the Labour leadership contest, it's worth wondering who will be the next Labour prime minister. The problem is that, I suspect, it will be none of the above. I don't think anyone takes the candidacy of Andy Burnham or Diane Abbot seriously. That leaves the two Milliband brothers and Ed Balls. Ed Balls was Gordon Brown's closest advisor as he took

The Few

2010-09-08T21:18:00.003+01:00

Last night I was fortunate enough to attend the Battle of Britain ceremony at RAF Odiham. The ceremony, of course, remembers the RAF pilots who defended this country during the Battle of Britain seventy years ago. There was a flyby by a Spitfire. Sadly my eyes are not as young as they were but I thought it looked like a late model Spitfire and every eye followed it as it danced in the sky.

Banking on the Chairman

2010-09-04T12:42:00.000+01:00

A few years ago I was unhappy with Lloyds Bank so I wrote their Chairman, Maarten van den Berg, a letter. Dear Maarten Surely it's impossible that there should be a run on Lloyds Bank. After all, with 2002 interim results for the Lloyds TSB Group showing a total income increasing by 4% to £4,911 million and operating expenses falling by 1%, this must be a healthy business, right? And yet, one

4 million reasons to say "Thank you".

2010-08-18T08:29:00.000+01:00

There has been a lot of press in recent days about Tony Blair's donation of the proceeds of his memoirs to the Royal British Legion. On one hand, the amount of money, typically estimated to be in excess of four million pounds, will make a substantial differenceto the Legion, which looks after the welfare of serving and ex-service men and women. On the other hand, some have criticised it as "

Bob, the Rocket Scientist

2010-07-09T12:47:00.005+01:00

Hat tip: http://twitter.com/27bslash6

Pickpocket Politics

2010-07-08T07:55:00.007+01:00

If my memory of history serves me well, it was Charles I who was the last king to claim to be above the law. You may recall he was not entirely successful.This was brought to mind this morning when, listening to BBC Radio4, I heard that the question of party funding is back on the political agenda. Indeed, according to Sir Hayden Phillips, state funding of political parties is inevitable.The

Salamander politics

2010-07-07T08:11:00.005+01:00

Remember Elbridge Gerry?Mmm, I thought not. Yet it is he who has the distinction of being the source of the word gerrymander. Almost 200 years ago, as governor of Massachusetts, he arranged for the electoral boundaries of one district to be drawn in a contorted shape that would help his party win election. The shape was so bizarre it was likened to a salamander and the word gerrymander is a

The School Run (or walk, or cycle)

2010-07-06T08:23:00.007+01:00

There's been a bit of fuss about young children cycling to school in the last few days. It started when Oliver and Gillian Schonrock, who live in a pleasant part of SE London, decided to let their two children cycle to school.The children are aged five and eight, and this immediately led to an outcry and reaction to the outcry, not least from Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London. If you want to

Cruel or Kind?

2010-07-05T20:13:00.005+01:00

Well, it's the time of year that Total Politics builds its list of the top political blogs of the year.I am not expecting to win it but, given I didn't even enter last year, any position would be good. So if you'ld like to vote for me, please click below.Also please note the rules: 1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and ranks them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite)

Dolphin apologises to witches

2010-06-30T13:43:00.002+01:00

Tom Dolphin, a member of the BMA's junior doctors' committee, ... said he had previously described homeopathy as witchcraft, but now wanted to apologise to witches for making that link.From The Guardian, reporting on the BMA Conference.(He was more moderate alsewhere in his speech, referring to homeopathy as "pernicious", "nonsense on stilts", "irrationality", "made up science", "insidious" and "

Physician, heal thyself

2010-06-22T05:40:00.010+01:00

I have an undistinguished B Sc degree. I am a very minor politician and I work in marketing and it is for the last of these that I apologise.Last night I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend the annual lecture of Sense about Science. The key speaker was Dr Fiona Godlee, the editor of the British Medical Journal, who combined being interesting, thoughtful, thought-provoking and witty.The

How Often is Enough?

2010-06-13T18:28:00.009+01:00

I believe it costs about £50,000 to run an election in Hart, the small district in NE Hampshire where I live. That's about a pound per registered voter, which I think is not bad.The way we run elections here is that in three out of four years we elect one third of our district councillors (for a four year term) and in the fourth year we elect county councillors. So, for example, 2009: elected

UNITEd We Fall

2010-06-07T08:02:00.004+01:00

Ten days ago, Laura Solon scythed through the bs to the basic truth of the ongoing industrial dispute between British Airways and its cabin crew. Speaking on Have I Got News For You, she said that the biggest fringe benefit the cabin crew have is an airline to work for.Now, on one hand I can understand the shock and anger you feel when your employer cuts payments or benefits. I've experienced

Running for Rob

2010-06-01T08:32:00.009+01:00

What, I wonder, is the defining characteristic of the British?Just as the British have generalisations about other nations, I am sure that other nations generalise about the UK. I arrived in this country with my family in 1994, "on my way to America" and we are still here 16 years later. One of the things that has kept us here has been the extraordinary generosity of spirit of British people.

How to save £160,000,000,000

2010-05-26T07:50:00.003+01:00

At present, the Government spends £160,000,000,000 more than it gets from tax. That's about £2,500 for every man, woman and child in the UK.In economists' language, This Is Not Good.Earlier this week, the Government announced plans to save £6bn: that's about 1% of the total govenment expenditure. Clearly we need to do more.Yesterday I suggested how the government might avoid wasting several

Good front-line surgery

2010-05-25T08:50:00.004+01:00

There's a lot of talk about "cutting front line services" as the government tries to reduce the terrifying deficit.This assumes that (a) the savings can't be made anywhere else but front line services and (b) all front line services give value.Most people focus on (a). I'd like to focus on (b) and point out an example of front line services that are wasteful and potentially actually harmful.In

Trussssst in me ...

2010-05-11T08:01:00.003+01:00

I was at a meeting last week. In an open question session the issue of trust was raised. The person answering the question was very clear: "Lack of trust comes from either a failure to communicate or a failure to deliver", he said.Those words stuck with me. They really get to the crux of the matter. In light of the events of the last few days, can the Tories - or the electorate - trust the

DIY Tips: How to Build a Cabinet

2010-05-08T06:08:00.003+01:00

The first time I built a bedroom cupboard it ended up with all the drawers the right way up and the frame and doors upside down. However, today's challenge is a mental one, rather than needing any physical dexterity, so perhaps I may do better (and perhaps not!).Let's assume for a moment that the Tories and LibDems do form a coalition. Who would you appoint to the various roles? To make it

Bite the bullet

2010-05-07T10:58:00.007+01:00

If there's one thing the electorate expects of politicians it's that they run the country.At 11am today, this seems like a challenge. With 30 or so seats still to declare, no party can get a majority. The way the rest are likely to go:A coalition of Labour and LibDems would not have a majorityA working arrangement between Tories and Irish Unionists would similarly failThe markets hate this.

Precisely Wrong

2010-05-04T09:24:00.004+01:00

As I write, Sky News are reporting various polls with Tory support between 33% and 37% and LibDem support between 23% and 28%. The parties and commentators hang on every percent with elation or despair.But they are wrong to do so.These polls are spuriously precise (which we don't really care about), but not necessarily accurate (which we desperately do). If, for example, a pollster says Tory

La Cage Aux Folles

2010-05-03T12:06:00.004+01:00

No, you're wrong.This is not about politics.I had the pleasure on Saturday evening of going to an intimate theatre in the south of Hampshire and watching perhaps the best amateur production I have ever seen. Actually, there is no "perhaps" about it. It was delightful.The theatre is a converted small barn on the edge of Fareham: it holds just 80 people. It may astonish you to hear that they

Three of the Best

2010-05-02T12:19:00.004+01:00

As a Tory, I hope the Conservatives win a majority.As a realist, I accept this might not happen. I think a hung parliament would be bad for the UK, but perhaps it's time to think the unthinkable: what if we get one?The most likely coalition, I hope, would be Tory/LibDem. So here's a challenge: if that came about, which three policies would you like to see the new government implement? The

Please, David Cameron

2010-05-01T15:12:00.005+01:00

Is Cameron good enough?A mutual acquaintance put me on to David Cameron six years ago. I must say he impressed, with fresh views and the intention and ability to bring 21st century ideas into the heart of the Conservative Party. Looking back at his record, he has delivered on a lot of that and made the Tory Party electable again.And yet, I can't help but feel disappointed.I've been wondering

No thank you, Gordon

2010-04-28T07:49:00.006+01:00

From the man who "abolished boom and bust" comes the request to let him "finish the job". No matter which party you support, the reply must be "No, thank you." Here's why.In 1997, the new Labour government inherited a thriving economy. By many measures, it was the strongest in Western world, with inflation low, debt low and unemployment dropping. By April 2010, the UK economy was arguably the

Thank you, Nick Clegg

2010-04-25T09:07:00.004+01:00

It's been 10 days since Nick Clegg upset British politics with a strong performance in the first of the leaders' debates. At this moment, he appears to have lifted the Liberal Democrats from their traditional poor third place in British politics to a close second. In addition, he's changed the nature of the debate: young people, normally the least likely to vote, are chatting eagerly about

Vince Cable - Economic Expert

2010-04-21T21:00:00.001+01:00

Andrew Neil (who chairs the BBC's parliamentary programme) interviews Vince Cable.Thank you, Guido.

Who will you choose?

2010-04-20T16:39:00.001+01:00

Thank you, Ian Dale, for creating this.And for all my friends and acquaintances who are not sure whether they should vote this time ... well have a look!

Quote of the Day

2010-04-06T11:44:00.002+01:00

"If we want to bring down unemployment in a sustainable way, neither rescuing [car manufacturers] nor funding more road construction will do it. We need to create a big bushel of new companies — fast. … Good-paying jobs don’t come from bailouts. They come from startups. And where do startups come from? They come from smart, creative, inspired risk-takers. How do we get more of those? There are

It's the Economy

2010-03-21T11:37:00.006Z

I once saw a Chinook fly like the one in the picture. It had done a rolling landing, with its nose in the air, paused, reversed and then taken off backwards and gradually raised its tail until this 20 tonne monster was hanging in the sky, nose down and facing me. I remember clearly this sense of utter disbelief that such a thing was possible.I feel the same way when I listen to our leading

Can Spring be Far Behind?

2010-03-09T18:51:00.006Z

Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?" The answer this year seems to be "Yes!" Yesterday it was -5ºC when I left home and it's not a lot warmer now. So it's with longing that I look back to last spring, when Colleen and I went for a walk from Hook to West Green House in Mattingley. It's about four miles through pleasant fields when suddenly, near our

Photography

2010-02-27T20:18:00.005Z

It's a while since I posted some photographs and looking through my collection it seemed to me that there are some that by good fortune came out quite well.The photo above is an example. It was taken at my friend Russ's 60th birthday party. He's a neurologist by profession but has a band as well and they played some marvellous music. I'd been taking photos with my flash all evening and these

Your Mileage WILL Vary

2010-02-20T15:01:00.005Z

The man in the car waved at me. So did the woman in the next car. They didn't use all their fingers.I think it was because I was driving on the motorway at 60 mph. The speed limit was 70 as far as other drivers were concerned but they didn't realise I was conducting a Scientific Experiment.You see a few months ago I bought a Bluemotion Golf. It's wonderful: comfortable, quiet, solid German

Snake oil

2010-01-30T13:04:00.012Z

The Wild West was notorious for its snake oil salesmen, who rode into town with a wagon of elixirs and used their smooth sales patter to convince the ignorant and gullible that these concoctions, including "snake oil", would fix every malady.Oh, how we laugh at their naivety!Yet today, sadly, we see practices that are not much different - and just as many people falling for the con.Earlier on

Oh, God

2010-01-26T19:30:00.014Z

My most wonderful university lecturer, Pat Terry, instilled rigour into his students and I think this has helped me throughout my life. Because he made me think through things, I speak with confidence when I am sure am right, which is not often. I also listen more carefully to others, although Pat can't take all the credit because the current Mrs Haffey has helped there.So, with a degree in

It's a FACT - using legal media is a PITA

2010-01-09T14:23:00.003Z

You may have heard that it snowed recently here. As a result of being snowed in, after a while I started to become stir crazy. So I broke out one of my Christmas presents, a DVD, and sat down to watch it, at which stage a red mist of rage descended.Picture this: I have settled into a comfortable armchair, drink in hand. The DVD is spinning up and I am ready to relax and enjoy watching this

In his Master's Steps He Trod

2010-01-07T17:55:00.006Z

We stopped off in the UK 17 years ago on our way to America and we liked it so much we stayed. The people are friendly, the countryside pretty and the weather ... not as bad as we had been led to believe.Until now.The third Big Freeze in 12 months, the biggest of the three, set in two days ago. Normally if we have an inch of snow in a year it's a lot. On Tuesday evening we had 9 inches. I

Bloody, but unbowed

2009-12-30T05:55:00.009Z

I remember clearly what I did on June 24th, 1995. It was a warm and sunny day in England and I was at a school fete, yet most of the parents at that fete spent two hours crowded into a marquee, watching the final of the Rugby World Cup. Against the odds and with the very public support of Nelson Mandela, South Africa won.So when I saw that a film, Invictus, had been made describing that World

Golfing for Cats

2009-11-27T08:33:00.009Z

The late humorist Alan Coren had a deft way of dissecting his victims. In one particular article he depicted the Inland Revenue (the tax man for those not in the UK) as Nazi storm troopers, inflicting terror on small businesses. The reality behind the wit is that indeed the Inland Revenue has truly frightening powers under the law, but rarely uses them.One has to wonder whether Alan Coren was

Who?

2009-11-20T08:37:00.005Z

I am sure that across Europe today, people reading or hearing the news about the new European President and Foreign Affairs minister are wondering who on earth they are. I certainly am.Now I am not someone who is violently anti-Europe. However, the way in which these posts were decided is exactly what makes Eurosceptics froth at the mouth. The selection of these people was patently

24 hours to save the NHS

2009-11-17T08:15:00.006Z

In 1997, Labour famously campaigned that voters had "24 hours to save the National Health Service" (who knew Google would give so many hits when searching on this phrase?)Today it has been revealed that up to a quarter of all patients in hospitals suffer from dementiahalf of these patients leave hospital ina worse state than they arrivein many cases nursing staff feel that don't have adequate

Make Pontificating History

2009-11-12T08:23:00.008Z

Am I the only one to be annoyed by pointless and deceitful campaign slogans? Let's take just a few:Make Poverty History.Every Child Matters.Millenium Development Goals.Abolish Youth Unemployment.All of these have good intentions, but all seem disconnected from reality.Make Poverty HistoryJesus himself said "The poor will always be with us". Now I am not making a case for abandoning the poor, but

Education, education, uh ... and lying

2009-11-02T17:57:00.004Z

A major item in the news today has been about parents who lie to get their children into popular schools. The essence of the news is whether it's "right" to do so.It seems to me we are missing the point. Twelve years ago, Tony Blair said his three main priorities for government were "education, education, education".The real reason parents lie to get their children into schools is that, after

WMMMs are a mass distraction

2009-10-21T12:40:00.013+01:00

So it's easy to get selected as a Tory WMMM (White, Middle-aged, Middle-class Male) candidate for parliament then, is it?I wonder. Here's a little tale.1 May 2008: I win re-election for the second time in Hart, with the biggest majority in the district. Hubris whispers slyly in my ear that this is because of how wonderful I am: Truth forces me to admit I have two excellent fellow councillors in

Little Miss Perfect

2009-10-17T05:37:00.005+01:00

More than 25 years ago, a customer of mine and his wife were expecting their first child. This man was inherently cheerful: the kind of person you look forward to meeting in a business day. When I heard that the Big Day had come and the child been born, I popped into his office with happy congratulations which had left my lips as I entered. It was too late to register the grey and shocked

Smooth

2009-10-15T17:52:00.005+01:00

I am a notoriously fussy eater. I confess this, I am sorry, but that is just how I am and now having lived a good half century, I am unlikely to change.I suspect that I must have driven my mother mad and that after having me as a fussy toddler it is a wonder that she went on and had two other children. The list of things I don’t like to eat is several times the length of those I do and includes

Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

2009-10-01T19:14:00.001+01:00

Bankers still don't get it.We're in possibly the worst financial crisis of modern history and yetBankers are once again pulling in staggering bonusesWhile simultaneously threatening (blackmailing?) governments that if any action is taken to change this culture of greed, banks will move elsewhere.The implication is that we can't afford to do without them. Recent history shows the opposite: they

I don't want to join the Labour Party

2009-09-16T08:02:00.004+01:00

In April 2007 I joined Fujitsu-Siemens Computers, a company owned 50-50 by Fujitsu and Siemens (surprise, surprise). Last year, Siemens sold its 50% stake to Fujitsu and since then the company I joined has been merging with Fujitsu UK. (For reasons that don't matter here, it's been a fairly complex process.)On July 22nd, I received an email from the trade union Unite, which it appears was sent

Compassion for the criminals

2009-09-02T08:22:00.007+01:00

I know this may seem an odd question, but why are we engrossed in showing compassion to out-and-out criminals?According to the BBC website, the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, didn't want Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi to die in prison. Why not? AAaM was almost 49 when in 2001 he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the worst terrorist atrocity in British history. There had to be every

You Guys Give up Yet? Or are you Thirsty for More?

2009-08-21T16:19:00.005+01:00

There's been a bit of a stir in the military-political world this week. Somebody has been briefing against General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff in the UK. It would appear that General Dannatt has made the mistake of telling the truth about what the armed forces really need and someone, presumably in government, didn't really like it or the implied criticism. So they

Sunday Photo of the Week

2009-08-18T11:58:00.005+01:00

Yes, I know it's Tuesday. I spent Sunday making cookies.Anyway, back to the photo. About 30 minutes south of Cape Town is the town of Fish Hoek. It has a gorgeous sandy beach which is extremely safe for swimming. The water in the bay is shallow and only gradually gets deeper, with gentle tides so it's a favourite with families.There are also some fishermen who scrape a living by pulling their

Sunday Photo Of the Week (SPOW)

2009-08-09T08:28:00.005+01:00

I visited Las Vegas last year and, having flown in from London, was pretty jet-lagged. So on the first morning I woke very early. As I walked out of my hotel, I saw this view of New York. The pre-dawn sky was exactly this gorgeous shade of deep blue and it looked as though the hotel had been built to look its best when viewed from an inconspicuous entry to the MGM Grand.This being Vegas, there

Power to the People

2009-08-08T10:01:00.008+01:00

By 2015, Britain will run out of electrical power.This is a statement of fact, based on our expected power consumption and the way power stations will gradually be shut down. We take it for granted today that when we turn on a light switch or plug in an electrical device it will work. Over the next few years that will start changing.On May 27th, 2008, hundreds of thousands of houses in England

Keep Them Honest with Evidence

2009-08-05T11:15:00.009+01:00

"Politicians! They're so transparent and cynical! They never do the right thing - they do what's best for them!"Ever felt like that?Then here's a chance to change things, just a bit.The Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee is looking for suggestions of areas of government policy that require an ‘evidence check’. In theory as a result of the hearings the government will be

Sunday Photo Of the Week (SPOW)

2009-08-02T10:49:00.003+01:00

Old Potbridge Road lies between Hook and Hartley Wintney in North East Hampshire. It's a very quiet country road, with just four or five homes built along it and it comes to a dead end in real life long before the map shows this.However, it's a high point relative to the land to the west and so when we had a lovely sunset in the spring, I set off for the Old Potbridge Road to take some photos.

Fine Weather We're Having

2009-08-01T09:37:00.006+01:00

It's said that people are divided into three groups: those that can count and those that can't.Similarly, when it comes to climate change, people seem to fall into one of three categories: the evangelists, who believe that man made climate change will do hard-to-imagine harm; the atheists who deny that mankind's activities have any significant impact on our climate; and the agnostics who can't

Regarding Henry

2009-07-31T07:59:00.005+01:00

Henry Allingham's funeral yesterday reminded me the time I briefly met him in April last year.It was the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Air Force and, together with some other local councillors, I was kindly invited to a ceremony at RAF Odiham. Nine trees, one for each decade, were planted at the base."Officially" planting a tree is a bit of a laugh. Someone else has done the

Just the Facts, Ma'am

2009-07-29T08:40:00.005+01:00

I heard recently that the amount of information in the world doubles every two years. I don't know if this is true, but it seems possible.Faced with this, people often have difficulty in sorting the wheat from the chaff. What matters? What's true? What information can I trust?Fortunately, there's a great source of simple information about scientific matters, including health. Sense About

Sunday Photo Of the Week (SPOW)

2009-07-26T18:33:00.005+01:00

When I turned 50, I had planned to play a couple of songs on the guitar at my party. However, I found it was just too difficult to rescue the skills I'd had 30 years earlier, even with the help of a good guitar instructor.Russ Lane is a good friend who recently had a Significant Birthday. To my chagrin and envy, he achieved what I had failed to do, and played and sang half a dozen great rock 'n

Major article on war injuries

2009-07-24T08:05:00.004+01:00

In The Telegraph today Sir John Major has written a good article on how Britain treats its war wounded. One sentence jumped out at meIf we cannot afford to treat our wounded with generosity then we should not expose them to risk.Exactly.The government's approach to our military has been driven by evident contempt. Its treatment of our dead and wounded has been virtually inexplicable:

The Best Customer Service in the World

2009-07-23T08:00:00.012+01:00

A man running a small business in the West Indies is losing money satisfying a happy customer in the UK.The customer is me. The company makes a very spicy sauce. I bought a bottle of it when my wife and I visited Nevis in the West Indies for our 25th anniversary in 2007. Since you only use 2-3 drops at a time, it's lasted 2 1/2 years, but it's at an end. This was a case of great sadness for

Swine flu and beer

2009-07-19T16:37:00.004+01:00

So here I am at home with swine flu.It's not a lot of fun but it is also boring. On Friday we had tickets to see Jude Law in Hamlet. Sorry I missed you, Jude. On Saturday we had tickets to an Army concert. The Dearly Beloved wasn't going to waste the tickets so she took a friend instead of me. I mean, I could have died. Today we had tickets to RIAT, the best air show in the world. Gave

What is Love?

2009-07-18T08:48:00.008+01:00

A few years ago I was contacted by a poor widow whose Nigerian husband had left her $10 million in cash. If I could just help her get it out of Nigeria using my bank account she would let me have $4 million. We had a pleasant email conversation for a few days before I let slip that I had given "her" details to the president@whitehouse.gov, after which she became terminally reticent.So sad.My

The Man with the Melted Face

2009-07-16T09:25:00.006+01:00

In the spring of 2008, I met a man with a melted face. You probably think I am speaking metaphorically, but this is only partly true. To get an idea of what his face looked like, imagine it a copy of the original was made by Madame Tussauds waxworks and heat was applied. That's how his face looked except what had happened had affected a real face not a wax one. I think it's probably impossible

Who will defend the defenders of the realm?

2009-07-15T08:04:00.005+01:00

I see that Lord Mandelson of Foy is leading Labour's spin on how to handle the recession. No "cuts" of course - only Conservatives do cuts, it would appear. Instead Labour's guiding light (if that is the phrase I need) talks of "constraints" and "efficiency". My word, are we sure he isn't a Tory?Sadly, in one respect I find myself agreeing with him. In the second paragraph of the BBC report,

The true coward

2009-07-12T12:43:00.005+01:00

According to today's Sunday Times, the Labour Government is in conflict with the Army about Afghanistan.Labour's actions in sending our armed forces, especially (but not only) the Army, into battle underequipped and undermanned is appalling and shameful. When they were deployed to Helmand province in 2006, John Reid expected no shots would be fired in anger. Today, with more troops having lost

Literally

2009-07-10T08:10:00.002+01:00

I have a good friend in California. She works for Sun Microsystems and writes a blog on the subject of writing. Recently, she discovered that "factoid" meant something different from what she (and probably you) thought it does.I must confess I'm a bit of a pedant. Leaving aside why this is (it's all about me, right?), the result is that I listen very carefully to what people say and wonder if

Aviva - au revoir!

2009-07-07T07:57:00.005+01:00

For many years my wife and I have insured our cars with Norwich Union. They weren't the cheapest but they weren't the most expensive either. Their prices were roughly competitive. More importantly, they were easy and pleasant to deal with. When we phoned them up, the phone was answered promptly. I could understand the person easily, and they could understand me. When something went wrong,

Is the NHS really sacred?

2009-07-05T14:51:00.004+01:00

Both Labour and Conservatives believe the NHS budget should remain inviolate. But is this right?It's difficult to find accurate data on how much money is spent on alternative medicine by the NHS, although estimates are around £500m. But whether it's £50m, £500m or £5bn, the fact is that the money is wasted.Complementary and Alternative Medicine is medicine that doesn't work. So why are we

I have a complaint

2009-07-03T19:43:00.005+01:00

A few years ago I was not happy with Crystal Holidays, so I wrote to them.Dear SirMay I apologise for not sending you a handwritten letter? Unfortunately I have a fractured wrist and am dictating this to my wife.I have been a great supporter of Crystal Holidays since I took my family skiing in the USA in 1997. Determined to repeat this pleasant holiday, we recently picked up your latest ski

John Bercow's Body Language

2009-06-23T11:06:00.004+01:00

I was very interested watching John Bercow's acceptance speech as Parliament's Speaker-Elect. This is partly covered on the BBC website (linked in the title above).He spent most of his time talking to the government benches, with just brief glances at the Tories. Public speakers typically look for friendly faces in their audience and clearly he saw little comfort from the Conservatives. Indeed

Critical Thinking Part 2

2009-06-06T12:48:00.009+01:00

In the last couple of decades (and possibly before that) we have been fortunate to have a number of people who have written well about science. Some have just skirted the edge of being difficult for the public to understand, such as Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time. Others are easy to read but might skirt controversy, such as Ben Goldacre's excellent Bad Science. (In my view, Ben gets

Critical Thinking Part 1

2009-06-06T06:48:00.007+01:00

I was fortunate to have several excellent lecturers at university. Best of these was Doctor Pat Terry, now a Professor, who taught me Applied Maths for two years. He's the extremely young looking doctor in my graduation photo opposite.Applied Maths was a tough subject. Pat Terry made it entertaining. For example, when discussing vectors, he told us about a drunk student whose wobbly progress

A Sense of Proportion

2009-05-30T21:22:00.009+01:00

It's hard to get away from the subject of MP's expenses nowadays, especially if you, like me, read The Telegraph. Many people I've heard discussing the matter over the last couple of weeks have said "They're even worse than bankers" - is this the ultimate insult?So I started wondering if this were true.Over the course of the last few hours, I've worked through a part of The Telegraph web site

Brain the size of a ...

2009-05-26T18:53:00.006+01:00

I am lucky to live in a large village surrounded by woods and fields and so yesterday I went for a walk with the current Mrs Haffey. It was hot and humid and clearly the insects were loving it. There were lots of greenfly about (I use the term "greenfly" loosely; we're talking about something tiny and green that flies) and it suddenly struck me how astonishing it is that greenfly exists at

Welcome home

2009-05-26T11:47:00.007+01:00

The Royal Air Force squadrons of Chinook helicopters are based at Odiham. At any one time, a few hundred of the men and women in these squadrons are based overseas, most notably in Afghanistan. Conditions there are tougher than most people can imagine; often they are extremely dangerous. This is implicitly recognised in news programs. So often when you see footage of the war, it's of

I hope I die before I get old

2009-05-24T09:26:00.008+01:00

Let's play "Let's Pretend" for a moment. Let's pretend you've retired. You get a state pension of about £95 a week at present, I believe, and on a regular basis this is increased. That's not a lot, but you've probably paid off your house and live frugally. You feel the cold in winter, but the government gives you extra fuel payments from time to time. You're getting frail, but the National

2004-05-17T13:05:00.001+01:00

The Voice of FreedomI was sitting in my study reading some email one Sunday evening about two weeks ago when I heard a couple of people talking to each other and walking up to my front door. Something dropped through the letter box and they wandered off. Once I'd finished reading my email I went to see what had been delivered.It was a newspaper called the Voice of Freedom.As someone who was

2004-05-04T15:29:00.000+01:00

What do I stand for? As a member of the Conservative Party, many of my views are likely to be pretty party orthodox: for example, I believe in low taxes. Taxes In the case of Hart District Council, I have spoken strongly in favour of keeping council tax low in both budgets since I have become a councillor. My reasons for doing so are In general, I believe it is better for people to choose

2004-04-29T10:20:00.001+01:00

The Wages of Sin

2004-01-07T14:10:00.002Z

I always thought the phrase "the wages of sin" was pretty silly. ("Good heavens, you mean I can get PAID for sinning? Where do I sign up?") But now I understand.Last November, we moved offices to Blackwater. On arrival we found that there were these vending machines that dispensed chocolate. Now this was no problem for me, since as you know I have an iron will. But the skinny b*st*rd (*)

Reflections on the Bay

2003-07-23T15:03:00.001+01:00

I have visited the United States about a dozen or two times. The people are friendly, the country is open, the history short but astonishingly impressive. I like Americans a lot. I respect their Constitution as possibly the single most important political document in history. I probably would have voted for George W Bush in 2000 were I an American and, like so many people worldwide, I was