Monthly Archives: December 2017

Lord Adonis’s letter of resignation to the Prime Minister yesterday was a powerful statement, both about the re-privatisation of the East Coast rail line – the one I use most – which was part of his official brief as chair … Continue reading →

Before I pen my contribution to the current Oxford-centred debate over the evils/benefits of the British Empire – see my last post – here is one I prepared earlier. It’s on a slightly different issue, and arises out of another … Continue reading →

I have to confess – should it be a matter for ‘confession’? – that I’m entirely in agreement with Jo Johnson, the Tory Universities Minister (and brother of the sillier Johnson), when he opposes student bodies enforcing ‘no-platform’ policies on … Continue reading →

So it will all have been worthwhile! – From today’s Sun: UK to get its iconic dark blue passport back in stunning Brexit victory for The Sun. The Government has agreed to our demand to scrap the EU’s burgundy model, … Continue reading →

I can’t see this turning out well. Opinions are too inflamed. Not, I suspect, the opinions of the majority of people, who are left bewildered by the whole European debate, and seem not greatly concerned about how it will end. … Continue reading →

It should be generally accepted, and indeed self-evident, that opposition to the policies of the government of Israel is not necessarily the same as ‘anti-semitism’. Yet that conflation seems to form the basis of most of the criticism that is … Continue reading →

From last year: https://bernardjporter.com/2016/12/23/jul/

The House of Lords is a much maligned institution, and rightly so in most cases. Just occasionally, however, it fulfils an essential democratic function, by modifying legislation which has been too hastily drawn up in the Commons, or by directly … Continue reading →

After my last ‘Dickens’ post I was sent this. Thank you, Lucy Franco!

Just back from a superb staged version of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol at Folkoperan in Stockholm. It was in English, but that didn’t deter a packed house of Swedes. The story still resonates today – sadly so. The Victorian attitudes towards … Continue reading →