Author Archives: bernardporter2013

I really think this (British) government must be losing its marbles. A stricter immigration regime is supposed to be one of the ‘benefits’ of Brexit. Many people have pointed out that this threatens, for example, our hospitals, which presently depend … Continue reading →

At the beginning of this year I wrote about an Oxford controversy over ‘imperialism’, focussing on the stick that Professor Nigel Biggar was getting over his proposal to institute a university post-graduate seminar on ‘The Ethics of Empire’, which appeared … Continue reading →

We may not like to admit it, but in one way the British imperialists of a hundred years ago were right on the ball. This was in their predictions, of how the world would turn out if Britain lost her … Continue reading →

I don’t often re-post videos, but this is terrific. It put my own fears – of being falsely accused – into perspective. Thanks for the link, Frederik and Kajsa.

Many years ago a friend of mine, a distinguished medieval historian who has lived and taught in the USA, described that country to me as ‘a mediaeval state with 20th-century technology’. Never has that description seemed more fitting than today. … Continue reading →

‘Patriotism. For people who have nothing else to be proud of.’ I’m sure someone must have thought of this before me.

I mainly use this blog to comment on things and events I can claim to have some expertise in. American politics is just about one of those areas, having studied them, written about them and lived there for fairly long … Continue reading →

It’s sickening to hear Tory ministers, at their Annual Conference, gleefully referring to ‘Labour anti-semitism’ when the charge has by now been pretty well debunked. It’s almost as bad as our new Foreign Secretary, Jeremy *unt, comparing the EU to … Continue reading →

It’s good that these nefarious scams are being caught out. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2018/09/27/universities-call-essay-mills-do-students-work-outlawed/ I first came across them about twenty years ago – when I was still in the university teaching business – from a notice pinned on my History Department notice board offering … Continue reading →

Sweden now has its period of post-election political horse-trading, in order to form a new government out of its plethora of leading parties. Yesterday the sitting prime minister, the decent, working-class Stefan Löfven, lost a vote of confidence in Parliament … Continue reading →