When asked how fascism starts, Bertrand Russell replied: "First they fascinate the fools. Then they muzzle the intelligent."I have seen this tweet several times in recent days. As ever with quotations posted on social media, you have to ask if its genuine, The answer is that there's no evidence of Russell having a conversation like that, but he did write something similar. Quote Investigator alerts us to an essay - Freedom and Government - that Russell contributed to a collection complied by Ruth Nanda Anshen. It was titled Freedom: Its Meaning and published in 1942. There Russell wrote:The first step ...
The clinical psychologist Dr Paul Duckett examines the techniques used by Jason Beer KC, counsel to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Notably, he sees Beer's mastery of comedy as one of the five keys to his masterly performance. For those who have been following the hearing, it's good to re-encounter favourite characters like Paula Vennells, Rodric Williams and - above all - Jarnail Singh. I agree with all Duckett says, and would also like to put in a word for Sir Wyn Williams, the chair of the inquiry, When he makes one of his Columbo-like interventions - "Before we ...
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: In the run-up to a Budget, and immediately after one, there is often plenty of speculation about whether it will give the government a bounce. But do Budgets really move the polls? Short answer: no. Find out more by reading this edition of The Week in Polls here, and you can sign up below to receive future editions direct to your email inbox:
From the Electoral Reform Society comes two promising pieces of news on replacing first past the post: There have been positive noises from government ministers on repairing one part of the damage done to our democracy by the previous government. At the Local Government Association conference this week, government minister Jim McMahon suggested that the upcoming White Paper on Devolution will address the imposition of First Past the Post on Mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners. [1] The previous Supplementary Vote (SV) had its own limitations, though it was definitely better than first past the post. Hopefully the government will ...
The Irrepressibles is the name under which the Scarborough-born musician Jamie McDermott works. The Tide come from his first studio album Mirror Mirror, which was reviewed on its release in 2010 by Nina Joyce: McDermott's exuberant performances dance on the border of disturbing, but an ability to melt between the light and the dark with such mesmerising grace has led to comparisons to Anthony Hegarty, though the heights McDermott's voice can reach sometimes suggest a male Joanna Newsom, minus the folk. The time for the rise of the Irrepressibles is surely upon us. The somewhat poperatic tendencies undoubtedly catch your ...
Already we are seeing advance spin on the budget including promises of billions of pounds extra for infrastructure works, and billions of pounds extra for the health service in England funded by an increase in employers national insurance contributions. LBC suggest that NHS day-to-day budget could see an increase of around three to four per cent for this year as well as 2025-26 - totalling £10 billion a year, though this has not been confirmed: Extra details on Labour's pledge for 40,000 more appointments and operations a week are also expected to be announced. But senior NHS leaders have said ...
We'd like today to give a big shout out to our friends at Transition Dundee for the continuing success of the West End Community Fridge. As Transition Dundee says : "Everyone who visits the West End Community Fridge becomes a Food Waste Warrior as all the food we get is surplus and may have ended up in landfill. Last month we had 2,143 visits with 4,859 people ultimately benefitting from the food we gave out. The Community Fridge is open to everyone and no referrals are needed. Pop along during our opening times Tuesday to Saturday 11am to 2pm and ...
