Chris Whiteside's Blog

The North West Evening Mail reports here that the entrance and exit slip road on the Northbound M6 at Junction 36 will be affected by roadworks in late February and early March. The exit sliproad will be affected from 8am on February 21st to 6am February 28th. The work will then move to the Northbound entry sliproad which will be closed from 8am on February 28th to 6am on March 3rd. During the work from 8pm to 8am lanes one and two of the motorway will be closed and a 50mph speed limit put in place.

Last night one of the perimeter air monitors at Sellafield, a site which has a very large number of radiation sensors, detected a spike in background radiation levels. This was well below the level of radiation which would have constituted a hazard, but the management took a responsible precautionary decision, in line with policies and approved procedures, to operate the site at reduced staffing levels today while they investigated. The BBC made rather a meal of this routine precaution, but it has now been confirmed that the spike was due to naturally occurring radon gas. A spokesman for Sellafield Ltd told "Cumbria Crack: “Our in-air monitors are extremely sensitive and pick up on any abnormality. Overnight the monitoring system initially indicated elevated levels of activity. Following investigation and analysis, we can now confirm these levels to be naturally occurring background radon. “The number one priority for us is, at all times, safe secure stewardship of the...

By conincidence a tweet about Prince Charles criticising "climate change deniers" popped into my twitter feed almost adjacent to this one from the Economist suggesting that Homo Sapiens Neanderthalis may live on in us, as modern humans may have some of their genes. You can take that one two ways: one way would be to compare those who don't agree that there is a preponderance of evidence for man-made impacts on the environment to Neanderthals who refused to adapt. However, I also remember a Spectator cartoon showing a Neanderthal family huddled round their fire in a snow-covered landscape, breaking into smiles as one of their number returns from a trek with the words "Great news - we're melting the ****ing Ice Caps!" Actually the whole issue of climate change is far more complex than some of the hardliners on both sides of the argument are willing to admit. Yes, there is a preponderance of evidence that human action is affecting our climate, certai...

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." (Bertrand Russell)

The great scientest, JBS Haldane (a man of atheistic leanings who respected other points of view) once said that " I have no doubt that in reality the future will be vastly more surprising than anything I can imagine. Now my own suspicion is that the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose. " (Similar comments have also been attributed to Arthur Eddington) Since we live in such a strange and complex Universe, it is a brave man, and probably a very foolish one, who imagines that he has such a good idea of how the universe works that he has the right to punish others for taking a different view, regardless of whether or not that view is based on a religion. No scientific or theological position has completely clean hands where persecution of those who take a different view is concerned. Believers have persecuted atheists in theocratic countries, while atheists have persecuted believers in totalitarian societies such as the Soviet U...

"Common sense is seeing things as they are; and doing things as they ought to be." (HARRIET BEECHER STOWE, attributed)

A couple of weeks ago contractors installing fibre broadband in Cambridgeshire on behalf of BT Openreach found a human skull. The police were called and investigated: they determined that the engineers had probably accidentally disturbed an old unmarked and unrecorded grave and that there was no reason to treat the discovery as indicative of wrongdoing. I was amused by some of the comments  posted about this, for example ...   "Ah ... So this is what our fibre engineers mean by the 'head end'." "Probably a BT Sport customer who had been watching the Ashes cricket series and was waiting for an England win ..."     "The things people will do to get a head ..."   "Where is Sherlock when you need him?"   "This is probably the remains of the caveman that installed the prehistoric copper pairs" "A grave development"   "That's what you get with a skeleton crew on the job"...

"There's only one kind of common sense but a thousand varieties of stupidity." ( EVAN ESAR, 20,000 Quips & Quotes)

"It's brilliant in playing to socialism and tribalism. It's not good economics." (Digby Jones, former Trade minister in the last Labour government, who also described Ed Ball's policy as "If it creates wealth, kick it.") Similarly ... "Labour is planning to hike tax rates, not because is is sensible economics but because they think it is good politics." (Boris Johnson) "these higher taxes will have the effect of discouraging business investment in the UK." This is a quote from a letter which the heads of 24 of Britain’s most successful companies published in The Telegraph this week - you can read the letter itself and an acticle about it  here  - warning that Ed Miliband’s policy would threaten the recovery and cost jobs. At least one of the signatories has in the past given or lent large sums of money to the Labour party, so any suggestion that the business leaders who have been criticising Labour's policies are...

"The most uncommon form of intelligence is common sense." ( EVAN ESAR, 20,000 Quips & Quotes)

Today is the 69th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp by the Soviet army. It is remembered throughout the world as Holocaust Memorial day, when we keep alive memories of the millions of victims who were murdered in cold blood by the Nazi regime and their allies as part of their genocidal attempt to exterminate all humans who did not fit in with their plans to reshape humanity. This moving account by an 87-year old Holocaust survivor of what it was like to be sent to a concentration camp is an example of the memories we must keep alive. The Nazi genocide was not the first or the last genocide in history but to make it as difficult as possible for such atrocities to recur we must start by ensuring that this evil is never forgotten. There was another excellent piece on the subject yesterday by Ed Vaisey on Conservative Home here. While the largest single group of victims were the Jews, it is also important to remember how wide the net of ...

“How noble and good everyone could be if, every evening before falling asleep, they were to recall to their minds the events of the whole day and consider exactly what has been good and bad. Then without realizing it, you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day.”   ( Anne Frank  ) “Her voice was preserved. Out of the millions that were silenced, this voice was no louder than a child's whisper... It has outlasted the shouts of the murders and has soared above the voices of time.” ( Ernst Shnabel  on Anne Frank )

Figures due out in the next week are expected to show that Britain's economy remains the fastest-growing in Europe. Economists expect the UK to have grown by 0.7pc in the three months to December, following growth of 0.8pc in the third quarter. This represents an annual expansion of 2.8pc and equates to overall gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2013 of 1.9pc – the strongest annual growth since 2007 - up from just 0.3pc in 2012.   Britain emerged as the fastest growing economy in Western Europe last year and Tuesday’s data are expected to confirm the UK grew four times faster than Germany, which expanded by 0.4pc in 2013. More details here. Britain still has a long way to go: we need to get back into budget surplus and stay there for a long time to deal with the disastrous levels of debt which were Labour's toxic legacy, and not enough of the growth has yet fed into people's incomes, but at least the economy is headed in the right direction....

"It was not curiosity that killed the goose who laid the golden egg, but an insatiable greed that devoured common sense." (E. A. BUCCHIANERI)

"The only thing a person can never have too much of is common sense." (KATHRYN SMITH)

On the Daily Politics show Andrew Neil asked UKIP leader Nigel Farage whether the party still supports a number of previous UKIP policies from their website and past manifestos. The results were interesting ...

Earlier this week a group of local residents who are not connected with any political party handed in a petition with a large number of signatures, calling for a referendum on a directely elected mayor for Copeland which would effectively replace the position of the present leader of Copeland Council. It is therefore very likely that there will be such a referendum later this year, possibly at the same time as the European elections in May. I welcome this opportunity for a real choice about the future of Copeland. There is objective evidence - particularly from Audit surveys commissioned by the last government, which was of the same political persuasion as the current majority on Copeland Council - that Copeland is one of the worst run councils in the country. A proper debate about alternative ways to try to make that council more effective and better representative of its' residents is long overdue. Congratulations to the people who put together this petition.

"Ed Miliband doesn't give a toss about business. He will say anything to get elected ... it's economic vandalism." (FTSE 100 Company Chairman speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, quoted on the front page of yesterday's "The Times" newspaper.)

Anyone considering voting Labour - and also, anyone who uses expressions like "LibLabCon" or otherwise expresses the belief that there is no difference between the three main parties - should have a hard think about the concerns expressed by senior business leaders on the front page and page two of The Times newpaper today. Chairmen, Chief executives and other senior managers in FTSE100 companies expressed in so many words their concern that Ed Miliband's policies might harm the recovery or even, quote, "Send the economy back into decline." A senior executive in a major company who had been a Labour party member for two decades resigned from the party last week citing Miliband's "intellectual Marxism." Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, one major company chairman said that "Ed Miliband doesn't give a toss about business. He will say anything to get elected ... it's economic vandalism." This reflects the general...

Drilling down into the regional employment figures released yesterday reveals that the positive picture for the UK as a whole was also good overall for the North West, but not for every part of the North West. There are still towns and districts where we need to do better. Over the North West as a whole, unemployment fell by 2,800 in the most recent monthly figures, which I have seen described in the press as the largest fall anywhere in the UK. In Cumbria the picture is mixed around the county, with unemployment falling in Carlisle, Eden and South Lakeland set against rises in Allerdale, Copeland and Barrow. Ginny Murphy, economic intelligence officer for Cumbria County Council told "in-cumbria" that    "the number of young claimants and the number of long term claimants both continue to fall.” While the rise in people in work over the country and the North West as a whole, and better opportunties foryoung people, are very good news, we need to pus...

A very interesting piece in today's Scotsman here from John McTernan who despite not being one, argues that it is time for the Scottish Conservatives themselves to stop apologising for Margaret Thatcher and move on, including taking credit for Tory achievements in Scotland. As he points out, without Margaret Thatcher, half of Scots would still live in council housing. And he adds that "The grovelling stops now. Go back to the long Scottish tradition of conservatism, name it and reclaim it.   "In 2001 Jean-Francois Richard, then vice-president of the World Bank, met me when I was head of policy for the Scottish Government. He observed that the economies that would prosper in the 21st century were those with strengths in banking, biosciences, energy, education and the environment. Scotland was, and is, a world beater in those fields (though falling behind badly in education).   "It is a leader not by chance but by choice. The choices of a UK government that sh...

I gather that the original heroes of Star Wars IV to VI, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, and Harrison Ford as Han Solo, are likely to return in a new episode set several decades after "Return of the Jedi." There have been a number of first rate books by top rank Science Fiction authors such as Roger MacBride Allen and Timothy Zahn set in the Star Wars Universe and I shall be watching to see if any of their ideas are used. Since Benedict Cumberbatch seems to be on a pretty incredible roll this year, with appearances as Sauron in "The Hobbit" and Khan Noonien Singh in "Star Trek" as well as a third series of Sherlock, I wonder if he might be the first major actor to get roles in both "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" films. Grand Admiral Thrawn, described as "arguably the greatest military genius the galaxy had ever known" is basically what a combination of "Sherlock" and Khan might look ...

"People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway. Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.” ( Kent M. Keith  )

The ONS has just released the latest unemployment figures and they are good news, both for Britain and for the people who have found work. Unemployment down by 24,000 in the month - the 14th consecutive monthly fall - and by 157,000 in the last three months. Employment is now at a record-breaking 30.15 million and is up 280,000 over the last quarter - the biggest quarterly rise on record and the largest number of people aged 16 or over in work on record. There are now 450,000 more people in work than a year ago. ONS statistics available here .

Nicky Morgan, one of my old friends from YC days and now a treasury minister, made some excellent points the other day that Conservatives need to emphasise the positive parts of our message more - it's important to say positive things about the people and policies we like as well as to criticise those we don't. Being a Conservative is about preserving things, not about hating everybody, and it is important not to give the contrary impression Paul Goodman wrote on Conservative Home here that " Nicky Morgan has a point " and I agree with him. Ironically, Melissa Kite in the Guardian wrote a piece in response to Nicky Morgan called Five ways to cheer up tories and kill off the 'nasty party.'  which I am pretty sure was supposed itself to be ironic but at least one or two of her five suggestions point the way to ideas worth taking up ...

"I am patient with stupidity, but not with those who are proud of it." ( Edith Sitwell )

The British economy is in far better shape than expected and the outlook has improved by more than any other major nation - according to the International Monetary Fund today. The global watchdog is raising its' prediction of gross domestic product growth in the UK this year to an increase by 2.4 per cent - considerably better than the 1.8 per cent it forecast just three months ago. The Washington-based Fund is also likely to nudge up its forecasts for the global economy but the upgrade for the UK is expected to be the biggest by far. More details available here.

"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its' limits." (Attributed to Albert Einstein )

"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand." ( Vince Lombardi )

But man, proud man, Dressed in a little brief authority, Most ignorant of what he's most assured, His glassy essence, like an angry ape Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven As makes the angels weep.   (William Shakespeare, line spoken by Isabella in "Measure for Measure")  

Alastair McAlpine, a former Conservative Party Treasurer and Deputy Chairman, and an aide to Margaret Thatcher, has died at the age of 71, his family has announced. Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted his thoughts were with his family, adding he was a "dedicated supporter of Margaret Thatcher and the Tory party". As well as a politician, the peer was an art collector, property developer, author and fundraiser. He was also part of the McAlpine construction dynasty. Former Conservative Party chairman, Lord Tebbit, told BBC News: "He was just a joy to be with because he always had something interesting to say. A man of enormously rich experiences of business, a very cultured man, he was very much interested in the arts, things of that kind, and also much travelled." He spent much of his life in public service and in an era when many people talked of the value of sincerity and integrity he was one of those who practiced it. Rest In Peace.

“One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.” ( Bryant McGill  )

Mark Wallace has an excellent piece on Conservative Home today here about how Ed Miliband's speech started by losing the taxpayer a billion pounds, and went downhill from there. As Mark pointed out, Miliband's badly-thought-through proposals for bank regulation, which were promptly criticised by the governor of the Bank of England, had the effect of wiping billions of pounds off their share price - including a £940 million off the value of shares currently owned by the taxpayer following the bank bail-out. As Mark says, "Labour leaders normally wait until they’re in Government before they cost taxpayers a fortune – Ed Miliband has achieved the dubious distinction of doing so while still in Opposition." (and that's after he has already put up the price of energy while in opposition.) Other highlights from the article: " ...the economy is once again eroding Labour’s narrative – having refused to apologise for their economic and fiscal mistakes, or...

I posted an article a few days ago about how a number of Conservatives - including myself - have come round to the view that a moderate above-inflation increase in the minimum wage - perhaps enough to restore it to the sort of real value it had in 2004 - might increase rather than decrease employment by increasing the differential between the rewards of work and being on benefits. It has been pointed out - quite correctly - that if you raise the minimum wage too high, you will price people out of work. But I don't think the British economy is currently in the place where a moderate rise will have that effect. Chancellor George Osborn has now said that he too agrees and has written giving this advice to the low pay commission, who actually set the minimum wage. Do you know the sad thing about this? Most of the press commentary has not been on whether Osborne is actually right - I happen to think he is dead on, but the press should be discussing the merits - but instead ...

There's never an ideal time for a vote or referendum either - for instance it's always an election year in some part of the European Union so you're never going to get a time when there isn't some government which needs to sign up to a deal but will be under great pressure ...

“Death, taxes and childbirth! There's never any convenient time for any of them.”   ( Margaret Mitchell , Gone with the Wind  )

“Wealth is not without its advantages and the case to the contrary, although it has often been made, has never proved widely persuasive. ”   (  John Kenneth Galbraith  )

“Our faith in freedom does not rest on the foreseeable results in particular circumstances but on the belief that it will, on balance, release more forces for the good than for the bad.”   ( Friedrich A. von Hayek  )

Judge Dean Spielmann, the head of the European Court of Human Rights (which is not part of the European Union) has suggested that Britain leaving the Council of Europe or resiling from the European Convention on Human Rights would be a disaster, "For everyone who is dedicated to the effective protection of human rights, not only in Europe but also in the rest of the world because we have a unique system of protecting human rights." In an interview for the BBC's HARDtalk programme , Judge Spielmann said: "It is of course a problem if a country with a long-standing tradition of protecting human rights - and I would like also to pay tribute to the work which is done by the UK in the rest of the world promoting human rights - that this country would not comply with the rule of law." Actually, I don't think it would be a very good thing either but let's be clear here, what did Britain join the ECHR to do? It was to stop serious wrongs being com...

UK inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index fell in December 2013 to the target level of 2% per annum for the first time since 2009. The Office of National Statistics said that the fall in the annual increase in CPI from 2.1% between November 2012 and November 2013, to 2.0% between December 2012 and December 2013, was caused by a combination of a reduced increase in the prices of food and drink, and by more aggressive Christmas discounting.  This was partly offset by higher energy and fuel prices. Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said he now expected inflation to stay close to its 2% target for "some time to come".

"Men of integrity are generally pretty obstinate in adhering to an opinion once adopted." (William Cobbett)

My friend Geoff Goodman, who I knew through my old school, passed away yesterday afternoon after a short illness. Most of the people who read this blog will not have heard of Geoff, but those from all over the world who were lucky enough to meet him will remember him. Geoff was not a young man but until his final illness suddenly struck just eight weeks ago he had the vigour and energy of someone two decades younger. He had one of the most wicked and unforgettable senses of humour of anyone I ever met and he was one of those who perfectly fit the expression "larger than life character." I am stunned that someone who was still so alive when I last met him can have been brought down so quickly. My condolences to his widow, Lesley, and daughters Julia and Caroline. Rest in Peace

"It's easy to maintain your integrity when no one is offering to buy it out." (Marc Maron)

This year the Swimathon foundation has linked in with Sport Relief and that is where the money raised by Swimathon 2014 will go The good causes being supported by Sport Relief  in Cumbria include * Age UK South Lakeland - Age UK South Lakeland supports isolated older people in the local area. The initiative recruits volunteers to serve on Village Action Groups and develop community-led initiatives and campaigns to bring the community together and improve services and facilities for older residents. * Forward Assist - About Turn Many armed forces veterans can experience post-traumatic stress disorder after being discharged from active service. About Turn offers them the opportunity to become qualified angling coaches, reducing the chance of them becoming homeless or turning to drugs or alcohol. Sport relief will be raising funds to help vulunerable people both in Britain and in many other countries of the world who are particularly in need of help, from elderly peo...

"If you love deeply, you're going to get hurt badly. But it's still worth it.”   ( C.S. Lewis  )

“Pessimists are usually right and optimists are usually wrong but all the great changes have been accomplished by optimists.”   ( Thomas L. Friedman  )

A few days ago I posted as a quote of the day the words "Everyone makes mistakes, but only a person with integrity owns up to them.” How apposite those words are to today's news. It is very sad, and deeply worrying, that a serving police officer should have lied about the then cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell. If a police officer can stitch up and bring down a cabinet minister with lies, what on earth can they do to the rest of us? I have a number of friends who are present or former police officers. Like, I am convinced, the vast majority of police officers they are men and women of enormous integrity who would never dream of fitting up an innocent person. The trouble is that it only takes one or two rotten apples to destroy the reputation of the whole barrel. The only good aspect of the whole sorry saga is that the truth eventually came out - and Michael Crick has risen very greatly in my estimation because of the role he played in ensuring that it di...

Great article here by Michael Dobbs who is introducing the Referendum Bill in the Lords. Michael describes the manouverings of those Labour and Lib/Dem Peers and MPs who want to stop the public having a say on Britain's membership of the EU, but who want to kill the referendum bill behind closed doors so that, quote, “What they don’t want to do – I don’t think anyone wants to do – is have their fingerprints on the dagger that kills it.” He compares these tactics with those of his fictional villain Francis Urquart (F.U.) from "House of Cards."

"To contract new debts is not the way to pay old ones." (GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to James Welch, Apr. 7, 1799)

I doubt if there was a pact between the Conservatives and Labour to "Quieten Down" Prime Minister's Questions this week. But an agreement that politicians should try to treat each other with a bit more respect would not entirely be a bad thing. There are a number of reasons why public respect for politicians is at an extremely low level. Some of it is because of behaviour by some politicians which, alas, does not deserve respect, of which this was the most recent example. However, most people involved in politics are not corrupt. The point about a democracy is that we all have one vote and if democracy is working properly those voters who also stand and run for office should in a real sense be seen as the equals of those who participate only as voters. "Pravda" like subservience to political leaders and Paxman-style disdain are neither of them particlarly healthy because it impedes proper debate whether politicians are seen as superior or if they are trea...

"I have long argued that paying down the national debt is beneficial for the economy: it keeps interest rates lower than they otherwise would be and frees savings to finance increases in the capital stock, thereby boosting productivity and real incomes." (ALAN GREENSPAN, speech, Apr. 27, 2001)

It will probably come as a surprise to many people that there is a body of support welling up within the Conservative party for an increase in the minimum wage. But although this may seem counterintuitive, there is a Conservative case to be made for such a policty. I was against the minimum wage when Blair introduced it, as were most Conservatives. In a pure free market the inevitable consequence of such a policy would be to increase unemployment by pricing some people out of work. In the rather different market which actually exists, I was afraid that the minimum wage would be set too high and have the same effect. But in the intervening decade things have moved on. Probably because of concerns about this very issue by the people who set it, the minimum wage has never been hiked to a level which would have priced material numbers of people out of a job. Pure "free market capitalist" economies and pure state run "command" economies have never existed in the re...

"The burden of the national debt consists not in its being so many millions, or so many hundred millions, but in the quantity of taxes collected every year to pay the interest. If this quantity continue the same, the burden of the national debt is the same to all intents and purposes, be the capital more or less." (THOMAS PAINE, Rights of Man)

In a post yesterday I said that there are many excellent reasons not to vote for Nigel Farage, but guilt by association comparisons were not among them. Today he has provided a much better reason not to trust him with your vote with his suggestion that Britain should implement a five year absolute ban on giving permanent right of residence to people coming to this country. We do need to reduce the levels of immigration but massive swings in policy from one oversimplified extreme to the other is exactly what Britain needs to get away from. Ironically it is the same sort of thing which Labour, who Farage rightly criticises, did when they were in office. The criticism of the last Labour government that they encouraged very high and unsustainable levels of immigration which caused serious harm to social cohesion and put a significant strain on some public services is true but incomplete. Labour were also criticised in some quarters and at...

“Do not accustom yourself to consider debt only as an inconvenience; you will find it a calamity.” (Samuel Johnson)  

Cardinal Richelieu is supposed to have said "Qu’on me donne six lignes de la main du plus honnête homme, j’y trouverai de quoi le faire pendre" usually translated as something like “If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him” And one of the easiest ways to prove the cardinal right is to condemn someone through guilt by association - for example, comparing the policies of the person you want to attack with something beyond the pale, such as Adolf Hitler's nazis or Enoch Powell's "Rivers of Blood" speech. If someone says something offensive or xenophobic, then by all means criticise them for what they have actually said, but you should never need to use guilt by association. Hitler is rightly loathed because he started one of the most terrible wars in history and because he was a racist and antisemite who murdered six million Jews and millions of other people including...

Chancellor George Osborne writes ... "I've just given a speech setting out the long-term economic plan that the Conservatives are working through." "Our economic plan builds a stronger, more competitive economy and secures a better future for Britain by: Reducing the deficit so we deal with our debts, safeguard our economy for the long term and keep mortgage rates low Cutting income taxes and freezing fuel duty to help hardworking people feel more financially secure Creating more jobs by backing small business and enterprise with better infrastructure and lower jobs taxes Capping welfare and reducing immigration so our economy delivers for people who want to work hard and play by the rules Delivering the best schools and skills for young people so the next generation can succeed in the global race The plan is working. For the first time in a long while, there's a real sense that Britain is on the rise. But it's far too soon to say job don...

Simon Hoggart, who died of cancer today at the age of 67, was  an immensely funny man whose parliamentary sketches in the Guardian and Punch must have made what was going on in the House of Commons accessible and of interest to many people who otherwise would not have bothered. He managed to criticise MPs in a way which was often both insightful and sympathetic, pointing out their faults in a way which was likely to inspire understanding rather than hatred. That must have been good for the health of democracy and he will be missed. Rest in Peace.

Hat tip to political betting at   http://www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2014/01/03/how-strong-political-views-can-impact-on-our-ability-to-analyse-data/ for an American article which attempted to provided objective and measurable evidence that people are more likely to make mistakes in their mathematical calculations if the result of those mistakes is to reinforce rather than contradict their strongly held views. As a statistician I have significant concerns about the way the results of the study are presented, so I would not take the results as gospel. In particular the suggestion that people were 18% more likely to get a calculation wrong if this reinforced their personal particular opinions is rather oversimpllified on the evidence quoted. Nor would I agree that if the study is right - and the jury is well and truly out on that - it would only prove that "politics ruin our ability to think." Any other set of strong opinions, be it about a...

“A hundred wagon loads of thoughts will not pay a single ounce of debt.” (Italian Proverb)  

I didn't catch the name of the female member of the panel who were reviewing the papers today on the BBC News channel. I was not tremendously impressed with her - she described the NHS as suffering "savage cuts" when in fact the NHS is one of only two areas of government spending which the present government has protected in real terms. She referred to the "coalition government" as "underfunding" the NHS which presents at least two problems 1) To describe any given level as "underfunding" and for that statement to be meaningful you have to define a level of funding you would regard as adequate, and as demand for NHS spending is for practical purposes infinite I don't believe this can be done, and 2) singling out the coalition government spending on the NHS as inadequate when Labour's shadow secretary of state, Andy Burnham, said that the present government was irresponsible in NOT cutting the NHS is a little slanted to say the l...

"If the Nation is living within its income, its credit is good. If, in some crises, it lives beyond its income for a year or two, it can usually borrow temporarily at reasonable rates. But if, like a spendthrift, it throws discretion to the winds, and is willing to make no sacrifice at all in spending; if it extends its taxing to the limit of the peoples power to pay and continues to pile up deficits, then it is on the road to bankruptcy." F.D. Roosevelt

“One of the greatest disservices you can do a man is to lend him money that he can’t pay back.” (Jesse Jones)  

“A small debt produces a debtor; a large one, an enemy.” (Publilius Syrus)  

" Freedom is a possession of inestimable value. " ( Marcus Tullius Cicero )

“You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once.”   ( Robert A. Heinlein  )

“It’s a New Year – and for Britain there can only be one New Year’s resolution… …to stick to the long-term plan that is turning our country around. When we came to office, our economy was on its knees.  Three and a half years later, we are turning a corner.   We see it in the businesses that are opening up, the people who are getting decent jobs, the factories that are making British goods and selling them to the world again. The plan is working.  That’s why this year, 2014, we are not just going to stick to the plan – we are going to re-double our efforts to deliver every part of it, to benefit the whole country and secure a better future for everyone. We’ll continue with the vital work on the deficit. We’ve reduced it by a third already… …and this year we will continue that difficult work, to safeguard our economy for the long-term, keep mortgage rates low and help families across Britain. We’re going to keep on doing everything possible to help hardw...