Whatever you think about the decision over Brexit, you cannot be enamoured by the way the process has gone since the referendum. This has not been the United Kingdom’s finest hour. On reflection, much of the confusion lies within the process. On the face of it the referendum seemed quite clear. This is what it … Continue reading Just leave
A government of national unity
These are difficult times. We seem to be locked in a political bind with no solution. Endless argument lead to endless division. But wait, there is a possible solution - a government of national unity. According to Wikipedia, a government of national unity is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major … Continue reading A government of national unity
The will of the people
The use of the phrase ‘The will of the people’ is a political ruse, a card trick or a leger de main. It is an abuse of the political system that we live under and is being used to distort the very thing that the politicians using it are railing against. Let me explain. In … Continue reading The will of the people
Unproportional representation
Proportional representation is a an electoral system in which parties gain seats in proportion to the number of votes cast for them, rather than our first past the post system where the individual with the most votes, irrespective of the number in relation to the size of the electorate gets into power. It has always … Continue reading Unproportional representation
Genetic discrimination
‘Sapiens, a brief history of mankind’ is such an interesting book. I have just finished listening to Yuval Noah Harari’s work, through an audiobook on my longer driving journeys. It has made me think very hard about what it means to be human and has challenged a lot of my assumptions. I plan to listen … Continue reading Genetic discrimination
World values day
World Values Day, October 18, was a busy day for me this year. I started at the Socitm North conference in Darlington, spent some time with a potential infrastructure provider and ended up at the Dynamites 18 awards dinner in Newcastle. Before then I attended the latest North East Initiative on Business Ethics event at … Continue reading World values day
The world according to me
I used to think of myself as a liberal, of the bleeding heart kind until I read ‘Sapiens, A Brief History of Humankind’, or rather listened to the audio book by Yuval Noah Harari. What made me stop and think, figuratively rather than literally as I was driving at the time, was that liberalism included … Continue reading The world according to me
Party politics
Over the last few weeks we have been witness to a perfect example of why party politics is bad. It is a distortion of our democracy yet it has been around for so long that we think it is an inevitable consequence of the democratic process. Perhaps it is, yet it prevents us from having … Continue reading Party politics
Nation state
The nation state is reaching the end of its relevance. Soon it will be replaced and will be relegated to history in the same way as tribes, clans, city states and empires. What will take its place I do not know. A nation state is a sovereign state, recognised in international law and represented by … Continue reading Nation state
Feeling proud
To be proud means having a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction as a result of one's own achievements. Does this mean then that you cannot be proud of something that is not of your own making? Does this include where you were born? Where you are born is something that you have no choice … Continue reading Feeling proud