Monthly Archives: June 2012

(or “Bill Newton Dunn falls off his perch”) Back in 1999, the East Midlands Conservative euro-team was discussing which Winnie-the-Pooh character they’d most like to be associated with.  Bill Newton Dunn said he liked to think of himself as the Wise Old … Continue reading →

Yesterday I attended a hearing on the future for gas, organised by ALDE — the Liberal Group in the European parliament.  An aside: most of ALDE is, in fact, fairly liberal, and pro-free-market.  So our UK Lib-Dems are a square … Continue reading →

For years, I’ve regularly quoted figures on the costs and benefits of our membership of the European Union.  Not my figures, but those of former EU Commissioners Verheugen and Mandelson. Günther Verheugen, who was a Vice-President of the Commission and … Continue reading →

It happens over and over: some important person goes to Number Ten clutching his notes in full view of the waiting press-men.  Now it’s happened again.  The hapless victim this time was David Sands, CEO of Standard Chartered.  And we … Continue reading →

“Onshore Wind”, BiGGAR Report Great way to spend an evening.  Last night over dinner I started reading this report, or at least the Executive Summary.  I feared that the other seventy pages of detail and statistics might have impinged on … Continue reading →

  On Friday, I was privileged to visit the British Geological Survey, at Keyworth in Nottinghamshire.  My main interests were to get a clear understanding of the potential for shale gas in the UK, and also to understand better the … Continue reading →

On Sunday, I was at the Blaston Hound Show at Slawston, near Market Harborough.  I am a minor sponsor.  An annual event, the show attracted entries from hunts up and down the country. Last year, 2011, the weather had been … Continue reading →