Monthly Archives: June 2013

The recent report from the British Geological Survey at Keyworth in Nottinghamshire on the extent of shale gas potential in the UK suggests that the Bowland Shale formation in the Northwest could be as big as the enormous Marcellus field … Continue reading →

I wrote recently about the EU’s plans for “ILUC” – that is, taking account of “Indirect Land Use Change” when assessing the emissions savings achieved by biofuels.  On June 19th, I attended a sandwich lunch organised by OxFam, where we … Continue reading →

A few weeks back I had the pleasure of joining a panel at the Durham University Union for a Question-Time-style debate.  On the panel was Rebecca Taylor, whom I now know to be a Lib-Dem MEP representing Yorkshire. She entered the parliament … Continue reading →

Last December the Commission published a report on auto emissions which seems to me to be fairly explosive, yet so far as I know it got remarkably little publicity. Over the last ten years, the official figures for auto emissions … Continue reading →

  The EU has its 20-20-20 energy policy, which sets eye-watering and unachievable targets for renewables and emissions reductions by 2020, and is driving the stampede to wind and solar power in Europe.  The British government has taken this further … Continue reading →

More than a decade ago, Ken Clarke and his fellow €urophiles were warning us that unless we joined the €uro, our economy would be wrecked.  Financial services would move en masse to Frankfurt.  Foreign investors would shun us.  We should … Continue reading →

June 6th found me reading the Financial Times (sigh of relief from readers tired of me quoting the Telegraph!).  I was on a plane, and it was the only English-language paper they had, apart from the New York Times. The … Continue reading →

For years now we’ve been vilifying that banks.  It’s easy to get an audience howling with rage if you say what dreadful people bankers are — and howling with approval if you propose punitive measures against them. It is true … Continue reading →

I have to confess that I haven’t spent a great deal of time studying the Iran question, or looking at the long and tortuous attempts at negotiation over their nuclear programme.  I just know what everybody else knows, from occasional … Continue reading →

Following the Patrick Mercer scandal (and the House of Lords events) we’ve heard a lot about lobbying, and in some sections of the media, it’s being presented in wholly negative terms.  Wicked and unprincipled industrial interests subvert democracy to undermine … Continue reading →

Paul Oakden, who runs my UK Office in Market Harborough, recently received a call (I don’t think he got the name of the caller) whose opening gambit was “Is your boss an idiot?”.  I understand that Paul’s immediate response was … Continue reading →

I always have the greatest respect for the observations of our greatest living statesman (and National Treasure) Tony Blair, so I was struck by his comments on the prospect of an EU referendum.  He said (more or less and so … Continue reading →

Dear Tim, I was delighted, not to say surprised, by your change of heart on man-made climate change, after all your years of campaigning for green orthodoxy.  You have announced that climate change (what little there is of it) is not … Continue reading →

  I recently met Phil Johnson, an old friend and campaigner for smokers’ rights who was, with bitter irony, struck down by throat cancer. One tends to infer cause and effect, though there are other reasons people get throat cancer: … Continue reading →

Last Friday I visited a company in Lincoln, Welvent Limited, who are agricultural storage specialists.  Large volumes of agricultural products like wheat or potatoes frequently require storage under controlled conditions of low temperature and humidity.  Welvent equips farm buildings essentially … Continue reading →