Monthly Archives: August 2014

Westminster was stunned on Friday when Douglas Carswell left the Tories to join UKIP, resigned his seat, and triggered a by-election.  And I must admit I was stunned this morning when I saw the headline in the Mail: SHOCK POLL: … Continue reading →

That old canard that “97% of scientists support Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW)” is cropping up again in social media, parroted cheerfully without critical analysis, so I’ve been drawing attention to my rebuttal on the subject.  This was based on Lord … Continue reading →

A question which I used to be asked frequently runs as follows: “If a single currency works in a huge economy like the USA, why on earth do you think a single currency won’t work in the EU?”. I must … Continue reading →

Alex Salmond: “A Head full of Wee Toys — and all of them broken” I have known Edward Spalton for many years, both as a constituent and now as Hon Sec of the Campaign for an Independent Britain: a man of … Continue reading →

With Latvian Soprano Sonora Vaice, who sang Violetta in Traviata The world is going to hell in a hand-cart.  A landslide tragedy in Hiroshima.  A new War with Islamist brigands in Iraq.  Refugees fleeing to Syria, or anywhere they can … Continue reading →

I have a high regard for John Hayes MP, whom I have known for many years.  But I fear his piece on immigration (Aug 11th) relied too much on rose-tinted spectacles and wishful thinking, rather than the facts as they … Continue reading →

  A managed immigration policy would facilitate asylum Generally speaking I have a high regard for journalist and commentator, Fraser Nelson, who is frequently a beacon of common sense.  However I did feel that a piece he wrote for The … Continue reading →

A new theme has emerged for opponents of shale gas.  The argument goes like this: fossil fuel companies engaged in the shale gas business in the USA are losing money.  They’ve invested more in the industry than they’ve recovered.  This … Continue reading →

Peter Oborne in Tuesday’s Daily Telegraph fires off a  robust tirade against the Nanny State – plain packaging for cigarettes, health warnings on wine bottles.  Bravo, Peter!  UKIP agrees with you. There is a growing mood of opposition in the UK … Continue reading →

Following a recent blog piece, one of my regular (and not always sympathetic) correspondents “Catalanbrian” raised a complaint that I hear all too often: that UKIP has ‘only one policy’  To be fair, another contributor, “Flyinthesky”, pointed out the obvious … Continue reading →

  Before the First World War, the Germans developed an exceptionally large artillery piece which was generally known as “Big Bertha” — the name widely regarded as an unkind reference to Bertha Krupp, heiress and owner of the Krupp industrial … Continue reading →

With Newt Gingrich in Dallas Last week at the ALEC Conference in Dallas I was delighted to be able to meet New York Times best-selling author (and prominent politician) Newt Gingrich, and to attend the plenary breakfast event at which … Continue reading →

  Meeting with Texas Governor Rick Perry in Dallas While in Dallas last week at the ALEC Conference, I had the pleasure and privilege of meeting Texas Governor and 2012 Presidential candidate Rick Perry.  I Tweeted the photograph, only to … Continue reading →

In the (replica) Oval Office at the George W. Bush Presidential Centre in Dallas I’ve been working with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) on and off for ten years or so.  I was introduced to ALEC by my former … Continue reading →

Boris Johnson at the wheel The UK tax code is notoriously complex.  As long ago as 2009 we had the longest tax code in the world – read the Telegraph story here –  and it’s only got worse since then.  Everyone agrees … Continue reading →