Bruges Group Blog

Our new First Lord of the Treasury, Andy Burnham, became the latest in a rapidly growing line of Prime Ministers which, these days, they are coming and going more frequently than the 39 bus service! He was voted into power by just 24,927 voters in the Makerfield constituency who represent just a tiny fraction of the total electorate for the whole o...

During my time in UKIP, one of my duties was as the Chairman of my local branch in Walsall, one of our members, living locally, was, at the time, from New Zealand and was living in the town. He has since returned to his antipodean home and these days we keep in touch by e-mail. He is quite an active and very likeable character and often includes se...

The book launch yesterday evening was a great success and well attended. Special guests were the historian David Starkey and ex MEP David Campbell Bannerman. The stock of books was not enough to satisfy demand and many placed online orders at the event. There was an abundance of food and everyone enjoyed the wine from the Kentish estate of Silverha...

Prime Minister Question Time in Parliament these days is now little more than a farcical show which few, in reality, can take seriously. Like much damage done to the UK, our democracy, traditions and way of life, the blame for the dumbing down of PMQ's lands at the meddling hands of Tony Blair who was the Prime Minister who did immense damage to th...

This week we have seen our supposed apolitical police force abandon the pretence of being an unbiased organisation, treating everyone equally in the name of law and order, and witnessed a young man, dying of wounds inflicted by a lying criminal, being arrested and handcuffed by officers whose minds have been so corrupted by the brainwashing, to whi...

 What is it about Nigel Farage that makes people fall out with him yet at the same time he never seems to fall out with them? I first met Nigel in in 1999 as a member of the newly introduced UKIP Regional Committees, when serving on the West Midlands Regional Committee and we were given the job of preparing for UKIP's very first two day confer...

 A hit song of 1969, written by Peter Sarstedt, contains the lines "But where do you go to my lovely, when you're alone in your bed? Tell me the thoughts that surround you, I want to look inside your head, yes I do", and I often feel that it is a pertinent question that might be asked of the woke who so dominate public debate at the moment. Do...

 A brutal murder has taken place, the victim lies dead, bloodied, bruised and bludgeoned over many years of continual abuse eventually succumbing. So who shall solve this horrible crime? However, it does not need the likes of Hercule Poirot and his little grey cells, nor the forensic investigation of Sherlock Holmes or the thoughtful considera...

As a lad I would often hear people blame the Jews for many things, being young I did not question this. At the age of fifteen I left school and began a two year City & Guilds gents hairdressing course at my local technical college, where, once again I began to hear negative comments and not very clever jokes about Jews. Again I never really que...

 Thanks to the current dire financial state of the UK, caused by the usual failure of a socialist government to understand basic economics, coupled with their usual idiotic ideology, we once again hear the siren voices of those who never accepted the result of the 2016 referendum, and are now calling for the country to rejoin the EU. Clearly t...

 It is sad to say that many people, especially the young and gullible, take in and believe all the guff endlessly spewed out about global warming and the impossibility of net zero, especially on the BBC. Sadly, those who get taken in by this nonsense who then think they are doing the right thing by voting for the Green Party, don't seem to rea...

 A week before Christmas in 1968 I turned 21 and from that moment I was eligible to vote, which ironically was around the time Parliament began making plans to reduce the voting age to 18. My first time I could vote was in the May 1969 local elections, I went to vote with my dear old dad in the local church hall and, as I did for many years af...

.In 2026, in any civilised country, Atefeh Sahaaleh should be thirty-seven years old, perhaps a successful career woman, or maybe a mother, yet it was her misfortune to have been born into Iran, a nation dominated by primitive, medieval brutes, whose interpretation of their religion dictates that women are to be treated as vastly inferior to men, a...

By Derek Bennet & Michael Wood  News of Andrew Mountbatten-Winsor's arrest due to his links to Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison accused of paedophilia and other related crimes, has potentially done great damage to our Monarchy. With the loss of our wonderful Queen Elizabeth II on the 8th September 2022, who's reign spanned 70 years...

In the short time he has (unfortunately) been our Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer has managed to acquire quite a good collection of nicknames. They range from: 'The nasal knight', 'Free gear Keir', 'Starmer the farmer harmer' and 'Never here Keir', which is quite appropriate as he has spent a large part of his Premiership out of the country. His l...

To adapt the My Fair Lady song, "Why can't a Yankee be more like a Brit?" It was fun watching Andrew Neil sizzling ever hotter on X as President Trump spoke at Davos - "If the folks at Davos had a spine they'd be walking out en masse now. Leaving him to an empty room." Neil seems to prefer the English habit of cautious precision, apology and unders...

Despite the best efforts of clinicians, the weight of bureaucracy is rendering the NHS unable to function. Doctors are obliged to waste time filling in endless documents, while staff are subjected to constant nonsense from that non profession HR. Apparently endless numbers of so-called managers appoint each other to obscenely well paid posts, while...

Recent events have made me think of two quotes from the past, Harold Wilson's "A week is a long time in politics", and "The World turned upside down" from an English ballad of the English Civil War. There are many reasons why I consistently supported Trump's reelection: the war on waste, the reining in of the various bureaucratic groups who overrod...

In my previous article, kindly published on this Bruges Group site, I wrote about and reproduced the letter I sent to Prime minister Starmer with my total opposition to the introduction of digital I.D. cards, which I see as a tool of the police state. I also mentioned that I had not received a reply to my letter, which was sent immediately Starmer ...

The wonderful Spike Milligan titled his book in which he wrote about his time serving in the army during WWII: 'Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall'. As a young man I read this and other books by him, as a lad growing up with the Goon Show on the wireless I loved his irrelevant humour, so in honour to him, I have decided to show the letter I wrot...

By Gully Foyle author of "75 Brexit Benefits: Tangible Benefits from The UK Having Left The European Union"  on sale now at Amazon The British Public are United More Than We Believe – For National Sovereignty In early August of this year, the usual pro-EU outlets and speakers were yet again all over the media with their latest p...

By Gully Foyle author of "75 Brexit Benefits: Tangible Benefits from The UK Having Left The European Union" BUY at AMAZON When I started to write my book back in October/November 2024, one of the things I kept hearing time and time again was that there was no useful reference material for pro-Brexit advocates to refer to, no single place ...

The year 2025 came to a close with another massive show of force against Taiwan by its aggressive and combative neighbour, China. Acting under the orders of its megalomaniac president for life, Xi Jinping, PLA forces (army, navy and air force) demonstrated their strength to an embattled island nation of 23 million people which has endured years of ...

Although I can clearly recognise the malevolent agendas of the far left, I also frequently feel obliged to respond to letters in my local newspapers from those who are often sincere and well-meaning, but also incredibly naive. A number propose that we do not arm ourselves in the face of the threats presented by our enemies, but instead rely upon di...

Those of my generation may very well remember the hit song 'Three steps to Heaven' by Eddie Cochran, released in 1960. Now however I believe that we face three steps to Hell which, if they are taken by our society, will see the total destruction of the right to privacy, and make it impossible for anyone to live a quiet, anonymous life free of super...

Much ink has been spilt in recently over what would have happened to the economy if Britain had voted to remain. For all the publicity this has generated, this question is purely academic. As fans of 90's films Sliding Doors and The Butterfly effect can attest, when you make even one tiny change to your starting conditions, what comes next is total...

The recent revelations about the behaviour of the BBC in relation to Donald Trump are merely the tip of the iceberg, and those of us who have been pointing out the blatant bias shown by this organisation over many years have been totally vindicated. It is alarming that BBC lies have angered the leader of our greatest ally, putting our alliance at r...

There's more than a good chance I have told this old joke here before, it was told to me by my father when I was a lad after visiting 'Speakers Corner' in Hyde Park. A Socialist speaker, standing on his soap box addressing the gathered throng shouted out: "When my party is in power you will all have lots of money". A little chap at the back of the ...

In the face of lies, ignorance, and abuse, those of us who recognised the essentially undemocratic nature of the EU, and the path down which it was leading us towards bureaucratic dictatorship persevered, and eventually, in the 2016 referendum, we triumphed. Of course since then those who desire control by Brussels bureaucrats to governance by our ...

Remember the Rwanda plan? This was, as we all know, the then Conservative Government plan to stop the armada of rubber dinghies crossing the Channel full of illegal immigrants who, by destroying all their I.D. on the way here, committed an illegal act and thus made themselves criminals rather than genuine asylum seekers. Sadly, despite being loosel...

We are delighted that Facts 4 EU have given us permission to republish this vitally important research https://facts4eu.org/news/2025_nov_vote_control Here is the future the UK escaped, as Commission starts to take over elections in member countriesWith new autocratic power grab, the thought of a totalitarian bloc on our doorstep is chill...

There is no question that the House of Windsor feels under pressure, and rightly so. Our monarchy has lost sight of its historic underpinning based on the 1689 Bill of Rights, the too-often overlooked settlement of the governance of England following the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688." While people seem to know about Magna Carta and invariably...

Personally, I am wary of making the case for Brexit based on the Brexit wins that have already been made, such as niche trade statistics. The reason is that, for most British people, life has got considerably worse since 2016. They are poorer, sicker, more anxious and less safe than a decade ago. That is not to say Brexit is to blame. However, the ...

Labour positioned itself as a party of technocrats, but the small boats deal shows they have no clue what they're doing, writes Eliot Wilson  Last week, the Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys, concluded between the UK and France in July, came into force. It is the government's latest attempt to tackle the number of migrants cros...

For those of us who were born and grew up in days when freedom of speech and debate on topics were considered a fundamental right, and a proud part of British democracy, who are these days are saddened and dismayed as these once inalienable freedoms are being dismantled, one by one. We live in despair and frustration watching the actions of those d...

The Conservative Party's Moment of Reckoning Today, the Conservative Party faces the real prospect of extinction. After years of broken promises and internal psychodrama, public trust has collapsed. In both national and local elections, voters have overwhelmingly turned their backs on us. The 2024 General Election saw tactical voting on an unpreced...

Rebuilding Britain's Future Through Duty, Discipline, and Shared Purpose Britain is coming apart at its seams. Our social fabric is fraying, our political discourse is increasingly extreme, and many young people no longer feel pride in their country. Against this backdrop, the idea of National Service — recently dismissed as outdated — deserves a s...

By  Christopher Gill As a Christian and also as a fervent believer in the vital importance and inestimable value of free speech I am more than a little concerned about the prospect of legislation being introduced to give Islam protections that are not enjoyed by any other religion in modern Britain. In point of fact the common law offences of ...

 There was a wonderful moment at the one and only Referendum Party conference, held over one day in Brighton during October 1996. This was my first ever political conference, I was there with my wife, Linda, and feeling very proud of myself as I had literally been selected as a Referendum Party Parliamentary candidate three days prior to the c...

Applications have opened for the position of a chief engineer in a highly technical post in the aerospace industry, those applying need specialist knowledge of all aspects of the industry and vast experience in how to get these highly specified projects underway, including how to create new innovations in this specialist work. So how should the bes...

 To paraphrase a saying from the Second World War, when some citizens seemed blissfully ignorant: 'there's a revolution on, you know!' Throughout my lifetime there has been no major war, but by stealth there has been a radical overturning of conventional society and its institutions and norms. This has now reached a Woke crescendo, and in Orwe...

A Front Row Seat at the End of History  c FreedomPut simply, A Front Row Seat at the End of History is a collection of essays by academics Michael (M.L.R) Smith and David Martin Jones, most written collaboratively, over the course of a quarter of a century. It spans topics from international relations, Brexit and the decline of the West, to th...

K J Millard, author of 'Charlie and the Spitfire', released this week on 7th May, talks of her experiences of growing up with her grandparents' memories of the Second World War.  I was born in an era when the tumultuous events of the Second World War were still, very much, living memory. Sunday afternoons would always be shared with my grandpa...

 t's always the little things that make you stop and wonder. For me, it was the moment in the 1980s when the noble, dignified two tone klaxon of British emergency vehicles began its tragic extinction, replaced by the unhinged wailing of electronic sirens straight out of an American cop show. Supposedly, these newfangled noisemakers were better...

By Michael Rainsborough Reading Between the Lies   So, what does my SAR file expose about 'them'—and the entire mess? If you're determined enough to dig, there are some nuggets of truth buried under layers of nonsense. It's essentially like discovering the draft of a painfully bad novel: a lot of cringe-worthy drivel that only underscores...

By Michael Rainsborough   The Rise of the Dark Lord Had the Free Speech Union had been around back then, I would, no doubt, have stormed in with lawyers, righteous indignation and the soundtrack of Rambo (First Blood, not the later lesser movies). When I spoke with the Dean again the following week, I reiterated my disagreement with his facile...

By  Michael Rainsborough But I am mulling over of the idea of the GDR as an article of faith. Communism, at least of the East German variety, was a closed system of belief. It was a universe in a vacuum, complete with its own hells and heavens, its punishments and redemptions meted out right here on earth. Many of the punishments were simply f...

 There is an obvious clash of which one of two objectives will, inevitably, have to give way as neither can survive side by side. The two objectives are the continuous push for growth from both businesses and Governments and protecting the environment, only one can win. If growth wins this means populations will have to continuously rise, resu...

The EU has been busy making announcements on defence funding and Ukraine, so it would appear that the EU wanted to do these announcements first and allow Kubilius's programme to be a footnote. It is convenient for the EU to do it in this order as the EU would have appeared rather introspective if it had done Kubilius's mostly internally-focussed pa...

The Conservative Party is still in crisis despite the deep unpopularity of the relatively new Starmer-led Government and of himself and some of his chief ministers. The Opposition should be riding high and scoring points easily, but such was the deep disenchantment with the last Conservative government that led to loyal party members and activists ...

Despite being a lifelong pessimist and sceptic even I am astounded at how quickly has the Labour Party broken promises, and alarmed at their attack on free speech, and even free thought, in this country. The government, led by a humourless, robotic lawyer and bureaucrat, has empowered the Blob which dominates so much of our public services, made cl...

What's the best way to destroy a project? The simple answer is to put a person or persons in charge who hate and are totally opposed to that project—that way failure is assured. From the 1st February 2020, the very first day Britain was officially set free from the EU's bureaucratic clutches, there were claims that Brexit was not working even befor...

Ariane Loening's Inquiry is detailed in her book published by the Bruges Group. It is available on Amazon In this article Ariane describes the background to her work. I started to investigate the issue of rural Bengali women's disadvantage after living in West Bengal for several years, having learnt Bengali and qualified and practised in rural area...

Kevin's leg, or lack of a leg, is currently the big topic of discussion in the Lyndon where we go for a lunchtime pint and chat with friends. Kevin, who is the youngest of our group, has been having problems for a few years. First it was decided, after various treatments by his medics, that he needed a partial amputation of his foot, then in recent...

This article written by Chris Morrison is the Daily Sceptic's Environment Editor. is reproduced with permission https://dailysceptic.org/2025/01/21/mps-to-consider-bill-likely-to-cause-mass-starvation-death-disease-and-societal-collapse-in-near-future/ This Friday, January 24th, the UK Parliament is due to vote on a Private Member's Bill that could...

.According to the Met Office we have just experienced the coldest January temperatures for 15 years. I wonder how much colder it has to get to satisfy the Greenies among us. Our national news media have been claiming that 2024 was the hottest year on record and that it was over 1.5 degrees C above the pre industrial norms. How accurate is this clai...

The mortar is the global south. Ironically for all its anti-colonialist rhetoric and claim to speak for the global south, an empire ('of free trade' at least) appears to be under construction, or an unequal association with eventually its own currency and foreign policy. Of particular concern is the presence of the China, Russia, Iran axis at the t...

In 2025, the Starmer Government will place the UK under EU rule in the key policy areas of foreign affairs and defence A December 2024 headline states: 'EU leaders warn Trump it's bad timing for a Ukraine deal'. Subsequent headlines have said the same - the EU is actually seeking to dissuade the US from ending the Ukraine war. Why would they do thi...

 1. The Labour Government intends to conclude a 'defence and security pact' ('The Pact') with the EU next year and the likelihood is 'almost certain'. No events which would prevent this pact are currently anticipated. The only factors which might delay or even prevent would be UK public outrage which would require public awareness and/or US Go...

 Yet another COP event and yet more insanity and hypocrisy, not least from our Prime Minister who, by promising his eco pals at the COP 29 event which, after most of the delegates flying in from all over the globe in their private jets, with tables groaning under the weight of expensive food and drinks, as well as all the hot air, these events...

Many waves of world revolution find their common beginning in the "shot heard 'round the world" on the April 19, 1775 at Lexington and Concord. An intellectual contagion would sweep through France (1789), Haiti (1804), and the rest of the American Hemisphere carrying the good news of the rights of man, modernity, and rationalism as opposed to obscu...

                              "The Truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it. Ignorance may deride it, malice may distort it, but there it is."  Winston S. Churchill, The Truth is Incontrovertible, (International Churchill Society; https://winstonchrchill.org/resou...

On October 3, Boris Johnson shared with The Telegraph his assessment that Donald Trump would have stopped Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine—a striking indictment of the current leadership vacuum in Washington under Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. Johnson's claim should be a clarion call to any American voters who care about the West's geopolitical ...

We are in the second stage of Blair reforms. The dark shadow of the former PM hangs over the new Labour administration. This Blairite legacy was always about 'constitutional reform', Supreme Court, devolved powers and field sports were their aspiration. It was something to excite the Labour membership's turgid mentality. Now in 2024 with a big Comm...

 When I wrote the article: 'How to destroy a country' for this esteemed blog, I meant it to be seen as a warning. Sadly, from their actions, it appears our Labour Government have used it as an instruction manual, they have taken the art of wrecking this nation to frightening new heights. During the run up to the July 4th general election Sir K...

Starmer's government has saddled up for a full Parliamentary session but the question of Labour's legitimation remains. This is not merely a new administration but one with a comprehensive socialist plan it wishes to implement. The potential impact of 'Golden' Brown's grand strategy on our constitutional arrangements is arguably far greater than th...

 I know the dangers of forming political opinions with a barman over a cold beer. I was in France's Perigord, normally a tourist hotspot. The mill-leat outside was busy with gushing water in stark contrast to bar trade. The barman told me that the season was catastrophic after such a wet early summer, then the French elections, European footba...

The Conservative Party has not had much luck in choosing leaders. The first to be elected by ballot, rather than appointed, was Edward Heath and we can debate how successful that choice was for national sovereignty or otherwise another time. The most recent term of Conservative government contains the stream of ineffective leaders the Party did not...

Very few people would have heard of the obscure American politician, Dick Tuck, but many may remember his famous quote after he lost the 1962 Senate Primary election, he said: "The people have spoke - the ba….d's". Those who follow political history will know that all Labour Governments are bad, they tax and regulate far too much and always end up ...

"I beg your pardon," they never promised us a rose garden, but they did. The new Labour government is unravelling and blaming it on everyone but themselves, but mostly on the last government, the members of which seem strangely silent for an Opposition whose job it is to oppose. 'Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party'. Th...

Just a week before Christmas in 1947 I came into the world by cesarean operation in the long gone Loveday Street hospital in Birmingham. My home with my parents, Bert and Rose, was at the bottom of a yard where I then spent the next seven years of my life until my parents managed to organise a mortgage to buy their first house. Like many places aro...

The candidates for the Conservative leadership have been announced and are each hoping to be in the final two to be voted on by the membership. Why the Parliamentary Party ultimately get to restrict that choice is neither here nor there. It was in comparatively recent history that they themselves were not given that choice, but the leader was appoi...

 There are three certainties that come with every Labour Government, these are: Labour always raise and find new ways to tax the population, they are hypocrites and every Labour Government has left office leaving the country in one hell of a mess. Sadly, nothing will deviate from this statement regarding our newly elected Socialist masters. As...

Not since the assassination attempt of the late US President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C., has there been an attempt on the life of a president or presidential nominee prior to last week. A 20-year-old male with no criminal history borrowed his father's rifle, made his way onto the roof of a warehouse 150 yards from where former President Dona...

Reform and Trump have similar objectives. These have generally been mischaracterised as far right, but this new wave of populism is more about nationalism vs globalism than it is about left vs right. It is primarily concerned with what is seen as the theft of our national democracy in pursuant of global goals by international bodies that include th...

I'm just going to say a very few brief words to mark this occasion and to mark some of the very significant problems that the conservative party faces going forward. And frankly, it now has to decide whether it really wants to be the Conservative Party. Firstly, a little good news there's not much of it about I'm afraid but over the last few months...

 On 23rd June 2016 (St George's Day) the people of Britain voted to leave the European Union. This was an historic moment. We could say this was the 7th Brexit in history. And it is not complete yet, as we shall see. In effect, this was not the first Brexit, not the first time that Britannia separated her destiny from that of Europe. In 43 AD ...

The Labour Party of today came into being as we know it around 1900. Its roots lie in the trade union movement of the 19th century and thanks to such people as Keir Hardy the Labour Party was formed. However, there is an irony in the fact that over a hundred years later, the only people who can afford to vote for the party that was formed to repres...

Sir Keir Starmer's plans relating to the UK's future relationship with the EU are unclear, but then again, his ever-shifting image and (apparent) political position (embracing Corbynism and Blairism), in an attempt to appeal to both Left and Right, Middle and Working class, the old red wall and staunchly pro-EU constituencies, does rather confuse e...

As we move ever closer to the 4th of July, we deserve to hear the plans of those parties most likely to form the next government – the detail, and how any 'wish-list' would be costed. Until detail is supplied, then any manifesto promise, or gimmicky card 'pledge' is meaningless, as there is nothing specific against which to hold a newly-elected gov...

Back in 1997 I walked the streets locally and knocked on doors with the Conservative candidate in what was regarded as a safe constituency. It was a thankless task, but a worthy one and in spite of a cold response and some derision he was elected with a respectable majority. I remember standing outside a polling station as a Labour van went by blar...

Multiple credit cards and a carefree attitude to paying-off bills was at one time the preserve of the more feckless section of society. These days it seems to be a universal ill of local finances and it is a trend that central government has fostered. As local authorities teeter on the brink of insolvency – indeed by any 'normal' accounting assessm...

ONS projections show a UK population increase of 6.6 million by 2036, of which 6.1 million will be due to immigration. Annual net migration of 315,000 will lead to a projected population increase of nine million people by 2046. That's eight cities the size of Birmingham. According to Migration Watch, "a child born today to an indigenous British cou...

Transcript of the conversation: the Italicized script is Sir Christopher Chope's responses We are in conversation with Sir Christopher Chope, Conservative Member of Parliament for Southampton, Itchen from 1983 to 1992 and then Christchurch from 1997 onwards. Early in his career he was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environmen...

"Finished", "stuffed", "toast" . These have been the words and worse that many otherwise loyal Conservatives used about their own party recently. However, now that the election has been called in spite of such pessimism, there is hope for the beleaguered Tories.:  A week is a long time in politics, said Harold Wilson, so how much longer a...

 The World Health Organisation, with the support of governments, public-private agencies, profit-seeking multinational corporations, academic institutions, charities and foundations, has been allowed to become a medium for the international marketisation of medical tech and vaccines, and, if we are not careful, the use of these may become mand...

Other reasons for getting out  I have put together some material which I think should help to get the UK out of the ECHR completely and thus, also, enable us to stop the small boats. The failure to achieve this has been given as a major reason for the Tories' forthcoming debacle. There are plenty of people, even in Parliament, who are upset ab...

How to destroy a country may not be an everyday item on the minds of many as they go about their daily lives. Most people living in this country have other things to to think about such as their jobs or juggling the household finances, a big question may be, if they lash out on a treat will they have enough money left to pay the rent or the mortgag...

Going back centuries alchemists were convinced they could turn base metals into gold, despite none of them being able achieve this, these days we laugh at them for their obvious foolishness and ignorance. Going forward in time, as machinery and technology advanced, a new breed of people were convinced they could invent a perpetual motion machine, l...

Straws in the wind   The NHS The NHS is crumbling and cannot continue for much longer in its current form. Free healthcare for all at the point of need was possible in the late 1940s and early 1950s but with ever more costly and complex interventions this is no longer the case. None of the modern imaging equipment had been invented when t...

Reform or Revolution? This is the question. One way or another there will be no more "status quo" on our current course because: if Labour wins, we will have socialism; if things do not change, history shows there will be violence (a revolution). The parallels between the present and the French Revolution (as well as the fall of Rome) are self-evid...

Reproduced with permission of Blue Anchor In this blog I'm going to run through the main economic consequences of Brexit. After the vote to leave The Guardian started a regular tracker to chart its impact on the economy. But as the Remainer predictions relentlessly turned to dust and the good news kept piling up, they quietly dropped this feature. ...

A year ago, I wrote suggesting that many of the current Conservative MPs would rue the day they ditched Boris. The blog was published in October 2022, and identified three key reasons why people had voted Conservative in the 2019 election: (1) Boris's call to 'get Brexit done' – this reflected the national mood when 'leave' won the referendum in 20...

 AI is a direct threat to formerly trustworthy and secure sources of information, image and data. In a recent open letter, AI-expert signatories of which included Elon Musk urged a pause in AI training to reflect and take stock. "AI research and development should be refocused on making today's powerful, state-of-the-art systems more accurate,...

 Far from being located in the sky, cloud data centres are very large and earthbound with real effects on energy security There are differing statistics on the amount of electricity drained by data centres globally, but it is substantial and as cloud expands to and within developing nations, it will increase. There were already around 3.6 bill...

Germany is a relatively young country. Created as a 'Customs Union' it quickly became an Empire as Bismark consolidated power through a war with France. In 1871 all members of the Zoll Union became provinces of the Empire, with the exception of Luxembourg whose ruling Duke opted out. Bismarck introduced reforms such as health insurance, but mainly ...

Kids can be very cruel, when I was at the start of my teenage years at school in 1961 the banter we used was often quite cutting. If anyone wanted to wind another lad up they would often use an insult using the abbreviation of a word which inferred the other lad's sexual leaning were not quite what was expected from a member of the male species. Th...

The UK's national governance is being corroded by a failure to identify and take the steps necessary to re-emerge as a sovereign country after leaving the EU. This is causing lower economic growth and an ungoverned clash of cultures which threatens the credibility of our system itself. The problem is that we are seeking to maintain large elements o...

The termination of Home Secretary Suella Braverman by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is evidently a calculated maneuver aimed at bolstering the stability of the Conservative Party and fortifying its electoral prospects in the imminent election. Braverman's successor, none other than David Cameron, the former leader of the Conservative Party, ousted in ...

By  Dr Jonathan S. Swift On Saturday 14 October, I took my daughter to the Open Day at Manchester University. It is some five years since I have spent any length of time in Manchester, and I was shocked by what had happened to a once-vibrant and beautiful city. The most disturbing part of the whole experience was the seeming acceptance - dare ...