The ex-Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, despite 11 years working for Elf, the French petro-chemicals giant, increasingly turned against the use of fossil resources. He described Prince (now king) Charles as a 'prophet- for voicing anti-plastic concerns. However, the late and much-admired Queen Elizabeth offered a fine example. Her staf...
Here in rural England there has traditionally been a feeling that the Labour Party is the voice of a very metropolitan hostility and non-comprehension of the issues associated with 'the Countryside'. In truth possibly many Conservatives are little better informed, albeit their inherent instincts are not hostile to landowners. In the 1990's, BBC rad...
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...
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...
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 ...
One of the few benefits of being old is a weary perspective - that our untameable climate has caused self-acclaimed scientists to be perpetually baffled. When it comes to this force of nature I am firmly encamped with King Canute who, possibly unlike our present king, deserves to be remembered as a debunker of baloney. Growing up in the 60's, and f...
