Category Archives: Politics
getstats: “a society in which our lives and choices are enriched by an understanding of statistics”
The Royal Statistical Society is launching a campaign today called getstats to emphasise how important an understanding of statistics is in our society. I will be supporting this campaign. getstats has a website at http://www.getstats.org.uk/ In today’s economic climate, where … Continue reading
The power of the internet: preventing politicians from ignoring inconvenient evidence
The recent revelation that Gordon Brown’s government are trying to prevent an independent committee of scientists from accurately reporting evidence about the relative dangers of different types of drugs is only one of several examples of misrepresentation of scientific evidence … Continue reading
President Blair? Non. Gordon Brown’s government interfering politically in science? Oui
This week we have had the farce of Tony Blair first of all being spun as the favourite for the post of European President (without the man in question having even made clear that he wanted to stand), then the … Continue reading
Berlusconi: “world’s most persecuted man”? no, but surely Italy deserves better
Here are some quotes from this BBC article: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has described himself as the most persecuted person “in the entire history of the world”. Mr Berlusconi also said he was “the best prime minister we can … Continue reading
Twitter used to help freedom of speech in Iran/easy ways to help
As many of you will know, many Iranians are currently using Twitter to help them communicate in a very difficult and repressive environment. This may be the first demonstration of real value on a large scale being added by Twitter … Continue reading
Brown going, going ….
Labour backbenchers are organising a petition to call on Gordon Brown to resign, see here. Also The Guardian newspaper has an online poll which says it all, from a newspaper traditionally supportive of Labour: Update 04 Jun 2009 2206: now … Continue reading
ZaNuLabour in meltdown, like ferrets fighting in a sack
After the last two days, with news of the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Alistair Darling) having to apologise because of irregularities in his expenses, then the former Defence Secretary (Geoff Hoon, currently Transport Secretary, and the origin of Guido‘s phrase … Continue reading
Widow tells MPs: Here are your medals of dishonour
See this article. Quote from it: Yesterday, Mrs MacAulay, a great-grandmother whose Sutherland home is more than 600 miles from the Commons, said she would return the seven WW II medals awarded to her and husband Iain, and his military … Continue reading
No rewards for failure? Why should Speaker Martin get peerage then?
Gordon Brown claimed that there would be no more rewards for failure. That was in reference to the banking crisis, which happened on his watch, largely due to his encouragement of excessive house prices and his complacency that he had … Continue reading
MPs: time for the phrase “the Honourable” to go, and for the worst offending MPs too
In the current furore over MPs’ expenses, some in the press are tending to tar all MPs with the same brush. This is unfair, as pointed out by Andrew Rawnsley in this article. However, actuary21c thinks public anger is such … Continue reading
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