Apologies and condemnation

Predictably, the fervor for free-speech didn’t last past the march in Paris and the politicians are back to calling for less freedom and more snooping and certain elements of the press saying we’re all to blame, it had nothing to do with Islam, and worrying about a back lash from the “far right”. In all of the column inches written so far, few have touched on who really needs to apologise for the attacks – and apologies are called for. Sadly, the people who need to apologise for not standing up for free speech and allowing attacks like this to … Continue reading

Puzzling over Scottish independence

Before I say anything else I should observe that I’m English and worse than that a Londoner, which by the terms of the Scottish independence debate apparently means I’m not allowed to express an opinion on the matter. To make matters worse I’m a great fan of both the Union and the Monarchy, so I really don’t expect anyone to give two hoots what I think on the matter. I also realise that by having a view, particularly the view I do have, I may rather annoy some people (including some of my friends). Now that that’s out of the … Continue reading

Nothing to hide, nothing to fear

I must admit that I’m terribly amused to hear that Jenny Jones of the Green Party has just discovered that the Police have been watching her. Now from where I’m sat any time a member of the great and good gets a taste of what happens to the rest of us it’s a good thing. What puzzles me though is that this was news to Ms Jones, after all she’s hardly the first politician the security forces have held files on. Just search for “MI5 files politicians” to see, or I suppose she could have asked Jack Straw or Peter … Continue reading