Headings Header one Header two Header three Header four Header five Header six Blockquotes Single line blockquote: Stay hungry. Stay foolish. Multi line blockquote with a cite reference: People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to […] Read more »
Source: Right Angle | Published: January 12, 2013 - 3:22 am
Welcome to image alignment! The best way to demonstrate the ebb and flow of the various image positioning options is to nestle them snuggly among an ocean of words. Grab a paddle and let’s get started. On the topic of alignment, it should be noted that users can choose from the options of None, Left, Right, and Center. In […] Read more »
Source: Right Angle | Published: January 11, 2013 - 3:15 am
Default This is a paragraph. It should not have any alignment of any kind. It should just flow like you would normally expect. Nothing fancy. Just straight up text, free flowing, with love. Completely neutral and not picking a side or sitting on the fence. It just is. It just freaking is. It likes where […] Read more »
Source: Right Angle | Published: January 9, 2013 - 4:00 pm
Putting special characters in the title should have no adverse effect on the layout or functionality. Special characters in the post title have been known to cause issues with JavaScript when it is minified, especially in the admin when editing the post itself (ie. issues with metaboxes, media upload, etc.). Latin Character Tests This is […] Read more »
Source: Right Angle | Published: January 5, 2013 - 6:00 pm
Verify that: The post title renders the word “with” in italics and the word “markup” in bold. The post title markup should be removed from the browser window / tab. Read more »
Source: Right Angle | Published: January 5, 2013 - 5:00 pm
This post should display a featured image, if the theme supports it. Non-square images can provide some unique styling issues. This post tests a vertical featured image. Read more »
Source: Right Angle | Published: March 15, 2012 - 10:36 pm
I am pleased the UK held a referendum in Scotland to see if people there wanted to leave the UK, after years of pressure from the SNP to break up the Union. It was a great contrast with the tactics used by the Spanish government to prevent such a vote in Catalonia over the future… Read more »
Source: John Redwood's Diary | Published: January 26, 2021 - 5:04 am
A fortnight is a long time in a vaccination campaign… Wokingham Town Centre’s Covid-19 vaccination programme is being delivered by the four practices that comprise East Wokingham Primary Care Network, namely: Woosehill Medical Centre, New Wokingham Road Surgery, Burma Hills Surgery and Wokingham Medical Centre. The doctors and staff of these practices have vaccinated around… Read more »
Source: John Redwood's Diary | Published: January 25, 2021 - 4:03 pm
The government’s scientific advisers come across as pessimists about our future. They seem to think the policy answer for wherever we are in combatting the virus is more and longer lockdown. If the virus is spreading more we need tougher lockdown. If it is falling we need to continue with lockdown as only lockdown can… Read more »
Source: John Redwood's Diary | Published: January 25, 2021 - 5:22 am
Government actions designed to limit the spread of the virus and reduce the burden on the NHS have done great damage to jobs, business and output. Knowing they would the government rightly made generous provision to subsidise employment, offer grants and loans to businesses, and increased benefits to people to sustain demand. This naturally led… Read more »
Source: John Redwood's Diary | Published: January 24, 2021 - 5:07 am
The answers I have been getting from DEFRA are worrying. They show no sense of urgency to use our new freedoms to promote more growing and rearing home grown food. They are not standing up for U.K. interests in interpreting the Trade Agreement with the EU. They are not bringing forward early plans to raise… Read more »
Source: John Redwood's Diary | Published: January 23, 2021 - 5:03 am
The vaccination programme is being delivered by the NHS but we retain a keen interest in how the roll out is progressing locally. We were pleased to be joined at Monday’s Local Outbreak Engagement Board Dr Abid Irfan from the Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Group and to hear his update on the progress made so… Read more »
Source: John Redwood's Diary | Published: January 22, 2021 - 4:21 pm
The President has boldly set as his main aim uniting a fractured and divided USA. He wisely accepts this will not be easy. Too many of his followers seem to think if they just insist more strongly on their views of the world and claim the electoral right to enforce them the country will come… Read more »
Source: John Redwood's Diary | Published: January 22, 2021 - 5:07 am
Sir John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con): People voted to take back control so that the Government would use the new powers to make their lives better, so will the Government urgently make time available for the VAT cuts, the new enterprise zones, the freeports, the policies to increase our fishing fleet, the policies to boost our… Read more »
Source: John Redwood's Diary | Published: January 21, 2021 - 4:31 pm
Twelve Covid vaccination sites covering the whole of Berkshire West are now up and running. There is a phased approach from 21 December. Please do not call the GPs surgeries or hospitals directly, you will receive notification from the NHS when it is your turn to come for an appointment. Name of PCN Name of… Read more »
Source: John Redwood's Diary | Published: January 21, 2021 - 1:00 pm
The case for HS2 before the pandemic hit was made on the basis of the need to expand capacity. I always argued that there was a quicker and cheaper solution for capacity, and that was to digitalise signalling, introduce more short sections of bypass track and improve engineering around the main stations. By those means,… Read more »
Source: John Redwood's Diary | Published: January 21, 2021 - 5:07 am
Nick Ramsay has resigned from the Tory front bench having previously distanced himself from the other named Senedd drinkers. Guido sources say 4 Assembly Members and a Tory official under investigation…. Read more »
As the Lisa Nandy woke row drags on, Guido reckons it may be about to get worse for the Shadow Foreign Secretary. Footage dug up from early 2019 shows that Lisa Nandy refused to disagree with John McDonnell who had made headlines after condemning the wartime leader as a villain. When asked herself whether Churchill was […] Read more »
Michael Gove is reportedly conspiring with Gordon Brown to jointly head off the SNP’s demands for another referendum. As a consequence Brown is back in the spotlight making a bogus case for a constitutional boondoggle of a “Commission on Democracy” that would “review the way the whole United Kingdom is governed”. This is transparently a ruse […] Read more »
Guido’s highlighting of the police’s legal advice, declaring political party leafleting illegal, clearly wasn’t enough to stop eager campaigners putting their activists in harm’s way. As the LibDems, Greens and others continue breaking the current Covid rules ahead of the May elections, Cabinet Office minister Chloe Smith has written to party leaders telling them to […] Read more »
Last year Guido reported the news that the Government was refusing to publish the “over 220,000 specified data points… organised over 100 Excel workbooks” it had produced on calculating the cost of a net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 policy. The work, completed in 2019 prompted then Chancellor Philip Hammond to write a letter to […] Read more »
Oxfam is railing against inequality again today, publishing a report that lectures us about ‘a rigged economy’ led by ‘an elite of mostly white males‘, and recommending ‘progressive‘ tax hikes to fund Covid-19 relief. Stunning hypocrisy from a charity that paid its boss $380,039 last year and shared $2,612,503 among its top 12 executives – an […] Read more »
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is in a pickle. The kind of pickle that were the situation to be applied to the Prime Minister, the media would be reporting nothing else on all channels and all front pages. She and her government are under two separate inquiries both relating to how she handled the sexual assault […] Read more »
UPDATE: Guido understands that Boris meant that while Government is looking now at which measures could be relaxed after 15 February, that date remains the earliest point at which any of the rules would be changed. Read more »
Source: Guido Fawkes | Published: January 25, 2021 - 11:03 am
For someone who has been so critical of the efficacy of test and trace it is an ironic tribute to the system’s effectiveness that he has now been traced three times. Or is it four? Read more »
Source: Guido Fawkes | Published: January 25, 2021 - 10:08 am
Top vaccine scientist and member of the government’s vaccine committee, Adam Finn, has diplomatically condemned the British Medical Association for their anti-scientific scaremongering over the government’s single vaccine dose policy. Responding to last week’s warning by the BMA that the 12-week gap between doses is “difficult to justify”, Finn told the Today programme: “I must be careful what I […] Read more »
Source: Guido Fawkes | Published: January 25, 2021 - 10:01 am
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is one of those regulatory bodies that often gets it in the neck from all sides. “Toothless” was the charge laid at its feet this summer by a parliamentary watchdog, the public accounts committee (PAC), for the UKGC’s seeming inability to regulate betting companies. The Guardian seems to publish an […] The post Four Successful Regulations That Show Real Bite from the UK Gambling Commission appeared first on The Backbencher. Read more »
Source: The Backbencher | Published: January 10, 2021 - 4:41 pm
In the early afternoon of the 7th January 2021, a salmagundi of thugs, conspiracy theorists and neo-nazis, stormed the Capitol building in Washington D.C. Yesterday, for the first time in its history, a Confederate flag was flown through the Capitol in an act of violence, and it was flown alongside the imagery of the US […] The post An Ode to America Lost. appeared first on The Backbencher. Read more »
Source: The Backbencher | Published: January 8, 2021 - 9:32 am
It’s December 2019 and Caroline Flack tweeted: “If you can be anything, be kind.” By February 2020, she was dead. Our planet has somehow managed to swirl around its sun again (still time for an extinction-level event though. Who had gamma-ray burst for January?) since then and I’m exhausted at being told to be kind […] The post Be Kind… Or Else! appeared first on The Backbencher. Read more »
Source: The Backbencher | Published: January 5, 2021 - 1:05 pm
As I write this, the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election is not yet fully known. What is clear, however, is that the prospect of a Joe Biden presidency is now almost a certainty. With a few states still left to declare, it would take a political shock of divine proportions to see Donald […] The post Trump has lost the battle but is winning the war appeared first on The Backbencher. Read more »
Source: The Backbencher | Published: November 7, 2020 - 9:34 pm
As we reflect on what seems to have been an interminable week in politics, the biggest standout seems to have been Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s defiance against central government, who are seeking to add the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester to the ever growing list of areas in the “last chance saloon” of Tier […] The post Burnham stands at crossroads between party, city and country. appeared first on The Backbencher. Read more »
Source: The Backbencher | Published: October 21, 2020 - 9:13 am
Earlier this month Gerald Warner explained on the Reaction website why Joe Biden’s candidacy for the US presidency was, in his view, a bad thing. In a sense it’s refreshing to hear from a British pundit who is so very open about his support for Donald Trump, as polls have consistently indicated that the current […] The post A Response to Gerald Warner appeared first on The Backbencher. Read more »
Source: The Backbencher | Published: October 2, 2020 - 8:03 pm
The popularity of online streaming is on the rise, and it’s had a direct impact on the gaming industry. This article by guest author and expert on the topic, Samuel Richardson, explores precisely what streaming entails. He also looks into what advantages it brings to your digital experience as a player and as a fan. […] The post How Streaming Is Changing The Gaming Industry appeared first on The Backbencher. Read more »
Source: The Backbencher | Published: September 29, 2020 - 7:00 pm
Social media has influenced our lives in ways we can’t even fathom, but never does it seem as prevalent as when there’s an important political event. The suggestion that politics should be avoided as a conversation topic doesn’t gel with platforms such as Twitter and, during high-stakes elections, much of it is filled with people […] The post How Much Attention Should Political Bettors Pay to Social Media? appeared first on The Backbencher. Read more »
Source: The Backbencher | Published: September 17, 2020 - 10:20 am
Four short years ago, Hillary Rodham Clinton headed into voting day as the clear favorite to become the first female President of the United States of America. The Democratic candidate had weathered the storm in the preceding months and was heavily fancied to win the race to the White House. Opponent Donald Trump had waged […] The post Will this year’s US Election go according to predictions? appeared first on The Backbencher. Read more »
Source: The Backbencher | Published: September 17, 2020 - 10:13 am
Often defined as the ‘Big Five’ companies of Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Facebook and Microsoft, the future of big tech appears tumultuous at best. What is evident, however, is that their influence is gargantuan both economically and socially and whether this influence should be curtailed is a pertinent policy question, currently proving a headache for Western […] The post Biden vs Big Tech appeared first on The Backbencher. Read more »
Source: The Backbencher | Published: September 11, 2020 - 10:30 am
Scientists have found that coronavirus itself can attack parts of the brain but think neurological after-effects are more likely from the immune response going haywire. Read more »
Source: Articles | Mail Online | Published: January 26, 2021 - 5:12 am
Experts compared players and staff during matches played both before leagues were suspended due to coronavirus and those played when football restarted without fans in stadiums. Read more »
Source: Articles | Mail Online | Published: January 26, 2021 - 3:53 am
EU health chiefs last night demanded pharmaceutical firms give early warning to officials when exporting vaccines to countries outside the bloc - including Britain. Read more »
Source: Articles | Mail Online | Published: January 26, 2021 - 3:18 am
Jack Whomes, 59, who was jailed in 1998 with his friend Michael Steele, now 76, over the shooting of Patrick Tate, 37, Anthony Tucker, 38, and Craig Rolfe, 26, is set to be released from prison. Read more »
Source: Articles | Mail Online | Published: January 26, 2021 - 2:57 am
Christian Dior dresses embellished with zodiac signs and tarot symbols created an air of escapism as Paris' Haute Couture Week launched its very first online display amid the pandemic. Read more »
Source: Articles | Mail Online | Published: January 26, 2021 - 2:38 am
Speaking at this evening's Downing Street briefing, the Health Secretary said Scotland's ambulance service was assisted by other nations in the UK over the weekend. Read more »
Source: Articles | Mail Online | Published: January 26, 2021 - 2:36 am
Wiltshire Police's specialist operations department have launched an appeal on social media after a mysterious plane door was discovered in lane one on the M4 near Swindon on January 9. Read more »
Source: Articles | Mail Online | Published: January 26, 2021 - 2:28 am
The Prime Minister yesterday said he wanted 'maximum possible protection against reinfection from abroad' to prevent new coronavirus variants jeopardising the vaccination programme. Read more »
Source: Articles | Mail Online | Published: January 26, 2021 - 2:27 am
The Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, West Midlands, has been converted into a Covid-19 vaccination centre in an effort to help priority patients receive their jabs amid the pandemic. Read more »
Source: Articles | Mail Online | Published: January 26, 2021 - 2:27 am
The only institutions I can think of that retain the term ‘British’ are the BBC and the British Army - and, in Scotland, its Twitter handle is @ArmyScotland. Read more »
Source: Conservative Home | Published: January 25, 2021 - 10:15 am
Coronavirus 1) Tory MPs “in revolt on school closures” “Schoolchildren have become the pandemic’s “forgotten victims”, Tory MPs have warned... Read more » Read more »
Source: Conservative Home | Published: January 25, 2021 - 8:51 am
It’s striking that the countries that did best during Covid are those, like Taiwan and South Korea, which live under threat of annihilation by their neighbours. Read more »
Source: Conservative Home | Published: January 25, 2021 - 6:30 am
We have to ask whether high bed occupancy rates in the NHS are tilting the balance between efficiency and resilience in the wrong direction. Read more »
Source: Conservative Home | Published: January 25, 2021 - 6:20 am
The US House of Representatives is now pushing a charge accusing Trump of inciting an... The post Articles of impeachment against Donald Trump sent to Senate. Stage is set for a mighty clash. appeared first on BRITANNIA NEWS. Read more »
Source: BRITANNIA NEWS | Published: January 26, 2021 - 2:25 am
Though Lisa Nandy denied that she welcomed a report “calling for woke ‘peace force’ to The post VIDEO CATCHES OUT LABOUR MP – Lisa Nandy denies she welcomed a report “calling for woke ‘peace force’ to replace army”, video released shows she was inspired by the prospect. appeared first on BRITANNIA NEWS. Read more »
Source: BRITANNIA NEWS | Published: January 24, 2021 - 11:07 am
French Ministers and MEP’s are fuming after Jersey shut out french fishing vessels from entering The post FRENCH MINISTERS ARE FUMING: Jersey shuts out french fishing vessels from its territorial waters. appeared first on BRITANNIA NEWS. Read more »
Source: BRITANNIA NEWS | Published: January 23, 2021 - 4:26 pm
France is making things difficult at the UK French border as France requests more food The post EU ORGANISED CHAOS? France request more checks on food exports from Britain going into the EU. appeared first on BRITANNIA NEWS. Read more »
Source: BRITANNIA NEWS | Published: January 23, 2021 - 10:30 am
The row over Britain refusing EU ambassadors diplomatic privileges has been raging all week with The post EU ambassadors refused diplomatic privileges as Britain continues to define the EU as an international body, not a nation. appeared first on BRITANNIA NEWS. Read more »
Source: BRITANNIA NEWS | Published: January 23, 2021 - 6:30 am
With reform UK launching weeks ago, Nigel Farage has said he’s going to take on The post Nigel Farage’s Reform UK will take on Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP in the coming May elections. It’s time for a positive Union voice. appeared first on BRITANNIA NEWS. Read more »
Source: BRITANNIA NEWS | Published: January 22, 2021 - 9:35 am
The EU diplomatic status row get heated after Michel Barnier hit out at the UK. The post EU DIPLOMATIC STATUS ROW – Michel Barnier hits out at Britain: “We are not an international organisation like the others, we are a union.” appeared first on BRITANNIA NEWS. Read more »
Source: BRITANNIA NEWS | Published: January 21, 2021 - 3:28 pm
Just when you think Brexit is over, former EU negotiator Michel Barnier has been given The post Barnier returns as special adviser to EU Commission, making sure Britain sticks to level playing field rules. appeared first on BRITANNIA NEWS. Read more »
Source: BRITANNIA NEWS | Published: January 19, 2021 - 5:30 pm
Two weeks after leaving the EU, the EU commission is already plotting a plan to The post EU Commission to release a plan plotting to steal business away from London’s financial services sector. appeared first on BRITANNIA NEWS. Read more »
Source: BRITANNIA NEWS | Published: January 19, 2021 - 3:26 pm
The post Talk Radio host Julia Hartley-Brewer faced off with Nigel Farage after Julia said Trump “has always been unfit for public office”. appeared first on BRITANNIA NEWS. Read more »
Source: BRITANNIA NEWS | Published: January 18, 2021 - 5:30 pm
Jonathan Eida | Opinion As Parliament returns to its chambers, eyes will begin to turn to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and, more specifically, the Autumn Budget. There suggestions that Rishi Sunak will delay the Budget until the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic, however there is still likely to be some form of Budget […] The post Why we should be dreading the Autumn Budget appeared first on Turning Point UK. Read more »
Source: Turning Point UK | Published: September 12, 2020 - 7:34 pm
Oscar Holdway López | Opinion I, like many on the 12th of December, turned up to my local polling station and reluctantly put a cross next to my local Conservative Party candidate. For years, I’ve been a skeptic of Boris, seeing him as a liberal centrist Tory with no real conservative beliefs to him. However, […] The post This “Conservative” Government has failed us appeared first on Turning Point UK. Read more »
Source: Turning Point UK | Published: August 26, 2020 - 4:54 pm
Jonathan Eida | Opinion If there is one thing we can take from our current predicament with regard to China, it is the fact that economic liberalisation doesn’t change the nature of the beast: an evil regime will remain an evil regime. Following the decline of Chairman Mao, the West came up with a strategy […] The post If our foreign policy has failed with China, why would it work with Iran? appeared first on… Read more »
Source: Turning Point UK | Published: August 26, 2020 - 12:55 pm
Dean Brooke | Opinion A nation, insofar as we understand it, has always been defined as a group of people who share a common culture, value set and history and who inhabit a particular geographical area. This might seem like a controversial statement from the outset because these days lots of ire is thrown at […] The post I’m a Nationalist, Baby, Yeah! appeared first on Turning Point UK. Read more »
Source: Turning Point UK | Published: August 17, 2020 - 9:25 am
Jonathan Eida | Opinion The reverberations emanating from calls to defund the BBC are gaining traction within the country at large. Increasingly, people are beginning to take issue with how the BBC is run and the decisions being made, which continually grind the gears of the public. The criticisms of the BBC are essentially two-pronged. […] The post It’s time for a national conversation about the BBC appeared first on Turning Point UK. Read more »
Source: Turning Point UK | Published: August 13, 2020 - 1:23 pm
Jonathan Eida | Opinion 1933 was the year that the Nazi Party really began to tighten their grip on the German halls of power and the foundations for the years to come were laid. Political opponents began to be rounded up and all opposition was crushed. Conservatives and Communists alike were persecuted until there was […] The post We are watching 1933 in real-time appeared first on Turning Point UK. Read more »
Source: Turning Point UK | Published: July 24, 2020 - 2:05 pm
Jonathan Eida | Opinion The next election is still a long time away. Already, though, the problems for the Conservative Party are beginning to manifest themselves. The basis for the Tory pitch at the last election was twofold. Firstly, the aim stated in their chief campaign slogan: “Get Brexit Done.” The second line of attack […] The post What is the future of the Conservative Party? appeared first on Turning Point UK. Read more »
Source: Turning Point UK | Published: July 20, 2020 - 3:45 pm
Jonathan Eida | Opinion We are already beginning to see the results of China’s ruthless takeover of Hong Kong. The moment the Chinese Government broke the ‘one country, two systems’ treaty by passing the ‘Security Bill’, the results were inevitable. At least ten people have now been arrested under this law, including one man who […] The post We must re-evaluate our approach to foreign policy in the light of Hong Kong appeared first on… Read more »
Source: Turning Point UK | Published: July 9, 2020 - 12:08 pm
Jonathan Eida | Opinion As the dust begins to settle after the sacking of Rebecca Long-Bailey from her role as Shadow Education Secretary, one cannot help but feel as though the consequences of this decision have not yet been fully understood. The divisions in Labour Party are well-documented. There were no deceptions surrounding the fact […] The post Starmer was right to sack Long-Bailey – but what next? appeared first on Turning Point UK. Read more »
Source: Turning Point UK | Published: July 5, 2020 - 10:48 am
Jonathan Eida | Opinion The world is often seen as a picture, when in fact it is a movie – one must only see where we are headed. It is very easy to support one action in isolation, but seeing the results down the line is a much harder feat. Very small shifts in public […] The post We must be wary of an ever-growing state appeared first on Turning Point UK. Read more »
Source: Turning Point UK | Published: July 1, 2020 - 3:10 pm
The scolds over at the High Pay centre keep telling us that CEOs get much too much money. Quite why said scolds have an interest in how shareholders spend their own money is unexplained but they do keep making the point.One of their explanations is that the diffuse interest of shareholders in a publicly listed company means that the CEOs as a class - to include all those directors, exec and non-exec - get to… Read more »
Source: Blog - Adam Smith Institute | Published: January 26, 2021 - 6:01 am
A little reminder for those who insist that the Laffer Curve is just a product of an overactive - and neoliberal of course - mindset:NHS workers who have taken on extra shifts in the fight against coronavirus are at risk of sleepwalking into giant tax bills. Doctors and healthcare professionals working overtime during the pandemic could face eye-watering charges because of continuing issues with the “tapered” annual allowance for pensions.The contention of that Curve from… Read more »
Source: Blog - Adam Smith Institute | Published: January 25, 2021 - 6:01 am
The claims here might actually be true. That the development of electric vehicles in the UK requires that there be a UK electric battery plant. Further, that such a battery plant requires advantages in order to be created. We can’t say that we’re convinced of this, we see no reason why it should be necessary, nor even desirable, that the two pieces, the car and the battery, be made in close geographic proximity. After all,… Read more »
Source: Blog - Adam Smith Institute | Published: January 24, 2021 - 6:01 am
No, not that we’d all become slaves the moment that the NHS tottered into action. Not that he said that anyway - rather, that once health care was politically delivered then health itself was going to become a political matter. George Monbiot complaining about this in his column:A recent study shows that diseases mostly afflicting women tend to receive less funding than those mostly affecting men. Scientific effort is also, to a large extent, a… Read more »
Source: Blog - Adam Smith Institute | Published: January 23, 2021 - 6:01 am
This is worse than a mistake, it’s an error:Millions of people around the world are in line for a pay rise after Unilever pledged that every worker in its supply chain will earn the living wage by 2030.One of the canonical works of popular economics is I Pencil. An inverted reading of which is that the supply chain of something - of anything at all - is the global economy.As it’s not possible to ensure… Read more »
Source: Blog - Adam Smith Institute | Published: January 22, 2021 - 6:01 am
Zambia is buying the Mopani copper mine from Glencore. Glencore is lending the bankrupt - well, it’s in default, anyway - country the money to buy the mine. This is going to be a fascinating experiment.We can’t help but think that the timing’s a little wrong. Zambia sold the mine, or at least Glencore took it over, back in 2000, when the copper price was 65 cents per lb US. Today it’s $3.50. Selling at… Read more »
Source: Blog - Adam Smith Institute | Published: January 21, 2021 - 6:01 am
One of the technological developments that will transform the British, and much of the world’s, economy is the emergence of autonomous (self-driving) vehicles. It will make a huge and positive change in the way in which people and goods are transported by land, sea and air. It will be a positive development because it will be faster, safer and cheaper. The artificial intelligence that controls autonomous vehicles will not make the driver errors that are… Read more »
Source: Blog - Adam Smith Institute | Published: January 20, 2021 - 12:59 pm
A certain head of steam is building up behind a good idea. The current alleviation of stamp duty on housing transactions should not just be extended, the tax itself should be abolished:Better still would be to scrap the damn thing altogether, for the reasons above.Or Tom Clougherty, formerly of this parish:But there’s a bigger picture here, too. Stamp duty is without question the worst tax on the UK statute books, wreaking havoc on Britain’s already… Read more »
Source: Blog - Adam Smith Institute | Published: January 20, 2021 - 6:01 am
Jamie Hambro is sceptical of the insistence that a wealth tax will be a one off imposition:I have some difficulty with thinking of a wealth tax as a one-off if it is repeated for five consecutive years. And I doubt it will end after five years. Income tax was introduced in 1799 as a one-off tax to help pay the costs of the Napoleonic Wars (this after a wealth tax on houses, horses and carriages… Read more »
Source: Blog - Adam Smith Institute | Published: January 19, 2021 - 6:01 am
Victoria Street January 2021 “Humphrey.” “Yes, Minister?” “People are awfully pleased with my Energy White Paper.” “You may be referring to our White Paper, Minister.” “Yes, yes, of course. I’m really very grateful for your contribution, Humphrey. I believe you used to work for Priti Patel?” “An effulgent experience indeed, Minister. May I ask what aspects of our Paper have met with particular appreciation?” “There are so many: lower energy bills for consumers, massive private investment with more jobs, great British innovation and… Read more »
Source: Blog - Adam Smith Institute | Published: January 18, 2021 - 12:25 pm
Last night I watched Halifax Town play Southport in a streamed FA Trophy game. It was a foul night, with driving rain and an increasingly unplayable pitch. It was an enjoyable game nevertheless. But should it have been played? For the vast majority of you who don’t follow non-league football, a quick update. Last year … Continue reading "Cancel the National League season" The post Cancel the National League season appeared first on Institute of… Read more »
Source: Blog – Institute of Economic Affairs | Published: January 21, 2021 - 3:18 pm
In November 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined his 10 point plan for the UK’s ‘Green Industrial Revolution’. One of the goals within this plan was to ‘advance nuclear as a clean energy source’. This is a step in the right direction, because although often negatively portrayed, nuclear energy is the key to a low … Continue reading "If we want a low-carbon future, we have to drop our nuclear-phobia" The post If we want… Read more »
Source: Blog – Institute of Economic Affairs | Published: January 20, 2021 - 12:17 pm
Paul Withrington was one of transport’s visionaries. His ideas promised a transformation in connectivity, with rapid, low-cost journeys right into the heart of the largest cities. The vast subsidies pumped into public transport would be consigned to history. And commuters could all be comfortably seated, ending the ordeal of standing cheek by jowl on railway … Continue reading "Paul Withrington, R.I.P." The post Paul Withrington, R.I.P. appeared first on Institute of Economic Affairs. Read more »
Source: Blog – Institute of Economic Affairs | Published: January 19, 2021 - 8:54 am
With the approval of several Covid-19 vaccines, the year 2021 has started under the sign of hope. Covid-19 has claimed many lives, and induced lockdowns and other measures that have put the UK and the rest of the world in a severe economic crisis. In a race against the virus, and with the hope to end … Continue reading "The case for a secondary market in Covid-19 vaccine slots" The post The case for a secondary… Read more »
Source: Blog – Institute of Economic Affairs | Published: January 18, 2021 - 11:25 am
Not since Fyre Festival have images of pitiful meals whipped up such a furore. But the pictures of food parcels for children eligible for free school meals plastered across social media and shared thousands of times on Tuesday certainly won’t have elicited the same schadenfreude as the “$12,000” cheese sandwich. The initial image, posted by … Continue reading "There’s a simple solution to the food parcel furore" The post There’s a simple solution to the… Read more »
Source: Blog – Institute of Economic Affairs | Published: January 15, 2021 - 11:52 am
Some countries allow you to buy a beer at any time day or night. Others have total prohibition. The enormous differences in the way governments around the world treat alcohol make it an unlikely candidate for global regulation, but the World Health Organization wants to have a go anyway. Late last year, the WHO launched … Continue reading "WHO is your nanny?" The post WHO is your nanny? appeared first on Institute of Economic Affairs. Read more »
Source: Blog – Institute of Economic Affairs | Published: January 12, 2021 - 12:12 pm
Faced with the twin problems of NHS staff shortages and slow vaccine rollout, the fact that 50,000 retired medics have volunteered their services should be a boon. Yet so far, very few of them have actually been used. A major problem, highlighted in a letter to the Daily Telegraph, is the perennial bugbear of ‘red tape’; once medics … Continue reading "Relax occupational licensing laws to speed up the post-Covid recovery" The post Relax occupational licensing laws to… Read more »
Source: Blog – Institute of Economic Affairs | Published: January 6, 2021 - 12:31 pm
The top: Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Finland, UK, Holland, Sweden, Canada. The bottom: Venezuela, Haiti, Turkmenistan, Somalia, North Korea, Cuba, Bolivia, Yemen. If I were to ask you of which league table these countries were top and bottom, it would be an almost impossible question to answer. The first group is in the … Continue reading "Where property rights are insecure, it is the poor who suffer most" The post Where property rights… Read more »
Source: Blog – Institute of Economic Affairs | Published: January 4, 2021 - 12:12 pm
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), more commonly known as drones, are a technology whose full benefits are often overlooked. In the post-Brexit world, if the UK seeks to be a pioneer of technological innovation, the government should adopt a measured approach to drone regulation. In general, a drone is defined as anything that that flies without … Continue reading "Regulating drone use: have we got the balance right?" The post Regulating drone use: have we got… Read more »
Source: Blog – Institute of Economic Affairs | Published: December 16, 2020 - 4:18 pm
Today’s headline employment figures, as always, are backward-looking and tell us what was happening in the period August-October, before the second national lockdown. As others have commented, they do not look too bad at first glance. The unemployment rate crept up to 4.9%, but this is still way below comparable figures in other European countries. The increase … Continue reading "Labour market trends: look beyond the headline figures" The post Labour market trends: look beyond the headline… Read more »
Source: Blog – Institute of Economic Affairs | Published: December 15, 2020 - 1:27 pm