Unlike many Conservatives, my position on gay marriage hasn't changed. I've always been in favour of a legal form of gay marriage. I've always regarded legal marriage as providing a convenient bundling of various contractual / legal arrangements – inheritance in the event of the death of a partner, next of kin for medical consultation, […]
Religious toleration has been in the press again recently, with the Advertising Standards Authority banning the claim that "God heals", the Cornish hoteliers losing their appeal against a fine for discrimination, and pre-council meeting prayers being banned. Many of these discussions seem to me to arise from an error so early and deep in the way […]
The Editors have made a little noise with their call for the health bill to be dropped. My view on the matter remains much as it has been for many years: we've been focused upon the wrong sort of health reform. Past governments, Major's, Blair's and now Cameron's have sought to enact supply-side reforms – […]
David Lammy MP recently ignited a debate about smacking, suggesting that restrictions on smacking had made parents afraid to discipline their children and that this had been a contributory factor in last summer's riots. When smacking is debated, I find there to be three important errors: Opponents of smacking gratuitously and offensively insist on referring to […]
A Christian group in Bath has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority from claiming that God can heal illnesses. This follows a very similar ruling in Nottingham last year. These groups, affiliated to the Healing on the Streets ministry, had claimed that God can heal people from any disease and mentioned a number of […]
OK – so the government has capitulated on the "veto". That's happened. But in all the discussion about this so far, the central point seems to have been missed of why we had the "veto" in the first place. During the negotiations on the new Treaty, the government requested insertion of a protocol in respect […]
In December, David Cameron said he would not sign the new EU Treaty – and was hailed as a hero, with highly favourable press coverage a bounce in opinion polls. Why didn't he sign? Remember, the new Treaty did not contain any provisions applying to the UK as such. There were no new powers or […]
The UK economy contracted 0.2% in the last three months of 2011. For 2011 as a whole, the economy grew just 0.9%. Expect to see plenty more of Ed Balls' notorious flatline hand gesture. Three key factors account for (though do not explain – we'll come to that shortly) the slow growth of 2011: Investment […]
About eleven years ago, I gave a speech on Christian environmentalism. My central these was that Scripture's picture for us of the natural ideal was the Garden (Eden). Neither wasteland nor wilderness, a garden is a managed environment – managed and improved by will, effort and creativity. Man is presented in Scripture as neither the overlord […]
There is a great deal of controversy about the apparent decision of the Advertising Standards Authority to permit for-profit abortion clinics to advertise their services through television and radio adverts. Many of those that regard themselves as generally in favour of permitting at least certain abortions say they are uncomfortable. My view, by contrast, is […]
In discussing moral questions, I have found that there is an interesting distinction between two kinds of people. Some people declare their beliefs ("What I believe to be right is…"), and try to modify their behaviour to fit those beliefs – it is their beliefs that are fundamental and their behaviour derivative. The other kind, when asked […]
The government is apparently engaged in a re-think about its policy of cutting child benefit for the wealthy. Osborne is adamant, however, that the principle of the policy stays. He says: But the principle that it's not fair to ask someone who's earning say £20,000 or £25,000 to pay someone who is on £80,000 or […]
It has become common to expect at least one country to leave the euro. Many folk in the City expect the euro to collapse altogether. There is therefore some considerable interest in how a country could leave with the minimum of disruption. The actual mechanics of leaving are not especially mysterious. If the Greeks were […]
David Cameron was interviewed on the Today programme this morning, and repeatedly pressed by Evan Davis as to whether he would oppose the new €+-26 Treaty being permitted to use the institutions of the EU. He did not say he would attempt to forbid that. Of course, a few weeks ago Nick Clegg stated in […]
Social care is back in the news, following a letter to the Daily Telegraph signed by 72 signatories including leading figures from charities, academia, peers and health representatives. The letter urges cross-party talks, and appears broadly to back the findings of the Dilnot Commission on social care, which recommended a cap on social care expenses […]