Published on
11 April 2020
Posted in Big Society, British Politics, Europe, Liberalism, Marriage & Family, Social Commentary
Europe’s ageing population is an inconvenient truth for those who advocate social liberalism. Indeed, the liberalist path that the EU has trodden for many years now has led it to the brink of societal catastrophe. With a current fertility rate of 1.6 (average) in the EU27, dark clouds hover ominously over the economic future of […]
Published on
5 March 2020
Posted in Big Society, Education, Human Life, Philosophy, Social Commentary, Virtue
Facebook has given new meaning to the saying, ‘Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit’. Social media has brought with it great benefits, but one of the biggest problems associated by many with them is that there seems to have come about post hoc if not propter hoc a diminution in understanding of […]
Published on
4 November 2019
Posted in Big Society, British Politics, Culture, Marriage & Family, Public Policy
‘All the Lonely People’, an article published last year in The Economist, highlighted the financial implications of loneliness. What was perhaps most striking about the article was its stressing of the prevalence of loneliness in the developed world. It points out that there is no shortage of initiatives addressing the problem, some of which go […]
Published on
16 June 2017
Posted in Big Society, British Politics, Public Policy, Virtue
This is the first in a 3-part series of reflections on the 2017 UK General Election. Only eleven months ago, Theresa May delivered a much-lauded opening address just outside 10 Downing Street, in which she extolled the virtues of ‘One Nation’ conservatism. Whilst a passing mention was made of her predecessor, her firm pledge to ‘fight against […]
Published on
7 May 2014
Posted in Big Society, British Politics, Culture, Public Policy, Religion
Nigel Farage’s reputation is proving, so The Huffington Post has observed, to have the non-stick qualities of Teflon. However xenophobic, eccentric or clown-like members of his party show themselves to be, UKIP are still set to win big in the forthcoming European elections. In policy terms it is, however, very hard to account for the […]
Published on
20 December 2013
Posted in Big Society, Christianity, Culture, Marriage & Family, Religion, Social Commentary
There is something more than a little anodyne about the catch-all greeting ‘happy holidays’ which is now catching on in Britain. If no particular religious festival or ‘Holy Day’ – whether Christmas, Hannukah, or whatever – is identified, we are left with the negative notion of that which we are not doing at this time, […]
Published on
23 August 2013
In one way or another the assorted strands of the wide Judeo-Christian tradition have always acknowledged divine revelation as the source of a duty to care for the poor and destitute. Islamic scholars and authoritative sources in many other religious traditions have also emphasised the importance of caring for the poor, arguing that as God’s […]
Published on
26 June 2013
Posted in Big Society, British Politics, Civil Liberties, Conscience, Culture, Moral Philosophy
You wait months for a whistleblower to say something genuinely newsworthy and then two come along in quick succession: Edward Snowden, a former NSA worker who let the world know about PRISM; and Peter Francis, a former police officer who reports that he was ordered to find out compromising information on family and friends of […]