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
1 March 2020
Posted in British Politics, Europe, Morality in Public, Public Policy, World Affairs
Events like the outbreak of coronavirus should make us pause to think. It is no exaggeration at this point to assert that things appear poised on the brink of pandemic. At the time of writing, the virus has spread globally with fatalities in Iran reaching 19 and whole towns in Italy now in quarantine. Currently […]
Published on
9 January 2019
Posted in Ethics in Business, Europe, Freedom, Political Economy, Uncategorized
In our current malaise(s) it is worth musing on the work of the great German-born economist E.F. Schumacher (1911–1977). Schumacher brought the social teaching of the Catholic Church, in the form of the worked theories of subsidiarity and distributism, back to the forefront of economic debate. His legacy emphasises the Christian truth that ‘the substance […]
Published on
30 November 2017
Posted in Europe
Today Spain is engulfed by a constitutional crisis in the wake of last month’s Catalan independence referendum. Yesterday a vote in Scotland threatened the unity of another European sovereign state. Tomorrow will likely see the turn of another region (perhaps Flanders or South Tyrol?) to make its own attempt at secession. Ryan Barnes interpreted this […]
Published on
9 February 2017
Our last blog post started by describing 2016 as an atypical year. That year is now over – and it truly was exceptional in various respects. It seems pertinent to reflect with a little hindsight on what happened in the twelve months to 31 December last. Politically, socially, culturally – and even locally here at […]
Published on
8 November 2016
2016 was in many respects an atypical year. In the political arena, two events confounded and unnerved the grandees of establishment media: Brexit, and, in the U.S.A., the Republican nomination for the US presidential election. Donald Trump made headlines with his brash style, irascible temperament and often controversial statements – among which his denouncing of […]
Published on
16 August 2016
Posted in British Politics, Europe, Public Policy, World Affairs
The people of the UK as a whole decided on 23 June to leave the European Union. Brexit won the referendum with 51%+ of the vote, the result was backed by more than 17 million citizens. Turnout was the highest seen since 1992, and the outcome determined by the will of large swathes of the […]
Published on
25 May 2016
Posted in Europe, Social Commentary, United States of America, World Affairs
The outcome of the Austrian presidential election has produced a swift surge in outspoken expressions of relief among the West’s liberal media. Alexander van den Bellen, backed by the Greens and a supporter of further European integration, won by the narrowest of margins, just 31,000 votes in a nationwide poll. His opponent, Norbert Hofer, is […]