Published on
16 August 2012
‘Modernity’, wrote Hegel, ‘is the secularisation of religion’. In many ways this is true of twentieth-century Europe during which we saw one responsibility after another pass from churches into the hands of government. Chief among these was, of course, the Welfare State, but education and moral authority followed not far behind. The last-mentioned is most […]
Published on
3 May 2012
Posted in Christianity, Civil Liberties, Conscience, Culture, Legal Affairs, Public Policy, Religion
From a guest blogger: Regular readers of this blog will have seen posts over the last year in response to the Government’s decision to hold a consultation on whether to extend marriage to same-sex couples, as well as on developments in marriage law elsewhere. Frequently debate over redefining marriage has produced conflict between mainstream religious […]
Published on
18 April 2012
Posted in Big Society, British Politics, Public Policy, Social Commentary
One measure announced in the recent budget has provoked much discussion, namely that proposing to remove unlimited tax relief on donations to charity. Tax relief on charitable donations was introduced by the Thatcher government as a means of encouraging philanthropy among high-earners. If an individual donates a suitably large amount to charity, the relief means […]
Published on
28 March 2012
Posted in British Politics, Built Environment, Public Policy
Harold Macmillan was Minister of Housing and Local Government 1951-54 in Winston Churchill’s Conservative Government. He had been given the target of building three hundred thousand new homes every year. The UK was still suffering from the social and economic effects of the Second World War and the demand for clean and safe modern housing […]
Published on
22 March 2012
From a guest blogger: On 20 February the website of the Coalition 4 Marriage was set up. Since then its petition has obtained, online and on paper, well over quarter of a million signatures (275,928 on 22 March). About four days after that petition was set up another website was set up in opposition: the […]
Published on
21 March 2012
Posted in British Politics, Political Economy, Public Policy, Social Commentary
All who read British newspapers will have noted fevered speculation over potential measures that may appear in today’s Budget. The suggestion that Britain’s road network of Britain be opened to private investment has attracted much interest. The idea that the Government might lease key routes, such as the M1, to private corporations. These would be […]
Published on
14 March 2012
Posted in Big Society, Ethics in Business, Political Economy, Public Policy, Virtue
Following the financial crash of 2008 the economic ideas of John Meynard Keynes experienced a revival. Some argue that the recent policies of both the British and American governments are Keynesian. The British Prime Minister at the height of the crisis, Gordon Brown, actually referenced Keynes in announcing a fiscal stimulus. Keynes is well-known for […]
Published on
22 February 2012
Posted in British Politics, Philosophy, Public Policy, Social Commentary
The running saga of proposed reform of the House of Lord has once again come under the spotlight of political and media attention. Last week a number of newspapers, The Times among them, reported that a bill providing for an elected second chamber would be included in the Queen’s Speech. After botched ‘reform’ under Blair’s […]