Thomas More Institute

Category Archives: World Affairs

Published on
7 February 2011

The European Court of Human Rights, HM Government, and Prisoner Voting

Posted in Civil Liberties, Europe, Human Rights, Legal Affairs, Liberty, Public Policy, World Affairs

Speculation in the press currently reports that the government are poised to allow MPs a free vote on the issue of whether prisoners should be allowed to vote in UK elections, after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the UK’s blanket ban on prisoner voting breaches human rights. Setting aside the specific […]

Published on
8 December 2010

The Long Arm of European Law

Posted in Civil Liberties, Europe, World Affairs

From a guest blogger: One of the most surprising decisions of the new Coalition government has been its choice to opt-in to the new European Investigation Order (EIO) proposed by the European Union (EU). This directive would replace the current system of mutual legal assistance (MLA) with a system whereby one member state can require […]

Published on
6 December 2010

Why the Burmese President-Elect’s ‘Release’ should Concern Everyone

Posted in Burma, World Affairs

From a guest blogger: The Nobel laureate Aung Sann Suu Kyi, ‘The Lady’ as she is known in Burma, was released at 5.00pm on 13 November 2010. The numerological significance of the moment cannot be missed by anyone who knows the vital significance of such matters in a country whose rulers are obsessed with them: […]

Published on
23 June 2010

McChrystal and Obama: When is it Right to Speak Out Against a Superior?

Posted in Conscience, Military Ethics, United States of America, World Affairs

General McChrystal has done it again. The American military leader in Afghanistan has once more spoken out about his superiors in the media, adding to a chain of escapades in the public arena. He has offered his sincere advice on military policy in Afghanistan to anybody who will listen. This conjures up an age-old conundrum […]

Published on
17 May 2010

Is the Euro a Spear Pointed at the Heart of the European Union?

Posted in Europe, Ireland, Political Economy, World Affairs

From a guest blogger: Chancellor Merkel sees the Euro currency crisis in this light. She sees it as speculator-driven and insists that it must be beaten – thus the €750billion package, one cannot yet call it a facility – to reassure the market. However, the true problem of the Euro is not speculation. Recent speculation […]

Published on
24 February 2010

A Greek Lesson for the EU

Posted in Europe, Political Economy, World Affairs

Finally, after many years of constructing Potemkin villages, the facade seems to have fallen in. Not only have irresponsible banks and individuals had to face up to the consequences of their behaviour over the past decade, but also irresponsible sovereign countries are now being forced to do the same. Greece has long had structural problems […]

Published on
10 February 2010

Persecuting Home-Schoolers: A Message to the German Government

Posted in Civil Liberties, Conscience, Education, Europe, Human Rights, Liberty, Marriage & Family, United States of America, World Affairs

A most interesting immigration case in which a judge in Tennessee granted political asylum to a German piano teacher and his family may have dented German-American bilateral relations. The family in question home-schooled its children, which is not generally permitted in Germany. The parents’ determination had had repercussions there: massive fines imposed, police intrusion into […]