Tuesday , March 19 2024

Tag Archives: Democracy

The Abandonment of Democracy: Have teachers failed society?

The most shocking opinion poll that I read over the past year was by Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk in the Journal of Democracy 2016.  It shows that in 2011, only 30% of those aged between 20 and 30 years of age thought that democracy was essential. This is depressing …

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Why a Second Referendum is Undemocratic

Imagine there were a General Election won by Labour. Suppose the Tories delayed their departure from office for 3 years and then, when the opinion polls were ripe, held another General Election to “confirm” the first.  Surely no-one would say that this was a democracy. Suppose the Scottish were indeed …

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The danger of not leaving

It’s not accidental that truly democratic government is rare. Most of us don’t like to lose and democracy always involves the risk of losing. The acceptance of loss and the ability to change who rules us is what distinguishes democracy from autocracy. If we are very lucky indeed Britain will …

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The Tyranny of Parliament

The sovereignty of Parliament is uncontested. The Supreme Court reminded us in the Gina Miller case as have a thousand constitutional commentators before and since. This is the law and it is correct. A recently formed group of MPs – the Independent Group – have proclaimed their independence of their …

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The Fight for Independence continues. What next?

A pro-EU Parliament is in the process of refusing to implement the EU Referendum result.  It is two years and nine months since the Referendum and the best Parliament can offer is a further delay of almost two years.  A delay of 5 years amounts to MPs putting up two …

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When representatives go rogue

It used to be a joke.  If a country had a referendum that went against the will of the EU they were asked to do it again to get the “right” answer the second time. Those who want to Leave the EU have always looked on this overbearing attitude to …

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Why a second EU referendum would be undemocratic

Over two years since the EU referendum in 2016, there are still persistent calls, mainly from the Remain side, to “re-run” the referendum, or even have a “confirmation vote” on the final deal. Some use the words of the former Brexit Minister, David Davis, as proof that a second referendum …

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I’m Sorry, Is Brexit Boring You?

Laughing at Britain’s Brexit woes might be justified if other countries were successfully tackling the pre-eminent problem of the early 21st century — reconciling meaningful democracy and self-determination with the imperative for global regulation and governance. But since no-one else has bothered to pick up the torch of destiny, maybe it’s …

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It is not that complicated

How many times have you thought ‘Why does it have to be so complicated’? Looking for white sauce recipes I was confounded with requests to decide if I was OK with my data being used/searched for a better user experience. No I just want a sauce recipe. In the end …

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Lessons On Populism, From Bono

How to solve the “scourge” of European populism? CNN’s Fareed Zakaria makes a pilgrimage to Kiev, to consult with the geopolitical oracle known as Bono Every now and then you read an article so astonishingly un-self aware, so counterproductive, so open to attack and ridicule on multiple fronts that it …

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The Perfect Storm: When Continuity Remainers Meet NHS Worshippers

When all else fails, Continuity Remainers invoke the NHS in their last-gasp attempt to win support for their “People’s Vote” The past few years have seen an inexplicable surge in the release of implausible, cheaply-produced disaster movies, aided by the falling costs of CGI, with plots based on supersized or …

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And there’s another country

I supported Brexit for these reasons. I thought the UK could in the long term be more prosperous if we could trade freely with whomsoever we chose. The EU runs a club that allows us to trade freely with other members of the club but imposes a common external tariff …

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The Christian Duty to Defend Democracy

Despite the attempts of every man-made ideology to persecute and annihilate it, Christianity has survived. From Nero and Diocletian to Hitler, Stalin and Mao; from Roman dictatorship to Nazi and Communist atheism; it has survived. Paradoxically, as Tertullian observed, persecution has proved to be the seed of the Church. Christianity, …

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Review: The People vs Democracy

“The People vs Democracy” goes further than many other books which claim to “explain” Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, showing that it takes both sides – outraged establishment centrists as well as populist insurgents – to successfully undermine liberal democracy. Political renewal depends on the former group finally …

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A Practicable Immigration Policy

Immigration is a highly contentious topic today, and has become a focal point of political divide. One the one side you have a coalition of libertarian and left-leaning groups who advocate for open borders on economic or individual rights grounds. On the other you have increasing nativist sentiment who desire …

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The wisdom of the “ordinary man”

How often do you hear the expression “it’s not rocket science”? A hundred years ago such an expression would have been assigned to the world of H.G.Wells and his War of the Worlds. Literally a war of this world was just coming to an end. Americans were not long from …

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