Norman Stanley Flectcher - you’re free to go - the prison is full!

Is it just me, or were you also shocked to read that conviceted terrorists were let out on early release. It seemed to come as a bit of a shock to the Home Office too - who have now said that the policy of early release will no longer apply.
In fact when you look further [...]

It’s Terminal for Gordon – promise a lot: deliver f**k all

Gordon Brown is probably breathing a huge sign of relief that T5 wasn’t on Nick and Carla’s itinerary of great British achievements. They did, however, look in on the Emirates – fine stadium: shame about the public transport – none of the local Tube stations have been upgraded as originally promised, plus the nearest train [...]

Breathtaking hypocrisy

Phillip makes some interesting points about the post office. But what really intrigues me is how these days it appears that Ministers seem perfectly willing to campaign against a policy that their own Government supports.
Even more perverse is that they think it is perfectly compatible for them to do so, as they use the argument [...]

Fat Cats cut back on everything – but their own salaries

State-owned industry cuts back to save money. Sounds a bit retro, but that’s the ongoing story at the Post Office, one of our last state industries -  not counting Northern Rock, of course.
And all it’s our fault. I was responsible as a DTI minister for the Post Office back in the early ‘90s. We [...]

The Daily Mail is wrong again

The Daily Mail hailed the budget as a success following its own Banish the Bags campaign, now that the Government wants shops to stop giving away plastic bags, or start charging 5p each for them.
Essentially both the Government and the Daily Mail believe plastic bags are bad and can be done away with. Don’t they [...]

Sierra Scams to Lewis List – plus ca change…

They called it the Ford Sierra scam. The deal was that the Commons fees office paid MPs’ car allowances on bands based on engine size. A Ford Sierra 2.3 diesel fell into the top band, attracting a generous mileage allowance, but was cheap to buy and run – even cheaper second hand. Those willing to [...]

The Last Post

Below is an article I wrote on The Post Office, which recently appeared on The Platform on ConservativeHome.
The debate about Post Office closures is not a new one. For my sins, any parliamentary question that was asked about the whole of the Royal Mail came to me for an answer, so I am well versed [...]

Crap statistics, crap argument

Don’t you just love it when people come up with a statistic that they think makes a point? Don’t you then love it when newspapers run with the story, because they can’t find anything else to write about?
I remember when proponents of a single currency used to say that if you started off with a [...]

Hoy Big Gob - Shut It!

Much has been written about Prince Harry and his time on the front line. I have to say that at first I wasn’t particularly interested in teh story. I always suspected that Harry would fight on the front line in some theatre of conflict. When he spoke you could see that it was something he [...]