One of my big questions about the new lockdown concerned the thinking of the Government in cancelling exams this summer. Last May/June, it was obvious why exams were cancelled, we were in the middle of lockdown and so it was theoretically unsafe to run the exams. I say “theoretically” because there were people who argued… Continue reading Cancelling exams will not level up
Category: Opinion
Lockdown 3 Five questions for the Government that politicians and the media are not asking
In terms of volume, the COVID-19 debate in the UK is dominated by two extremes. These tend to reflect traditional political divides, the libertarian right versus the liberal left, the Brexiteers versus the Remainers. It is as though COVID-19 is another proxy for old battles. On the onside, lockdown obsessives insist that nothing less than… Continue reading Lockdown 3 Five questions for the Government that politicians and the media are not asking
To stop a crisis like the pandemic you need to identify root causes
So here we go again. In any crisis there are three types of people. There are those who don’t think there is a crisis. “What’s all the fuss? ” They ask before accusing those wanting action of sinister motives. Then there are those running around shouting, panicking and trying anything and everything. Sadly, the COVID… Continue reading To stop a crisis like the pandemic you need to identify root causes
Do we worship freedom?
When he wrote Escape from Reason, Francis Schaeffer talked about how we have divided the word in half, below the line is the natural world and above it is the supernatural, what we look to for meaning, what in effect we worship. Once we remove from God from above the line we replace him with… Continue reading Do we worship freedom?
After Brexit: This is the beginning of the debate not the end
The Brexit transition period is over and so today, some of those who have remained opposed in principle to the UK leaving the UK have announced their intention to re-join. This is their democratic right and Brexiteers who campaigned for many years to leave should respect their right to campaign for what they believe in,… Continue reading After Brexit: This is the beginning of the debate not the end
Prioritising the non-vulnerable may help protect the vulnerable
The primary assumption with rolling out vaccines is that you want to make sure that the highly vulnerable get the vaccine first, so you start with the over 80s and then the over 70s and those with medical conditions. There is a lot of wisdom in that. However, a comment by our local Public Health… Continue reading Prioritising the non-vulnerable may help protect the vulnerable
In defence of safeguarding
In this month’s Evangelicals Now, John Benton, comparing Safeguarding policies to the controversy over VAR in football writes: Safeguarding in churches is of immense importance, both for the sake of children and adults. There have been too many people deeply damaged, not only by the more serious and criminal forms of abuse, but by mistreatment… Continue reading In defence of safeguarding
A suppressed virus will always return
It’s not just Britain then -and it probably isn’t just about a new mutation. Around the world, coun tries are bracing themselves for a third wave of Coronavirus. Today, the news attention has shifted focused form the South East of England to South Korea which is experiencing its own third wave of the virus. In… Continue reading A suppressed virus will always return
Freedom of Movement or engineered movement?
One of the problems that we have with talking about Freedom of Movement is that what people are usually either defending or objecting to is engineered movement. What do I mean by this. Well, it relates to a great question that people have been asking. Most debates about the costs and benefits of immigration focus… Continue reading Freedom of Movement or engineered movement?
Freedom of Movement?
This is my third article in a mini-series of opinion pieces linked to Brexit and the end of the transition phase. Here I want to talk about freedom of movement. This applies to: Goods Services People Now, there are people around who believe that there should be complete control on movement. They do not think… Continue reading Freedom of Movement?