An analysis of support for disabled people from the State | Sam Hall
The question of ‘Do Disabled People receive enough support from the State?’ is unlikely to be satisfactorily answered by an abled-bodied man in anything less than a report from a Royal Commission. I would love to be able to say that being disabled in Britain doesn’t disadvantage you in any way — but statistically that isn’t the case. As we (hopefully!) wrangle our way out of this pandemic, there are takeaways from working from home. For some, it might mean less car travel, more time spent with the family because of skipping the commute, and a better environment with less air pollution. But for others, it might mean more employment opportunities in higher paid jobs where wrestling the logistics of public transport, the unavailability of disabled toilets or poorly adapted workplaces is less of an issue. I would hope that the government encourage this for at least part of the working week going forward.
The British countryside: our green and pleasant land | Adam James Pollock
When it comes to the countryside, people are growing weary of presenters such as Chris Packham presenting his own views as if they were mainstream in rural areas, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. In a fantastic recent article by the newly elevated Lord Ian Botham, Packham is derided as being utterly imprudent regarding all true rural issues… He could hardly represent rural communities less if he had spent his entire life in a Hackney estate.
In defence of the tax on tampons
What the anti-tampon tax advocates failed to realise is that the VAT was not put into place by some evil patriarchal organisation scheming to hurt women from every possible angle, it was there to help them. Indeed, proceeds from the tampon tax created a Tampon Tax Fund worth millions of pounds from which thousands of women across the country benefited, establishing an intergenerational support scheme between women of all income, race, and sexual orientation on a strictly, and intimate, feminine issue. What could be more feminist than that?
Is Britain prepared for a major war? | Dominic Lawson
Pentagon researchers agree and have explicitly stated that the American-led world order is “fraying”… Being aware of the possibility of the world’s powers stumbling into war… the question needs to be asked whether we are prepared for such a conflict- and whether the government has a clear understanding of what our role would be within it.
The State of the Union in Wales | Sam Hall
Whatever the future of Wales holds, the fiscal might of the United Kingdom to support it must be unwavering. Separatists will say that Wales is rich enough, intelligent enough, and perfectly capable of governing its own affairs. But even with the powers it does have, under Welsh Labour, limited self-government has been a monumental car crash. Many things are possible in international politics — but that does not always mean they are a good idea. Welsh independence is one such example.
An 18th century idea to put fear and deterrance back into prisons? | Alex Brown
In an age where each prisoner costs £26,000 annually to look after, and where they can receive visitors at all times, their lives are made comfortable regardless of their crime. We need an alternative that will put fear back at the heart of our prisons yet cut costs. A modern, digital Panopticon will ensure psychological rehabilitation of prisoners through genuine fear of reincarceration as well as provide the digital surveillance that can prevent violence and control prisoners more effectively.
A battle for the political soul: populism and Christian identity | Joseph Robertson
In the past, identity could be broken down to the level of the individual, the family, the community and the nation, in definable ‘building blocks’. Increasingly identity is stretched to mean the individual as part of a larger supralocal commune, harping back to Irving Janis’s 1972 study, ‘Victims of Groupthink’, where he expounded the theory of individuals foregoing their own beliefs to conform to a consensus.
Imperiled UK prisons require conservative reform | Dan Mikhaylov
For us, prison reform does not constitute a mere economic necessity, motivated by the need to end the squandering of the taxpayers’ money on programmes that neither contribute to the delinquents’ rehabilitation, nor ensure our own security upon their release. Conversely, we advocate for it from the perspective of the common weal: it presupposes a system that simultaneously uproots those who endanger order and tranquillity, and improves and educates wrongdoers. Our system must be undergirded by the Christian principle of forgiveness.
The electibility of social conservatism: a viable force in British politics | Luke Doherty
The political climate in Britain is ready and waiting for a sound conservatism that will challenge and repeal liberal-leftism, rather secretly tolerate and accommodate it. Now is the time to make the case for social conservatism. it has to be offered as a sensible choice for ordinary people.