One of the main features of fascist regimes is their unwillingness to listen to rational, informed criticism. Well, if a perverse unwillingness to respond to criticism and to enter reasonable discussion and debate is a defining characteristic of fascism, then the Church of England authorities qualify perfectly. When the Liturgical CommissionRead More

Totalitarianism or what? The European Court has declared that “in appropriate cases” information should be deleted from articles on the Internet. The example given was of a Spaniard who some years ago received a conviction for debt and he successfully argued that this fact should not be there at theRead More

Jeremy Warner asks this good question in today’s Telegraph. He can’t find a good answer because, as he correctly observes, all EU economies except Germany’s and ours are stagnating, and those of such key EU members as Italy and the Netherlands are actually shrinking. The assumption is that the EU isRead More

Nigel Farage is in trouble yet again, and one would think he ought to have learned by now. Mind you, Nigel would get in trouble with the media of any political hue even if he said that the sky is usually blue, except at night when it’s black, or onRead More

Have you recovered from the initial shock? Well then, you must be eternally grateful to the Office for National Statistics for breaking the news. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the ONS has vindicated Ernest Hemingway who reported this dialogue. Scott Fitzgerald: The rich are different from you and me. Hemingway: Yes, theyRead More

Picture the massed crowds turning out for Hitler at Nuremburg, vast, faceless, more like a geometrical object than a gathering of human beings. Ditto the parades for Mao and for the Great Leader in North Korea. It is the trademark of totalitarianism and its aim is the obliteration of personality andRead More

The influx of Romanians and Bulgarians has been ‘reasonable’, according to Dave. Leaving aside the question of whether or not an oxymoron like ‘reasonable influx’ can exist in the English language, one still wonders about the information on which this conclusion is based. Let’s see. In the first quarter ofRead More

Where is our sense of urgency? David Cameron has said that “Fracking for shale gas is good for our country…it is our duty to get on with it, especially in view of the Ukrainian crisis.” Last week, sounding frustrated, Cameron asked “Why is it taking us so long, compared withRead More

The word ‘totalitarian’ crops up in my pieces more and more often. It may be a simple reactionary paranoia. Or, and I prefer this possibility, having grown up in a totalitarian state I know what it looks and smells like. One telltale sign is a curtailed freedom of movement: forRead More

The Chancellor has announced plans to slit your freedom with Occam’s razor. Before philosophers among you accuse me of ignorance, I’m using the term in its colloquial sense, meaning that a simple solution is usually best. Dave and George clearly favour simplicity when it comes to reducing our suicidal budgetRead More