Category Archives: News

I’m on my way back from an event at the University of Bradford, which might explain today’s very slow start today. And, for those of you who know Bradford, you’ll have recognised the picture. For those of you who don’t, the statue of J B Priestly stands in front of the National Science and Media Museum.

Universities have suffered rather badly under recent Conservative administrations. Brexit has impacted on students coming here via the Erasmus programme, and research has been impacted by arguments over our participation in the Horizon 2020 programme. Throw in the impact of culture warriors with blue rosettes, and it’s been difficult to balance budgets and attract talent from beyond our shores.

It is sometimes hard to appreciate just how broken our politics is. With a Government determined to remove or destroy all of the guard rails that protect us – independent supervision of our elections, an unbiased state broadcaster, limits on campaign spending that prevent the wealthy from buying their way to power – and seemingly able to lie without restraint or conscience about anything and everything, it is perhaps unsurprising that they seem capable of defying what we traditionally thought of as political gravity.

It is as though Wilkins Micawber was not only justified in his belief that “something would come along” but that it always did.

And now, a war somewhere far enough away to not risk our direct involvement but close enough to justify an effort to look relevant has come along just when the Conservative Party was breaking into mutually hostile factions over the lies and evasions of the Prime Minister over events at 10 Downing Street. It is an excuse to persuade us that a man who has had more chances than an English slip cordon puts down in an average year should be given another.

I hope that everyone, or at least those of you who took part, enjoyed Spring Conference online. And yes, I know, it isn’t the same without the social interaction but it’s better than the alternative.

There’s a lot to be said for niceness and, in what is often (and especially now) not a particularly nice world, it is important to remember that those who don’t wholly agree with us are worthy of our respect nonetheless. As Dame Edna Everage puts it;