Monthly Archives: April 2015

Modern mores

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Keith R Mitchell CBE

                  I took an old friend to the shops the other day to buy some new shoes (he is 76).    We decided to grab a bite at a snack bar    I noticed he was … Continue reading →

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Mediterranean misery

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Keith R Mitchell CBE

The television images from the Mediterranean are truly horrific but the solution being pressed on European nations by charities cannot be the right answer.  They seem to want a return to the Mare Nostrum but at an enhanced level. All … Continue reading →

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Living in a Green world

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Keith R Mitchell CBE

I am not prone to nightmares but I come closest to suffering one after seeing Natalie Bennett, the leader of the UK Green Party, on TV. What sort of world would we find ourselves living in if UK electors were … Continue reading →

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The irony of health and social care

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Keith R Mitchell CBE

David Cameron has upped the election stakes over NHS funding by guaranteeing to fund the £8 billion deficit the NHS is predicting. Labour are struggling to follow suit. Inevitably, the Liberals have already committed, knowing they will never form a … Continue reading →

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Green Belt no help to North Oxon

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Keith R Mitchell CBE

David Cameron and Eric Pickles have both promised to keep the Green Belt and have hinted that Labour will build over it.  People living in my old County Council Division (Adderbury, Bloxham, Bodicote, Milcombe and Milton) may believe this is … Continue reading →

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Blair rides to the rescue

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Keith R Mitchell CBE

It is fascinating to see Tony Blair apparently riding to the rescue of the Miliband election machine today, supported by his wife Cherry.  The family warfare between the Miliband brothers, David and Ed, was about the political direction of the … Continue reading →

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Milton’s got its pub back

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Keith R Mitchell CBE

This is Milton in North Oxfordshire and the pub is the Black Boy.  It has been my local for 30 years and I have seen almost as many landlords.  There is a story to tell about many of them but … Continue reading →

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Harry Mount – good on The Blob; poor on grammar

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Keith R Mitchell CBE

Harry Mount has written a brilliant piece in The Telegraph today. Here is a link.  It is about the growing number of tutors employed by parents with children in the state sector.  He blames the continuing failure of the UK state education … Continue reading →

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Regionalism returns

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Keith R Mitchell CBE

In 2004, John Prescott tried very hard to establish elected regional government in England.  He selected North East England for his attempt, believing this was an area that saw itself as a region and would support the idea.  He failed … Continue reading →

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NHS – a national religion

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Keith R Mitchell CBE

It seems to me that the National Health Service has become something akin to a new religion in this country. Its holiness is unquestionable; its integrity is unimpeachable; its right to exist and to grow cannot be assailed. It occupies … Continue reading →

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