The rule of law and the rule of man

It's a generally accepted principle of our political system that it is better to be ruled by the law than by the capriciousness of man. It's one of the things that so angers about the lax drafting of so many of our new laws, that they give such discretion to those in power as to whether to enforce them upon a particular person or activity.

Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, has halted the construction of a shopping mall in the capital and announced that the prime block of urban real estate should be expropriated after being shocked at...

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Governments and charities

Government, of course, is a great corrupter of charities. It identifies the “voluntary sector” as a cheap way of dealing with social problems, but instead of letting it get on with the job, it ties charities up in so much complex regulation and statistical reporting that sometimes, they tell me, the extra admin eats up most of the extra money. Government grants also act as a secret gag, preventing harsh plain-speaking against bad policies by those who know their stuff. Yet for donors, part of the joy and impetus of charities is their very independence: instead of only paying tax...

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George is right here

George Monbiot, I know, I know, I make fun of him all too often, but when he gets on to the subject of civil liberties his heart is in the right place.

Using the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, it obtained an injunction against the villagers and anyone else who might protest. This forbids them from "coming to, remaining on, trespassing or conducting any demonstrations, or protesting or other activities" on land near the lake. If anyone breaks this injunction they could spend five years in prison.

The act, parliament was told, was meant to protect women from stalkers....

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Not a surprise

I can't say that I find the basic story here surprising.

The changes in 1999 meant the worst-off families could claim £56.76 a week instead of £39, making it "economically much more attractive to have children".

An academic study claims that an extra 45,000 babies were born to mothers who left school at 16 in the year after the "unprecedented" increase in the value of child benefits introduced by Labour.

Some women told researchers they had stopped using contraception.

The more generous welfare system is being credited with contributing to an...

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The Archbishop and the Nazis

The Telegraph today says:

Dr Rowan Williams risks causing a new controversy by inviting a comparison between Gordon Brown's response to the economic downturn and the Third Reich.

I have to admit that that's not quite the way that I read it.

But we're bound to be uncomfortably aware at the moment that what looked like a principled defence of some of our economic assumptions (this is what real wealth creation means and there is no other coherent way of defending it) seems more ragged and vulnerable than it once did.

The unprincipled question won't be silenced: what...

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