Keen readers of Picking Losers will know that I am not likely to become a fully paid up member of the Green lobby any time soon.  I do believe that we have a duty to look after the environment and that it is a duty we have neglected in the…

Government  Proposals for the way in which a site will be chosen for the long-term disposal of higher activity radioactive waste were today published for public consultation by the UK Government and the devolved administrations in Wales and…

Government Gordon Brown gave the first indications on Sunday of the shape of his new cabinet and how he intends to overhaul Whitehall, declaring his determination to meet "the challenge of change". After being formally anointed as Labour…

Some people claim that Nicolas Sarkozy is France's Margaret Thatcher. Yeah, right. To quote from the BBC report: "A reference to 'free and undistorted competition' was pulled from the draft [Treaty that isn't the Constitutional Treaty…

Government City academies have failed to live up to their ambition of being "powerhouses of innovation", says a former chief inspector for schools. Hopes that private sector involvement in the state-funded independent schools would…

Like most men, I do like a good list. I could real off my top 3 greatest footballers, my top 3 meals, my top 3 films, my top 3 just about anything. Alas this is a political blog and not a Nick Hornby novel so I will save you from the…

Government   Gordon Brown has said he has learned his lesson about "top-down" government and has pledged to involve ordinary people in his decisions. He told BBC News the public needed to be fully involved if big challenges like climate…

"-Panic on the streets of London, Panic on the streets of Birmingham, I wonder to myself, Could life ever be sane again?-" So the song went. Now I don't think the Smiths had Lord Falconer and the Ministry of Justice in mind when they wrote…

When exactly did smoking become the new paedophilia? They are the pariahs of modern society, and all common sense and decency can go to hell if it means the government and media can whip up a frenzy about these evil doers. There is the tale…

I have long been a supporter of self determination. That is to say, if a country wants its independence then it should be granted, or in cases like Gibraltar (for example) if they want to remain part of the UK or return to being part of…

Government Hotchpotch of business support schemes to be simplified, says DTI Radically simplifying the number of business support schemes from 3000-plus to well under 100 is at the centre of new proposals to help small business announced by…