It was just a wooden chair! There was nothing remarkable about it until one realised that the padding at the sides consisted of cushions piled on top of one another and strapped together and that underneath was a shallow metal tray. Even that did not really capture the menace behind the image until one realised… Read More: Executed by tweet »
The report by Lord Saville into what happened in (London)Derry on 30th January 1972, which has become known as Bloody Sunday, was published on 15th June 2010. Much has already been written about it. The statistics are there for all to see. It took 12 years, it cost £190 million, there were approximately 2,500 written… Read More: The technology of the Saville tribunal »
Now that the Government has told us what price is to be paid for the years of Labour profligacy and its impact on our incomes, our pensions, our taxes and our futures, it is hard to decide where to start. Should it be the demand from Europe that George Osborne should let the Commission or the… Read More: Spanner in the candy jar »
Some time in May 1998, I returned to my office from a meeting to find on my desk a three page fax (remember those?) from the Solicitor to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry asking if Eversheds would be prepared to express an interest in taking some statements in Northern Ireland during July and August of 1998.… Read More: Bloody Sunday »
I was fortunate to be invited to dinner recently at the House of Commons with two MPs, one my first time elected local MP and the other an old university chum, now a Minister. Being early for my meeting in the Central Lobby, where I bumped into a solicitor I know (what a small world… Read More: Utopian vision »
History is a wonderful thing and I am constantly amazed at how much of it appears to be a matter of chance. There are numerous examples. For instance, I have come across the attached piece published by the Education Forum. I reproduce it in full, typos and all! A significant event marking the international relations… Read More: Leaving it to chance »
Autolycus, in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, is described as a roguish peddler, vagabond and pickpocket who steals the Clown’s purse, pilfers a lot, but ultimately helps the lovers Perdita and Florizel to escape. Autolycus describes himself as a “snapper up of unconsidered trifles” – a description that can be applied to me as I squirrel… Read More: A snapper up of unconsidered trifles »
At last, I have come to the attention of the US Department of Justice. Though some of you may have suspected me for some time, I am going to have to disappoint you! Someone in the DOJ has found my blog and last week spent more time reading more pages than anyone else on that… Read More: Bribery and corruption »