Journalist, editor, analyst and trainer on computing, government, climate and data
My latest two articles on Beacon have a theme: things torn apart by Margaret Thatcher. The first is Britain itself, and obviously that has not happened – yet. But if Scotland votes for independence in September, Mrs Thatcher’s decision to test the poll tax in Scotland first will have played a part.
My big journalism project this year was co-editing ‘Ring of steel’ for MATTER, on police use of ANPR, published in August. It is now available to read for free on Medium, where you can also read further commentary by me on the subject. In ‘Ring of steel’, writer James Bridle explored the subject widely, partly … Continue reading “2013: ANPR, Scotland’s IT, NHS whistleblowers, ID cards… and Thatcher”
I have written a blogpost for the Manifesto Club, which campaigns for freedom in everyday life, about the politics of ID cards – as promoted by both the Conservative and Labour parties, including that promoter of liberty and preserver of the NHS Margaret Thatcher – including some thoughts about what stage the national identity scheme would … Continue reading “Margaret Thatcher, politicians and ID cards”
Today sees the funeral of Baroness Thatcher, the prime minister who saved/crippled Britain, giving new hope to/tearing the soul out of its communities and reforming/undermining the public sphere, delete according to preference. But it’s more complicated than that. If it wasn’t, the NHS would not have survived her leadership in its current form. It turns … Continue reading “Margaret Thatcher, preserver of the NHS. Yes, really”
Embed from Getty Images The Vote Leave campaign bus has ‘We send the EU £350 million a week, let’s fund our NHS instead’ written on its side. This number is, to be polite, a bit dodgy. Due to the rebate negotiated by Margaret Thatcher, the actual amount is about £250m a week, or £13bn a … Continue reading “Leave out dodgy numbers on EU and NHS”