Journalist, editor, analyst and trainer on computing, government, climate and data
Healthcare – specifically, the future of the current president’s ‘Obamacare’ plan – is a major issue in the US election. As Barack Obama joked last week about Mitt Romney (reported by the Independent):
He is hoping you come down with a severe case of Romnesia just before you cast your ballot… [with symptoms including] headaches, the eyes getting blurry, but don’t worry – Obamacare covers pre-existing conditions! Continue reading “Further reading: the US elections, healthcare and Obamacare”
Added 12 November: Why you should vote in the police commissioner elections
A version of this article appeared in Chipping Norton News, November 2012
On Thursday 15 November, Chippy will get its first chance to vote for a police and crime commissioner, who for the next four years will have the ability to hire or fire the chief constable of Thames Valley Police. It is the largest non-metropolitan force in the country, covering nearly 2.3m people in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, and spending £371m this financial year. Our commissioner will be paid £85,000 annually, to be accountable for how crime is tackled in the three counties and to make the police accountable to the people they serve. Continue reading “Profiles of the Thames Valley police commissioner candidates”
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has run a Twitter account, @jeremy_hunt, for more than two years – the oldest tweet dates from May 2010, but that refers to older ones being deleted. As culture secretary, he was an enthusiastic tweeter, but stopped with his new appointment. Last Tuesday, he returned. Continue reading “Jeremy Hunt’s week on Twitter: 10 tweets and a few blocked replies?”
The last fortnight has seen extraordinary events in Cornwall. This Tuesday, council leader Alec Robertson lost a vote of no confidence, primarily over plans to outsource many local council and NHS jobs. Jim Currie, a councillor who opposes the scheme, and who had resigned last week as deputy leader, won the vote to replace him. (Both are Conservatives.) The debate was watched live via the internet by around 4,400 people. Continue reading “Further reading: the Cornwall council and NHS outsourcing rebellion”
Perhaps the most evocative road signs are those that mention not a city or town, but a region – particularly when that region is The North, which appears (as The NORTH) on signs as far south as Upper Street in Islington. But there is a problem: where is The North, or at least, where is its southern boundary? Continue reading “Where is The North? Where is The South? The NHS can help”