02
MAY
2016

EU referendum—4: Is the EU democratic?

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1 A difficult question.  If, like me, you would argue that the UK’s parliamentary system, including our electoral practice, isn’t democratic, then the EU is certainly less so.  [For the UK, I would prefer a term such as ‘ecclesiastocracy’, a word I have just made up and meaning...
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30
APR
2016

EU referendum—3: another shambles looming

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1 All decisions based on dogma are suspect and most are wrong. [Dogma:  “a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted” (Merriam-Webster).  Most people call these beliefs ‘ideological’.  But, ideology is the study of...
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01
MAR
2016

EU referendum—2: is the UK the “fifth largest economy” in the world?

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It depends what you mean by “largest” [*1]. 1  By GDP (nominal) the UK is the fifth (2014 estimate) Nominal GDP [gross domestic product—the value of all final goods and services produced within a state in a given year] does not take into account differences in the cost of living...
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29
FEB
2016

EU referendum—1: The money the UK pays the EU

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On BBC1 television’s panel game, Question time, last Thursday, 26 february 2016, Mr Giles Fraser, a man of God [*1], said: We pay 50 million a day to the EU. We get some of it back, of course when they let us, and in the way they want… It is not for me to comment on the...
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26
FEB
2016

Why the UK’s EU referendum is undemocratic

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The British public is to vote in a referendum on the country’s membership of the European Union.  This blog is about whether a referendum is a suitable way of deciding the question.  Whether or not we should stay is for another time.  It gives my views on why a referendum...
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