Tax My House
So, Labour’s signature policy is slapping 20% VAT on private school fees. What a sorry state of affairs – that this is pretty much the sum total of the [...]
Speech to the Harrogate and District Law Society in 2018
In 2018, I became the President of the Harrogate and District Law Society for its centenary year. It therefore fell upon me to deliver the centenary speech to circa [...]
Stupefaction
Ninety minutes after the polls closed in the General Election of 2024, and the exit poll revealed a Labour landslide, I arrived at Harrogate Convention Centre with my invitation to [...]
Chickens Coming Home to Roost
Former British Chancellor George Osborne, who served between 2010-2016, was a brilliant political operator. However, he was the most damaging chancellor of my 44 years. Brilliant, because when the International [...]
Business Lessons from Ponds, Volcanoes and Spring Water
Many years ago, my wife and I lived in a terraced house, with a tiny front garden. For unfathomable reasons, my wife wanted to create a pond, which would dramatically [...]
Indebtedness
It’s midnight here in Puerto De La Cruz, Tenerife. I’m in my hostel - well, it claims to be a hotel, but the evidence and price suggest otherwise. It's hot. [...]
It’s the weather, stupid
In the winter of 2012, in Bilton, Harrogate where I lived, the sitting Conservative Councillor resigned. Naturally, this triggered a by-election just before Christmas, on 13 December. Nobody, but nobody, [...]
Some Thoughts On Racism
(Caution: the following words are written by a rusty lawyer. On the specific legal issues, the views of a smarter and more up to date lawyer are demanded. I [...]
The Evolution of Play
Today, the snow is so heavy that our children's school shut early. As I type, North Yorkshire looks quite spectacular. Back when I was a boy, a snow day [...]
Being Good and Being Evil
Driving through a storm in the dark, in a remote part of the Yorkshire Dales last week, I passed a car which was upside down on the side of [...]
