Utopia, you are standing in it!

Parliament,   mostly  a  humdrum  affair  these  days, nevertheless  has moments  which  fascinate    long-time  aficinados.  One  such moment came at Question  Time yesterday when  ACT’s  David Seymour   was  probing  Prime  Minister Jacinda  Ardern  over   the  “feebate”  scheme which the  government  is  introducing  to accelerate the  introduction  of EVs.

The Prime  Minister  carries   such  an aura  these  days   that  it  is  not  easy  to  penetrate  the  wall of  omniscience which  protects her  from criticism.

But  as  Seymour  pursued  his  line of  questioning,   she showed  a  hint of  fallibility.

Seymour,  with a  smile,   teased  her:

“Is  my  line  of  questioning getting  under  the Prime  Minister’s  skin?”

Of course  he  had only  to  look  at Ardern’s  face  to   know  that  he  had.

So  Point of  Order  decided to  reproduce  from  Hansard   the  exchanges  of  this  unusual  event.

It  began when Seymour asked  whether  Ardern  stood  by  her  statement that “a large number of…

On the night of 5/6 June Bomber Command conducted precision attacks on ten German coastal artillery batteries near the beaches where Allied troops were to land. Each battery was targeted by approximately 100 heavy bombers, and all four Australian heavy bomber squadrons took part in the operation. No. 460 Squadron dispatched 26 aircraft, which were evenly split between attacking the batteries at Fontenay-Crisbecq and St Martin de Varreville. No. 466 Squadron provided 13 aircraft to the raid on batteries at Merville-Franceville Maisy, 14 aircraft from No. 463 Squadron struck Pointe du Hoe and No. 467 Squadron dispatched 14 against batteries at Ouistreham. The RAAF squadrons did not suffer any losses. Many Australian aircrew posted to British units also participated in this attack, and 14.8 percent of the 1,136 Bomber Command aircraft despatched were either part of RAAF squadrons or were flown by Australians.

Australians posted to RAF units also landed…

The High Court recently delivered its judgment in the case of Hertfordshire County Council v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, finding that remote meetings of local councils could not continue after 7 May 2021. This article looks at the decision and considers its impact for future local democracy.

In England council meetings in person are required under Schedule 12 of the Local Government Act 1972 (LGA 1972) and this interpretation had not previously been challenged, although the Department of Communities and Local government published the results of a consultation in 2019 on whether to allow video conferencing for some meetings. Ultimately, subject to safeguards, it was accepted that there would be benefits from some meetings being held virtually where this would facilitate participation but these were limited to meetings of local authorities’ joint committees and combined authorities. In summary these safeguards included requirements that:

• participants…

It has been some time since I did an update on the election and government-formation process in Israel, 2021 (or, as I called it, 2021a, giving away my expectation that a 2021b was likely). The election was on 23 March, and as all readers likely know, it was the fourth election since an early call of elections was legislated at the end of 2018.

Since the March election, the government-formation process has been playing out in its usual manner. President Reuven Rivlin received recommendations from party leaders about who should be tasked to form a government. As expected, no candidate had recommendations from parties totaling 61 or more seats, but incumbent PM Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) had more than opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), so he got the first nod. As everyone pretty much understood would happen, he failed to cobble together a government. Arguably he did not even…

Whoa, there – she’s bolted!

We refer to Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson, who this morning dropped another media statement into our email in-tray as Associate Housing Minister.

It was her third while she has been wearing the Housing ministerial hat.

She did issue another statement as recently as May 6 but that was as Minister responsible for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence and – in the same capacity – she has delivered two speeches.

In her statement today she didn’t actually announce anything. Rather, she said the Government welcomed the release of the second progress report on the Homelessness Action Plan and the progress it records.

More politically provocative was a statement from Climate Change Minister James Shaw and Transport Minister Michael Wood, although they, too, did not announce a new policy.

Rather, they invited public feedback on a range of policies being mooted to reduce emissions…

When reading the lists of the Kings and Queens of England, Scotland, Great Britain or the United Kingdom, there can be discrepancies regarding the reign of Lady Jane Grey; some will list her as a legitimate Queen of England and some will not.

The question I am examining is whether or not Lady Jane Grey can be considered a legitimate Queen of England and Ireland or should she be considered a usurper? The issue at hand is there is no authoritative body to judge either the legitimacy or illegitimacy of Jane’s 9 day reign. Therefore it is open to interpretation and historians have been debating this for many, many years.

I am just another voice in this chorus of historians debating this issue. I will state my case in this post to why I don’t believe that Jane Grey was the legal successor to King Edward VI.

Lady Jane Grey

Gaza is an overpopulated area for non Jewish people, too stupid to see they could be so much better off if they accept the horrendous passage taken by Jews dispossessed in the main by the assault perpetrated by Nazi Germany’s bent out of shape racists that resulted in millions having everything taken from them before being either killed in short order or worked to death in slave labour enterprises, directly led to the established State of Israel

The remnants of the pogroms and slaughterhouses ended up in their homeland from biblical times where by force they established the modern state of Israel, actually the only functioning democracy enjoying the rule of law that covers all who live within the Borders of The Jewish State. Many many have perished amidst the ongoing violence on both sides that had appeared to have diminished significantly while Donald Trump occupied The White House. In…

April 3 marks the 300th anniversary of Robert Walpolebecoming first lord of the treasuryand, with it, assuming the title ‘Prime Minister’ for the first time. In today’s blog Dr Robin Eagles, editor of our Lords 1715-1790 project, explores Walpole’s rise to power and the familiarity of his surname within the walls of Westminster…

On 3 April 1721, 300 years ago today, Robert Walpole was handed the seals of office as first lord of the treasury. He was also appointed chancellor of the exchequer (the two jobs frequently went in tandem in this period). It was not the first time he had held the post, having been first lord of the treasury earlier in the reign of George I: a time when politics was dominated by two pairings – the partnerships of Charles Spencer…