Tim Worstall

From the comments about great engineers: Brunel was voted something-or-other by the great unwashed, when James Watt or Geordie Stephenson were available. Those two changed human history: Brunel changed the means of getting to Bristol. Sigh. Brunel made it easier to get out of Bristol. A greater contribution to human happiness than no man has [...]

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A couple of years ago, when several of Napoli’s players were being linked with moves to England, De Laurentiis’ tactic for convincing them to stay was to warn them that English women “do not wash their genitalia.” “To them,” he said, in a concerned, fatherly way, “a bidet is a mystery.”

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No, not the specific claims being made and yet: “It can be well understood that attainment of maturity of understanding depends on social, economic, climatic, dietary and environmental factors, that’s why a child in our subcontinent starts understanding nature and consequences of his/her conduct much earlier than a child in the west specially because of [...]

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If the story happened as told then yes, there should indeed be a war crimes trial. Precisely and exactly because we’re British.

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Prince Harry follows in the distinguished footsteps of other members of the Royal family who have fought for their country. Because, well, you know, that’s what Princes are for.

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What’s more, the initial years of studying a language are tough: there is no escape from the grind of learning how to conjugate verbs, construct sentences and to absorb enough words to begin to understand what is written and said. To elect to do this, young boys and girls need to know that, like practising [...]

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Fred Goodwin is shredded: former RBS boss stripped of knighthood Fred Goodwin has been stripped of his knighthood after a political campaign to see the former head of Royal Bank of Scotland punished for his role in the financial crisis. Oh dear. Time was, as a country, we respected the rules. Whatever they were, the [...]

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Taxpayer Scotland, which is linked to the London-based Taxpayers’ Alliance organisation, estimates Scotland’s debt could be as high as £189bn, even before taking into account its share of the national debt. Adding in Scotland’s £80bn share of the UK’s £940bn national debt suggests it might face a £269bn burden, costing more than £10bn in annual [...]

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“I’m more the sort of person who doesn’t like hugging strangers because we don’t know each other, so we shouldn’t.” Some would call this sort of behaviour emotional repression. Others would call it being English.

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Scottish independence: Wales and Northern Ireland make unity plea Break-up of UK would lead to an English-dominated Westminster parliament, say first ministers of other home nations The problem with this is? As England would have 90 odd % of the nation’s population why shouldn’t it dominate the legislature?

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The Nobel prize, and now honorary knighthoods, awarded to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov reaffirm the old adage that the simplest ideas are the best. Mssrs Geim and Novoselov are British citizens. There is nothing honorary about their knighthoods they are now, respectively, Sir Andre and Sir Konstantin. Grrr.

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Well, I often object to her abuse of it but this really will not stand: Now a collection of liberal feminist groups has come forward There is nothing fucking liberal about these unshaven harridans determining how others should live their lives. The essence of liberalism is that consenting adults get to do as they wish [...]

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Gerald Ronson, the veteran tycoon jailed for his part in one of Britain’s best-known stock market scandals as one of the “Guinness Four”, is among those recognised in the New Year honours list. Ronson, who claims to have pioneered self-service petrol stations, served six months after his conviction in 1990 for involvement in a share-trading [...]

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It is actually possible to fail your driving test in the UK. I know, I know, hard to believe, isn’t it? And I speak as someone who has twice taken a US test, once in Virginia, once in California (licences only last a few years, that’s the reason for taking two, not that I failed [...]

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Melvyn Bragg: ‘Why shouldn’t Britain be the clever country?’ Because of the British?

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I came away thinking it was a splendid place, and also reflecting how much England suffered in the 20th century from its metropolitan bias. A healthy country needs strong provinces such as England had in the Victorian Age, the exceptional century in its history, when so much of the cultural and intellectual vitality of the [...]

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Some Tories believe that Cameron’s attachment to the nobility will resurface when he no longer has to face the electorate. They believe that when he eventually stands down Cameron will revive the tradition of granting an earldom to a former prime minister. The Camerons would become the Earl and Countess of Witney, the name of [...]

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Our anger over runaway top pay is more about merit than money I have a suspicion, more strong than sneaking, that it isn’t actually. Ah, comes the reply, but these are the cream of the international crop, among the very best bankers in the world. The commission report blows a hole in that tired argument, [...]

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Deep-fried peasant with chips anyone? A chippy in Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, is offering this novel dish, making use of those shot on local estates. I am inspired. Peasant is a difficult meat; with almost no integral fat, the flesh can be dry when roasted, needing a bucket of bread sauce and gravy to swallow. Destination deep-fat [...]

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A man who divided opinion without ever appearing to care much what anyone thought of him, he was simply an odd chap. Yes, yes, he was. And this country needs more odd chaps. As does every country, of course. We’ve just lost one and who is going to step up?

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