Category Archives: Government

The shaky ego

Posted on October 21, 2012 by alisonpeden

So the Prime Minister is rattling the sabre again.  After a week of embarrassment and bad news, he is to announce a tough new approach to crime and imprisonment, in which ‘retribution will not be a dirty word’.  And the £46 routinely given … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, justice, prisons, Scotland, women | Leave a comment

Absolute rubbish

Posted on September 30, 2011 by alisonpeden

So Eric Pickles says that paying £250m to have weekly rubbish collections in England is ‘better on grounds of the environment’ (radio news this morning).  He supposes that mealy-mouthed ‘incentives’ to recycle will work, while people will have the chance … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Scotland | 4 Comments

Human Rights

Posted on September 21, 2011 by alisonpeden

One of the arguments swirling round the Dale Farm issue is that the travellers threatened with eviction from their site are having their human rights undermined – the human right to live as they wish; to travel if they want … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, justice | 5 Comments

Family champions

Posted on August 25, 2011 by alisonpeden

One of those misty blog posts has surfaced within in the light of more news of the ‘Family Champions’ strategy led by Emma Harrison, an encouraging entrepreneur who has caught the eye of David Cameron in the aftermath of the riots in … Continue reading →

Posted in Church, compassion, Government, mission | Leave a comment

Judge or king?

Posted on June 23, 2011 by alisonpeden

I guess we’ll only know how significant the ‘Arab Spring’ is in retrospect.  It may be the definitive move away from (somtimes religious) totalitarian rule or it may be just an opening for another form of domination, maybe by (other) … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Government, leadership | Leave a comment

Frying pans and orange fire

Posted on May 5, 2011 by alisonpeden

Well, we escaped the Royal Wedding Weekend by going to Amsterdam, and jumped into Koninginnedag – Queen’s Day’ – the huge celebrations for the official birthday of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.  We hadn’t known about it.  800,000 people came to Amsterdam … Continue reading →

Posted in children, Government, history, toleration, War | Leave a comment

Who has the power?

Posted on April 20, 2011 by alisonpeden

In a week when Christians may find their thoughts turning to political power and its scope – i.e. how much power did Pilate really have? – a group of us gathered to formulate some questions to be asked of our … Continue reading →

Posted in Government | Leave a comment