Bill Postmus.net

The Falklands are small fry compared to Antarctica. Antarctica hides vast mineral deposits under its icy carpet and its continental shelf. Emotional and human interest keeps the Falklands in the news, while far more important Antarctica is quietly forgotten in the UK. This is strange, as we have the oldest claim on its territory. At present, Antarctica belongs to nobody, even though seven countries claim parts of it. The claims of Britain, Chile and Argentina overlap and include the most hospitable part of it: the Antarctic Peninsula.

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If Conservatives cannot woo black and Asian voters, they may never win majorities again
Mar 3rd 2012 | from the print edition

AFTER failing to win the 2010 general election, Conservative leaders came to a sobering conclusion. To win majorities in future, the party needs more MPs like Paul Uppal—a state-educated Sikh entrepreneur who cut across class and ethnic lines to snatch the seat of Wolverhampton South West from Labour.

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David Cameron urgently needs to win back his jilted coalition partner over the EU treaty veto. But Nick Clegg needs more than a Stones serenade if he is to return to the coalition’s vice-like embrace.

Sunday, 18 December 2011 11:15 AM
By politics.co.uk staff

Public confidence in the coalition’s ability to last five years has slumped in the wake of its row over the eurozone crisis.

A poll for the Sunday Telegraph by ICM found that just 45% of voters believe the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats will be able to survive their divisions over the European Union.

The research was carried out on Wednesday and Thursday last week, after deputy prime minister Nick Clegg had stayed away from the Commons chamber for David Cameron’s report to MPs on the outcome of the Brussels summit.

Liberal Democrats said Britain had been outvoted 26 to one after Mr Cameron refused to participate in a new fiscal integration pact, which is now going ahead without the UK.

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Royal succession
Equality and the monarchy

Oct 15th 2011

Darling, there’s a tiny little succession-reform bill on the way

IT IS doubtless a coincidence, but on October 12th, one month after the leak of a Downing Street memo fretting about David Cameron’s need to reach out to women voters, the prime minister unveiled proposals to change royal succession laws so that a first-born daughter to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would accede to the throne ahead of any younger brothers. The announcement capped a stream of female-friendly policy announcements, including calls for more women on company boards and new guidelines to shield children from online pornography and sexual images in outdoor advertising near schools.

The idea of tweaking centuries-old royal succession rules has been raised by previous governments, but has always been shelved on grounds of complexity. Britain cannot change the rules alone, but must seek support from the 15 other realms of which Elizabeth II is queen.

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By James Chapman

Last updated at 10:33 PM on 6th May 2011

• Lib Dems lose 695 seats, with Labour gaining 800 and Conservatives up 81
• Deputy PM: ‘We have taken a real knock’ as he loses home city of Sheffield
• Worst election performance by Liberal Democrats since late 1980s
• Cameron: ‘We fought a strong campaign explaining Labour’s mess
• Every standing Lib Dem councillor loses seat on Manchester Council
• Labour punished in Scottish Parliament poll but gain a number of councils
• Counting under way of AV votes as turnout is placed between 35-50%

Nick Clegg is being warned he must stop ‘cosying up’ to the Conservatives or face being ousted as Liberal Democrat leader after leading the party to its worst election drubbing for 30 years.

The Deputy Prime Minister admitted taking a ‘real knock’ as the party lost control of flagship local authorities, hundreds of councillors were wiped out and the Lib Dem electoral reform dream was crushed.

He made a desperate attempt to break ranks with the Tories – claiming voters in the North and Scotland had voted down the Lib Dems because they were afraid that ‘Thatcherism’ was returning through the Coalition.