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At its founding in 1948, it was guided by three core principles: That it covers the whole population (universality) That it be free at the point of delivery. And that it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay (equity) Delivery of the core principles should not be dogma based, but founded...

The basis for selection for a second house should be fundamentally different to the House of Commons - no point in two look alike legislative chambers. There needs to be far more clarity over the role of each house and the monarchy which have evolved over centuries based on precedents, rituals...

Comments dismissing Reform as extremists lead by an egotistical Farage intent on column inches over substance are dangerous. They have rapidly gained support and need to be seen as a serious threat - complacency may allow them to thrive, and ridicule not deter support of their policies. In my...

The complete absence of ambition from all major parties (bar one) is depressing - the goal is clearly "avoid upsetting anyone", the result wholly unconvincing: Labour - insist the last 14 years have been characterised by "chaos", their slogan is "change", the manifesto an exercise in trivia and...

Over the last 50 years the number of pensioners has increased substantially, the birth rate has fallen, and years spent in education (leaving school at 16 was normal) has increased with university attracting ~40% of kids. There may be some offsetting issues - eg: more women working. Taken...

Their is a huge credibility gap - a Labour government has close to zero chance of fixing the "fundamentally broken" based on the utterly trivial changes in their manifesto. An example - a pledge of 40k extra NHS appointments per week - 2m pa: assume each is 20mins (most are scheduled for...

Labour victory has been the likely outcome for more than 2 years. The stock market reflects in its current price all anticipated future events, albeit not always correctly. The FTSE100 share index has been 7500 (+/-200) for the last year until April. It has since peaked at 8400 and is...

The definition of "debate" is usually characterised by words such as "discussion", "convince", "conclusion", - a kind of respectful, well reasoned argument over opposing points of view I've just been watching the Channel 4 election debate.. Seven politicians talking over each other, ignoring...

China currently produce cheap goods on the back of low pay levels, lax H&S and environmental standards, and a government which strategically and actively supports business. Our actions in buying their goods, which have become generally of higher quality has supported their growth, and means...

A possibility - batteries being charged give off hydrogen. When mixed with oxygen it creates potential for explosion. The steel box in which the batteries are currently housed (I assume) is full of battery, not air, and being almost airtight, there will be little oxygen so the risk of...

I suspect when it is "down" that the seal prevents leakage, and water pressure will tend to compress the seal somewhat.

Since 1990 the share of the UK economy attributed to services has grown from 70% to 81%, while that attributed to manufacturing has decreased from 17% to 9%. Similar to France and Spain. Even in much vaunted Germany, manufacturing now only accounts for 18% of GDP. The reasons for this are...

The pandemic may have stalled Brexit benefits by about a year. However, business as usual largely restarted by mid-2021 with the benefit of vaccine roll-out. Three years have passed and the Covid excuse no longer holds water. Brexit clearly created barriers to trade, some of which have been...

The quality of the sawn finish probably depends on: stable/consistent alignment and speed of the saw blade - I would expect a machine to outperform all but the most capable of craftsmen number of teeth per inch - the finer the blade the finer the finish I would expect For a final finish, in...

We have an aging population and increasing numbers on other benefits - but simply importing more labour to cover the shortfall in domestic workers is unsustainable: it places continual pressure on infrastructure - housing, schools, healthcare etc which can only be met by increasing immigration...

Farage was interviewed on LBC this morning. He insists that Brexit is a success story whose failure is down to implementation incompetence by the Tory party. I think him delusional - but he is a very effective communicator whose views will resonate with many. The entire Brexit case was...

Several posters believe Labour did not leave the economy in tatters in 2010 - it was the outcome of a global financial crisis starting in the US. It may be fairer simply to note that the economy was in tatters (no doubt about that). Asserting Brown and Darling did so wonderful a job they...

There are a range of views about the way the exit was handled. IMHO Cameron should have been far more demanding of the EU and prepared to simply ignore (or kick into the long grass) that which did not meet UK aspirations. The probability of EU stripping the UK (a major contributor to the EU...

His job is not to fight against right wing populism - it is (or should be) to provide competent, fair, democratic leadership to the country. In 2010 after 13 years in power Labour left an economy in tatters - no surprise they lost. A not dissimilar position to the Tories now (albeit...

You are not going to find access very easy - it will be a narrow corridor with space only for fairly shallow racks along the wall. A few thoughts: is it possible to split the space and get access from both ends. This way you could end up with two "sheds" each ~11ft long. alternative would be...