Richard's Kingdom

Jacquie Smith is to step down as Secretary of State for the Home Department in the cabinet reshuffle that Gordon Brown is planning to make after the European elections on Thursday.
While the door to the Home Secretary’s office has revolved ever more rapidly since 2001 the authoritarian brief of its occupants has hardly wavered.
Somewhere in [...]

For your amusement, I present an opportunity to observe epic failure in action, live on the Internet:
Welcome to mylifemyid – the site where 16-25’s can have their say about identity issues in the UK. A few simple things to remember:

We want to know what you think, so contribute contribute contribute. Don’t be shy.
You must [...]

I was saddened to read this letter, dated 20 August 2007, on the problems being caused by the intrusive, interventionist and illiberal social care policies this government has introduced.
Wouldn’t it be better if social workers, teachers, the police, healthcare professionals and others in public service were empowered to build respectful, constructive relationships with their clients, [...]

The Guardian is reporting that pupils as young as 10 in Padstow, Cornwall, may have been posing as paedophiles online in order to bully their peers.
“Police initially believed a local man was trying to groom the children by befriending them online and arranging to meet them.”
The subsequent discovery that it was probably just a bunch [...]

Are your children being harmed at school because invisible Wi-Fi radiation is frying their brains?
It’s an arresting question, and media outlets as large as the Independent and the BBC have been asking it in recent weeks, however the answer is “no they’re not”. Here’s why:

Wi-Fi transmissions are hundreds of times lower than the World Health [...]