Sep 06
Britain’s Liberal Democrat History Group provoked a mid-summer controversy with its search for the greatest British Liberal of all time. Its short list, to be voted on at the party’s annual conference in September, consisted of William Ewart Gladstone, David Lloyd George, John Stuart Mill and John Maynard Keynes. The front runner for most of …
Mar 19
Keynote address to OpRisk Europe Conference, 21 March, London: All risk is subjective. Risk is a word that refers to the future, and that exists only in the imagination. Risk management involves speculating about this future, about things that could go wrong, and about ways of preventing them. In recent years, in the public sector …
Feb 22
Now on sale. Ive discovered a box with 20 copies, which I am offering through Amazon.co.uk at the original 1985 price of £10. I reproduce the sole Amazon review (*****) below. Risk and Freedom is a book of historic significance. Published in 1985 and out of print for many years it continues to have a …
Feb 14
Letter to the Guardian published 14 February, 2007 Published version at http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,,2012301,00.html Sir When Labour came to power 10 years ago John Prescott proclaimed I will have failed if in five years time there are not many more people using public transport and far fewer journeys by car. Its a tall order but I urge …
Jan 18
Summary of presentation to Omega Centre Conference on Planning and decision-making amidst complexity, risk and uncertainty, Royal Institute of British Architects, London, 22 January 2007. The Omega Centre project aims to contribute to the advancement of the art and science of planning, appraising and evaluating the impacts of mega land-based transport projects in major urban …
Jan 04
In most countries arguments about seat belt legislation are dead. But it remains a live issue in the United States where such laws are a matter for individual states. As a consequence there exists in the United States a variety of laws and levels of enforcement, and considerable debate about their effectiveness and moral legitimacy. …
Dec 16
The BBCs Today Programme is running a competition called Christmas Repeal in which listeners are invited to nominate an existing law that should be repealed. I nominate Britains seat belt law. [Update 23 December. Despite my high hopes and much encouragement, my Immodest Proposal did not succeed. It did not pass through the Today Programmes …
Oct 29
Following an email encounter with someone involved with risk management in the Norwegian off-shore oil and gas industry, I have put on my website a paper, Prudence and the Gambler, published in 1991 by Shell World a Shell Oil company publication. My article was followed, in the same issue, by a First Reaction from Koos …
Oct 28
This question is posed in the title of a symposium to which I have been invited to contribute (organised by Cygnet Health Care London, 30 November 2006). It is also highly relevant to a staff seminar I have been invited to give at Grendon Prison on 17 November. A succinct summary of the contentious history …
Oct 09
On 22 August 2006 Bill Callaghan, Chair of Britains Health and Safety Commission (HSC overseer of the HSE, the Health and Safety Executive) issued a press release entitled: Get a life, says HSC. He announced: Im sick and tired of hearing that ˜health and safety is stopping people doing worthwhile and enjoyable things when at …