Archive for UK politics
send off the clowns!
Posted in pictures, Travel with tags Britain, clownomics, conservatism, economics, Labour, Lizz Truss, political advertising, The Guardian, Tories, UK, UK politics, United Kingdom on October 19, 2022 by xi'an
UK vs. Horizon Europe [episode 23]
Posted in Statistics with tags Boris Johnson, British Government, ERC, EU, European Research Council, Horizon Europe, Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Protocol, Stick to Science, The Guardian, UK Government, UK politics on August 29, 2022 by xi'an
Just read in The Guardian that the UK Government or more exactly the PM hopeful Liz Truss (since Boris Johnson has gone AWOL!) is starting a formal procedure against the EU for British scientists being excluded from Horizon Europe funding due to said Government renegading on its former signature of the Northern Ireland Protocol. (After the EU announced last June re-commencing its infringement proceedings against the UK.) Just stick to Science!
Dear President of the European Commission
Posted in Kids, Travel, University life with tags Brexit, Brussels, ETH Zurich, EU, European Commission, European science, European Solidarity, European Union, Horizon Europe, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Royal Society, Stick to Science, UK politics, Welcome Trust on July 12, 2022 by xi'an
BoJo’s return to no-future
Posted in Books, Kids with tags 20 May 1875, Boris Johnson, Brexit, Bureau international des poids et mesures, EU, European Union, French Revolution, imperial measures, innumeracy, Mars Climate Orbiter, metric units, NASA, UK politics on June 13, 2022 by xi'an
The [harebrained] proposal of Boris Johnson to return to so-called imperial measurements or units illustrates [beyond his usual flair for spinning out of yet-another-scandal] an all-too-common innumeracy of politicians (and possibly a lingering anti-French sentiment as metric units were introduced by the French Revolution), preferring to cater to their Brexit voters rather than realising the drawbacks and costs of a parallel system of measurements, as illustrated by the 1999 Orbiter crash. Does he plan to exit the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures as well?! Or does he expect an improvement in numeracy with the public using different bases (other than 10) at ounce once?!
sunset on the horizon…
Posted in pictures, Travel, University life with tags Adrian Smith, better together, Brexit, ERC, EU, European Research Council, Horizon Europe, Royal Society, UK, UK politics on June 6, 2022 by xi'an
“The window for association is closing fast, and we need to ensure that political issues do not get in the way of a sensible solution. We have always been very clear that association is the preferred outcome for protecting decades of collaborative research, and the benefits this has brought to people’s lives across the continent and beyond.” Adrian Smith
As reported in the Guardian of today a terrible impact of BoJo’s Vote Leave Brexit the UK Government failing to implement the Northern Ireland protocol is that this threatens ERC funding for UK scientists, as the associate membership of Horizon Europe was part of the Brexit negociations, whose “deal” has been delayed because of this. About a hundred new ERC grant recipients who are currently located in the UK have to either relocate to (eager) EU universities or to give up this most prestigious funding…
Xi'an's Og 