Views from the Riverbank ← Peter Bowyer's unstructured ramblings

Dear Mr Duncan Smith

Apr

2013

Dear Mr Duncan Smith I’m one of those scroungers you and Mr Cameron talk about. I’ve had the audacity to not be able to find work, despite all the juicy tempting offers coming my way. Thanks so much for the 1% rise in our Jobseekers Allowance this week. That’ll buy an extra bottle of milk. ...

What’s all this about the Religious Right?

Feb

2013

Amid the hoo-ha about Same Sex Marriage, Theos published a report by Andy Walton entitled “Is there a ‘Religious Right’ emerging in Britain?’. Before I read it, I would have answered this question firmly in the negative – and Walton, in the main, supports this view. The premise of the term ‘Religious Right’ is that ...

Some animals are more equal than others

Feb

2013

I suspect George Orwell would have been an enthusiastic participant in the current debate about legalising same-sex marriage. Parties to the discussion are approaching it from a variety of different angles, and there’s obviously no outcome which will please everyone. I’ll start with some personal views. I support the rights of same-sex couples to enjoy ...

Mind the gap!

Nov

2012

Lots to read in the recently-published UK Government Digital Strategy. Something that caught my eye was this: “Private sector organisations that have been at the forefront of delivering digital transformation have repeatedly indicated the importance of leadership at all levels to their success. It is therefore important that we ensure that suitably skilled and empowered ...

Hobson’s Choice

Nov

2012

Between 2008 and 2011, I had the privilege of working with an extraordinarily talented and dedicated bunch of people who conceived, delivered, maintained and enhanced the NHS Choices service. In the space of a couple of years, the service went from nothing to the NHS’s primary public-facing web and mobile service, with tens of thousands ...

WMMBB: Selfish school-runners

Oct

2012

WMMBB: What Makes My Blood Boil. Recognise these? Of course you do. They’re the zig-zag markings found around school entrances across the land. The relevant section of the Highway Code, Section 238, explains: You MUST NOT wait or park, or stop to set down and pick up passengers, on school entrance markings (see ‘Road markings’) when upright ...

The church with its light under a bushel

Oct

2012

I walked past our local Church of England church today. It’s a fairly modern building, 1960s maybe, set back from the road with some attractive gardens out front. Behind there’s a good-sized church hall which gets plenty of use from the community. The church is placed half way between the local boys’ secondary school, which ...

Jumping on the iPad 3 bandwaggon

Mar

2012

Everyone else seems to have blogged about the iPad 3 launch, so I thought I’d better catch up. After all, this might be the only blog you read, so I feel obliged to cover the important issues of the day. It’s faster, has a better display, and a much better camera. Oh, and it works ...

Up and away with #BigRead12

Feb

2012

A couple of days into Lent, and our family is already getting its teeth into Mark’s gospel courtesy of Tom Wright’s ‘Lent for Everyone – Mark‘ and the Big Bible Project‘s #BigRead12 initiative. It’s a great feeling to be part of a loosely-connected group of people studying the same text at the same time. Fantastic ...

More reaction to ASA ruling

Feb

2012

I blogged recently about the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK over-stepping its remit by banning a street healing group from using language in their publicity material that reflects their beliefs. Since then, there’s been some more reaction – Brendan O’Neill of Spiked magazine wrote this blog post for the Daily Telegraph. O’Neill’s view seems pretty similar ...