Regional Development Agencies are back!

The decision by 7 North East Council to merge to merge their economic roles is a ground breaking decision, which has passed unnoticed by the London based political elite. This is exactly the sort of innovative thinking that Eric Pickles has been calling for, so solid support from the Government should now be forthcoming. As well as economies of scale, the key Economic Development remit will pass to this new Regional Authority, enabling the North East to present a united message when seeking inward investment. Similar plans are emerging elsewhere in the country, with Leeds and Sheffield also looking to develop similar Regional structures to match Boris Johnson's London, and the major Metropolitan Regions of Birmingham & Greater Manchester. It is now widely recognised by industry, academia and Local Government that the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies was one of the Government's worst decision. Yet swathes of English Regional economic delivery organisations established by the RDA's survived abolition because they are successfully delivering badly needed economic development (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland's RDAs were not abolished). Now these successful legacy bodies are set to be joined by new Regional Authorities which will be accountable to local people via the ballot box.

The European Arrest Warrent, UKIPs gift to fugitives from justice

As Jeremy Forrest starts his 5.5 year goal sentence for child abduction, few in the media have highlighted that his speedy return to justice was thanks to the European Arrest Warrant. This is one of the many common policing measures that make our continent safer, yet are threatened by a vocal gaggle of Torys and UKIP, who seem to detest all things European. Clearly they view short term electoral popularity as a higher objective than citizens safety and the UK's security.

UK benefits from EU's science fund

Framework 7 (FP7) is the EU's little-known, but vital, science and technology programme.
Over the past seven years, a total of £42 billion has been awarded to international consortia to develop and bring to the market cutting-edge solutions. The UK is the second largest benefactor, after Germany, having secured inward investment from the EU's FP7 programme of about £800,000 per annum (representing about 12.5 per cent of what we put in to the EU).

The range of research is staggering and translating research into commercial realities is a key factor in all EU programmes. Perhaps the most ubiquitous example is the mobile phone.
The EU financially supported the European Telecoms Standards Institute (ETSI) development of the mobile phone standard. Europe led the world in commercialising this technology, creating hundreds of thousands of European jobs as a result.

In medicine, there are now a number of stem cell trials that could lead to new therapies for motor neurone disease, blindness and other diseases – in part greatly assisted by the EU bringing the continent's leading medical researchers together to collaborate on tackling major causes of disease.
Collaborative research into intelligent vehicles has been supported for decades by the EU and now we take these features in our cars for granted.

As finance for small businesses  dries up, due to banks not lending, and the abolition of the regional development agencies, the EU offers great opportunities for British business to seek financial support for innovation. In fact, over one-third of the funds from FP7 went to British companies and research institutes to support their investment into new technologies.

To walk away from the world's only international science and technology network is utter folly.

England's long relationship with Islam

In the 8th century much of what is now Leicestershire came under the control of one the Anglo-Saxon's era most powerful Kings, Offa of Mercia, who ruled from 757 to 796.
A significant find from this period can be seen in the British Museum, a gold coin with King Offa's head on one side and the Arabic inscription which roughly translates as: "There is no god but Allah and there is no other like him".
A lot of early English silver coinage also bore Arabic inscriptions. King Offa and the English were not Muslims, but it is strong evidence that England and the Islamic and Jewish world had strong cultural bonds and trading links from the very earliest days of English migration to these islands.
The English immigrants of the 4th century were denounced by Roman propaganda as Barbarians, but in reality they did in due course settle, intermarry with the indigenous Celts, and after the later French conquest moulded this country's language and culture into the foundations of what we now know as England.

Islam was present at its beginning, and has remained with us to today, adding to our language (alcohol being just one Arabic word), culture and, most important, science and trade.
The very pages of this newspaper are identified by Arabic not Latin numerals. None of this of course has ever undermined English identity or culture – it has merely enriched it.
Recently, however, the true Barbarians returned to the street of Leicester, in the form of the English Defence League. Their message of hate and intolerance has no place in English society, which has a world-wide reputation for tolerance.
The violence that always comes with the self-styled EDL speaks for itself. Meanwhile, the majority of the population of this great city, which is a shining example of cohesion, have with dignity and respect, reclaimed the flag of St George for us all, from those who have only brought it shame and dishonour.
St George is the patron saint of England and Istanbul, a modern link between our country and the Islamic world that brings us back to the beginning.
As the Arabic coinage of the earliest English kingdoms demonstrate, we have had links with the Islamic world for hundreds of years.

Michael Gove has gone 'Bonkeroony' - a new exam for mediocrity

Dumbing down our exam system by abolishing the rigour of modules and coursework will damage the life chances of our young people, undermine excellence, and damage our economy.

Modularity brings out specialists, with a passion for a subject. This is essential to support UK research & development. Instead we going to abandon support for highly gifted students, to be replaced by a single bland generalised exam structure. Clearly Gove has not consulted any UK universities, else he would have discovered that undergraduate courses are taught using a modular approach.

Coursework is rigorous, and requires students to deliver throughout their training and learning period. Simply regurgitating facts in a 2 hour exam is insufficient to demonstrate true understanding of a topic, and the ability to apply that learning.

As someone who both runs a small business and teaches part-time at an English university, my advice to young people is to ask to be entered into exams set by Scottish or Welsh examination boards.

Letter From Orkney - A Tale of History (ancient & modern), Natural History & Green Energy

Letter From Orkney

Orkney is a must-go destination for lovers of outstanding scenery, history, and wildlife. Orkney's Neolithic Heart includes the stunning Stones of Stenness, leading via a narrow isthmus to the Ring of Brodgar. The 5000 year old Maeshowe tomb predates the Great Pyramid. We will never know what rituals, were carried out here; or why the tomb fell in to disuse after 500 years. Remains of later immigrants can be found everywhere, with Pictish and Norse settlements, brochs and ruins throughout the archipelago. If you want something different then descend into Rennibister earth-house, or crawl into Cuween chambered cairn. Give yourself time to visit more than just the Mainland Island, Hoy's Dwarfie Stane, and Roussey's Midhowe are only a short ferry ride away.

For military historians, a visit to Scapa Flow is essential. Known as a safe haven for King Haokon's Viking fleet in the 13th Century, its strategic use comes down to the 20^thC as the base for the WW1 Fleet of 24 battleships and 3 battlecruisers who sailed to the Battle of Jutland in 1916. WWII saw the Home Fleet based at Scapa Flow, where it played a major role in protecting the Arctic Convoys to our Russian allies in Murmansk. The sinking of HMS Royal Oak, with the loss 833 men, led to the creation of the Churchill Barriers by Italian POWs. All that is left today of their prison camp is the outstanding Italian Chapel, decorated by Domenico Chiocchetti. Restored in the 1960's it is hard to believe that it is built from 2 Nissen huts, drift wood, scrap and cast concrete.

For us the highlight was the bird life. We had the fortune to be taken on a walk by Tim Dean, author of the authoritative “Birds of Orkney”. First stopping off to see an example of the rare Primula Scotia, we visited a number of superb sites along the Mainland's West Coast. There are a wide range of sea and coastal birds, too many to list but including fulmars, guillemots, razorbills, puffins, oyster catchers and curlews; all ever vigilant for cruising skuas. The coastal scenery is superb too, with a number of long distance footpaths not always shown on OS maps.
What is not apparent is the dramatic fall in nesting bird populations, which scientific studies have linked to a substantial fall in sand-eel and other fish stocks. The cause is not overfishing, as determined by the Scottish Fisheries Research Services which found little change in the fish population despite a trial 2-year closure of a Shetland fishery. The sad conclusion is that climate change is now delivering major environmental impacts, altering the scale and timing of sand-eel availability, such that insufficient stocks are present during key nesting periods. The Scottish Government's innovative Marine Protection Zones, intended to protect both nesting colonies and their feeding areas will make a +ve impact, and are a policy that the rest of the UK can learn from.
Orcadians are also making a major contribution to combatting climate change. Wind turbines, solar panels and ground-source heat pumps are widely deployed; on their best days Orkney exports electricity to the Scottish mainland. The technological gem will be the harnessing of tidal power, a field in which Orkney leads the world. Latest estimates are that 85% of Orkney's power will be home-grown this year, and soon the island could be self-sufficient with clean, low-cost renewable energy. A testimony to the ethos of self-reliance to found here. The UK can learn a lot from Orkney, who have demonstrated that green energy can replace Russian Gas, Middle East Oil and imported Uranium.