Peter Bye

Archives for UK in Europe

Politics and the excluded middle

October 19, 2020

Society in the UK and the USA is fragmenting into extremes, leaving little room for the middle ground and threatening liberal democracy. Other countries are also experiencing some polarisation, but, as countries that like to see themselves as bastions of democracy, the UK and USA stand out. There are of course differences in the sources… » read more

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Covid-19 pandemic, Defending democracy, Political structures, UK in Europe, Uncategorized

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Kakistocracy revisted

September 8, 2020

In September 2017, I posted a blog called The rise of the kakistocracy[1] . As I explained there, the word means government by the worst, the most stupid, ignorant and unqualified people. It wasn’t hard to find examples then, such as Venezuela and Zimbabwe, to name just two; it’s even easier today, unfortunately. In 2017,… » read more

Posted by pbye

Covid-19 pandemic, Defending democracy, Political structures, UK in Europe, Uncategorized

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A sense of perspective

November 11, 2019

As I write, the political parties in the UK are beginning their campaigns for a general election, to be held on the 12th December. It’s the first December general election since 1923; December elections are generally avoided because of the weather and small amounts of daylight. The past few weeks have seen the government agree… » read more

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Global Europe, Political structures, UK in Europe

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Was the Brexit referendum democratic?

August 6, 2019

Since the referendum, we have heard from many leavers and some remainers that the vote was democratic and we must respect it. In recent weeks, the attitude of the Brexiteers has become somewhat shrill. We are told that the vote represents the will of the people[1]. There is increasing pressure for a second vote with… » read more

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UK in Europe

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Is liberalism obsolete?

July 23, 2019

In an interview with the Financial Times[1], Vladimir Putin claimed that liberalism was obsolete: ‘…the Russian president said “the liberal idea” had “outlived its purpose” as the public turned against immigration, open borders and multiculturalism’. He made the following statement. ‘This liberal idea presupposes that nothing needs to be done (about immigration). That migrants can… » read more

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Global Europe, Political structures, UK in Europe

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Truth, lies and freedom of expression

June 6, 2019

The UK has lived in interesting times since my previous post on 20th February. The Brexit date has been postponed twice and now sits at 31st October 2019. Yet another Conservative Prime Minister has been destroyed by the Europe question: Theresa May joins Margaret Thatcher, John Major and David Cameron as the latest victim. And… » read more

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InfoSociety, UK in Europe

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Governing the UK

February 20, 2019

In September 2017, I posted a blog called ‘The rise of the kakistocracy’. Kakistocracy means government by the worst[1]: the most incompetent people are in power. When I wrote the piece, there was no shortage of candidate kakistocracies; Venezuela and Zimbabwe provided two rather extreme examples out of many. But what about the western democracies?… » read more

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Political structures, UK in Europe

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Brexit: facts, opinions and realities

December 5, 2018

Opinions about Brexit can be divided into two broad groups: those that I will call ideology-based and those that are evidence-based. The dominant opinion in the first group is the question of sovereignty. It was a significant factor in the 2016 referendum and continues to motivate many of those favouring Brexit. It can be countered… » read more

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UK in Europe

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Peter Bye

Promoting respect for facts and numbers.

Making decisions, especially about strategy, requires respect for facts. A long career in IT around the world has reinforced this view, particularly recent work I have done on cost/benefit analysis. Yet all too often, we see facts ignored or misrepresented if they are inconvenient to governments, political parties and business organisations. The consequences are serious. I’d like to promote evidence-based policy, not the other way round.


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