News

The Head of South Wales Police, Chief Constable Barbara Wilding, has grabbed the media’s attention with some money-making initiatives. As is often the case some of the details have been lost in translation. In short, the police in South Wales still provide some services that the police in England don’t, and that costs time and money. In England, officers employed by the Highways Agency undertake a number of functions to keep roads running smoothly. They clear debris after a crash, they provide assistance to large vehicles that have broken down, and they give instructions to drivers in bad weather. In Wales all of this is done by the police.

When the Justice Select Committee was taking evidence recently, I asked the director of Victim Support, what victims want from the Criminal Justice System. Her answer was that in the first place they would like not to have become victims at all, but given that turning the clock back is not possible, they simply want to be sure that it won't happen again.

That week, when the UK experienced some of its worst snowfall in the last decade the media spoke of nothing else except the country grinding to a halt. Well it didn’t, I am proud to say that I and all the people who work for me made it into the office. I only wish I could say that about other people’s offices.

When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in October 1957, shockwaves of panic reverberated through the corridors of power in the West. The USSR’s successful test of the first man-made device to orbit the earth caused the United States to fear it stood on brink of losing its technological superiority.

The inauguration of Barack Obama was a moment of faith - a moment when we dared to believe that hope will be followed by action in the USA. The order to close Guantanamo Bay and the initiative to get things moving in the Middle East gave immediate substance to the hope.

Some people think that words don’t matter, but language is our most powerful tool. The trouble is that words can be misunderstood and the intention can be quite different from what is heard by a sensitive listener.

The New Year at Westminster brings with it a renewed set of challenges. The twin challenges of peace and economic stability are particularly important as we start 2009, but the same could be said for any point in the last 1,000, or even 2,000 years.

The Internet touches every part of our lives now, and people are starting to realise that security and governance of the Internet can't just be left to “somebody else”.

If you received a mouse in your Christmas stocking this year the chances are that it was one of the electronic kind rather than the four legged or sugar kind, and that is all thanks to Dr. Douglas C. Engelbart who, in 1968, invented the computer mouse.

Mince pies, overcooked Brussels sprouts, and the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special are just some of the special clichés that we use at Christmas. ‘Hasn’t the year gone quickly’, is one that happens to be true. Each year seems to go by ever faster, so let’s use the Christmas and New Year period to take stock.