How to fail as a political party

1. Ignore what the public want: look to keep the peace in your own party at the cost of becoming unelectable
2. Make sure the election process is long enough for the unions to form around a candidate that is weak enough not to take them on
3. Make sure the Unions have a vote that outweighs their true influence in the country
4. Elect someone that is young and untried
5. Ignore the older brother who has a welcome reformist approach and is obviously the more able communicator
6. Go back to the old party ways, following the policies of the last failed Prime Minister rather than the new approach from the earlier successful and long lasting Prime Minister
7. Look forward to a number of years of debating failed left wing election proposals
8. Look forward to a long time as an opposition party.

Stephen Hawking needs to start reading poetry

Stephen Hawking’s new book comes out today. In earlier books, he has left room for the possibility that there is a God. In his new book, he has decided creation is the inevitable consequence of physics, so rules out the ‘need for a creator’.

Science is amazing. We discover so much. People like Stephen Hawking have done wonders for pushing back the limits of our thinking. But he is still not thinking in big enough terms.

When the Hubble Telescope was launched, one of the team looked into space at stars that had never been seen before. This is what he said as he gazed on the hidden wonders of creation:

“We don't need a scientist here, we need a poet.”

Stephen Hawking needs to start reading poetry.