NICE put values on lives saved all the time. If you object to it, you can do it the other way if you like: how much money does it take to prolong a life by a year? If you quantify the financial impac… (View Post)

My take on this debate: The Telegraph is an increasingly daft newspaper, and I say this as someone broadly sympathetic to its worldview. (Sample headline from the past week 'why the working from… (View Post)

I think that's probably right - although the Romans were here for, what, 400 years or so; it wasn't really a brief occupation, and (AIUI) the elite was thoroughly Romanised (as was the chur… (View Post)

Well I think that's the case now. I think Catholicism was rather more important to Irish people 100 years ago. (View Post)

Good summary. One of the things which boils my piss about all this is that this is described as a Tory culture war. The right have done virtually nothing here apart from almost silently yearn for san… (View Post)