Arse and elbow differentiation: the nuclear academy

Typical of this benighted government - sell off our nuclear industry to the Americans, then open an academy specially to train workers for it.

Labour new and old

Winding down towards the Queen's Speech, and a book deadline too - so this blog will be a bit episodic for a week or two.

Hosted a meeting for George Galloway yesterday - speaking to a couple of dozen kids from Bethnal Green Technology College. Such energy and intensity - took me back to the days when Old Labour really believed in itself. Far too young - he's going to be around for decades yet. Claims that Respect put on 10,000 members at freshers fairs this autumn. Thank goodness UKIP has no-one like him.

Went straight on to question Geoff Hoon about the passarelle (an EU mechanism for moving things from unanimity to majority voting). Heavily minded by a civil servant of extraordinary focus - had almost no presence in the room, all centered on keeping Hoon on track. A wasted hour, as you would expect. And they say he's to be the next Lord Chancellor!

The true economics of recycling glass

Can anyone help me find a decent analysis of glass recycling economics - energy and £ - in the UK?

Crushed glass is being used to bed local paving stones, in place of sand. Can it really be benefitting the planet for us to collect, sort, transport, crush and transport glass to substitute a material which can be dug out of the ground in bulk at very low cost?