The principal women's prison in Scotland is Cornton Vale.

Iain Dale writes, "On Wednesday I got the chance to interview James Comey, former FBI Director, for thirty minutes. He’s got a new book out called Saving Justice and was doing the rounds of UK broadcasters. I was a bit hacked off to have to sign a non-disclosure agreement which prevented us from broadcasting it on that evening’s show, but when I saw he was on Newsnight I understood why. They always insist on going first."
Revealing to see how the BBC manages to stop other broadcasters getting their interviews of a subject out before the BBC interview. Newsnight is a decaying programme that needs to be ended by Tim Davie. It has been exposed too many time for bias and error, too often associated with Emily Maitlis. So Ms Maitlis gets protection for her usually aggressive and irritating interviewing while sound people like Iain Dale have to wait to broadcast theirs. 'They always insist on going first' - time for the Culture Secretary to ask some questions about methods used to keep the BBC quasi-monopoly going.

Excellent article about Ludwig Erhard which explains what few of us know - his youth, his WW1 service, and career as an economist in the period up to WW2. And how he kept himself clear of Nazi Party associations and made his mark working for General Lucius Clay - the key American figure in the Allied Occupation from 1945.
Erhard did not manage to expand home ownership in (West) Germany, while making the case for it. He was no doubt influenced by the culture of home ownership of Britain and the United States; historians may find that the traditional German culture of renting apartments from landlords under clear legislation was more powerful than any policy he advocated. Home ownership is still quite low in urban areas of Germany, even though in the rural world it may now be high.

The Chagos Islands are hundreds of miles from Mauritius, nearer some islands belonging to India. Quite unclear why Mauritius has any claim to the islands. They were administered at one time by the (British) Governor of Mauritius but Mauritius (independent since 1968) has never possessed the Chagos.

See Daniel Hannan's 2017 article on the House of Lords: https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/house-lords-deserves-mu...

"Modern parliaments almost never run for the theoretical maximum of five years – the 2015 election was the first time this ever happened in British history."
This is not correct. The 1959 Parliament sat for a full 5 years until October 1964 (Prime Ministers: Harold MacMillan and then Sir Alec Douglas-Home). The 1992 Parliament sat for a full five years until May 1997 (Prime Minister: John Major). The 1935 Parliament would have sat a full five years until 1940 but was extended due to World War 2 and sat for 10 years in all (Prime Ministers: Stanley Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill).

Thank you - yes, I remember now, Kosygin was the Prime Minister, thank you for reminding us. The Head of State (President) Podgorny was purely a titular post. Kosygin seemed (in his photos) rather a pleasant man in the midst of all the hard ones.

On Ms Patel's previous troubles when in Theresa May's Cabinet:

Priti Patel when Secretary of State for International Development visited Israel on a private visit (not official DfID) and had talks, without telling the UK Foreign Office, with Israeli Ministers and officials. The plan they put to her was a good one. It was that UK aid be paid to meet the cost of the Israel Defence Force taking Syrians wounded in the civil war through the border fence on the Golan Heights, and for their treatment in Israeli hospitals. It would have involved IDF personnel taking on the responsibility of handling and guarding the wounded Syrians ( men who had been wounded fighting, and civilians - old people, women and children - injured in the fighting). The cost to the hospitals in Israel (which are of very high quality) in treating them would have been met by the the UK aid budget.

Priti Patel had meetings with Israeli Ministers (including, I believe, Prime Minister Netanyahu) and officials to discuss this proposal - which Israeli Government people put forward.

She did not tell the British Embassy in Tel Aviv that she was pursuing the proposal. She went on the Golan Heights to see the border fence (probably at the UN crossing at Kuneitra, and at Majdal Shams where the border fence is close to the urban area). The UK does not recognise the Golan as part of the State of Israel and British diplomats and Ministers are not supposed to visit the area therefore. Hence the fuss.

One can understand why the fuss led Theresa May to ask her to resign; May tended to panic and wasn't good at sitting back and considering the actual merits of proposals. In this case the plan that the Israeli Government had pushed at Britain's Overseas Aid Minister. Had she done so - or had it been Boris Johnson, not May, Ms Patel's action could have been defended. As a use of UK aid funds it would have been worthwhile as a contribution to reducing the suffering caused by the Syrian Civil War.

Or, it is reported, to Sir Philip Rutnam. Apparently because of his pending claim for unfair (constructive) dismissal. So the whole 'investigation' was less than convincing.

Or, it is reported, Sir Philip Rutnam. Apparently because of his pending claim for unfair (constructive) dismissal. So the whole 'investigation' was less than convincing.