No one has contradicted the information I was given that Nick Clegg’s degree was a lower second (see my posting on 26 Nov). If that was the case, then here’s a puzzle. His constituency website states: “Nick stood down from the European Parliament in 2004 and lectured part time at Sheffield and Cambridge Universities.” That seems to mean that in 2004-5 Nick had part-time lecturing jobs at both of those prestigious universities. I find that surprising, if he only had a lower second, in view of the intense competition for academic jobs. However that may be, the Royal Society of Arts’ website, advertising a lecture given by him, states – presumably based on a briefing from his office - that he has been “a part-time lecturer at Sheffield University and a guest lecturer at Cambridge”, which is different. And the Independent, reporting the Clegg leadership campaign launch on 19 October 2007, stated that Clegg was a part-time lecturer at Sheffield University in 1996-99 but with no mention of lecturing there in 2004-5, nor any mention of lecturing at Cambridge at all. Spotting inconsistencies is a habit I've acquired from the day job. So: when was he a part-time lecturer at Sheffield University? Was he a part-time lecturer at Cambridge University or a guest lecturer, and when? How did part-time lecturing differ from guest lecturing? Can someone clarify the facts please?
I am thinking about places in the world where women are oppressed. Iran for example. There, I gather, militia roam the streets intimidating and attacking women who behave or dress in ways of which they disapprove. In my country, such militia would be arrested and tried for public order offences. It is not that the British have no opinions about what is acceptable dress or behaviour in public and what is not. Of course we have opinions. But individuals behave in a way that is their own choice, provided that it does not contravene a specific law, and it may be a poor choice, but it is the individual's and not imposed. Live and let live, and mind your own business, are mottos here. And gangs who roam the streets trying to impose their own ideas on others tend to get arrested. So what essentially is different about Iranians? I suspect, nothing is. A minority of society suppose they have a superior social and ethical code but that is normal in any society. The trouble is tha
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' . . He then worked as a development aid and trade expert in the European Union, including managing aid projects in the poorest parts of the former Soviet Union and overseeing the EU’s side in negotiations for China and Russia to join the World Trade Organisation. He was elected as a member of the European Parliament in 1999 . . '
His 3 years as 'Policy adviser and speechwriter to Sir Leon Brittan, 1996-9' have been, like a stretch inside, snopaked out, it seems.
Nick is a published author on trade negotiations and other such complex policy subjects.