The sound of music

After breakfast this morning the final BBC Reith Lecture delivered by recently retired Law Lord, Jonathan Sumption. What an amazing tour de force in evidence based reasoning, from a historian who headed the British Supreme Court! He spoke about the nature of Britain's unwritten constitution, about its uniqueness as a dynamic instrument of governance, which maintains Parliament and its power to make laws for lawyers to interpret and enforcers to implement, which has functioned for a thousand years, and proved flexible enough to permit legislation to continue evolving and adapting to emerging circumstances.

Every other country has a written constitution, as nation states have come into being through wars or revolutions, making it possible to write one from scratch, or borrow. The only near revolution Britain experienced was during the 17th century, when Monarchy was abolished and Parliament for a while exercised sovereign rule. It didn't last, but the compromised was reached that Britain should have a royal head of state, uniting all citizens, governed by Parliament in a unique way. It may look antique but it exists to serve the unity of all people, 'rightly and justly governed', as the Prayer Book says. It fits the bill uniquely for us, Sumption asserts, and  may be both better than other systems and worse in detail. Nothing is perfect. What we have is a fair compromise.

He cited the difference between UK and Spain in handling regional conflicts of interest. Spain has a written constitution which defines the relationship between the state and regions like Catalunya, Galicia, Andalucia. There have been serious continuing problems regarding devolution, and the local desires for independence. In contrast, because the nature of the Union in U.K. is historic and not well defined in law, it was possible to legislate for devolution of powers to regional parliaments in Wales Scotland and Ulster, once it was clear there was sufficient demand for this to happen. There's been no chronic conflict about this, just political campaigns and debate for the most part. Perhaps such decent compromise was possible due to the painful experience of the Irish independence struggle. Britain is on the best of terms with its nearest neighbour, which has a written constitution. We are learning how to live together with our differences, though not in every sphere, sadly.

Apart from this outstanding start to the day, another domestic routine Tuesday, with Clare at her study group, me cooking lunch, doing the main weekly grocery shop afterwards, before going for a late afternoon walk around Pontcanna Fields. I spotted a family of seven ducks swimming in close formation on the river Taff. The photos I took at the extreme limit of the HX90's zoom range weren't good. The light was poor because of thick cloud cover. The auto-focus seemed a bit fooled by this, and my hand wasn't steady enough for a good result, but the photos revealed this was a family of Mergansers, the parents with five almost fully grown chicks. I saw an adult pair without chicks only last week in this vicinity. The most commonly seen ducks hereabouts are Mallards, and while I may have seen a few Mergansers over the years, I haven;t noticed them breeding before. Fascinating.

Evenings this week, Cardiff Singer of the World is being broadcast on BBC 2. It's an international music event of the highest quality, featuring great young singers of opera, oratorio and lieder. Clare is glued to the tell for a couple of hours while it's on. I can't sit comfortably for that long at the moment, so retire to bed and read, and enjoy the sound of singing coming from the front room downstairs.

Funny, this reminds me of life as a small child, growing up in a family of keen amateur musicians and singers. On the weekends, the family would gather around Mum at the piano, and Dad on the 'Cello, and my sisters would sing. Sometimes aunts and uncles would come for tea and join in the music making afterwards. If I was poorly, or too tired, I'd go to bed and lie there awake listening to it it all. Sometimes, I'd get up and sit on the stairs outside the front room, listening until I was shivering with cold. This was in the fifties, before record players and radiograms became common household items. 

Clare and I made music with out kids when they were young despite having hi-fi, records and tapes. It's no wonder they've all grown up to be performing musicians. Rhiannon does her Grade Five flute exam next week, and Jasmine has been learning saxophone in school and guitar with Rachel. It gives me great pleasure to think that this is what they have inherited down three generations of family. 

Big issues not to take for granted

A good start to the day with the first of this year's Reith Lectures on Radio 4 after breakfast. Recently retired Supreme Court member and historian, Lord Jonathan Sumption is examining the changing relationship between Law and Politics, with clarity and thoroughness. He argues that the tendency to over legislate and then to litigate on all sorts matters of concern is a symptom of a growing weakness in the political sphere, reflected in an inability to reach consensus, exercise discretion or debate in an open manner in which people on all sides may indeed learn from each other and alter their positions. It's very relevant indeed given the current parliamentary crisis over brexit.

It was interesting to hear what he had to say about the Supreme Court being castigated by the editor of the Daily Mail as 'Enemies of the People', declaring war on democracy, in ruling on the necessity of a Parliamentary vote to trigger Article 50 to initiate the EU departure process legally, in November 2016. Historic precedent for dealing with such attacks on the country's highest legislating body is the responsibility of the government's Attorney General, issuing a public rebuke in defence of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. The Attorney General at the time was silent in the face of media aggression and pretension to speak for the whole electorate. 

It's an example of the way broadcast media and the press are far too influential on political processes in Britain. This narrative has been familiar to me since I read John Simpson's history of journalists and the news media from the Boer War onward a few years back. Freedom of speech is one thing, but without moderating criticism and discussion it risks becoming a a license to control affairs, and this invariably benefits the few and not the many. I look forward to hearing how Lord Sumption thinks it's possible to redress this critical public concern, now that Britain and Europe faced a worrying return of extremist and populist politics. Democracy is under critical scrutiny and it can all to easily be undermined. It cannot be taken for granted.

Another issue which caught my attention yesterday and got me thinking was listening to a discussion about gender bias in medical research. A lot has been said in recent years about the disproportionately large number of men over women in science, and the scandalous gender pay gap running through most employment sectors, but these weren't the issues being considered. Look at a standard anatomy textbook - the archetypal human image is that of the male body, possibly accompanied by a vignette of a female pelvis and reproductive organs. Why not male and female archetypes show side by side? 

There's a hidden assumption that for the most part male and female bodies are similar. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the field of drug testing. Women and men can react differently to different medications, due to variations in body chemistry. Yet the majority of testing is done, and has been done on male subjects, not on an equal number of males and females. Treating them as if they can be presumed equivalent is deeply flawed methodology with a long history. 

I daresay in practice there is a body of knowledge and experience relied upon by those who prescribe and dispense medicine, but this hidden bias calls into question the quality of scientific evidence taken for granted. Thalidomide was thought safe to use as a sleeping pill. The genetic damage inflicted on unborn children wasn't foreseen. Drug testing has become much more rigorous and licensing new products is done with much greater precaution today. No doubt scientific methods have gone through many an overhaul in decades past, but questioning and evaluating procedures used forever remains an unfinished business, much like all good things in life we value and rely on. This too, we cannot take for granted.