TLDR: In one year 15 top-level officials at NHS England managed to run up an expenses bill of almost £200,000 on travel, hotels and restaurants. All of which has come from the pocket of the taxpayer.
So last night Conchita Wurst won Eurovision. Here's the winning song again:
For some reason Russia and some other countries were kicking up a fuss about whether she should be allowed to participate but the voting has finished and now she's 'The Queen of Europe'.
So, as an intellectual exercise I thought I would compare how 'free' a country was with how many points they gave to Austria. I realise that there are other factors that are taken into consideration when countries vote (such as the likeability of the song for example) but i just thought I would compare.
Here's what I got. I have no conclusions; I just thought it was interesting.
Please remember that this is raw data that I was looking at while watching Netflix. I've no idea what percentage of each country watched Eurovision or which characteristics make you more likely to vote.
For example I would assume that very anti-EU British people wouldn't have voted and pro-EU people are represented by the Lib Dems who are a more open minded party than the Tories.
The Liberty Leauge Freedom Forum is an annual student focused event that happened this year over the weekend of April 11th. £30 paid for attendance, food and boarding at a very good hostel called Clink78. The event is organised through the partnership of various think tanks including The Institute of Economic Affairs and The Adam Smith Institute with the aim of promoting free thought, libertarianism and critical thinking.
I left with plenty of free things, including a few huge books by Ann Rand courtesy of donors to the Ann Rand Institute, and a reading list as long as my arm. In many cases many participants already knew each other from events organised by the Young Britons Foundation, but despite this a lone traveller such as myself was welcomed and included.
In the end I left with a few new friends and hope to see more people there next year!
