1 December 2022 Dangerous Songs Singing and silence. By Neil Tidmarsh Promoting his recently published autobiography Surrender; 40 Songs, One Story, U2’s Bono revealed that he and his family have been subjected to death threats from the IRA, far-right US racists and Dublin gangsters. His non-partisan promotion of peace and his refusal to take sides… Continue reading Dangerous Songs
Article Category: Comment
A Matter of Principle
30 November 2022 A Matter of Principle by J.R. Thomas The idea of a politician standing up in the House of Commons, let alone next door in that overcrowded upper chamber full of old duffers and ministerial failures, and referring to, “Mr Speaker, an important matter of principle” is laughable. Worse than laughable, it would… Continue reading A Matter of Principle
NHS Sell-off
1 December 2022 NHS Sell-off Big Trouble by Don Urquhart We are governed by people who do not believe in public services and are heavily influenced by Tufton Street PR firms, paid by undisclosed people to promote the sale of the NHS to private companies. It is rare that a BBC political programme goes by… Continue reading NHS Sell-off
Potatoes
1 December 2022 Potatoes Moving to the couch? By Robert Kilconner I had a surprise last week. I will shortly be travelling to New Zealand and, having arranged my Auckland accommodation some months ago, sent a message to check that all was still in order. To my horror I was told that actually they would… Continue reading Potatoes
Qatar
24 November 2022 Qatar And the Hitler Olympics. By John Watson My cousin, Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Maitland Emmet, was a man of many parts. A schoolmaster by way of profession, he is better known as a leading amateur entomologist and the author of seminal works on moths and butterflies. He was also an oarsman, in the somewhat… Continue reading Qatar
Weakness of Top-Down
24 November 2022 Weakness of Top-Down When levelling-up. By Lynda Goetz Many years ago, fresh out of university, when I was teaching English in Spain, I remember robustly defending our ‘A’ level exams to a Spaniard. I argued that the early specialisation prepared students for university and the focus on a single subject. He argued… Continue reading Weakness of Top-Down
Political Momentum
24 November 2022 Political Momentum And the autumn statement. By Robert KiIconner Old Macdonald would have loved the autumn statement. Indeed it could have formed a new chorus for his song: With a clip clip hereAnd a clip clip thereHere a clip, there a clipEverywhere a clip-clip… Because that is exactly how it works. A… Continue reading Political Momentum
Gender Dysphoria
24 November 2022 Gender Dysphoria Kindness Needed by Don Urquhart Biological sex is involuntary, gender is a choice. I am neither transgender nor a woman but am concerned that I know so little about such things. Instinctively I feel immense sympathy for anyone who feels trapped in the wrong body. God made a mistake with… Continue reading Gender Dysphoria
Fly me to the Moon … again
24 November 2022 Fly me to the Moon … again By Paul Branch So where were you on 20 July 1969? Chances are you were one of over half a billion people glued to the television watching Neil Armstrong’s first faltering steps down onto the surface of the Moon, on the Sea of Tranquility, while… Continue reading Fly me to the Moon … again
Ask the Ancestors
24 November 2022 Ask the Ancestors AI and ‘Augmented Eternity’ By Neil Tidmarsh Our prehistoric forbears liked to keep their dead ancestors close so they could seek their advice in times of need. The bones of generations of the tribe’s leaders and wise men and women were kept in neat stacks inside the tribe’s long… Continue reading Ask the Ancestors
Moving On
17 November 2022 Moving On Sunak’s path. By John Watson “Everyone will have to pay more,” so said Jeremy Hunt as a spoiler for today’s autumn statement. Everyone, that is the point, albeit with those with broad financial shoulders paying more than others. It is important politically that we, the British tribe, should each look… Continue reading Moving On
A Message In A Mess
17 November 2022 A Message In A Mess by J.R. Thomas The Midterms have arrived and departed and all the pundits were wrong. Including yours truly. The predictions were that the Republicans would win a few seats in the Senate (it was never going to be easy; these were seats last contested in 2016 when… Continue reading A Message In A Mess
Civil Disobedience
17 November 2022 Civil Disobedience Gets you interviewed by Don Urquhart Compare and contrast Indigo Rumbelow (Just Stop Oil campaigner) with the Suffragettes. Trouble is it has been done to death. The media went to town on her interview with Sky’s Mark Austin. If you read the gutter press (Telegraph, Mail, Sun, Express) you would… Continue reading Civil Disobedience
