Cover Page, 25 March 2021, Issue 272 Welcome to our latest edition. This week we lead with comments on the census. We also consider the Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing Bill; the NHS; the Palomares incident; the Covid-19 statistics following the re-opening of schools; a Corbynista’s week… Share this using…FacebookTwitterLinkedinemail
25 March 2021 Nil Return By J.R. Thomas “In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered.” So says the New Testament, in
25 March 2021 Limiting Protests Just like de-platforming. By John Watson The verb ‘to annoy’ is declined as follows: “I am outspoken”, “You are annoying”, “He is a bigot” and the effect of the Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing Bill is to redefine the boundaries governing the public’s right not to be annoyed or endangered.
25 March 2021 NHS Empty Gestures Not good enough. By Lynda Goetz ‘Gestures’ can sometimes be appreciated. Your bunch of flowers or bottle of wine, for someone’s non-significant birthday or the fact they’re cooking you dinner, may not be lavish, but it is enough to show you are thoughtful and care. The £500 (taxed in
25 March 2021 Diary of a Corbynista An Unnatural Silence by Don Urquhart 17 March Legend has it that the people of Hartlepool once hanged a shipwrecked monkey considering him to be a Frenchman and therefore mortal enemy. Mike Hill’s resignation as Labour MP for Hartlepool necessitates a by-election which will take place on May
25 March 2021 The Palomares Incident. Nuclear bombs, nuclear power – and oranges. By Neil Tidmarsh Hiroshima, Japan, 6 August 1945; Nagasaki, Japan, 9 August 1945; Palomares, Spain, 17 January 1966. Whoops, that was a mistake. No, not my mistake. The US Air Force’s mistake. They really did drop an H-bomb (well, four H-bombs, actually)
25 March 2021 Lies, Damned Lies and Coronavirus Schools back – Part 2! by David Chilvers Four weeks ago, we looked at the impact the return to school on 8 March might have on COVID-19 infection levels and tried to evaluate the risk. We now have early data on how the number of positive tests
