Brexiters are lying
Coming home the other day over a flyover on the A3, I saw a poster from Vote Leave, the official campaign for Britain to leave the EU, which proclaimed "Turkey (population 76 million) is...
Category: Europe
Against this Brexit now
So, the date for the referendum on Britain's exit from the European Union has been set (23rd June) and politicians on both sides are coming out with their position on the matter. Unusually, David...
Another reason to remain in the EU
A Twitter friend just flagged up this story from a Canadian newspaper. It's about a Muslim family who are Canadian citizens being barred from boarding a flight to Florida so they could go to...
How France can really ‘protect all religions’
France 'to protect all religions' (BBC News) The French president, François Hollande, has announced that France "will protect all religions" and that Muslims are the "main victims of fanaticism" in a speech at the...
Ukraine and Drugs: the vapidity of Stacey Dooley
Europe's Dirty Drug Secret: Stacey Dooley Investigates (viewable in the UK until next Sunday) Last Monday I saw a programme featuring Stacey Dooley, the British “investigative journalist” whose efforts at understanding the divisions in...
Not quite Independence Day
Last week I read about two separate distressing incidents that underline the need for support for people with disabilities to remain living with their families if that is at all possible. The first happened...
Assange, Galloway and low Muslim expectations
Last week there has been a lot of discussion about people’s attitudes to rape with regard mostly to the extradition of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, currently hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy in...
Ukraine: BBC exposes abuse of disabled and slave labour
BBC iPlayer: Ukraine’s Forgotten Children (viewable in UK only until 28th June); more here Last night (Monday), the BBC broadcast a 90-minute exposé on the state of care for orphans and disabled people in...
Another pioneer for the Tory workfare scheme
There is a long article in today’s Guardian about the racism facing the Roma population in Hungary, which has faced acute discrimination since (at least) the end of Communism, particularly in the education system...
Remember Kercher, prosecutor tells jury
BBC News – Amanda Knox appeal: Jury told to remember Kercher Italian prosecutors have urged a jury considering an appeal by two convicted murderers of British student Meredith Kercher to remember her family. …...
On Norway
This past weekend was dominated by two major death-related news stories: the bombing and subsequent massacre in Norway on Friday, and the death (to me at least, sudden and unexpected) of the singer, Amy...
Press attitudes and bureaucratic nightmares
Teenager who doesn't exist: Birth certificate blunder in Spain means British girl can't get passport or even a bus pass | Mail Online The above report is about a young girl who was born...
Who’s defending Dominique Strauss-Kahn?
Dominique Strauss-Kahn finds sympathy in Paris | World news | The Guardian The above article lays out some of the conspiracy theories people in France entertain about why the former head of the International...
The McCanns and Scotland Yard
Does Every Child Matter? – itsmotherswork’s posterous I had meant to post a longer entry about this issue, but was too busy watching the debate on The Big Questions (“Does Britain Have a Problem...
Is the Holocaust really unique among genocides?
This morning, I heard a discussion on the Vanessa Feltz show (which I don’t listen to much now, except when I’m in the shower — that’s what comes of being out of work!) about...
Sweden: exposing Sharia and rape myths
Swedish elections: The impact of immigration | World news | The Guardian This is an article about the rise of the “Sweden Democrats”, a far-right party which has been increasing its share of the...
France niqaab ban “not meant to help women”
France’s ban on the Islamic veil has little to do with female emancipation | Law | guardian.co.uk Joan Wallach Scott, the author of The Politics of the Veil, on the real motivation behind the...
Romanians bilked by self-employment scam
BBC News – Romanian workers reveal true cost of beauty This is a story about Romanian workers who were tricked into coming to the UK to sell cosmetics on a “commission-only”, “self-employed” basis. This...
On Switzerland and boycotts
It seems that offence has been taken at my reference to two bloggers in my last entry who reacted to the vote against minarets in Switzerland last Sunday to the effect of “I won’t...
The Swiss minaret law and its implications
I've been asked to offer my opinion on the result of yesterday's referendum on minarets in Switzerland, perhaps inevitably. I had expected such a law to be passed, contrary to the opinion polls which...