Thatcher cannot be judged on the 1970s
BBC Question Time from Finchley, north London, 11th April 2013 (available in UK until 11th April 2014) Last night the BBC's weekly Question Time programme was filmed in Finchley, the area of north London...
Category: Politics
Thatcher dead
Only yesterday, someone tweeted that when asked where he was when he heard that Margaret Thatcher had died, the answer was he was on Twitter on all five occasions. Why people publish hoax death...
A scientific approach
Taking Up Space: Women vs. Men | You think I just don't understand, but I don't believe you. Cathy "Bug" Brennan, someone who I have heard described as one of the most extreme and...
Who better represents “Welfare UK”?
This is the front page of tomorrow’s Daily Mail, one which cynically exploits the tragic death in 2011 of six children in a house fire started by their parents and their parents’ friend in...
When will people realise the Bulger killers were children?
BBC News – Three men jailed for selling information to the Sun On Wednesday a former prison worker and two former policemen were jailed for selling information to the papers, and the information the...
Open letter on murder of disabled man — please sign
Open letter to Keir Starmer regarding Jordan Sheard (public) – Google Drive The above is an editable open letter — it is editable so that you can add your name to the bottom of...
Go after abusive media companies, not bloggers
Samuel Johnson famously asked, in an essay written during the American war of independence, “How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?”. These days, we hear...
Because nobody gets raped in England, do they?
BBC News – Barbados rapes: MP warns travellers island is 'unsafe' Stephen McPartland, Tory MP for Stevenage, has been putting pressure on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to declare that Barbados is “not a...
Don’t be tempted not to vote!
Yesterday, in response to the abstention by most Labour MPs (and the party itself; forty Labour MPs voted against, including John McDonnell and Dennis Skinner) on the retrospective legislation to excuse the government for...
Why aren’t more people feminists nowadays?
Laurie Penny: Feminism is the one F-word that makes eyes widen in polite company (from this week's New Statesman) The other week, one of my Facebook friends (who has severe ME) wrote that it...
Lib Dem associations must act against backdoor Tories
Last week it was reported that the Lib Dem party conference had condemned the government’s plan for “secret courts” (as the BBC describes it, “some civil proceedings held in private for fear of damaging...
Is free speech free, or isn’t it?
Note: Further enquiries reveal that “Bethan Jones” is in fact Beth Tichbourne, and that her offence was not only to hold up the placard mentioned, but also to attempt to scale a barrier. Her...
IDS: More Catholic than the Pope?
The other day, Justin Welby, the new archbishop of Canterbury, defended the welfare system that the present government are busy ripping up, describing it as a duty of a civilised society to support vulnerable...
Human rights are not just for other people
This Venn diagram by Paul Bernal has been doing the rounds on Twitter, and follows the announcement from the Conservative party that at the next election, their manifesto will include a commitment to changing...
The rush to judgement on Oscar Pistorius
The story of Oscar Pistorius's shooting of his girlfriend has been going on for a week and a half now, and last Friday, after a four-day bail hearing, he was released on bail of...
Cait Reilly and Workfare: some basic maths
Earlier today I was listening to the Eddie Nestor show, an evening news phone-in programme on the BBC London station, which was discussing the Cait Reilly case. Reilly had been told, wrongly it now...
Andrade tragedy is not unique
Sexual abuse victim’s suicide sparks call for review of court procedures | UK news | guardian.co.uk Last week it was revealed that Frances Andrade, the 48-year-old violinist and music teacher who had given evidence...
Women and Asperger’s syndrome: make-up is not compulsory
The Asperkid’s (Secret) Book of Social Rules: The Handbook of Not-So-Obvious Social Guidelines for Tweens and Teens with Asperger Syndrome – book information – Jessica Kingsley Publishers I recently came across the above title...
Claire Khaw arrested, allegedly
Newsflash! Claire Khaw Arrested, Apparently For Blog Post Accusing Jessica Thom Of Putting On Tourettes « Same Difference Claire Khaw is the blogger best known for getting onto various radio talk-shows and online forums...
Burchill’s bigoted rant has no place in the Observer
Today the Observer posted an article by Julie Burchill, a right-wing columnist given to bigoted rants laden with gratuitous slurs, against the transsexual “lobby” in response to the supposed bullying of Suzanne Moore, a...