BBC bashes benefit claimants two weeks running
I’m a little late writing about this, but I watched John Humphries’ programme on BBC2, The Future State of Welfare, a few days after it was broadcast (I was working a night shift the...
Category: Politics
Young adult marriage visa ban: unjust, now unlawful
Supreme Court overturns non-EU young spouses ban (from BBC News) The UK Supreme Court has ruled that a government ban on British citizens bringing spouses under the age of 21 from outside the EU...
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. …...
Flather’s attack on Muslims is not brave
UK immigration: Polygamy, welfare benefits and an insidious silence | Mail Online This article by former Tory peer, Baroness Shreela Flather, appeared in the UK Daily Mail on Friday, and consists of a broad-brush...
Government planning individual voter registration
Shocked MPs told electoral plan could remove 10m voters | Politics | The Guardian The Government is planning to introduce voluntary individual registration for coming elections alongside massive changes to electoral boundaries, to replace...
Facebook troll jailed — why can’t people be adults?
BBC News – Reading man jailed for dead girl 'trolling' insults A man has been jailed for 18 weeks for posting insulting messages on Facebook pages dedicated to young people who had died, in...
Blood donation rules: no sense then or now
On Thursday it was announced that the rules governing who can give blood in the UK was changed; previously, any man who had ever had sex with a man was permanently excluded; the new...
Charges against saline case nurse dropped
BBC News – Stepping Hill saline deaths: Nurse Rebecca Leighton charges dropped Remember the case of the several people who died after someone spiked the saline at a Manchester hospital two months ago? And...
Why I support banning the EDL’s march
Of late I've seen a number of tweets and blog articles questioning why some "good liberals" suddenly go hard-line when it comes to allowing the English Defence League to have their marches, and start...
Pauline Pearce: why jail drug mules?
“Hackney heroine” tells why she confronted rioters (from last Monday’s Guardian) Pauline Pearce was the woman caught on camera lecturing rioting youths in Hackney that they should “fight for a cause” rather than tearing...
What makes appropriate school dress?
School skirt ban is just the latest battle in the uniform wars | Education | The Guardian Recently a secondary school in Ipswich (the third in the town) changed its uniform code making trousers...
The perils of hosting political content in the UK
Atos moves to shut down criticism | Tentacles of doom (also see Carer Watch) The above article is about how ATOS, the French company hired by the British government to conduct disability assessments, has...
Why do hospitals discharge people so early?
These days, if you go into hospital for virtually any procedure or any surgery, chances are high that you will be out in much shorter time than you would have been in the past....
Somalia? Send a proper journalist
LIZ JONES: The caring professions? They just don't seem to care at all | Mail Online The above article is a rant by Liz Jones, normally a fashion columnist on the Daily Mail also...
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...
Nothing “right on” about rape jokes, Jan
Michael McIntyre endures jealousy of rival comics | Mail Online I'm not all that familiar with the comedy of Michael Macintyre, who has a reputation for being the "nice guy" of British comedy at...
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...
Hacked or not, Fraser Brown story is wrong
The Sun today was very proud to declare that Gordon Brown was wrong to accuse them of hacking his phone, or illegally accessing his voicemail, to make their "scoop" in November 2006, and that...
CIA vaccine scam endangers vaccines worldwide
CIA organised fake vaccination drive to get Osama bin Laden’s family DNA | World news | The Guardian The Guardian today reported that an investigation by the paper had uncovered a fake vaccine programme...
The dangers of over-generous parental rights
Pregnant? Wait till the boss hears | Life and style | The Guardian This article was about a woman (Danniella McClain, right) who worked for an upmarket estate agent's in west London, who informed...