Heathrow: No free ride for Zac Goldsmith
Today the government announced its preferred option for airport expansion in the south-east of England, and as had been expected, that was a third runway at Heathrow in west London. The other main option...
Indigo Jo Blogs Blog
A waste of a life
Last Wednesday, Nicky Reilly, who attempted to blow up a restaurant in Exeter with a home-made bomb which exploded in the toilet, injuring only himself, died in Manchester prison (otherwise known as Strangeways) where...
What is the real “education gap” in politics?
How the education gap is tearing politics apart | David Runciman | Politics | The Guardian This was the Guardian's "long read" Wednesday before last, and it explores how education levels are becoming a...
Cure or accommodate? It’s not an either-or
Yesterday I saw an advert for a free public lecture at the University of Melbourne (won't be going; bit too far for me to travel) on the subject "Persons with Disabilities: Cure or Accommodate?"...
A few weeks back on Android
Over the summer, my iPhone broke down. The charging point initially stopped charging when the Lightning plug was not plugged in at exactly the right angle, but one morning while I was out driving...
“Sunnis condemn the Saudis” isn’t news
The Independent carried a story last Thursday in which Robert Fisk claimed that "for the first time", Saudi Arabia was under attack from both Sunni and Shi'ite scholars as some two hundred scholars, including...
On safety around trucks and mobiles
Part of this is a public service announcement. I was involved in a minor collision a couple of weeks ago. The scene is in the photograph on the right. I was taking this bend...
No, we do not need to act on that referendum
In the months since the referendum on leaving the EU, opinion seems to have hardened on the matter of whether there should be any question of leaving, given the 51.9% vote in favour. In...
Modi should have been Keith Vaz’s undoing
Last Sunday some of the tabloids led with a story about Keith Vaz, the Labour MP for Leicester East, paying male prostitutes, asking them to bring 'poppers' and offering to cover the cost of...
Welcome home and happy birthday
Back in February, I featured the story of Joshua Offer-Simon, who was at the time being held in a hospital unit in Birmingham. He had been under section for two years as a result...
“Not exactly Mother Teresa”
So, today the Pope led a ceremony in St Peter's Square in the Vatican to canonise Mother Teresa, the nun who ran a chain of institutions for the sick, dying and destitute around the...
Listen to women — but which women?
Last Friday the highest court in France, the Council of State (Conseil d'État), struck down the ban on full-body swimsuits or so-called burkinis which had been imposed by some 30 municipalities in southern France...
Let’s be clear: the French swimsuit ban is about hate
In the past couple of weeks several coastal regions of France, including the districts that include Cannes, Nice and Menton, have banned women from wearing the full-body swimsuits known as 'burkinis' that are popular...
Schools should provide books, not require iPads
Back to school bill: pencil case, pens, rubber … and a £785 iPad (from today's Guardian) This is about how state schools (private schools have been doing this for a while) have started asking...
Yes, Black lives matter. But so do other people’s journeys
Last week I was working at a site just north of Heathrow airport, the quickest route to which is down the Heathrow spur and off at the bottom. On Friday morning I was returning...
The Investigation that revealed nothing
Last Thursday night, the last in a four-part series called The Investigator showed on ITV. The series attempted, or purported, to investigate the death of Carole Packman, who disappeared in 1986 after attempting to...
The loser of Sagamihara
Last Monday a former employee of Tsukui Yamayuri-en, a care centre in Sagamihara, Japan broke into the centre during the night and murdered 19 disabled residents. We do not know the names of the...
Apricot kernels
Earlier today I was browsing the mentions of Kate Granger, the doctor best known for setting up the "Hello, my name is…" campaign aimed at encouraging doctors, nurses and other health professionals to introduce...
So, where’s your inspiring leader?
This week, as the Tory leadership election gets underway and a bunch of five ghastly right-wing, anti-immigrant, mostly Islamophobic extremists compete to be the next prime minister, people who are in or more inclined...
Brexit: A misguided vote
So, on Friday morning we woke up to the news that Britain had voted narrowly (51.9%) in favour of leaving the European Union, with Scotland overwhelmingly against and Northern Ireland also mostly against, but...