In the aftermath of last week’s headline-dominating court case, Vikram Dodd braves the mean streets of Eltham to see if racism still exists (not realising he could find plenty without ever leaving the ‘Guardian’ head office): Barber Kwabena Boateng, 35,…
Tag: Responsibility
These People Are Driving Me To Drink!
A top doctor has backed calls for a minimum price to be imposed on alcohol. Brighton and Hove director of public health Tom Scanlon said having less cheap wine, beers and spirits available would be an important step in reducing…
More Collective Punishment!
There have been calls to enforce a ban on keeping dogs in high-rise flats in the wake of a pet mauling five people in a Leith tower block. That’ll be this case, where the first cops on the scene cowered…
In The World Of The ‘Guardian’, Nothing Is Ever….
…the fault of anyone but ‘the authorities’: Most of these teenagers have missed huge chunks of their schooling, and all of them have now been excluded from their mainstream schools. But their presence here today represents serious progress. This scene…
The Free Ride Is Officially Over!
Parents today told of their fears for affordable childcare if plans to close two council-run nurseries go ahead. Oh, dear. What a shame. No more subsidies. Parents at Treetops Children’s Centre in Willesden said they were given eight weeks to…
There oughtta be a law against it
Oh yes, a law. God forbid that we should sit down and think an important decision through rationally. That would never do, so having done something remarkably silly that we now regret we should demand that the state protect us…
Fantasy drugs policy
When blogging I’ve occasionally quoted from Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books since they’ve always been less a fantasy series and more a series of parodies of parts of the world we actually live in, and there are often bits here…
So, Are They ‘Depraved On Account Of They’re Deprived’, Or Vice Versa?
Professor Tim Newburn (head of social policy at the London School of Economics) ponders the ‘Officer Krupke’ question in CiF: What should we make of this new data? First, it is important not to be swayed too much by some…
Not Everything Is The Fault Of The Government…
A former school secretary who suffered horrific injuries and nearly died in a road crash while working in Africa has criticised City of York Council. What!? Why? Mrs Heeles was one of four members of staff from York schools –…
Do You Fear People Not Acknowledging Your Awesome Rights?
A new mum has organised a breast feeding “sit-in” after being told to stop nursing her baby son in an Oxford department store. Mother-of-two Emily John organised the protest in anger after being asked by staff to stop feeding four-week-old…
Accident Waiting To Happen….
The sun shone as children in one Oxford community headed outside to reclaim their street. Campbell Road in Cowley became the first place in the city on Wednesday to benefit from the Bristol-based Playing Out project. The scheme helps residents…
Sorry, Lincolnshire CC….
….but we have raised a generation that just won’t wait: The authority’s consultancy services manager John Monk said: “We’ve seen for ourselves quite a lot of young people walking across the crossing without looking, which is a concern. “The crossing…
Raising The Next Generation Of Entitlement Junkies
A mum has hit out at a York school’s decision not to allow her daughter to drink juice in the classroom. And why does she think her daughter should be able to do this? Well, she’s got a disability, innit?…
A common denominator
Via the Ambush Predator. On Friday I will be attending the funeral of my friend, Mark Duggan (Ed: truly, the Funeral That Taste Forgot…). Five weeks after he was shot dead by the police in Tottenham, at last the community…
Helping reduce Islamaphobia….. not
I’d never, ever suggest that they should be banned from doing this or that free speech should be ‘lightly restrained’ in order to make that possible (though Christ knows speech in the UK is not free anyway), but what the…