Democratic socialists, republicans, feminists, anti-racists, egalitarians are in for a bad year. Worrying? Surely, this is good news? Well, no. You see, the person making that prediction is none other than Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. And she’s hardly ever right about anything… After all, the very same article contains these gems: “Next year it’ll be 40 years since I landed here. London is my place, my home, and I feel a slow-growing…
Taxi drivers say the lack of a queuing system at Wickford railway station is putting them and their customers in danger. Up to 200 train passengers usually exit the station at once during the rush hour and about ten of them typically require taxis, so hailing a cab in the busy street outside is a free-for-all. There is no designated queuing area, so some times people form their own disorderly…
…that’s what I have this morning. And no, it’s not through overindulging last night, either. It’s from reading the ‘Guardian’: “It is unacceptable to us,” said Rakesh Sonawane, Bidve’s brother-in-law. “They say the investigation is still pending, the charge sheet has not been filed and a second postmortem is still pending. The holidays are taking their toll. If there were more people working, we would not have to wait so…
It’s not going to be Stony Stratford that first bans smoking in the open air, or in cars, much to Cllr Bartlett’s chagrin. It’s going to be somewhere in Wales: Victoria Winckler, director of the Bevan Foundation, has added her voice to the growing support in Wales for a ban on smoking in cars, especially those carrying children. Note that; ‘especially‘ in cars carrying children. Not only in cars carrying children. Did anyone…
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 the impact alcohol has on the city. Oh, good god! Brighton again. Won’t these people ever stop? However, he said that all councils around the country would have to join…
A “super team” of public sector and education officials is to be established to deal with up to 1,200 problem families. Step right up to the front of the queue! Your own private ‘Zil lane’, all you feckless… Brighton and Hove City Council leader Bill Randall has confirmed that the local authority will establish the dedicated unit to ensure help is given to those people who require the most support.…
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 behind a dustbin (I’m only surprised Inspector Gadget didn’t leap on it as yet another reason why all front-line officers should be armed). And, of course, since the problem is…
Smokers, of course: Stephen Aylen, a Tory councillor for Belfairs, Leigh, made his views clear at a public meeting where he condemned the “damage” smokers caused to council properties. Wow, a little bit of tobacco causes that much damage, eh? He claimed additional redecorating and insurance was needed to house smokers and the costs were an unfair burden on the taxpayer, particularly non-smoking taxpayers. And just where’s this going to…
…after all, it’d guarantee them an easy life, wouldn’t it? A kebab shop has had its license reviewed following the death of Paul Gunner who was killed while celebrating his birthday. Oh, and why? Did a particularly heavy kebab fall on him? Was he poisoned by one? Well, no. He just happened to be standing outside one: The 32-year-old was standing outside Charcoal Grill, in Bourne Road, Bexley High Street,…
Zoe Williams writes a column so bad, I can’t improve on the excellent demolition job Tim Worstall has made of it. But a few paras stuck out: …I saw plenty of counter-arguments to that, identifying poor eating habits as a result of deprivation. One was that people with kids and very little money can’t afford to waste food, so have to buy things that children are likely to eat, which…
Alison Garnham believes that the coalition government is in danger of emulating Margaret Thatcher’s record on poverty. Well, great! No? No: “It has been said her governments did two things for poverty: they increased it, then they pretended it did not exist. The coalition must avoid a similar, devastating legacy,” she warns. Are you sure about that, Angela? After all, if they do avoid it, you’ll be out of a…
A deaf and blind teenager is refusing to go to school after teachers banned her guide dog from the dining hall. Molly Watt, 17, says she was left to eat lunch alone in a separate room because another pupil who uses the canteen is allergic to the dog. So what we have here is a clash of disabilities. It should be easy to resolve, no, given that both parties are…
Catherine Johnson writes stories for screen and books for children. And she’s complaining about something. What, you ask? Well, I’d better let her tell you that… It seems like a boom time for black literature and drama. Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, which focuses on the life of a young girl in Nigeria, is shortlisted for the Costa first novel award next month. Pigeon English, the story of a Ghanaian boy…
Lord Judge’s comments at the Royal Courts of Justice today follow a call by the independent Homicide Advisory Review Group for the mandatory life sentence for murder to be scrapped. The group, whose members include former judges, lawyers and prison governors, claimed the compulsory life term was “outdated” and “unjust” and that judges should be given the power to determine punishment on a case-by-case basis. Or, in other words, ‘My…
…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 may look purposeless – a small group of boys are hanging round the front entrance, chatting with fizzy drink cans in their hands – but actually, this is authorised chill-out…
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