Today is Remembrance Sunday and although it may well be different from London in other parts of the country observation has definitely been declining in recent years. A while back many would sport poppies weeks or certainly days before the main commemoration and the two minute silence would be observed in workplaces and in publicContinue reading “Sunday 9 November”
Tag Archives: Keir Starmer
Sunday 28 September
In the wake of the Trump state visit and as the British political party conference season takes hold, there’s no shortage of concerning news, much of it subjected to mendacious massage by the right wing media including the BBC. (Private Eye got it in one with their ‘fake news’ about Chris Mason, the much criticisedContinue reading “Sunday 28 September”
Sunday 13 July
As it seems we have been rendered pretty impotent when it comes to influencing our government’s policies on international affairs, especially the increasingly dangerous antics of Trump, Putin and Netanyahu, focusing on the news at home seems appropriate and there’s no shortage of it. Just to say, as it’s both domestic and international, the announcedContinue reading “Sunday 13 July”
Sunday 18 May
Donald Trump continues to cause mayhem with what media sources euphemistically call his ‘quixotic’ policies and tariffs and the two major conflicts (actually invasions) rage on despite yet more air miles and hot air being expended in often fruitless efforts to end them. At least the India/Pakistan conflict has abated for now but of courseContinue reading “Sunday 18 May”
Tuesday 6 May
The news agenda has accelerated to fever pitch over the last fortnight, journalists and commentators falling over each other to opine on the latest Trump antics, the local election results, the royals and much else, all adding to pressure on our mental wellbeing. Although the two major parties have long needed a wake-up call, theContinue reading “Tuesday 6 May”
Sunday 13 April
When I began this blog during the first 2020 lockdown, the key theme, which has continued ever since, was the deleterious effect on our mental wellbeing caused by leaders’ (such as employers and governments, which in psychoanalytic theory serve as proxies for our original source of authority – parents) failure to take care of usContinue reading “Sunday 13 April”
Sunday 23 February
‘There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen’ (Vladimir Ilyich Lenin) – a timely quote from the BBC yesterday considering we’re now at one of those historical junctures. Many were plunged into despond at the election of Donald Trump in November and, following a brief respite for the Christmas andContinue reading “Sunday 23 February”
Sunday 19 January 2025
As 2025 gets underway, it feels as the last couple of weeks have been accompanied by a strong whiff of suspended animation, with endless media speculation about the responses of the combatants in the Gaza ceasefire deal and about what Trump will do when he takes up the presidential cudgels again. Agonizes one newspaper: ‘FacedContinue reading “Sunday 19 January 2025”
Sunday 29 December
So Christmas is over for another year and we’re now amid Twixmas, the travel industry invented name for that no man’s land between Christmas and New Year (therapeutic for some, possibly many) when it’s tricky to know what places and services are open and when. This lack of consistency can make it hard to planContinue reading “Sunday 29 December”
Sunday 6 October
Amid so much important and disturbing news, including the worsening conflict in the Middle East, it seems to me that partly due to the power of right wing media, there’s been a major and non-stop attack on Keir Starmer and his government. Said one tweeter: ‘The amount of shit being dumped on Starmer at theContinue reading “Sunday 6 October”
Politics and mental health - the missing link? 