From a 2023 editorial in The Week, we learn that German politicians used the word Zeitenwende (meaning epochal shift) to describe the effect of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While that was well justified, it seems to me that in the UK we’re getting our own version in the form of the alarmingly deluded Rwanda BillContinue reading “Saturday 20 January 2024”
Tag Archives: NHS
6 January 2024
New Year greetings to all! As we enter 2024, there’s no doubt that the starting gun has been fired on the general election, Rishi Sunak predictably trying to distract from Starmer’s key speech with the declaration that his ‘working assumption’ (odd choice of words when the timing is solely his decision) that it will beContinue reading “6 January 2024”
Friday 22 December 2023
After the all too brief relief felt at Boris Johnson’s expulsion and the disastrous tenure of Liz Truss, many of us might have thought in October 2022 that we’d get more a more principled premiership from Rishi Sunak. Who’d have thought that we’d actually get an even worse brand of dishonesty and private profiteering, butContinue reading “Friday 22 December 2023”
Sunday 22 October
Whatever we think about the Israel/Hamas conflict (and views seem markedly polarized) it’s very noticeable how mostly one-sided the response from UK politicians, world leaders and the media has been. Many more Gazans have been killed in air strikes this week and the ground invasion hasn’t even started yet. And despite President Biden’s intervention inContinue reading “Sunday 22 October”
Sunday 3 September
Some Tories and their apologists in the media must be feeling relieved at the timing of the demise of former Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed and all the column inches and broadcast minutes that will absorb while they’re engulfed in the latest scandal about the faulty Raac concrete in our crumbling schools. The Department forContinue reading “Sunday 3 September”
Bank Holiday blogpost
Time is rushing on and as we approach the summer Bank Holiday, there’s no shortage of news so there’s zero excuse for the media resorting to Silly Season mode. Large numbers of migrants are still arriving here despite the government’s ‘small boats’ policy and, embarrassingly, Small Boats Week; ministers seized on what they present asContinue reading “Bank Holiday blogpost”
Sunday 13 August
August is traditionally known in the media as ‘the silly season’, compensation for the apparent lack of news coming in the form of reporting trivia. But despite most of our MPs including our PM remaining resolutely On Holiday despite the disasters unfolding around them there’s been no shortage of news, the main item of whichContinue reading “Sunday 13 August”
Sunday 30 July
You almost have to feel sorry for beleaguered PM Rishi Sunak – while his MPs swan off on holiday for weeks on end, he doggedly continues trying to defend his government’s terrible record despite most of the problems being of his own making. He’s been slammed for taking no genuine interest in green policies orContinue reading “Sunday 30 July”
Sunday 9 July
It would be unfortunate if the febrile speculation over the identity of the BBC presenter at the centre of inappropriate conduct allegations and the email related to George Osborne’s conduct were allowed to overshadow what have been important events this last fortnight. As we enter the second half of the year, Rishi Sunak’s government continuesContinue reading “Sunday 9 July”
Sunday 25 June
What an extraordinary week it’s been. Many have been very newsworthy, as we’ve seen for years now, but there’s been nothing like this last week. First, we had the unprecedented (and so shameful that it was necessary) Commons debate and vote on the Privileges Committee’s report on whether Boris Johnson did mislead Parliament, the increasingContinue reading “Sunday 25 June”
Politics and mental health - the missing link? 