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Get angry
I know, it’s the weekend. You want to be relaxing, chilling, letting it all go. But you can’t. You have to read this. And then try to find an answer to the question: why is nobody from Wall Street...
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Home strange home
I have been back in the UK for eight days and so far I have been unable to listen to any soundbite or speech by any politician all the way through. It is a sad state of affairs for a … Continue reading →
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The tip of the iceberg
The News International scandal is just the tip of the iceberg of unelected oligarchies and corporate power in Britain’s democracy, according to a new report by David Beetham of the LSE, arguing that:...
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‘No pasaran’: Cable Street 1936-2011
Anniversaries always offer good opportunities for the reinterpretation of past events according to modern sensibilities. With each passing year the memories get polished, the myths build and the truth...
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Road to nowhere
For all of those readers who aren’t students of the 1930s – and why wouldn’t you be, given that we seem to be hell-bent on recreating it? – all I can say is, well. Be warned, the last time foreign …...
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On repeat
Perhaps this should come as little surprise. A new study has discovered that the popularity of far-right groups is on the rise across Europe, even in the parts previously considered too enlightened to...
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Tyrants destroy their own freedom
Seeking to rebalance the world and make the major changes needed to bring about financial justice are laudable aims, but rarely achieved easily. Those ‘doing quite nicely, thank you’ out of the...
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Top 5 doomed literary loves
Perhaps it isn’t in keeping with the spirit of the season, as everyone loves a happy ever after, but sometimes it has to be acknowledged that the really great literature lives elsewhere. With that in...
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Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin
Monday 21 January was designated by someone as Orwell Day, in commemoration of the anniversary of the writer’s death. Penguin Books offered a generous discount off the ‘Classic’ editions of his works...
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Sex crime
John Maguire reports on an insightful lecture on an often-overlooked piece of recent history. A surge of creative electricity charged up the University of Liverpool last week. To conclude LGBT History...
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Egyptians are in the street looking for a brighter day
No government fights fascism to destroy it. When the bourgeoisie sees that power is slipping out of its hands, it brings up fascism to hold onto their privileges - Buenaventura Durruti With these words...
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To Russia With Love
John Maguire brings a message of love to thaw the most snow-covered of hearts… When Cupid draws back his bow this year, I am firing the arrow right into the heart of Mother Russia. I am dedicating my...
View ArticleFrom the Land of Green Ghosts by Pascal Khoo Thwe
Had I not read Emma Larkin’s wonderful Finding George Orwell in Burma in 2013, I wouldn’t have gone looking for further reading and found a list of the author’s recommended books about the country....
View ArticleDid you care about Beirut as well?
The online landscape has been akin to the shifting sands of the desert in the days since the attacks in Paris. As also happened after the attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine, many of the initial...
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Top 5 doomed literary loves
Perhaps it isn’t in keeping with the spirit of the season, as everyone loves a happy ever after, but sometimes it has to be acknowledged that the really great literature lives elsewhere. With that in...
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Stop being a sap!
spray-on leggings Yes, you read that right. Release your inner anarchist in a Sid Vicious meets Agyness Deyn ensemble That sound you can hear is either Sid spinning in his grave or me banging my head...
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Computer love
The internet has taken an awful lot of flak lately, accused of all sorts from murder to drug dealing via rampant piracy. It is little wonder that our brave Government feels the need to rush in and DO...
View ArticlePolitics drops its drawers
The best party is but a kind of conspiracy against the rest of the nation – Lord Halifax, 1750 It is difficult to judge how far the effect of this latest scandal extends outside Westminster. I suspect...
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Julia fixes Parliament!
You guys, I just thought of something! There’s MILLIONS of us right? Must be at least a few that are hacked off with all this corruption. So why don’t we all throw a quid in the pot until we’ve got a...
View ArticleAlan Sillitoe, 1928-2010
Alan Sillitoe died last week and when I heard the news, my first reaction was sorrow. Not for Mr Sillitoe himself, but for us, left to negotiate without him a system that is still trying to beat us...
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