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The beginning of a lifetime’s work?
A guest post by Philippa Tudor I first encountered Holst’s music through singing his beautiful 8-part Ave Maria as a teenager, and knew that he had taught at James Allen’s Girls’ School in Dulwich – where I live – but I never got round to discovering more until 2012, when I ordered a secondhand copy […]
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What we owe Harry
No, not that Harry … or that one, we owe this Harry… This is an article about how to save our NHS. For some years now, we’ve all seen the issuing of a crime number as a sign that the police don’t have the staff or the funds to actually pursue a crime. It seems […]
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What do we want…?
Today, 1st February 2023, the NEU teachers join in the #CostOfLivingCrisis wave of strikes, and this morning in Hastings, all the trade unions and other groups who answered the call #HastingsDemandsBetter gathered in support. Himself and I looked in at Hastings Station, where there was an ASLEF picket line, passed the government buildings where the […]
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Why compassionate women should not compromise
People will never forgive you for their mistakes. It feels warm and magnanimous to forgive others for their mistakes but it takes a real grown-up to forgive people who spot one’s own mistakes. That’s why the words “compassion” and “compromise” are constantly flying at women wishing to discuss the state of their sex-based rights, when […]
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The Purity Spiral and the House on Fire
Some of the worst atrocities in our history have been committed by ideologues, people so wedded to a political idea-set that they do their politics by the book, and never actually look at what’s happening in the world. In country after country, vast numbers of people have suffered and died whilst state administrations plough on […]
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Imagine a different world
Imagine a health service where our top-quality, highly trained A&E nurses and medical practitioners are well paid, and have shorter working hours than average, because of the exceptionally high mental and physical demands of the job, and because we have plenty of them, and we value them all. Imagine a health service where consultants don’t […]
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A Call To Men Of The Left
*** Guest post by Ian McNee*** Women’s Liberation, Identity Politics & Socialism On Saturday 4th February the feminist campaigning organisation Woman’s Place UK are co-hosting their second national conference on women’s liberation with the UCL Women’s Liberation SIG at the Institute for Education, UCL and on the theme: “Education for Women’s Liberation.” This follows their […]
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What defines our country
We went to a TUC rally in support of the RCN at our local hospital this morning. Yesterday, I was at a hospital a long way away (because our NHS services are stretched out all over the region, now). I sat watching a tired nurse, trying to hold onto too many pieces of (metaphorical) string, […]
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Disaster by privateers, public services to the rescue
My, but I am glad we live at the top of the hill! Here’s today in Hastings from my point of view… Meandering to Disaster I got just past breakfast time before the power went off. By then, I had noted that, the garden now being completely water-logged, the side path had become a river […]
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A message to Helena Dollimore from a former Labour voter
Dear Helena Dollimore, Judging by your canvassing and emails to the members and supporters of Hastings and Rye Labour Party, you are concerned about the fate of our NHS. I haven’t seen you at any of the local trade union rallies, nor have I seen a coherent response from you to our concerns about your […]
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In which someone handed me a mic while I was feeling quite cross
This is the story of our NHS and me. I’m telling it because it’s also the story of our NHS and you, unless you are very, very rich… in which case I hope you will read this, too… I’m surviving. Like most people, I can’t see the result of any of my life’s work in […]