Category: Uncategorized
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On resisting “bubble thinking”
From Gary Lineker through Brexit to women’s rights via Timothy Snyder ***Long read*** Let’s go back in time and give some attention to how we got here, and how we might go about getting to a better place. This is a discussion about a YouTube clip from Channel Four, of Krishnan Guru-Murthy talking to Timothy…
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Is your bookshop hiding anything from you?
In the last few weeks, Hannah Barnes’ new book, Time to Think has been eagerly awaited. Anxious parents are concerned about schools being told to keep secrets from them, and about what their children are learning about sex and gender on TikTok. In political circles, the existence or otherwise of ‘innate gender identity’ is a…
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“A dark journey into what ails America”
In his 2022 book The Storm is Here, US-born journalist Luke Mogelson starts out, surrounded by the heavily armed members of various self-instigated militias, talking to a barber who defied lockdown over ‘the right to a haircut’. It’s not entirely clear who is there defending what from whom, although the New World Order, the Russians,…
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The Jaguar Smile
This is a review of The Jaguar Smile by Salman Rushdie. I read it in 2023 because… From time to time, I like revisiting ‘old’ books, because until I was involved in the book trade, I didn’t know how casually ‘back list’ books are treated, nor how easily they can drop off into the ‘not…
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Nicola Sturgeon, Labour & Gender Identity Ideology
***Guest post by Ian McNee*** Nicola Sturgeon is not a stupid politician. Arrogant? Maybe. Another centrist oiling the wheels of capitalism (albeit with tartan stripes)? Definitely. And while there is almost certainly some truth in her claim that holding high public office has taken its toll on her, she could see that the fallout from…
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No such thing as “politically homeless” on this woman’s agenda
Gill Knight has been a political activist since she retired some 18 years ago, and the chaos that has been UK party politics in recent years has not had the power to change that at all. She was actively involved in anti-austerity, anti-benefit sanctions and housing campaigns with Unite Community before the Labour Party started…
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Did *you* know about Dinky Gordon?
***Long read*** Subtle radicalism escapes me — here though, is a salute to them as can do it, and an analysis of the huge myth-busting task feminists still face… I can be a clod-hopper in all these big and passionately fought-over issues. How on earth do you go about being polite, subtle, and yet effective…
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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…
Kay Green 