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Boxed In
So, what next for the protests? It’s a good question because the road ahead looks bleak. The Government has nestled back into that favoured standby of review/commission mode – that’s route 1 to easy street because it signifies a democratic response to concerns. You spoke and we listened. A good old review always takes away…
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Abracadabra!
The reaction to racism has sent the UK, along with much of the world, into gestural frenzy. Well, it’s less a reaction to racism and more a reaction to a fear of pointing fingers. Unless, of course, they had never have heard of racism before? Seems unlikely. Now, everybody seems to be checking themselves into…
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All Systems Go?
A rolling Colstone gathers no moss. And so, the debate rolls on, even if the statue itself managed only 30 metres. It is clear that opinion is divided on events, which is fine because what comes next is what counts. But for the moment, let’s consider the now infamous petition for removal. Now, that did…
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Statue of Limitations
So, the controversial statue of the merchant Edward Colston has been tugged down and thrown into Bristol Harbour. There had long been moves to have it either removed to be museum-bound or have a plaque added to its base to reflect his slave-trading past. Both options seemed fair – if there had been enough support…
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Wide Awoke
I was watching coverage of the Black Lives Matter protests on TV and paused to reflect on the point of protests. They don’t after all directly work, because those in power generally don’t give a flying fart about your concerns. If they did, they would typically make a boatload of progress in dealing with them.…
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The New Black
So, black lives matter. Well, they do this week because there’s a big old meaty bandwagon gathering pace and every bloated, comfortable, privileged hypocrite wants to hop on for the ride. If black lives mattered – as a point of social reality – then the Back Lives Matter movement would not need to exist. Make…
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Fraudian Slip
Remember when Dr Jenny Harries, the UK’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, first attended the daily Government briefings? She was drowning in an ocean of kudos. Clear, articulate, and factual with ‘a measured tone’. She was, in March, an ‘unlikely hero’. Of course, at the start of this whole mess, much was unknown, and we were…
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Clap-Trap
So, it’s a wrap. Or at least, we think it is. And as predicted, some bod – to whom the nation must surely be eternally grateful – has popped up to signal the end of the weekly clap. In fact, it’s the very person who had been credited with its initiation, so perhaps we’ll can…
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One Rule for Them…
…and another rule for us. Arguably the most divisive of discourses, and indeed it is by definition. It’s why Cummings is still wriggling to get out from under a steaming pile. Yet, one essential factor in the rule of law entitles everybody to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Everybody. So, did Big Dom…
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Scum Off It
There’s a lot of anger about at the moment. ‘Dominic Cummings has undermined the Government’s key messaging, and people will die’. That’s the gist of the populist line, and yes, the sublime irony is noted. How about an alternative perspective: ‘The Government has ballsed up their strategy, policy, and messaging for the coronavirus response’. I…
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Fighting the Good Fight…
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