Category Archives: Society

Posts about current issues affecting British society.

London’s youth, grounded.

It’s mid-summer, in the middle of the school holidays. The playing fields are empty, apart from a few people walking their dogs. There has been no trouble here but in the distance, thick acrid smoke rises from the site of … Continue reading

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War

Tuesday 9th August 2011 00:14 BST. I am sitting in my living  room watching my city burn. Five minutes ago explosions and flame leapt through another building in the north of Enfield. The gangs are in charge of London tonight. Trevor Reeve, … Continue reading

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The Government fiddles whilst London burns

Hoards of feral youths have spent their weekend running riot on the streets of London. Despite goading and assaulting our police forces and crippling our local economies, we are still bombarded with words like “disenfranchised”, “disaffected” and “criminalised”. These are … Continue reading

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For the sake of a drink.

Last night’s Panorama (Dying for a drink – BBC1 20:30 BST) was a shocking expose on the state of alcoholism in the UK – and in particular, amongst our young people. It was, perhaps, a little unsurprising to those of … Continue reading

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The Murdoch tail wagging the British Bulldog

If Joseph de Maistre were still alive he might observe of the News International scandal “Every country has the media it deserves.” There was only ever one way that this country’s fascination with gutter journalism could go and it went … Continue reading

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Chapter three versus level three

The books I had to read at school, as part of my English language studies, really left me cold. Had I been a different child, this might have turned me off reading books for ever. The books and short stories … Continue reading

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The noble art of ‘sodcasting’

Since starting this blog, I wanted to write an occasional entry that was a little light-hearted – still topical and perhaps prompting a little discussion but that would also cause a smile or two. So how is a piece on ‘sodcasting’ … Continue reading

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Home working: an Olympic effort?

With the government calling for more people to work from home during the 2012 Olympics, corporate bosses across the capital will be waking-up with night sweats from increasingly recurring nightmares about their employees watching “The Games” at their expense. And … Continue reading

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What future for the property-owning democracy?

Since 1994, when I took out my first mortgage, I have been predicting that my generation would probably be the last to automatically expect to be home owners. My prediction was based on nothing more than observing that more-and-more money … Continue reading

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The “essential relationship”

The “special relationship” (now deemed “essential” by Cameron and Obama) has only ever existed in the minds of politicians. The American people tend to think of the British as their quaint, gay, elderly cousins from across the pond – stuck … Continue reading

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