Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s plight has newly come to our attention this week, in a stark reminder of how desperate her situation is  The Iranian mother was detained on 3rd April 2016, and was held in an Iranian prison almost continuously until 20th March this year, when the coronavirus crisis began to affect the country.  […]

Categories: News

Alexei Navalny “The use of such a weapon is horrific.  Nato allies are united in condemning this attack.  It shows a total disrespect for human life.” ~ Nato spokesperson Piers Cazelet The main opposition leader in Russia, Alexei Navalny, was poisoned on 20th August, falling ill on a plane trip to Siberia, after drinking a […]

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Banksy “To uphold maritime law and rescue anyone in peril without prejudice…We answer the SOS call of all those in distress, not just to save their souls – but our own “. ~ Mission statement of the “Louise Michel” This week the artist Banksy privately funded a rescue boat to help save refugees in the […]

Categories: Art · News

Kamala Harris “I have the great honour to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris – a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants – as my running mate” ~ Joe Biden On Tuesday last week, the Democratic presidential candidate in the U.S., Joe Biden, made his long-anticipated choice for […]

Categories: News

The Murdoch Empire “My resignation is due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions”. ~ James Murdoch On Friday night it was announced that 89-year old Rupert Murdoch’s son, James, was stepping down from the News Corporation.  This may be seen as the run up […]

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Marcus Rashford “This is not about politics; this is about humanity” ~ Marcus Rashford Young footballer Marcus Rashford, aged only 22, procured a stunning U-turn from the government this week, on behalf of children living on the breadline.  The government had refused to extend lunch vouchers through the summer holiday for schoolchildren who needed them.  […]

Categories: Celebrities · News · Sport

George Floyd  (1973 – 2020) Black Lives Matter I, Too I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me, “Eat in […]

Categories: News · Obituary · Poetry

Jacinda Ardern revisited The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, kept her cool this week when an earthquake struck.  She has also been praised recently for her exemplary handling of the pandemic in her country.  I last wrote about her in March of last year after the massacre in Christchurch, so it may be […]

Categories: News

Dominic Cummings “But then he had just appointed as a special adviser Dominic Cummings, the former Vote Leave campaign director, a man so toxically divisive he couldn’t even unite himself” ~ John Crace, July 2019 Dominic Cummings has been in the news this weekend because on Friday night it was revealed that he broke his […]

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Tony Lloyd “It’s the humanity of it, the 150,000 small human gestures every hour that makes the NHS a human institution.” ~ Tony Lloyd You may not have heard of Tony Lloyd (Labour MP for Rochdale, Greater Manchester) but he gave a poignant and memorable interview to Helen Pidd in the Guardian on Friday following […]

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