@shaunjlawson This is my first atttempt at extended writing since I broke my wrist at the end of November. It took me quite a while to write, as my wrist is still in plaster. So it pre-dates the Women and Equalities Committee's report published yesterday and linked at the end of the post.
The piece is free to read and everyone is welcome to comment. Comments are moderated, please take a look at the comments policy. I will not debate this subject on twitter.
Oh and before anyone asks: the fact that I reach similar conclusions to the Women and Equalities Committee on a range of issues including women's prisons and sports is entirely coincidental. I did not submit evidence to their inquiry and did not know what they were going to say.
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It is fine for Rod Liddle to write a column in a newspaper read by adults. It is not fine to invite Rod Liddle to speak to children in a school, any more than it is fine to show an 18-rated movie to children in a school. I would have thought this distinction was obvious.
There is a second issue too, which is the fact that children in school have no power to decide whether or not they wish to listen to a speaker invited by the head. They are forced to attend, unlike university students who are free to walk out.
For both these reasons, therefore, I think it would be highly irresponsible of a head teacher to invite Rod Liddle - a man who has publicly expressed not only racist views, but also paedophilic inclinations - to speak to children.
Disturbing similarities between the treatment meted out to #Arthur by his father and stepmother, and the way Maria Colwell was treated by her mother and stepfather. Maria was killed by her stepfather in January 1973. mandyparrytraining.co.uk/spotlight-on-m…
Like #Arthur, Maria had a troubled family history and was known to social services. The report into Maria's death found widespread social and institutional failures - notably, communication failure between the various institutions involved.
Already, in #Arthur's case, there is disturbing evidence of communication failure between the institutions involved. Nearly half a century since Maria died - has anything really changed?
Does anyone believe this "drove 260 miles with covid" story? Because I don't. Here's what I think happened. 1/
Dom and his wife had arranged some time before to visit his parents. They decided to go ahead with the visit despite the lockdown. When Dom was seen furtively leaving no.10 in a hurry and then disappeared for two weeks, he was off to Durham. 2/
At some point, while they were in Durham, he and his wife developed symptoms of covid. 3/
on @SkyNews now. Dr. Cathy Gardner says the Government's big mistake was the discharge guidance issued on 19th March which said that patients must be discharged as fast as possible. She is totally correct and the Government should admit it.
And Johnson's latest attempt to blame clinicians for discharging people to care homes without testing, when Government guidance specifically told them negative tests were not required, is utterly despicable.
If you think lifting the lockdown would prevent the worst economic depression since the 1930s, you are deluding yourself.
Not all countries locked down. But every country, without exception, is suffering a sharp fall in GDP. The whole world is in recession.
And because the whole world is in recession, GDP growth in individual countries will be insensitive to domestic policy actions. The more open the country the more insensitive it will be. "No man is an island," and all that.
I know I said this yesterday, but... In 1847,at the height of the Irish Famine, there were crop failures across Europe. European countries banned grain exports. The UK Govt, which had just repealed its Corn Laws, couldn't buy grain to support the Irish... 1/
To those who observe that Ireland actually exported grain to Britain during the famine, I would answer - yes, except in 1847 when it was a net importer. 2/
Anyway, the UK Govt bought American hominy grits as food relief for the Irish. But hominy grits are indigestible unless you know how to cook them. The Irish didn't. So they continued to starve.