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For the chancellor to yield to his rightwing obsessives would be bad economics and bad politics Few things in British politics are more glumly predictable, whatever the economic and political circumstances, than Conservative MPs and their rightwing media echo chamber demanding budget tax cuts. Reducing the tax burden for the less well-off undoubtedly has a place in an even-handed approach to Britain’s economic challenges. The tax system also needs reform. But renewed backbench calls for cuts in personal taxes in advance of Jeremy Hunt’s pre-election budget reveal a party that has learned nothing. It is only 18 months since Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng brought the UK economy to its knees by pursuing exactly this approach. Sterling crashed to its lowest level against the dollar in half a century after they declared their tax-cutting budget was just the start . Borrowing costs spiralled. The package also inflicted what may prove to be irreparable damage on the Tory party’s electoral...

Lee Anderson, Liz Truss and other Conservatives peddle shoddy lies about the capital. The truth is far more interesting Just why do the Conservatives so dislike London? The former deputy chair of the Tory party Lee Anderson recently described the capital’s Labour mayor, Sadiq Khan, as controlled by “Islamists” – a sentiment others in his party rather belatedly accept as “ wrong ”, even if they won’t say why. Paul Scully, a former minister for London, chipped in with his belief that parts of the city, and of Birmingham, are now “ no-go areas ”. The previous prime minister Liz Truss lambasted an “anti-growth coalition” incessantly cabbing from their “ north London townhouses to the BBC studios ”. Rishi Sunak marked his first ever prime minister’s questions by attacking Labour’s Keir Starmer as a leader who “rarely leaves north London”. Put these statements together and it appears that, in the collective mind of the post-Brexit Tory party, London has become synonymous with all that...

In compelling documentary As We Speak, a controversial legal practice that uses rap lyrics to secure convictions is explored In September 2001, McKinley Phipps Jr, also known as the rapper Mac, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for manslaughter. It had been a year and a half since gunfire erupted outside a club where he was slated to perform in Slidell, Louisiana, resulting in the death of 19-year-old Barron Victor Jr. Phipps, then 22, maintained his innocence , and the case against him was weak – there was no gun linking him to the crime, several witnesses recanted their testimony and another person confessed to pulling the trigger. And yet, prosecutors had their trump card: Mac, a former New Orleans rap prodigy who began releasing music at the age of 13, had rapped about murder. “Murder, murder, kill, kill”, Phipps recites in As We Speak, a new documentary on the criminalization of rap lyrics. Prosecutors spliced that line with one from a different song – “Pull the trigger, put a...

Misbah Sadique and her friend Kulsum were hit by a car they say was accelerating at them but police did not regard incident as a potential hate crime despite rising Islamophobia The driver was said to have slowed down to let Misbah Sadique, 37, and her friend Kulsum, cross the road. They were close to home in Waltham Forest and felt safe in a part of east London that they knew well. But, as they stepped out, the car in front of them suddenly, inexplicably, accelerated, one of the women later alleged. It is said that Kulsum was thrown to the ground by the force of the impact and that Misbah was dragged under the vehicle. She claims she was lucky to escape with breaks to her right ankle and foot, ribs and right arm, on top of extensive bruising and abrasions. Three weeks later, she remains in hospital, traumatised and facing a long road to recovery. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/0M3e6CN

In Kirkby-in Ashfield, some call their MP an ‘embarrassment’ while others say ‘he’s telling the truth a lot of people daren’t say’ In his Nottinghamshire constituency, Lee Anderson has long been considered a Marmite character, attracting staunch supporters and vehement critics alike, and the reaction to his latest comments proved no different. Some said they felt Anderson had been punished unfairly for his statements about the London mayor on Friday, which have been labelled Islamophobic and led to him losing the Conservative whip. Others said they were horrified by his words and believed his suspension from the Tory party had been a long time coming. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/rT8lL6u

Langley will make attempt in National League Cup final Manager says her side are ‘empowering women in Saudi Arabia’ Becky Langley is suddenly well placed to beat Eddie Howe in the race to claim Newcastle United’s first trophy since their Saudi Arabian-led takeover. Howe’s men are desperate to end a club silverware drought stretching back to 1969 when the Fairs Cup was lifted but Langley’s fully professional women’s team may yet lead the way after reaching next month’s National League Cup final. After beating Portsmouth 2-1 in front of an exuberant 22,307-strong crowd at St James’s Park courtesy of the excellent Georgia Gibson’s 90th-minute winner, Newcastle will now meet semi-professional, Essex-based, Hashtag United at Luton’s Kenilworth Road. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/EHCfpRW

Premier League updates from the 8pm GMT kick-off Live scoreboard | Share your thoughts with Scott on email Eddie Howe speaks to TNT Sports. “We always rotate for different games … with [Isak] back it’s a massive lift … he’s such a key player … a difference maker … we’ll certainly need him to play well tonight … our midfield is picking itself … we want more control and clarity … the spirit is there … the determination … so long as we keep showing that, whatever we deliver tonight we’ll take … we need to keep 11 men on the pitch … but we also have to compete … mixing your game up is absolutely crucial … Arsenal are constantly changing their midfield shape so it will be interesting to see how it goes … we have to bring a threat to the match … our away form has been good in part due to that attitude.” Arsenal make one change to their starting XI after Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat at Porto. Jorginho comes back in at the expense of Leandro Trossard, who drops to the bench. Gabriel Jesus is...

Campaigners say Ibrahima Bah should be treated as a victim of trafficking after he was forced to pilot a boat. Instead he faces at least six years in prison Ibrahima Bah will spend at least the next six years and three months in custody for manslaughter, after smuggling dozens of people into the UK on a small boat across the Channel during which at least four people died. In the words of the migration minister Michael Tomlinson, it was “right that he has been brought to justice” because Bah “put dozens of lives in extreme danger by taking charge of a perilous and illegal small boat crossing”. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/s6OgmWa

The brutal toll of Russia’s invasion is more evident than ever. Kyiv needs support As Ukraine wakes up to the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion, exhaustion is setting in . A year ago, there was still cautious optimism about the counteroffensive. But hopes of a breakthrough were dashed and Russia’s capture of the eastern city of Avdiivka last week was its biggest gain since the capture of Bakhmut last May. Ukrainians are not giving up. But this grinding war is wearing down troops at the front, civilians at home and their leaders. The mood of national unity has given way to a more complicated resolve. Those who have served on the frontlines, or who have lost loved ones there, may have mixed feelings about life going on elsewhere in the country. Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s sacking of his top commander , Valerii Zaluzhnyi, highlighted tensions at the top. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/unLRwEg

The CEO described Rolls as ‘a burning platform’ when he arrived in 2023, but its trajectory was already upwards It wasn’t an imagined nightmare: Rolls-Royce really was flat on its back in 2020 during the early stage of the Covid pandemic. Cash was flowing out of the engine-maker at an annual rate of £4bn as the commercial airline industry, like the rest of us, went into lockdown. Management was modelling a “severe but plausible downside scenario” in which things could get even worse. The finance director skipped off to Ocado, which, at the time, had a stock market value three times that of Rolls. An emergency rights issue to raise £2bn at the miserable price of 32p a share was eventually launched that autumn, with the government playing a supporting role as guarantor of £3bn of the company’s debt. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/lT4fDSo

The impact of meat on the environment is well known, but what about staples such as rice and legumes? Biodiversity-conscious eaters could consider substituting potatoes for rice, cutting down on beef and lamb and asking where their beans, lentils and chickpeas are grown to reduce their impact on nature, a new study has found. Scientists analysed 151 popular recipes around the world for their biodiversity impact. They found meat dishes were the worst offenders: recipes including chilli con carne, salsa verde pork and a Spanish lamb dish called lechazo , all had high biodiversity damage scores compared with vegan and vegetarian ones. The massive environmental impact of eating meat has been well established , and the study reinforced this, with meat dishes scoring more than vegetarian or vegan dishes across almost all locally and globally produced scenarios. Brazilian-raised beef topped the charts. But the study, published on Wednesday in Plos One journal, also had surprising findin...

With the US election looming, comedians are grappling with how much to reference Joe Biden’s age without wider pushback It’s admittedly hard to say when the 2024 presidential campaign began – the Republican party’s fealty to Donald Trump has been so steadfast, and the nomination of the Democratic incumbent so inevitable, that a rematch of the 2020 election has already played out, on a simmer, for years. Late-night television, the shrinking arena for self-soothing liberal political comedy, has braced for it with its usual preoccupation on all things Trump; the former president still consumes the bulk of most monologues, even during Joe Biden’s term. Biden as the competent foil to Trump’s raving, idiotic, increasingly ominous threat to democracy has, for over half a decade, been the form’s logic de rigueur. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ntSD8vV

Pledge to return £10bn to shareholders is overshadowed by investment division concerns A 9% rise in the share price counts as an enthusiastic reception for a new strategic plan, but don’t forget the context at Barclays. The shares are still worth a fifth less than in late-2021 when the chief executive, CS Venkatakrishnan, or Venkat as he’s known, took the helm. At 162p, they also stand at slightly less than half the bank’s reported book value of its assets. Scepticism towards Barclays, the market’s default setting since the financial crisis of 2008-09, runs deeper than one day’s applause for a promise to return £10bn to shareholders over three years. The source of that suspicion is well known. It’s not just the bank’s rate of turnover in chief executives, or its ability to find novel regulatory scrapes. It’s also the not-unrelated presence of a volatile investment banking division that is big by European standards but mid-ranking by Wall Street ones. In a post-crisis world where reg...

US presidents once spoke softly and carried a big stick. By contrast, in Gaza Joe Biden speaks loudly and carries a little stick As western leaders wake up to the need for a ceasefire in Gaza, nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign. More than two-thirds of the dead in the coastal enclave are thought to be women and children. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble. The reputation of the west as a champion of universal values and upholding a rules-based order is unlikely to recover anytime soon from the bloody events in Gaza. International politics is not a morality play. Probably several Arab countries were not averse to the idea that Israel could deliver a coup de grâce to Hamas. But the state of the fighting in Gaza suggested that this was a remote possibility. In January, it was estimated that Israel has killed or captured only around one-third of Hamas’s fighting force. To finish the job would only be achievable at an indefen...

The 47-year-old was a regular source of advice and support to Alexei Navalny but she expressed little interest in entering politics before his death In 2020, Alexei Navalny lay in a coma in an Omsk hospital. He had been poisoned with the nerve agent novichok in an FSB assassination attempt and Russian doctors appeared keen to leave him there until he died. But his wife, Yulia, stepped in. She flew to Omsk to confront hospital staff, bringing along camera crews to put pressure on doctors and appealing directly to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to release her husband. Soon, Navalny was evacuated to Germany, where he recovered at Berlin’s Charité hospital. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/f4EYKl5

Former referee Nigel Owens fears that TMOs offer a ‘licence to get things wrong’ but new technology could change that It was like waiting for the result of a referendum: were Scotland the real deal, one of the big dogs of world rugby, a team that could deliver while carrying the weight of expectation? Or were they pretenders, a flashy but flawed side that didn’t have the sand to sit at the sport’s top table? The decision would fall to the television match official Brian MacNeice after the referee Nic Berry deemed Sam Skinner’s pick-and-go was held up over the line. With France leading 20‑16 at Murrayfield after the 80th minute, this would be the last act of the match. Multiple replays. Frames crawling across the screen. The ball probably touched the turf after sliding off a French foot. But probably wasn’t enough to overturn the decision. Protocol must be followed and Berry’s original call carried more weight than the evidence of our eyes. No try . Continue reading... ...

Castleford Tigers 4-32 Wigan Warriors Champions make winning start in first BBC Super League match In the end, this was a satisfactory enough warm-up for Wigan Warriors ahead of next weekend’s World Club Challenge on an historic evening for Super League. The headline is that the Warriors began their defence of the title they won last autumn at Old Trafford with an ultimately comfortable victory against Castleford Tigers. But the circumstances surrounding how they did it may yet prove important as they prepare to take on the might of the reigning NRL premiers, Penrith Panthers, in a week’s time. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/jLhdlVY

Government says formerly exiled billionaire is eligible for early release six months into eight-year sentence The former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is to be freed on parole on Sunday morning, just six months after his dramatic return to the kingdom from 15 years of self-imposed exile. The controversial billionaire, twice elected premier and ousted in a 2006 military coup, was jailed for eight years on graft and abuse-of-power charges upon his return in August. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/AdjaeFB

Updates from the 7.15pm GMT kick-off at Kingsmeadow Get in touch: share any of your thoughts with John via email Emma Hayes’ pre-match flash interview: “I love these games. There is a lot of mutual respect between both clubs and it will be a very interesting battle. It gets you three points closer in an ideal world to where you want to be. I’ve been here long enough, I know the way the game goes and I’m not thinking abut that. I’ve got to get the team prepared and get the mindset right. They know what we expect, they know what a Chelsea standard is and I’ll absolutely demand that from them.” Gareth Taylor’s pre-match flash interview: “I think we are in good form, in good spirit and I know we are coming up against a good challenger tonight. It’s a good opportunity for us. At the start of the season if we could have the chance we had tonight to go really close with winning tonight, we would have took your hand off.” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/dSYykA2

The Conservatives have presided over a shrunken British economy, and Rishi Sunak does not have a clue how to make it grow again “We’re on the up!” claimed the Daily Express about the British economy on Thursday . Sorry, loyal Conservative cheerleaders, but exactly the reverse is true. Instead of being on the up, we’re on the slide. On Thursday, the Office for National Statistics announced that the UK is in fact in recession, with a 0.3% drop in gross domestic product for the last quarter of 2023 to follow a 0.1% drop in the third quarter. The economy is therefore getting smaller. This is a recession. It is a huge national blow, both economically and politically. It is true that the slide into recession has been a gentle one. Few economists believe that the announcement portends a downward lurch to compare with the recession of 1980 or the one after the financial crisis in 2009, when GDP fell by more than 4%. Do not, though, be misled by talk of a “technical” recession . An econ...

Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/1fmbVj5

A disparate anti-Tory voter coalition can carry the opposition to power, but governing will require a deeper galvanising purpose British politics has been characterised by a combination of turbulence and stagnation for a number of years. The country has had three prime ministers in two years, all from a party that has been in power since 2010. For as long as Rishi Sunak has been in Downing Street, opinion polls have shown the Conservatives trailing far enough behind Labour to suggest that Sir Keir Starmer will take over at the next general election. Yet the opposition radiates insecurity about this advantage. There is both firmness and brittleness about the Starmer project. Cracks have reached the surface in recent weeks, first with the messy dismantling of a flagship green investment policy, then with the even messier repudiation of two parliamentary candidates embroiled in rows about antisemitism . Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/XYpb3g0

Sir Keir Starmer may think his electoral coalition is large enough to take a hit over his Gaza policy. But his colleagues do not “Rather than confront the paramount need to deal with the profoundly serious issue of antisemitism in the [Labour] party, both factions treated it as a factional weapon.” So wrote Martin Forde KC in his landmark 2022 report into allegations of bullying, racism and sexism made during the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. Nothing seems to have changed, according to the barrister. He thought Labour had acted in a “ shambolic ” manner in first backing and then dropping its Rochdale byelection candidate over his objectionable views. Labour had not acted on his report’s recommendation that disciplinary matters be handled in a “neutral and objective way”. Sir Keir Starmer’s party had initially taken no action against its Blairite Muslim candidate Azhar Ali, who had espoused an antisemitic conspiracy theory during a meeting of the Lancashire Labour party. This despite...

Shoppers flocked to stores for their ethical and cruelty-free ranges The Body Shop files intention to appoint administrators The Body Shop was decades ahead of its time when environmental and human rights campaigner Anita Roddick founded it in a backstreet shop in Brighton in 1976. She demanded that all products be ethically sourced and cruelty-free, and customers were encouraged to bring their bottles back to the store to be refilled to reduce plastic waste. Roddick’s vision – and products – were a hit worldwide. She argued that “businesses have the power to do good” and should “exist to fight for a fairer, more beautiful world” – as well as make money. Customers were mobilised in a series of campaigns to pressure governments , which led to changes to animal testing laws in 22 countrie s . Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/fHkyJPQ

Painful finish at Murrayfield will hardly help sport entice new audiences with rethink needed on use of technology Three away wins on the opening weekend of the Six Nations, three home wins in round two. And yet, for all that, the 2024 championship already has a consistent theme. Five teams struggling for sustained rhythm and a fizzing Ireland on another level entirely , demonstrating to the rest of the field how it could and should be done. Even the brilliant young Irish anthem singer was a cut above in comparison to the two games on Saturday, both of them modest in terms of overall quality. Scotland really should have put away a sluggish – again – France, and England could not have complained too loudly had a callow Wales hung on at Twickenham. The abiding memory will be the slimness of the final margins rather than the superlative standard of play. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/cWfBHXG

Wright and O’Hare opt for impromptu contest before spot-kick Two goals from Wright edge Coventry to 2-1 win against Millwall The Coventry manager, Mark Robins, joked he was “going to kill” Haji Wright and Callum O’Hare over their unconventional way of deciding who would take a penalty in their 2-1 victory against Millwall. Wright won an impromptu game of rock paper scissors between the two before converting the spot-kick that cancelled out Romain Esse’s early opener. The USA international then struck the winner to lift the Sky Blues up to sixth in the Championship and leave Millwall, who began as the better side, four points clear of the relegation zone. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/6wDHy7A

Rodrigo Muniz scored twice to inspire Fulham to their first Premier League win of the year as Bournemouth were brushed aside. Muniz was given the nod over January loan signing Armando Broja and struck either side of half-time after Bobby De Cordova-Reid had given Fulham an early lead. Marcos Senesi was on target for Bournemouth to briefly make it 2-1. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Ah7bK3

Haitian American Joseph Vincent, who admitted to helping plot assassination of Jovenel Moïse, is among 11 people accused Joseph Vincent, a former informant for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), was handed a life sentence by a US court on Friday for his role in the 2021 assassination of Haiti’s president. A Haitian American national, Vincent admitted to helping plot to kill Haitian president Jovenel Moïse in his home in Port-au-Prince, including advice about the political landscape and meetings with key community leaders. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/CoeA7g6

One expert predicts an extra million babies to be born in China in 2024, the Year of the Dragon, with all the pressure and expectation that come with it Last week in Taiwan, a well-known obstetrician-gynaecologist posted a public service announcement on Facebook, urged aspiring parents not to waste any time. Dr Chih Chun Chen , a director of the Eugene Postpartum Nursing Care Center, told young couples to put 8 May in their calendar if they wanted to give birth to a dragon baby. “Sowing should be completed by May 15 of this year at the latest,” Chen said. “You have to work hard during the New Year!” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/1HjD6TQ

Keir Starmer’s announcement is a historic mistake on economic, political and environmental grounds On Thursday, they finally made it official. For the first time, the EU’s climate change service confirms , global warming has exceeded 1.5C above preindustrial levels across an entire year. The speed and scale of that rise represents a terrifying precedent if it is not reversed, and a shocking act of collective damage to the planet. It also casts Thursday’s other grim climate announcement – Labour’s long-trailed decision to retreat from its signature commitment to spend £28bn a year equipping the economy to reach its climate targets – into even starker relief. Labour ended up choosing an embarrassing day to make its announcement. But the truth is that any day would have been a bad day for such a humiliating rowback. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/NXWCuAM

Conservatives fretting about “the nanny state” have failed to see people’s desperate need for compassionate government The capacity to form an orderly queue is sometimes held up as an admirable quality of the British character, perhaps from historical association with rationing and stoical patience in wartime. But the queue is also an emblem of failure. A famous political advert that helped propel Margaret Thatcher to power in 1979 depicted a line of people waiting to be seen by an unemployment office under the slogan “Labour isn’t working”. Now it is Conservative government that plainly isn’t working, and the queue is for public services. Many people were appalled, but perhaps not surprised, by scenes of queues that lasted three days this week as would-be patients tried to register at a new NHS dental surgery in Bristol. On Tuesday, Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, announced an emergency funding package, offering dentists £50 for every new NHS patient taken on. The British ...

Shareholders on all sides want to know where the oil giant stands on renewables, yet Murray Auchincloss opts for ambiguity If in doubt, throw cash at the shareholders. It’s a safe tactic for a new chief executive assailed on two sides by investors with conflicting grumbles. BP’s Murray Auchincloss seized his debut moment. There will be $3.5bn of share buy-backs in the first half of this year , accelerating to a total of $14bn by the end of next. The shares rose 5%. For a week or two, that might stop people pointing out how BP’s share price has lagged its peers’. Yet shareholders of all hues – those who want to transition faster out of fossil fuels and those who can’t see the point – surely also wanted to hear a clear statement from Auchincloss on where he stands in the great debate. How will BP prioritise its spending of cash that isn’t going on buy-backs and dividends? Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/fejB05K

Just one in 11 men born today can expect to reach retirement age in good health. A system rethink is needed All you need to know about Liz Truss offering lessons on how to be popular is that one of her signature policies is to raise the state pension age to 68 . Such is its vote-winning potential that the plan was ditched by Rishi Sunak’s administration as soon as the electoral consequences became clear. The trouble is not that people are living longer, but that they are living longer with ill health. As it stands, the pension age will rise to 67 in April 2026. At the same time, there has been a sustained rise in people out of work because of sickness. In Greek mythology, Cassandra had the gift of prophecy, but was cursed so no one listened to her. Those making the case that people should have to wait until they are 71 to retire might feel aggrieved that they are being similarly dismissed while speaking the truth. But that fails to understand the hardship, alienation and angui...

Prime minister joined UK Sun God for an exchange of awkward blokey bants, unbased claims and bonfire of vanities It was the interview Piers Morgan insisted they all wanted – a chance for one lucky person to sit down with him for a whole hour. Piers is the most important person in any room he enters; if you understand that you will get along with him just fine. His ego is in inverse proportion to his self worth. There is Piers World or there is nothing. That level of narcissism must get tiring after a while – the constant struggle to reconfigure reality, the terror of it all falling apart. Not that Rishi Sunak looked particularly grateful to be granted an audience on TalkTV. Rather he seemed edgy and on guard. As if he would rather have been anywhere else but had been nudged into a game of high stakes macho bullshit politics. He had to prove he was man enough to last an hour with the UK Sun God. He said he would do it a year ago and he’s a man who does what he says. Except when he doe...

Editorial: The case for investing in under-fives is stronger than ever. Boosting health visitor numbers would make a good start A decade of austerity combined with other factors, including the pandemic, has contributed to a worsening public health picture for the UK. The National Health Service across the four nations is not equipped to cope with current levels of demand, with mental health services under particular strain. The burden of chronic disease keeps increasing. The UK has the third-highest level of obesity in Europe. The outline of this increasingly dire situation is widely accepted. On Monday, Rishi Sunak admitted that his government has not succeeded in cutting waiting lists, as he pledged to. About how to tackle this vast backlog, however, there is less agreement. While health and care services urgently need new funding, there are also calls to address problems caused by poor housing, nutrition and air quality. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/C...

Chairman Parish struggles to find replacement Palace have four league wins in 17 matches Steve Parish, the Crystal Palace chairman, has strongly contemplated sacking Roy Hodgson after the record defeat against Brighton on Saturday but is struggling to find a replacement who is willing to take over at this stage of the season. The former England manager has come under renewed pressure in the aftermath of the devastating 4-1 defeat that was Palace’s heaviest against their arch-rivals since a 5-0 loss in 1956. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/YwDGebc

At a party villa on the Spanish coast in the 1970s, Linda Townsend met a charming, ‘strangely dressed’ man – and knew they would have a family together It was 1971 and I was standing on a dusty road on the Costa Blanca, Spain. I was with three travel-weary friends who were hitchhiking to a small fishing village for an epic reunion of travellers who had met at Oktoberfest in Munich the month before, and had agreed to meet up again in Calpe. As we stood under the Spanish sun, a black car pulled up. Inside was this strangely dressed guy in a beach hat with a charming smile. He asked where we were headed and when we mentioned the reunion, he said: “Hi, I’m Philip. Hop in, I’m heading there too.” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/7lsfTMH

Outrage over plans to unwind Māori policies may confront New Zealand’s leaders at Waitangi Day events this week Thousands of Māori gather to tell New Zealand’s government: you cannot marginalise us New Zealand’s new government can expect quite the welcome next week at Waitangi, the tranquil northern bay where the country’s founding document was signed 184 years ago. Outraged by the government’s proposals to drastically unwind policies that support Māori and to review the country’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, Māori have galvanised across tribes and movements in a way not seen in decades. Some of the government’s attempts are already being challenged in the courts, and given the level of opposition from well-funded Māori organisations, the list of challenges will grow. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/sbLJdqW

Toxic Tories have run themselves out as Starmer brings out the big hitters for a day at the Oval It was the hottest gig in town. Within hours of the event being announced all the £1,000 a head tickets had gone. Thank God for those uncapped bonuses. Anyone who was anyone in the business world was here. Executives from Goldman Sachs, Google, Mastercard, HSBC and countless more besides. Not because they especially wanted to be there. More because they were desperate to not miss out on being there. There were FTSE 100 bosses in tears not to have made the cut. This was an event like no other. Twenty-first century Britain at its most postmodern. Its most meta. For the importance lay not in what anyone might say, but in that it was happening at all. No one had come to hear anything of real interest. Or to be informed or entertained. That was very much not the point. Rather it was a celebration of a marriage. One that had started as an arrangement but had developed into love. And mutual trus...

The staggering death rate already seen does not fully capture the human pain and misery War deaths are not only caused by direct violence, and they don’t stop when the fighting does. Civilians as well as combatants may succumb to earlier injuries, or to hunger and disease in the aftermath of conflict. In the longer run, disruption of food production, damage to infrastructure and suspension of medical services such as routine vaccinations can all result in peacetime deaths which are ultimately attributable to the war. Women and children are disproportionately affected. More than 27,000 people have now been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities. Tens of thousands of people are injured, in many cases with life-changing injuries. What will become of those now known by the chilling abbreviation WCNSF – “Wounded child, no surviving family” ? Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/yf1Yozh