Abu Qatada is a nasty piece of work. Probably. From yesterday evening’s coverage of his release, it’s actually surprisingly difficult to find any specifics as to what it is he’s actually supposed to have done – according to the Guardian “judges accept [he] remains a threat to national security”, and the Daily Mail quotes someone [...]
This is a guest post by Matt Mahon Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe of the Met – played excellently on Monday by Iain Glen, fresh from the set of HBO’s Game of Thrones – was supposed to explain his ‘total policing’ policy at LSE on Monday. In fact, he flannelled for half an hour about the challenges [...]
On Wednesday last week, HIV expert Rebecca Balira was jailed for 6 months. She had been convicted of keeping a young Tanzanian woman as a slave, and of assaulting her. The court heard that Balira took the young woman’s passport away from her, that she gave her no pay, that she was forced to share [...]
The supreme court ruled today that Raymond McCartney and Eamonn MacDermott are entitled to compensation for being wrongly convicted of murder during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. This news doesn’t seem to have made much of an impact, which, when you look at the actual substance and implications of the judgement, is kind of odd: [...]
On Saturday, a little bleary eyed from a party the night before, I went and marched with the Campaign for Justice for Smiley Culture. Smiley Culture (born David Emmanuel) was a star before I was born. Half Guyanese, half Caribbean, Smiley became an early success story from the Afro-Caribbean music scene of South London. Pick [...]
I have to admit, Tory or not, I kind of liked Ken Clarke up until today. Not for the cigars or the jazz, but because in the aftermath of the general election he seemed to be the only member of the Cabinet who really talked sense. Granted there isn’t much competition, but pretty much everything [...]
Assange has now lost his extradition case and looks set to be heading to Sweden. Thankfully most people have now gotten over the idea that the acts alleged to have taken place do not really constitute sexual assault – if true, then they certainly do. Yet today’s judgement, over whether Assange should be extradited, nonetheless [...]
The sleepy little market town of Beccles rarely makes it into the news. The most exciting thing to happen here since three turnips were stolen from the village fete in 1833 was the discovery last summer that carts move more efficiently with rotating circular devices attached to the undercarriage. I spent 25 years of my [...]
A doctor who gave medical assistance to protesters on 9th Dec has spoken of the police risking a ‘Hillsborough-type’ disaster on Westminster Bridge: The anaesthetist from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, who gave medical assistance to the protesters, said that officers forced demonstrators into such a tight “kettle” on Westminster Bridge that they were in danger of [...]
The saga of Charlie Gilmour continues. The day after the biggest protest and mobilisation of police violence since the Poll Tax (and very possibly exceeding it), a photo of a long haired, black clothed young man clinging to one of the flags on the cenotaph was published by the Torygraph in one of their demonic [...]
