This week’s news that three British tourists arrested for drug possession have been tortured by Emirati police* while in custody has – understandably – been met with all the horror you’d expect from the British press, and with all the empty bleating you’d expect from Foreign Office spokespeople desperate not to upset a country that’s [...]
It may not have happened yet, but yesterday’s news of Bristol University Christian Union’s sexist policy on women speakers makes one thing practically certain. As with every other time there’s a story in the news about bigotry (especially sexism), there’ll be someone, somewhere who’ll step forward to defend it. In fact, it’ll most likely be [...]
Natalie Bennett was elected leader of the Green Party of England and Wales earlier this month. The Third Estate talks to her about her priorities, the future of the party and how she hopes to make it a more radical and national force than ever before. Under the leadership of Caroline Lucas, the party’s first [...]
Following the news that the UK is in the worst double-dip recession for half a century, today’s hot trending Twitter topic is #OsborneExcuses. A few of my personal favourites include: SofiaE3 @SofiaEfree I can explain: I hate poor and working people and this is class war. #OsborneExcuses Mark Bowler @Charisma_Effect I heard he saw a [...]
Anne-Marie Slaughter’s article in the Atlantic was brought to my attention the other day by a feminist friend who was unsure of her feelings about it. Certainly the piece has received a lot of praise. It is by far the most popular article ever published in the magazine. But, as I told my friend, Slaughter [...]
This is a guest post by Ellen Goyder The “Bassin parisien,” a large area round Paris, is what you might call France’s Home Counties. Winding through the three départements in the East is the River Marne, with its vine-clad slopes. The vineyards start some forty miles from Paris and extend to where the Marne valley [...]
Unusa Karimu’s people, the Mbororo, are a marginalised semi-nomadic community of cattle herders in Cameroon. The daily persecution and exploitation they face at the hands of government and wealthy elites inspired Mr Karimu to become a lawyer so he could defend their human rights in court. Karimu talks to Salman Shaheen about his struggle against [...]
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 [...]
Last week’s seminar at the Frontline Club asked a very pertinent question of the Occupy London movement pitched outside St. Paul’s. What do you want? I was surprised to see from the show of journalistic hands that the majority in the room did not know exactly what the protesters are camped out for, though, given [...]
The government couldn’t move him. In the end only cancer could. A symbol of peace and freedom, an icon of the anti-war movement and a picture of stalwart self-sacrifice for the cause of right. Regardless of what anyone on the left thought of his tactics, I don’t think anyone could argue that he gave anything [...]
