Blog Posts
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Grenfell Tower residents evicted from hotel accommodation with hours notice
I don’t usually – ever – post press releases on here which I’ve been sent. In fact, this is the first time I’ve done it. But this needs to be circulated. And circulated widely. URGENT Grenfell Tower residents evicted from hotel accommodation with hours notice Today residents of Grenfell Tower were given eviction notices from…
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Part 2: Pondering the lies in British journalism and the aftermath of the Manchester attack
The old gentleman who accosted me last week, accusing journalists of ‘telling lies’ is partly right, but not for the reason he believes. Earlier this week, I was reading an op-ed by Brian Cathcart in Byline.com about the lack of concern UK journalists are displaying about our failing democracy. It was a bloody uncomfortable read.…
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In which I am accosted by an old major on the virtues of Trump
My maternal grandmother had a sharp and witty tongue, I am told. I don’t remember her – she died when I was 18 months old – but I could have done with her sharp tongue on a particular occasion last week. I often work in coffee shops. I’m more productive in a setting other than…
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The joke that is the new Conservative cabinet
Prime Minister David Cameron announced his new cabinet this week, the first all-Tory cabinet in nearly twenty years. The first meeting – which TV cameras had been allowed to record – kicked off with Etonian-style table banging and cheers of approval from ministers. So let’s take a look at some of Cameron’s most colourful cabinet…
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Wary of the new government? Maybe there’s another way
It’s been a painful few days for those of us who never thought the outcome of the general election would be as bad as this. From a personal, self-indulgent level, it’s felt like a grieving process: I’m oscillating between denial and acceptance and a thinly-veiled hope that maybe, just maybe, we won’t have to wait…
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Shooting my mouth off
I learned a valuable lesson today. I think. Don’t agree to be interviewed whilst pregnant and highly hormonal/grumpy. I was asked by the Al Jazeera news team if they could come over to interview me for a piece they were doing about disability. My knee-jerk was a definite ‘no’, which I assumed on reflection, was…
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The Apprentice, Week 6: The first rule of business according to Lord Sugar: Profit before quality
Honestly, what was up with Lord Sugar and his aides in this episode? If I was an alien from a distant universe and had no idea about the concept of business and, for some reason unbeknownst to anyone, decided to watch this particular episode of The Apprentice, I would think that business was about creating…
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A bit of rustic charm versus five star luxury abroad
The Apprentice – Week 4 & 5 Week’s 4 and 5 of The Apprentice were polar opposites. If episode 4 focused on the rural and organic (teams had to open a farm shop and sell organic produce in the lovely Hackney), then episode 5 was all about five star luxury which saw the teams attempt…