Controversial new financial penalties for anyone convicted of a crime must be urgently reviewed
During my 18 years on the bench, I have known nothing cause as much angst and concern among magistrates as the mandatory criminal courts charge.
During my 18 years on the bench, I have known nothing cause as much angst and concern among magistrates as the mandatory criminal courts charge.
Regardless of the outcome of the Labour leadership contest, it highlighted the real issues. We, the voters, have had enough of all of you, and voting for Jeremy Corbyn has been our way of telling you that conventional first-past-the-post politics of Tory and Labour (aka Tory-lite) is no longer acceptable.
Listen out for a new sound over the coming months – the growing chorus of executives whining, all chanting the same mantra, complaining that George Osborne’s new living wage will be a disaster. They say it will result in higher prices, redundancies and older people being replaced by youngsters as the legislation introduced by the Chancellor applies only to those over 25.
When I think what shrinking violets we boys who went to university in the 1960s were – at least those of us who weren’t rowers or rugger-playing “hearties” – it’s hard to credit that the campus is so far declined into savagery that Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, considers it necessary to set up a task force “to stamp out violence against women and provide a safe environment for all ... students”.
Jo Pavey has said she understands Paula Radcliffe’s resistance to the publication of her blood data in response to recent drug allegations – but that her sport would benefit if more athletes opted for “transparency” to prove their innocence.
I admit my heart sank a little when I first heard the story of the young female barrister, the older male solicitor, and the “stunning” LinkedIn picture.
“President Bercow yesterday welcomed President and Mrs Obama to Buckingham Palace on their state visit to Britain. In his welcome, Mr Bercow stressed that the recent change to a republican system of government in the United Commonwealth of Great Britain and Northern Ireland would not alter the transatlantic alliance. Mrs Bercow did not attend the ceremonies. Mr Bercow later opened a new hospital wing in Milton Keynes, and awarded ‘people’s knighthoods’ to the nurses.”
Billed as an “underwater odyssey of music and story-telling”, Jarvis Cocker’s Wireless Night at the Proms brings the imagination of his Radio 4 programme to the Royal Albert Hall, which is bathed in a watery blue light.
On Boxing Day in 2013, I wrote about the Coalition government refusing to join a United Nations scheme to allow refugees from the civil war in Syria to live in rich countries. “No room at the inn,” was The Independent’s front page headline.
Sergeant Alexander Blackman, formerly of the Royal Marines, is launching a new appeal against his sentence for murdering an unarmed Afghan "insurgent" in 2011. He carried out the killing while inadvertently being recorded by a comrade’s helmet-mounted camera. He quoted Hamlet as he did it.
If you thought the cheek of the "Feminazi" lawyer Charlotte Proudman knew some bounds, you were wrong. It turns out that it knows no bounds. Not a single bound at all. For not only is she a trained barrister, but also a hypocrite.
The lawyer embroiled in the Charlotte Proudman sexism storm has paid the price for his professional flirting - a practice which should always be avoided, according to a leading etiquette expert.
This week, Ashley Richards, a 24-year old woman pleaded guilty at a court in Texas to making and distributing ‘animal crush’ films that included the torture and death of chickens, kittens, and puppies. One of the films made by Richards was ‘Ebony Kill Cat’ which was sent to the police in Houston by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). These films are made for the seemingly growing number of ‘crush fetishists’.
'Riding around the desert on acid in a firetruck that was modified to shoot flames'
In this, the final week of the Proms, I had the pleasure of seeing the great German violin virtuoso Julia Fischer. She not only played brilliantly, but unlike some of her peers, had commanding stage presence. So, in the interval I paid my £4, and bought an official programme to find out more about her.
Lela's name is up in lights and, initially, she's wearing a pink tutu. She's trying to tell us her story but her monologue – which begins as a gabby, slightly quaint outpouring of family anecdotes – keeps being interrupted by a guy in gold game-show suit.
Two YouTube science vloggers have tackled the persistent rumours around masturbation- that it can cause blindness, infertility or hairy palms - and explained that a little bit of self love is actually good for you.
Joceline Morrison has been married to her husband Bill for 37 years. Eight years ago, he was diagnosed with dementia.
Was it right for an RAF drone to target and kill British “Islamic State” fighters? Post-Iraq and pre-Chilcot we tend to answer this question mainly in legal terms. The government says its lethal drone strike on Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin was lawful—and I think so too.
The broadcast media is reliant on interesting, influential people giving their time to a variety of outlets. Without them, the very core of the medium breaks down. And there is no doubt who the most influential voices are in the UK: government ministers. So accordingly, we expect to hear a lot of them on the radio – and people like me, who work in radio, expect to be able to book interviews with them.
In the months leading up to May’s general election, pundits claimed we were entering a new era of multi-party politics. In the end, it came to nothing. Though the public is still less willing to vote exclusively for the two main parties, with the exception of the Scottish National Party the political challengers are still grossly under-represented in our democratic system. We are stuck with first-past-the-post, which will continue to favour the Conservatives.
Andy Burnham’s comment on Radio 5Live about having a woman leader of the Labour party “when the time is right” perhaps gave away more than he intended. The lack of a career path and successful role models are perhaps the two biggest hindrances to ensuring that talented women wish to enter politics. It is a time-consuming and expensive business and it’s no surprise that a lot of women find that they have better things to do – especially when people like Andy are so ambivalent about their inclusion. Читать дальше...
In this Labour leadership election, one of the least important failures of the wing of the party that used to win elections and govern Britain well and fairly has been one of terminology. What should it call itself?
There are few positive stories about HIV, but Truvada is undoubtedly one of them. The once-a-day pill has been shown dramatically to reduce the rate of infection in those at the highest levels of risk of exposure to the virus. Final results from the latest study, called “Proud” and published this week in the medical journal The Lancet, show it cut infections among gay men judged at high risk by 86 per cent.
Most new party leaders at least get a bit of a honeymoon from their supporters, sometimes even from the public and the media too. Jeremy Corbyn, it seems, would not.