During a whole school assembly at Brauer College in Victoria, Australia, all male students were told to stand up, turn to a girl in their class and say sorry. Parents were “furious” and “outraged”, Sky News Australia reported, adding that… Read More ›

Politics
No lie off limits for Boris Johnson
In theory, a two-hour session before the liaison committee – the supergroup of select committee chairs – should have been rather more demanding. In his first two outings as liaison chair, Bernard Jenkin had confounded the critics who believed he… Read More ›
A controversial web snooping tool
For the last two years police and internet companies across the UK have been quietly building and testing surveillance technology that could log and store the web browsing of every single person in the country. The tests, which are being… Read More ›
Homeschooled pupil ‘in limbo’
A homeschooled pupil has been left in “limbo” by the decision to drop GCSE exams this year, her mother has said. Mainstream pupils will be judged on predicted grades, but for Rebecca Gouge they do not exist. The 15-year-old said… Read More ›
New EU Right To Repair laws
Companies that sell consumer electronics such as refrigerators, washers, hairdryers, or TVs in the European Union – and in the UK – will need to ensure those goods can be repaired for up to 10 years. The change comes as… Read More ›
NHS GP practice passes into hands of US health insurer
One of the UK’s biggest GP practice operators has quietly passed into the hands of the US health insurance group Centene Corporation, prompting calls for an official investigation into what campaigners claim is “privatisation of the NHS by stealth”. The… Read More ›
Was Christmas worth this?
Many of us argued that the UK covid policy over Christmas was ridiculous and the graph above, sadly, proved us right. It’s heartbreaking…
Mr. Potato Head Doesn’t Go Gender Neutral After All
Hasbro, the company that makes the potato-shaped plastic toy, is giving the spud a gender neutral new name: Potato Head. The change will appear on boxes this year. Hasbro said Mr. Potato Head, which has been around for about 70… Read More ›
Sathnam Sanghera discusses Empireland
This is an excellent episode in which James O’Brien talks to Sathnam Sanghera about his new book Empireland. I am currently reading this book and it is absolutely fascinating just how much we in the UK have tried to keep… Read More ›
We’re trading with the world. It’s a fantasy
Reworking reality is preferable to accepting that Brexit has left us ripe for exploitation. Like a conman eyeing a mark, the world can sense our neediness. Last year, a desperate Truss unilaterally suspended tariffs imposed by the EU on US… Read More ›