The statue of Mahatma Ghandithat which stands outside Manchester Cathedral, the gift of a Gujarati spiritual mission, was meant as a symbol of ‘peace, love and harmony’ after the appalling terrorist attack at Manchester Arena. But it has had the opposite effect. Sara Khan, liberation and access officer for Manchester University student union, has demaded its removal because Ghandi, who … [Read on]

Many years ago, I was walking through a suburb of Prague on the way to visit a friend, and witnessed a child aged nine or ten push his friend off his bike. The bike came crashing down and the victim howled. I had no idea what the provocation was, but I did not like the way the aggressor strutted away … [Read on]

Short of some Johnsonian deus ex machina, a last-minute fortuitous turn of events, or a glaring technical oversight (one can but hope), the third legally enshrined Brexit deadline of 31 October will pass us by and the UK will still remain, in one form or another, in the clutches of the EU’s anti-democratic tentacles, 3½ years after the referendum. SR … [Read on]

In a recent article in the Spectator entitled ‘Brexit Bargains’, Matthew Lynn gave us a glimpse of what Brexit really means to the global liberals of the modern Conservative party. The good news, Lynn argues, is that the current spate of foreign takeover bids – he cites the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s £30 billion bid for its London rival, the … [Read on]

Dame Sally Davies, the government’s chief medical officer (or chief inspector of the Nanny State), is going out with a bang. Obesity, a crisis as deadly as climate change and Brexit, must be tackled by a tightening ratchet of controls on what, where and when we can eat. Among other interventions, blokes will be banned from scoffing a half-time pie … [Read on]

A fourth year medical student was admitted to Cardiff University Medical School who is almost totally deaf and blind. The BBC celebrated this as ‘Capturing NHS diversity.’  ITV glorified it as ‘Deafblind medical student pursuing her dreams.’ All the media, without exception, as well as an NHS spokesman said how wonderful this was and that it showed that anyone can … [Read on]

From 1982 The RSC at the Barbican made Shakespeare a real presence in London. The theatre was easy to get to with a new tube station, it had a thousand comfortable seats and air-con. The first RSC shows, directed by Trevor Nunn, starred Patrick Stewart, Timothy Dalton and Harriet Walter. That was all made possible by the generosity of the … [Read on]