THIS ENGLAND
Wandsworth council in London now propose to charge £2.50 per child to play in its adventure playground, stating that ‘this delivers best value for money for local taxpayers.’ Thus at a stroke children whose parents are on benefits or low income will be punished for the relative poverty of their parents, leaving the playground free for the children of good middle class taxpayers to enjoy without having to mix with the smelly oiks. *
Meanwhile the government without a mandate continues upon its exercise to reduce the share of GDP spent on public services to below that of the US by 2013.** This of course is the real agenda behind these cuts.
A rally held in support of cuts to public services, indeed protesting that the cuts do not go far enough, is held in central London. This is supposed to be inspired by the Tea Party movement in the States, though here only about three hundred people turn up. Curiously many of the men are wearing boaters and are addressed by right wing Tory MP’s whilst carrying crude cardboard placards bearing the edifying slogan Libraries Suck! What a wonderful advertisement for the Tory right.
I am intrigued by the phenomenon of the ‘slut-walk’ started in Toronto Canada which has now found its way to this country. This seems to me a wholly admirable project demanding as it does the right for women to dress as they please. The poisonous view put about by a sundry collection of misogynists, reactionary clerics and the sexually repressed that woman who dress in skimpy clothing are inviting sexual assault is being directly confronted. I look forward to all those within the Muslim community who argued so fiercely for women to enjoy the freedom to wear the burqa supporting this protest, though I am not holding my breath.
On a recent edition of Question Time the question of the Killing of Osama Bin Laden arose, and yes can we please bury the euphemism ‘take out,’ how sweet they travelled all the way to northern Pakistan so that he could be given a little fresh air! There was some concern from at least one member of the audience that Mr Bin Laden’s burial at sea did not pass the Muslim test of appropriateness, at this point the vision of the slaughter of ken Bigly passed through my mind, one wondered whether the executioners of this innocent man afforded him the appropriate Christian rites? Whilst on the panel the trivial and ubiquitous Yasmin Alibahai-Brown opined that his body should have been returned to his family! Perhaps similar efforts should have been made to ensure that Adolf Hitler’s remains be buried next to his mother in Austria.
We now inhabit a country where the humanities are no longer funded at all by direct government grants but are to be wholly met by student fees. Education now is only to be valued by its utility respecting employment. The idea that learning might be engaged in for its own sake, a celebration of the human spirit is considered laughable.
*See Polly Tonybee Do We Care About 300,000 More Children In Poverty? Guardian Saturday 14th May.
** Ibid
Meanwhile the government without a mandate continues upon its exercise to reduce the share of GDP spent on public services to below that of the US by 2013.** This of course is the real agenda behind these cuts.
A rally held in support of cuts to public services, indeed protesting that the cuts do not go far enough, is held in central London. This is supposed to be inspired by the Tea Party movement in the States, though here only about three hundred people turn up. Curiously many of the men are wearing boaters and are addressed by right wing Tory MP’s whilst carrying crude cardboard placards bearing the edifying slogan Libraries Suck! What a wonderful advertisement for the Tory right.
I am intrigued by the phenomenon of the ‘slut-walk’ started in Toronto Canada which has now found its way to this country. This seems to me a wholly admirable project demanding as it does the right for women to dress as they please. The poisonous view put about by a sundry collection of misogynists, reactionary clerics and the sexually repressed that woman who dress in skimpy clothing are inviting sexual assault is being directly confronted. I look forward to all those within the Muslim community who argued so fiercely for women to enjoy the freedom to wear the burqa supporting this protest, though I am not holding my breath.
On a recent edition of Question Time the question of the Killing of Osama Bin Laden arose, and yes can we please bury the euphemism ‘take out,’ how sweet they travelled all the way to northern Pakistan so that he could be given a little fresh air! There was some concern from at least one member of the audience that Mr Bin Laden’s burial at sea did not pass the Muslim test of appropriateness, at this point the vision of the slaughter of ken Bigly passed through my mind, one wondered whether the executioners of this innocent man afforded him the appropriate Christian rites? Whilst on the panel the trivial and ubiquitous Yasmin Alibahai-Brown opined that his body should have been returned to his family! Perhaps similar efforts should have been made to ensure that Adolf Hitler’s remains be buried next to his mother in Austria.
We now inhabit a country where the humanities are no longer funded at all by direct government grants but are to be wholly met by student fees. Education now is only to be valued by its utility respecting employment. The idea that learning might be engaged in for its own sake, a celebration of the human spirit is considered laughable.
*See Polly Tonybee Do We Care About 300,000 More Children In Poverty? Guardian Saturday 14th May.
** Ibid
