It has been a very large part of the failure of the Labour Party since 2010 that it has been unable to link the grave fact of austerity, its practical consequences and its growing unpopularity, to a coherent and compelling argument about what is structurally wrong with the country, why it “doesn’t work”. Andy Burnham was once part of this failure, but his experience as mayor of Greater Manchester seems to have given him the language that was needed. He has been able to channel the anger and helplessness created by the relentless running-down of towns and communities, especially in the North, and connect it to an energetic critique of the centralised Westminster state.
‘How Dirty Old Father Thames Was Whitewashed’ (‘Punch’, 31 July 1858)
The Thames may be cleaner than when it was declared biologically dead in 1957, but other rivers are close to ecological collapse, suffocated by algae, fungi and weeds that bloom in the run-off from industrial farming. On 1 June, Natalie Bennett, a former leader of the Green Party, waded into this slurry with the first reading of a private member’s bill in the House of Lords. The Nature’s Rights Bill calls for Nature (capitalised) to be recognised in law as ‘a legal subject and rights-bearing entity’.
I arrived to take my exam after half the allotted time had already passed. I hadn’t been delayed by bombing, or even by a power cut, but by a worn-out banknote that no one was willing to accept.
With their immortal 0-0 draw against Spain yesterday, Cape Verde have now given me two truly great World Cup moments. On 11 July 2018, I was on Santo Antão, the archipelago’s outermost island, reachable only by boat from Mindelo, Cape Verde’s second biggest city, on the neighbouring island of São Vincente. We’d been looking for somewhere to watch England’s semi-final against Croatia, and had happily stumbled on a place called Bar Oásis.
Every white Serco prison van that drove into Woolwich Crown Court on Friday morning was met with a cacophony of cheers, applause and ululation. Protesters massed outside the court wanted the Filton Four – Samuel Corner, Charlotte Head, Leona Kamio and Fatema Rajwani, who were scheduled to be sentenced by Mr Justice Johnson – to know that they were there for them and for the Palestinian cause. Even after a speaker announced that the ‘Filton Four are already inside,’ the cries of support continued.
In 2018, when Fifa announced that Mexico, Canada and the USA would host the 2026 World Cup, I thought I’d go to North America for it. I was 31 and somehow believed this would be my last tournament: I couldn’t imagine life after forty. An even more ridiculous idea, it turns out, was assuming I’d be able to afford it.
John Healey’s resignation as defence secretary is the latest skirmish in a wider campaign to secure an increase in defence spending. Tom Stevenson described the Strategic Defence Review as the ‘object of a proxy battle between the armed forces and the Treasury’ and it seems that, for now, the Treasury is winning the battle over whether to stump up an additional £28 billion over the next four years. Most of the media, however, are on the side of the armed forces.