Category: Culture

History crowds in as you approach the Allenby crossing. It spans the Jordan river, linking the Kingdom of Jordan with the occupied West Bank. Suspended across domed concrete abutments, it resembles a space craft marooned in the desert. The Dead …

Global unions’ mission pledges support for Palestinian statehood Read more »

Musée Hergé, Louvain-la-Neuve How best to celebrate Tintin and his creator Hergé? The question nags me throughout my visit to the museum dedicated to the Belgian cartoonist, an hour by train from Brussels. Opened in 2013, the building alone rewards …

Tintin trapped under glass Read more »

I have some advice for Tucker Carlson. He has just landed an interview with Vladimir Putin – among the most powerful and consequential people on earth. Proper journalistic attention focussed on the Russian president has the capacity to show off …

By probing Putin, Carlson could set journalism on a new course Read more »

A Solent crossing conjures memories The umbilical link that once joined ferries and trains is obvious as you await passage to the Isle of Wight. Wightlink’s foot-passenger terminal forms part of Portsmouth Harbour station; in days past, porters heaved cases …

White about now Read more »

In the Autumn of 2021 a shortage of lorry drivers in the UK sent hauliers wages spiralling and I considered a career change In my household, Britain’s HGV crisis has played out as a Dutch auction. A month ago my …

A new road to riches Read more »

WHY THE IFJ AND EFJ SHOULD REMAIN UNITED Last summer I participated in a Zoom call with several Ukrainian journalists who had been helped by an emergency fund established by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its regional group, …

Deflecting bullets should be our priority Read more »

People’s Parliament unites and empowers people with learning disabilities to fight for change – we must ensure its survival Article originally published in The Independent, 29 November 2022. Here is a chilling statistic. During the pandemic adults with learning disabilities …

We must save initiative that gives adults with learning disabilities a voice Read more »

It is reassuring to witness John Edwards and Maurice Frankel share a platform and nod over shared understandings. Edwards is the recently-installed Information Commissioner, responsible, among other things, for regulating provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (2000). Frankel has …

Info Tsar promises journalists’ fast track Read more »