Society

People, politics, tech, money, sport, work and entertainment all intertwine to make up today’s ever-changing, crazy, delightful and frustrating society. The majority of my second-hand-views are about life within our society and, with a left-of-centre stance, there’s bound to be something here that gets your goat. When it does, buy a bundle of tibs, donate one to my charity of choice, Stay Close to Neve, and get it off your chest with a retort – better out than in. Have fun, be good and keep at ‘em.

the marlboro man moment

Many of us will have welcomed the US court ruling t’other week regarding Meta, YouTube et al. The twenty year old plaintiff had sued the parent companies of four social platforms for damaging her mental health by intentionally addicting her to their products.

operation epic fury

We’re all painfully aware that Tiny Hands can’t get his story straight as to why he launched a war against Iran and, in the absence of a clear explanation, many appear to have latched onto the claim that it’s a crusade, a holy war. Former TV personality, second lieutenant and current secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, bears much of the responsibility for this.

the jury is out

Our criminal courts are massively backlogged, dangerously close to collapse and the Government is proposing to limit the use of juries in England and Wales. Is the plan justified?

wilson not winston

Irrespective of where you stand on the current US/Iran conflict, I think everyone’s pretty much agreed that it has been kicked-off in a half-cocked, cack-handed manner.

nice work if you can get it…

The job numbers released last month were the starkest and most sobering seen in decades. Unemployment has climbed to over five percent and one in six young people are officially unemployed, including over a million not in education or training.

to the tower with him

Unlike his direct predecessor, King Charles III always knew his reign would be relatively short. However, he probably never thought it would witness the most consequential and damaging crisis since his namesake lost his own head in 1649.

we need to talk about nigel

Only eighteen short months ago, Reform UK was nothing more than a curiosity on the fringe of the political landscape. Now it’s the main event. Even with the recent high-profile Tory defections the party has just eight MPs but is still on course to either form or lead the next British government.

quaking in his boots

With Britain pledging soldiers to a multinational Ukraine force and allocating £200m to fund preparations for the possible deployment of troops, the question is what state is our armed forces actually in and are we up to the job?

first we take manhattan

And then we take Berl…er, Greenland at it transpires, and, as it melts, Santa’s headquarters, the North Pole, is increasingly becoming a major geopolitical flashpoint. Why exactly?