Nick Kemp argues that the government's English Devolution Bill undermines local government: "This Bill doesn’t restore power to local councils; it strips it away. Far from being a revival of local self-determination, it represents something more troubling: the franchising of central government, dressed up as devolution."
Jackson Lears looks at what the War on Terror has done to American society: "The hysteria provoked by the attacks on the World Trade Center created an opportunity for Cheney and his ideological comrades to engineer what amounted to a coup d'état. In collaboration with the Clinton wing of the Democratic Party, they fashioned a Washington foreign policy consensus committed to armed intervention abroad, overt or covert, anywhere US intelligence agencies decided that American interests were somehow at stake."
Yorkshire’s uplands are ecological deserts, drained and burned by big landowners. David Robson says it's time to demand restoration over destruction.
Ellen Peirsen-Hagger on the uneven economics of publishing: "A 2022 Society of Authors report found the median income of full-time authors was £7,000 a year, which, when adjusted for inflation, is a shocking 60.2 per cent drop on 2006 rates. The report also found that women and authors of colour earn less than their counterparts. What’s more, the top 10 per cent of writers were found to earn 47 per cent of all author income."
Sexy Beast was the last good British gangster film, insists Andrew Nette, who goes on to name 10 more.
Given that around 11% of Britain's landmass is classified as 'mountain, moorland or heath', which is roughly equivalent to all of the country's built up area, is extraordinary how little we talk about moors. As David Robson points out they are a tightly man-managed artificial habitat, if left alone moorland would rewild into something significantly different. I'm glad people are starting to talk about this more because that 11% represents a great opportunity in terms of habitat change and biodiversity gain.
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