
Online comments reflect class tensions at Scottish university between those from lower-income families and wealthier US undergraduates
When Sophie Rose Jenkins announced she would not return to St Andrews University this academic year because of her experiences of classism on campus, she did not expect much of a response. But in the two weeks since she published her story on LinkedIn, it has resonated with hundreds of others.
“Working-class students have been made to feel ashamed of their home life at university,” the former comparative literature and classical studies student wrote in a lengthy post. “Arriving at a university ranked first in the UK at the time from a background like mine, I thought I was doing everything right.
Continue reading...The PM oozes confidence and easy-going charm as he tells Laura Kuenssberg the hill he’ll die on is fixing social care
In recent weeks there has been much speculation in some parts of the media that Andy Burnham would call an early general election. Speculation that existed largely in the heads of those writing the stories, as even the most favourable polls suggest Labour would lose its huge majority and become the largest party in a coalition government. But to stop the chatter dominating his party conference, Burnham made it clear there would be no early election. His reward? Headlines in the rightwing press that he had bottled it. By not calling an election he had never planned to call. Sometimes you just can’t win.
There again, you might call this a first-world problem for the prime minister. This time last year, Burnham had been hanging around the fringes of the conference as he and his allies attempted one of the most half-arsed coups in living memory. One that fizzled out almost before it had started and became the butt of many jokes among Keir Starmer’s inner circle. Andy looked to have blown himself up on the runway, leaving Keir safe for the duration of the parliament.
Continue reading...President has let rip with swearwords in recent months, redefining norms about acceptable language in public office
With a lifetime of political memories stretching back to John F Kennedy’s assassination and the Black civil rights struggles of the 1960s, Cheryl Johnson had one complaint above all else about today’s politicians: the swearing.
“All this cursing in politics, we never heard that before,” said Johnson, a retired social worker living in the Pittsburgh area. “Words are very powerful, and the past 45 presidents of this country, have not used such vile language.
Continue reading...I understand the pressure on the public purse, but I have also seen the effect of our spending on the ground. Our choices can do so much good
David Harewood is a Unicef UK ambassador
As Labour party conference approaches, politicians will debate spending priorities, fiscal pressures and the UK’s place in the world. Before those discussions begin, I want ministers to picture a hospital ward I visited in Sierra Leone with Unicef (United Nations Children’s Fund).
Inside the special-care baby unit at Makeni regional hospital were rows of tiny premature babies, some no bigger than my hand. Around them stood dedicated nurses and anxious parents, all willing these newborns to survive.
David Harewood is a Unicef UK ambassador
Continue reading...Her debut earned a record-breaking YA book deal – then came her fallout with Hollywood. The author talks about the pressures of success and why she is pictured on the cover of her new novel
There is a photograph of Tomi Adeyemi staring out from the cover of her new novel, The Siren. It is an arresting image: her face fills the frame, unsoftened by a smile, her piercing gaze fixed directly on the viewer. “It’s terrifying – like the Mona Lisa, staring at you everywhere,” she says, laughing.
Using an author portrait on the cover of a novel is highly unusual, and a decision that Adeyemi says is a statement of ownership. After 12 years spent inside the world of Children of Blood and Bone – the first book in the YA trilogy that made her a literary star and its film adaptation which has become a source of profound distress – Adeyemi wanted this book to belong unmistakably to her.
Continue reading...Ukrainian forces airdrop supplies to city where bodies are left to be eaten by dogs because of deadly risk from drones
The phone message sent out of Russian-occupied Oleshky was grimly matter-of-fact: food had finally run out for the 2,000 or so civilians, including 50 children, remaining in the city and its surrounding villages.
“We’re in Oleshky [and] we can’t get out. We’re going hungry … Right now, I’ve got absolutely nothing to eat,” read the message from a woman in the besieged city who was waiting to be evacuated by the occupying forces.
Continue reading...Men held also suspected of explosives offences as homes evacuated near British airbase used in US attacks on Iran
Counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation in which five men were arrested on suspicion of explosives and terrorism offences near an RAF base used in US attacks against Iran.
After the declaration of a major incident at RAF Fairford, a bomb squad was sent to the village of Whelford and extra security measures were put in place, including the fortification of entrances to the base. Roadblocks and armed police have been seen in the area over the weekend.
Continue reading...PM says he will put proposals for NHS-style service funded by everybody into Labour’s next general election manifesto
Andy Burnham has said that he is going to “rip the plaster off” to fix the broken social care system, as he set out a vision for a universal service that would be free at the point of use for everybody in England.
The prime minister said the new NHS-style social care service would be funded by “everybody” but did not give further details of how his radical long-term plan would be paid for.
Continue reading...Sinn Féin leaders join those on streets opposing decision to allow Garvaghy Road parade for first time since 1998
Hundreds of protesters spent the day blocking the route of a hugely contentious parade in Northern Ireland after a court gave late-night clearance for the Orange Order to march on a historically significant road for the first time in nearly 30 years.
The loyalist Drumcree parade along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown was given the go-ahead by the Parades Commission for the first time since 1998, a decision denounced by Sinn Féin as “madness”.
Continue reading...Pat McFadden urges Labour MPs to back overhauls, amid signs party looking to cut payments for some 16- to 24-year-olds
Labour MPs have a moral responsibility to accept significant changes to the welfare system to help get more young people into work, the work and pensions secretary has said.
In a sign he is looking to overhaul the welfare state, Pat McFadden said it was time for Labour to “renew” the system first created by the Clement Attlee government and given a new deal by New Labour.
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