Advent meditation

I like to think of myself as a pretty consistent person. I look askance with a certain smugness at the … More

The Anti-Refugee Bill explained

Happy new year, everyone. I am interrupting my current series of Lifesaving Lines post to encourage you to watch a … More

Lifesaving Lines: Indelible, Miraculous, by Julia Darling

I have been thinking a lot about the poetry of Julia Darling this week. Her work became essential to me … More

Be kind

Be Kind Not merely because Henry James saidthere were but four rules of life—be kind be kind be kind be … More

Empathy and New Year

Empathy and New Year A notion like that of empathy inspires great distrust in us, because it connotes a further … More

Weather vs climate (LentBlog38)

The main difference between weather and climate is the timescale that they each refer to. Weather describes the conditions of the … More

On Diane Abbott and Assange -Meditation on a line by Anne Lamott (LentBlog37)

  There’s an old Mel Brooks routine where the psychiatrist tells his patient, “Listen to your broccoli, and your broccoli … More

The recess (LentBlog35)

As we get to the business end of Lent, in the week the church still names Holy, I have been … More

Advertisement (LentBlog33)

  I wrote the poem below in the summer of 2015. David Cameron had won a slim majority in the … More

From Brussels With Love (LentBlog32)

Well, by tomorrow night, we might be out. Crashed out with no deal or sailing into a bright future presaged … More

My Brexit week off (LentBlog25)

  I’ll admit it straight away: I didn’t last the whole week. Sometime on Friday evening I switched the radio … More

Doing a Likely Lads (LentBlog19)

Lying awake last night wondering what had become of Theresa May’s deal in Parliament it suddenly occurred to me that … More

A week off (LentBlog18)

I’m hoping that by the end of the week we may be nearer to a political solution to the national … More

#PutItToThePeopleMarch (LentBlogs17)

I saw: old hippies, new hippies, punks, preppies, grandmothers, babes in arms, parents, wrinklies, men in tweeds, trombonists, anarchists, Star … More

Why I can’t vote Labour at the next election (LentBlog12)

I never wanted to have to say this. I never imagined I would. But I have finally lost the plot … More

The Year of Living Deeply 8: Doing One Thing

I am really bad at doing one thing. If I am chopping an onion, I am listening to the radio. … More

Why must we write?

The poem that came into my mind on waking up this morning and hearing the General Election result is Mark … More

Philip Gould: I would not wish to have died the person I was

via bbc.co.uk