The Government announced £1 billion funds to support the work schools would need to do to enable many children to “catch-up” after Covid: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/catch-up-premium-coronavirus-covid-19/catch-up-premium It is clear that the Covid lockdowns have had a serious impact on many children- not only through “falling behind” in education, but also in mental health. The Maudsley…
Category: Discussion
December 3rd 2020 First Thursday
Summary of the discussion We noted the practice of “Imprisonment for Public Protection” (IPP), in the news recently. IPP was created by the 2003 Criminal Justice Act, implemented since 2005, and used for crimes which do not merit a life sentence, but where the offender is considered to pose a danger to others. After 10…
November First Thursday
November 12th summary of the discussion. Covid was still top of the news “agenda” with the promise of vaccines soon to be available. The costs of some (eg Pfizer) are likely to be high (Astra Zeneca is likely to be cheaper and does not need minus 80 degrees Celsius for storage). Drug companies may reap…
Brexit Debate
Wednesday 21st October: Notes on “The Future of Brexit Britain” With Jonathan Chaplain and Andrew Bradstock, the joint editors. The initiative for the book was the strange silence from the Church of England about the Brexit Referendum- any personal statements made (eg from Bishops) were for Remain, but it was clear that many Anglicans were…
October 2020 First Thursday
Summary of our discussion: We noted that the “R” (reproduction) rate for Covid had recently fallen from 1.7 down to 1.1 [how long ago does that month seem now!!] The UK Agriculture Bill is going through Parliament at the moment (with a debate today). This has resulted from the UK leaving the EU, and therefore…
First Thursday, September 2020
Summary of the discussion: The election campaigning of US President Donald Trump appears to promote division, rather than healing. Law and Order is his message, rather than any attempt to deal with the issues that have caused anger and the protests. In some ways, this is similar to Richard Nixon’s campaign in 1968, which stressed…
First Thursday, August 2020
The Beirut explosion happened two days before- a shipload of ammonium nitrate en route in 2013 from Georgia for fertilizer in Mozambique, and abandoned after the Russian cargo ship developed mechanical problems near Cyprus, appears to have been triggered by a nearby fire. If stored for long periods ammonium nitrate solidifies and becomes dangerous. Poor…
July 2020 First Thursday
Two matters in the news occupied most of our discussion: The impact of the Beijing Government’s actions on Hong Kong. Is it that Beijing is determined to subvert the 1997 One Country, Two Systems agreement with Britain and control Hong Kong- or is it a difference of interpretation of what that agreement meant? Since Deng…
21st Century Endless War
Wilf Wilde at Wymington, January 18th, 2020 YEMEN, ARABIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST: A POST CHRISTMAS REFLECTION ON EMPIRE AND OIL YEMEN’S SAUDI PROPAGANDA STORY I have been working on Oil, Empire and the Middle East for the last decade, especially since the so called Arab Spring of 2011. I have wanted to talk on…
First Thursdays
Summary of First Thursday discussions Nov. 7th 2019 and Jan. 2nd 2020 The story of a 10-yr old boy who claimed that his ambition was to become a drug lord https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-50317250 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7656687/Boy-aged-TEN-dreams-County-Lines-drug-dealer.html provoked a discussion about the ideals offered to young people and the pressures put on them in society today. In the not too…