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In 2024, libraries are unofficial creches, homeless shelters, language schools and asylum support providers – filling the gaps left by a state that has reneged on its responsibilities. By Aida Edemariam How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know Source link
When, one Thursday morning last winter, I arrived at Battle library in west Reading, the library manager, Terry Curran, was sitting at the front desk writing a quiz. “It’s not a hard quiz,” said Curran, who was worried about attendance. “Often just the same two ladies turn up, and they don’t pay attention.” Still, he hadn’t lost hope. He’d even put posters up in the Tesco round the corner. The phone rang. “Yes, we have a children’s craft session at two,” said Curran’s colleague Amanda Giles, her voice warm and encouraging. “Just come along.” They’d already received an urgent request from the housing team at a nearby council, about someone who had to scan a form by 2pm if he was going to be housed before Christmas. Could the library help? They didn’t usually offer scans, but Battle would make an exception – and they wouldn’t charge. A man carrying a plastic bag rustled up to the front desk. He twitched as he spoke, and he spoke at great speed. “Do you have a magnifying glass?” he asked. Curran disappeared …
Two weeks before an election that is expected to catapult him into 10 Downing Street, the leader of Britain’s Labour Party, Keir Starmer, is tiptoeing on the campaign trail, the latest practitioner of the “Ming vase strategy.” The phrase, which refers to a politician gingerly avoiding slips to protect a lead in the polls, is credited to Roy Jenkins, a more freewheeling British politician, who likened a previous Labour candidate, Tony Blair, on the eve of his 1997 landslide, to a man “carrying a priceless Ming vase across a highly polished floor.” In truth, Mr. Starmer has been carrying the vase for a lot longer than this six-week campaign. He has nursed his party’s double-digit polling lead for more than 18 months, methodically repositioning Labour as a credible center-left alternative to the divided, erratic, sometimes extremist Conservatives. It’s the culmination of an extraordinary four-year project, in which Mr. Starmer, 61, purged his left-wing predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, and his loyalists; went after the anti-Semitism that had contaminated the party’s ranks; and pulled its economic and national …
Kate, Britain’s Princess of Wales, is due to make her first public appearance on Saturday (Jun 15) since surgery five months ago revealed the presence of cancer, saying she was making good progress through treatment but was “not out of the woods”. Kate has undergone preventative chemotherapy since the cancer announcement, and while treatment is ongoing, her improved health means she will be able to appear in public for the first time since last December. She is set to accompany her three children in a carriage during “Trooping the Colour”, an annual military parade held in central London to mark the monarch’s official birthday. She will also join King Charles, Queen Camilla and the other senior family members on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, the high-profile pinnacle of the event. Kate spent two weeks in hospital in January after she underwent major abdominal surgery, and two months later she announced in a video message that tests had revealed the presence of cancer, and she would begin preventative chemotherapy. In a message on Friday, she said …
The Duke of Westminster will lose his unofficial title, “Britain’s most eligible bachelor”, as he marries Olivia Henson today. Hugh Grosvenor, 33, who ranked 14th on the 2024 Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated fortune of £10.1bn, will make Miss Henson a duchess when he marries her at Chester Cathedral. The largely private couple only made their first public appearance together last month, but their wedding is being billed as one of the most prestigious social events of the year. Image: A view of Chester Cathedral. Pic: iStock One of the people who was there during that public appearance also went to school with the duke, and shares fond memories of a particular trip that ended the way any child would love. Who is the future Duchess of Westminster? The 31-year-old bride-to-be had been with the duke for two years when the pair announced their engagement in April 2023. Much like her fiance, Miss Henson largely stays out of the public eye. What we do know is she’s a senior accounts manager at Belazu, …
Now that the stardust has settled, I think we can all agree that the wrong act won the final of Britain’s Got Talent this year. That’s nothing against bubbly West End performer Sydnie Christmas, who had been the hot favourite ever since the first weekend of auditions — and who was not hampered in any way on the night by being gifted both the plum slot at the very end of the show and the crowd-pleasing bring-it-home number Somewhere Over The Rainbow. We must wish her all the best for the future, and I for one am happy to publicly refer to her by the full name Simon Cowell almost certainly uses in private: Sydnie Cover Versions Album Out In Time For Christmas. Little Miss Christmas was not the most amazing turn on the night, however. That title belonged to a magic act. No, not Jack Rhodes, although he was clearly the standout variety performer on the night. And not Trixy either, although we must praise him for pulling off a daring stunt many thought …
A steady stream of stories about the shockingly poor state of Britain’s waterways has turned into a flood. In March, news that competitors in the Boat Race had been warned to stay out of the Thames due to sewage pollution travelled round the world. That the water industry is dysfunctional, and for years has enriched shareholders and executives at the expense of customers, is broadly recognised by the public. Anglers, surfers and swimmers have joined with environmentalists and the former pop star Feargal Sharkey to demand improvements. Polling last year suggested more than half of voters would take the government’s handling of sewage into account when deciding how to vote. The latest warnings about the situation from Dame Glenys Stacey, the environment watchdog, are thus not surprising. But her data and analysis still have the power to shock. Under the worst-case assessment from the Office for Environmental Protection, just 21% of England’s rivers and other bodies of water will be in a good ecological state by the target date of 2027 – in contravention of …
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free For the past three decades, few have been more dedicated to preserving the legacy of British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger than Thelma Schoonmaker and Martin Scorsese. Schoonmaker, one of cinema’s most renowned editors, and Scorsese, for many the world’s greatest living director, have made it their business to ensure audiences remember the men behind such indelible movies as The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus and A Matter of Life and Death. The pair – Powell died in 1990 at the age of 84, Pressburger in 1988 at the age of 85 – were cinematic fabulists, responsible for visually rich Technicolor fantasias, the likes of which have never been seen before or since. Schoonmaker and Scorsese have been a similar dream-team ever since their first collaboration on the 1980 boxing saga Raging Bull, for which Schoonmaker won an Oscar – her first of three, followed by wins for editing The …
Britain’s open water will be “filthy” for decades unless urgent changes are made, an environmental watchdog has warned. The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) found “deeply concerning” issues with how laws to protect England’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters are being put into practice. Dame Glenys Stacey, chairwoman of the OEP, said: “We have found that, while the relevant law here is broadly sound, it is simply not being implemented effectively. This means it is not delivering as intended and, as a consequence, most of our open water is likely to remain in a poor state in the years ahead unless things change. This is deeply concerning. “While we know that there are dedicated and professional people working hard to improve the condition of our rivers, as in so many other aspects of the environment, Government must now ensure substantial funding for a wider range of specific action, at pace and with ambition.” The OEP warned there is “significant need” to strengthen how environmental law on water is applied to make sure it is effective. The …
