Guardian features writer/interviewer. Ambassador. @encephalitis & proud Manc/Salfordian 🐝 Also @shattenstone.bsky.social
London
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- Followers 23,647
- Likes 10,242
Jeremy Corbyn: ‘The rise of the far right is very serious. We've seen it because centrist parties have moved to the right... Let’s stop blaming minorities and starting looking out for fundamental inequalities in our society.'
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Alex Scott and Ian Wright are such brilliant pundits – they understand football, its history and its politics. And they're bloody great people.
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Dear @trussliz, as a Jew I'd just like to say I don't have conservative values, have not set up a business and do not need protecting from wokedom. Please keep your stereotypes to your bigoted self.
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Dear @BorisJohnson, I am sat at home struggling to breathe, as too many people are. You've finally got the job you want, and within weeks you have created an NHS that tests for NOTHING & leaves us all gasping for air, helpless in the greatest crisis of our lives. Act now. TEST US
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Last month @jeremycorbyn suggested that rough sleeping should be recorded as a cause of death – it got hardly any pickup (I've only just discovered he said it) but it should have – cos it's important
northamptonchron.co.uk/news/…
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Gary Lineker is right – this is an incredibly dangerous, deliberate and all too common use of inflammatory language by Tories. It's also a disgusting lie. Jonathan Gullis needs to apologise, as should Rishi Sunak on behalf of his government. Just vile.
theguardian.com/football/202…
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'I don’t trust in people now. Especially men. That is probably why I’m single." My interview with 2-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova on life after being stabbed. NO ONE is reading this, & she is one of most remarkable people I've met. Plse give it a go!
theguardian.com/sport/2019/j…
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This is my obituary of the bloody wonderful Paddy Roycroft, who operated the Guardian switchboard for 32 years and died last week. Any retweets hugely appreciated because for loads of us Paddy was the Guardian.
theguardian.com/media/2020/n…
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Boris Johnson has told the nation to wash its hands. He's even hosting a Cobra meeting next week. The great man's alive and leading from the front.
bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politic…
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This is my interview with Rylan Clark in which he talks about his outrageous new reality show, recovering from a breakdown that almost did for him and what really happened on the X Factor.
theguardian.com/tv-and-radio…
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Six-week suspension for repeatedly hitting, verbally abusing and sticking his genitals in member of staff's face. Bone should be facing time in jail, never mind the prospect of losing his seat.
theguardian.com/politics/202…
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Bloody amazing. There we were struggling to do 10,000 tests a day, but as of 9am today we've managed 30 trillion, 34 million and 974,000 tests. Great work Priti.
Reassured that there have been "three hundred thousand, thirty four, nine hundred and seventy four thousand" tests carried out so far.
Far less reassured by Priti Patel's grasp of numbers
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Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. Turning BBC4 into an archive channel is a terrible decision. BBC4 is easily the best BBC station for people interested in culture, documentariess and history. And that's lots of us.
theguardian.com/media/2021/m…
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If there is a man out there who was in @thelionunicorn in Kentish Town last night & Heimlich manoeuvred me when l when I was choking, thanks a million. I owe you one (life). And thanks so much to the staff for looking after me. Really sorry if I put anyone off their food/drink.
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We weren't the first, we weren't the second, we weren't even the third, but @Dianewriter and I were the fourth mixed-sex civil partnership in Haringey. Yes, after 31 years together today we've made it official. and it was right lovely
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Dear @UKLabour, please stop talking about ordinary working people. It suggests you not care about people who don't work or who aren't ordinary. Also, hearing it repeatedly, robotically, in interviews makes lots of us feel sick.Thanks.
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Dear @BorisJohnson what are you doing for our homeless people or are you just going to let them die on our streets? Hotels/motels are empty now – pay for the homeless to be housed there. This is not a rhetorical question. I would like an answer – hopefully a positive one.
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Shapps: "As we all do in moments of crisis, we seek to have our family around us."Utter bollocks. It's the one thing most of us haven't done because we were ordered not to. This is the sacrifice we've made and the politicians and their amoral, shabby-arsed advisers haven't done.
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This is what a hero of the people looks like.
By @thedalstonyears
theguardian.com/lifeandstyle…
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Saddest day in my 35 years at the Guardian as we banged out our great friends, colleagues and team mates at the Observer. We'll miss them hugely. And so will the Guardian and our readers. Terrible decision.
The Guardian bangs out the Observer. Thank you to all of our amazing colleagues. We’ll never forget it ❤️
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My interview with the wonderful @MichaelRosenYes
theguardian.com/books/2020/s…
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Thanks to everyone who supported/retweeted my (ignored) tweet to @BorisJohnson telling him to put up street homeless people in empty hotels. @DaniLavelle & I have written about it here. Any retweets gleefully accepted!
theguardian.com/commentisfre…
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God, I love Nick Cave. Interviewing him was both heartbreaking and life enhancing. I'm not sure how he manages to pull both off
theguardian.com/artanddesign…
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Our Marje passed away today. I may be a little biased, but she was the best mum ever. So if anyone fancies raising a glass to Marje please do. This is a chat I had with her about ageing (or not) last year when she was a mere 94. Love you Mam❤️❤️❤️
theguardian.com/lifeandstyle…
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Elliot Page talks to me about Juno, abuse, the horrors of Hollywood, coming out (twice) and finding happiness.
theguardian.com/film/2023/ju…
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This is my tribute to the wonderful Sinead. I hope somehow she realises how many of us loved her, and the impact she had on our world
theguardian.com/music/2023/j…
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What an utter prick Cummings is – one rule for us, another for the political class.
dailymail.co.uk/news/article…
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I went for a drink or two with the great @PaulHeatonSolo
theguardian.com/music/2024/s…
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The whole country has changed its way of living, we're locked inside our homes, 7,000 dead & counting, and Stanley Jonhnson says his son's illness has "served an amazing purpose in that it's got the whole country to realise this is a serious event".
What an utter bellend.
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Knob of the Week goes to @sajidjavid who has learnt to live with Covid, unlike the 402 people who died in the UK over the week (a 28% rise on the previous 7 days), presumably because they were cowering from the virus.
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So incredibly moving.
I LOVE Michael Holding – beautiful bowler, beautiful commentator, beautiful man
Michael Holding breaks down on camera discussing racism his parents faced news.sky.com/story/michael-h…
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#RIPEricAllison, the Guardian's prisons correspondent for 19 years.
My colleague, my partner in fighting injustice, my mate, and a man I loved so bloody much. A proper person, as he would say.
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Is the UK so rank with corruption that most media don't regard it as story when Jennifer Arcuri confirms affair with Johnson while getting grants from public purse? And on he goes untroubled, this lying, morally bankrupt toad leading the county to ruin.
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/n…
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Great stuff from @JohnJCrace on the redemption of @piersmorgan – one of v few journalists sticking it to a bunch of dangerously incompetent ministers
theguardian.com/politics/202…
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This is my interview with Jack Monroe. I'm being criticised from both her fans and from her detractors. Hopefully that means it's fair. For the record, I think Jack is brave and admirably open in this piece.
theguardian.com/society/2023…
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This is my interview with @GretaThunberg for our new Saturday mag. Her achievements are amazing, but what moved me more than anything (maybe particularly as the dad of an autistic girl) is how her activism has given her a whole new world of friendship theguardian.com/environment/…
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I found it so moving talking to Michael Palin about how he is rebuilding his life after the death of his wife Helen
theguardian.com/culture/2024…
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The obit of my amazing colleague and friend, the unforgettable Guardian legend that is MARK BYGRAVES (love you, son xxxxx). All retweets appreciated. The more people who get to know our Mark, the better
theguardian.com/media/2021/m…
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Yea!! This is great news – common sense, and just what we've been calling for.
UK hotels to become homeless shelters under coronavirus plan theguardian.com/world/2020/m…
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On the 25th anniversary of Stephen Lawrence's death, let's not forget @DuwayneBrooks who was attacked with Stephen, did his best to keep his best friend alive, was then hounded by the police, & survived to tell the terrible story that did so much to change Britain. HERO
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This is my interview with the great @EricIdle, the former Python who has spent the past years fighting off pancreatic cancer. He's bloody great.
theguardian.com/culture/2022…
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Thank you for the lovely messages about Marje, who died today. Earlier this week, it felt like we were about to lose her any moment. She could barely talk. She smiled at me and whispered 'You know this is much nicer than I thought it was going to be'. To Marje! 🥂🍻
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Why does the @JewishChron persistently suggest @KenLoachSixteen is a Holocaust denier when he condemned Holocaust denial as eloquently and clearly as possible (with the help of Primo Levi) here? And why doesthe JC never quote this?
theguardian.com/world/2017/o…
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What a pathetic, cowardly toad Matt Hancock. Great, calm interviewing by @piersmorgan here. Not shouting, simply demanding a simple yes/no answer, which the Minister for Toadery fails to deliver.
This is why people do not trust this government one jot.
Pure evasiveness and no contrition - to a level where it makes conversations comically bizarre.
Well done @piersmorgan for pinning Hancock down on this.
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If anybody fancies a read of my interview with a fabulously opinionated David Crosby in 2021, here it is
theguardian.com/music/2021/s…
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My fave image from the Olympics so far – BMX stars Kye Whyte (silver) and Beth Shriever (gold – and had to crowdfund £50,000 to even compete at Tokyo 2020). Proper heroes. Love 'em
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My interview with Shane MacGowan. He might not have said much, but it's the way he said it (or didn't)
theguardian.com/music/2022/a…
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I don;'t know about anyone else, but I can't stop listening to Celine's 'Hymne A L'Amour'. It's one of the most beautiful performances (of one of the most beautiful songs) I've ever heard. Bloody wonderful
Céline Dion has a rare autoimmune neurological disorder that causes muscle stiffness called stiff person syndrome. There is no treatment and she has not performed in 4 years. She just opened the Olympics with this stunning performance. Magnifique.
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Kenneth Baker on Nigel Lawson: "Nigel was a tremendous enthusiast for denationalistation of water, gas, electricity and the railways ... what he was taking on was the legacy of Clement Attlee." Aspiring to destroy Attlee's legacy is horrific. Look at those industries now
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Guardian and Observer journalists are striking tomorrow & Thurs for 1st time in 53 years. I love my work, & feel incredibly sad that it's come to this. But I also feel so proud of my fellow journos who've united to resist the plan to "sell" the Obs to a loss-making startup✊🏽✊✊🏿
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First the Attenborough programme, now this. What a shameful day for the pusillanimous BBC
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64920557
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This is really powerful and important by @GeorgeMonbiot about the dictatorial way this government is destroying essential freedoms
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How lovely to see the great @georgealagiah, who has beaten off Covid and is living with stage IV cancer, back reading the news. He is proper inspirational, as well as a bloody good journalist
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This is my interview with Pete Doherty about death, drugs, dogs and Primrose Hill Dildos. (Sorry I've got a D fixation)
theguardian.com/music/2019/a…
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Cough, breathing difficulties, fever, dry mouth, mad muscle aches, ... but I tested negative for Covid-19. Is it just a coincidence that I've had these symptoms throughout the pandemic? I've written about a confusing (and breathless) few months
theguardian.com/world/2020/j…
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This is lump in the throat beautiful. Eighty-five-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz turns back to say Shalom to one of her captors as she is released. This is humanity. This is what we live for.
85-yr-old Yocheved Lifshitz, who spent yrs getting medical supplies into Gaza, was 1 of 2 hostages released today by Hamas. As she is transferred to the Red Cross she turns around, takes her captor’s hand, & says “shalom.”
Amid all the death, hope remains alive. Ceasefire.
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Nooooooooooooo
We've lost Benjamin Zephaniah – poet, musician, activist and all round bloody brilliant person. Zeph was a hero on many levels, loved so dearly by so many of us
theguardian.com/books/2023/d…
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One of my fave @DeborahJaneOrr stories. She's just started at Graun (1990) and is in lift when shy pipe-puffing editor Peter Preston gets in. He nods at her, and eventually says hello. 'Who the fuck are you?' she says. He loved her for it.
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This demolition of paul dacre by @mrjamesob is brilliant
lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/j…
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After spending much of the past six years in a psychiatric hospital, the great Sinead O'Connor says she's been loved back to health. She talks to me abt it (& plenty more – cos it's Sinead innit)
theguardian.com/music/2021/m…
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YESSSSSSSSSSSS!
Baby granted visa to come to UK after Guardian exposes Home Office refusal on grounds that baby had to stay in Jamaica because she had "established life" there.
Mum says "I lay on the floor & cried."
Well done @Dianewriter
theguardian.com/uk-news/2022…
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It was all going so well – till I asked about that controversial #IndianArmedForces tweet.
I meet global superstar, peace ambassador and multi-hyphenate extraordinaire Priyanka Chopra
theguardian.com/film/2021/fe…
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This is my interview with lovely, open & mega talented singer/actor @alexander_olly. Olly is starring in the brilliant new @russelldavies63 series It's A Sin. I reckon it's one of the best things that's ever been on telly theguardian.com/music/2021/j…
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Classic John Vidal story. He used his expenses from a trip to Bangladesh to get a well built in Dhaka. When asked to detail his expenses for trip, he wrote "Drinks for 5,000".
Here's his obit from his former team mate Paul Brown
theguardian.com/environment/…
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Thanks to everyone who responded with such kindness to the article I wrote about having long-term covidy symptoms. Amazing how many people have said they've experienced similar stuff. If you fancy a read here's a link.
theguardian.com/world/2020/j…
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'You only need a little nudge to become something you could have never imagined.'
My interview with the heroic Marcus Rashford
theguardian.com/global/2021/…
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I spoke to those who knew the much missed Caroline Aherne best about what made her brilliant, vulnerable and so bloody funny
theguardian.com/tv-and-radio…
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Such sad news – Michael Apted's Seven Up series is among the best TV ever made, gave voice to people we rarely heard from (and to some we heard all too much from) and remains hugely influential
theguardian.com/film/2021/ja…
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My mum, who died this week, would have been well chuffed with me being commended for features at the @pressgazette awards. Actually, Marje wd have preferred it to me winning. She thought winning could make you big-headed. Congrats to all shortlisted
theguardian.com/culture/2023…
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So @JohnJCrace has achieved the impossible – reduced Boris Johnson to such a mulch of blathering, incontinent idiocy you could almost feel sorry for him. Almost ... if his incompetence hadn't cost tens of thousands of lives
theguardian.com/politics/202…
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Great calm, forensic interviewing by @MishalHusain on @BBCr4today of tory chair James Cleverley who ended up sounding just as inept & disingenuous as Boris Johnson, the man he was trying to defend
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Huw Edwards' low self-esteem was "compounded by a sense of being inferior" by not getting into Oxford University and going to Cardiff instead.
That 'defence' is offensive on so many levels.
And no custodial sentence to boot.
Ugh. Gross.
theguardian.com/media/2024/s…
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A big thank you to @JenWilliamsMEN for exposing the end of 'everyone in' scheme for homeless people during the pandemic – and for being bullied by the Government in the process for having done so. Jen has reported for the MEN on homelessness brilliantly & tirelessly for years.
Seems I’m firmly on the government’s shitlist then. Twitter is bad enough already without the state itself organising pile ons
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#RIPPaddy
Very sad news. The mighty Paddy Roycroft, Guardian switchboard legend, has died. Paddy was a wonderful man – funny, warm, kind, wise, unforgettable. And he made a wonderful Irish coffee. Love you Padd.
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Brenda Leyland seemed to have a great life to outsiders. Then she was exposed for trolling the parents of Madeleine McCann. Her son Ben talks to me about the tragic outcome, and how it eventually helped him to come to terms with his own issues
theguardian.com/society/2023…
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this is my interview with controlling, vulnerable, closed & ultimately very open @MariahCarey – one of the weirdest, & most interesting, situations, in my life as a journo
theguardian.com/music/2018/j…
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My interview with Ant & Dec on addiction, drink-driving, shame, almost splitting up, friends reunited – and meeting up with dad after decades
theguardian.com/tv-and-radio…
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So bloody sad about Scott Walker. A genius who wanted to constantly push boundaries (perhaps at expense of his own sanity) One of the people I'm most glad to have interviewed. He was l kind, warm, curious and so youthful. Here it is if u fancy a read
theguardian.com/music/2012/n…
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Thank you for everything @johnmcdonnellMP – a man of principle and intelligence who fought a good campaign when so few did, and who recognises the need for a 'broad coalition' on the left
"I've done my bit, we need to move on"
Labour's John McDonnell confirms he won't be part of the next shadow cabinet, following the party's defeat at #GE2019
bbc.in/38whQmG
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#RIP Guardian legend & picture editor Mark Bygraves.
The funniest, hardest, rudest, filthiest,sweariest, loudest, bluntest, warmest, loyalest (if he liked you),smartest man at the Guardian in his day. He was a great friend to many of us, and we'll miss him so much.
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Dear @cityjournalism, thanks for asking me to come and lecture your students year after year about journalism (for free), and then lecturing me on social media about my lack of journalistic ethics via @jopayton after my interview with @BootstrapCook.
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Arresting somebody for shouting "Who elected him?" at King Charles makes a bloody good argument for a republic.
theguardian.com/uk-news/2022…
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#RIPElliotDallen
Elliot Dallen died hours after after writing that amazing piece telling us what was important in life. What a wonderful man.
theguardian.com/society/2020…
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Yep, Prof Ferguson and Scottish CMO Doc Calderwood both resigned over this. So by rights it's time for Classic Dom to call it quits
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The wonderful It's A Sin is Guardian's top TV show of 2021. The equally wonderful @russelldavies63 tells me why he put off writing it for 30 years.
theguardian.com/tv-and-radio…
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Great statement from Prince Harry. Possibly most important statement ever issued by a British royal. Good on him theguardian.com/uk-news/2016…
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Everyone should know Anthony Walker's name, just as we do Stephen Lawrence's – but too few people remember the 18-year-old murdered in a hideous racist attack. You can read about his short life, his inspirational mum Gee, & the power of forgiveness here.
theguardian.com/tv-and-radio…
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The hidden life of Camila Batmanghelidjh: why was her exoneration so widely ignored?
This is a fantatastic piece by @patrickjbutler. A great example of top feature writing/commissioning – timely, investigative, revealing, and what lots of us want to read
theguardian.com/society/2024…
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Feeling pissed off with the world? Want to read about someone inspirational & uplifting? Look, I know I'm biased... but here's my 91-year-old mam Marj who is simply THE BEST (no arguing)
theguardian.com/lifeandstyle…
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My mum Marjorie – though you may called her Marj – is 92. How great does she look? (And yes there's only one answer). And she's even better than she looks. Well proud of her.
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#RIPPaddyHill
Paddy became one of the great justice campaigners after the Birmingham Six had their convictions quashed in 1991. A man of huge conviction (the other kind) and passion, whose mental health was battered by the state
theguardian.com/uk-news/2024…
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This is my interview with Carrie from November. She was typically funny, moving, surprising, & brilliantly honest theguardian.com/culture/2016…
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I wrote this tribute to my mum, Marje, who gave me such hope in her final days (and, to be fair, throughout her life)
theguardian.com/commentisfre…
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Powerful interview by @bindelj with "Amber", a victim of the Rochdale grooming gang who was treated as a perpetrator by the police, CPS & social services and has finally got an apology from Greater Manchester Police
theguardian.com/uk-news/2022…
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Anybody who wants to help Observer and Guardian journalist @carolecadwalla fight the libel claim brought by Aaron Banks can do so here. It's a hugely important case for all of us who believe in a free press and freedom of speech in this country.
crowdjustice.com/donation/dL…
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Incredibly sad news about Sven. I was lucky enough to interview him earlier this month when he was extremely open, likeable and moving. Here's the piece if anyone fancies a read.
theguardian.com/football/art…
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According to the FT, it now looks as if the Scott Trust is prepared to pay Tortoise to take the Observer off its hands. How can Observer journalists have faith in their long-term future when the "seller" has to subsidise the "buyer"? Just asking
ft.com/content/6045a915-04aa…
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Powerful #StephenLawrence doc. Shame it resorted to classic tropes that a) @DuwayneBrooks wanted to go clubbing that night (he didn't ever go clubbing) and b) he ran away – no he ran from killers then risked his life to go back for Stephen when he realised he wasn't running
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This is my interview with the remarkable Esther Ghey, mother of Brianna who was murdered two years ago. If you're feeling pissed off/terrified at the state of the world, I think Esther will give you some hope in humanity
theguardian.com/lifeandstyle…
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