Campaign Launched to Overturn Negative Stereotyping of Essex Girls
A campaign has been launched to overturn the negative stereotyping of Essex girls after the term "Essex Girl" became officially recognised by dictionaries. Natasha Sawkins, 34, and Juliet Thomas, 32, have started an online petition to get the expression removed and have already had thousands of signatures in support. The Oxford English and Collins English dictionaries describe "Essex Girl" as a "derogatory" noun. The latter has the definition: "A young working class woman from the Essex area, typically considered as being...
In Pictures: Calais Migrant Camp Cleared
New pictures have emerged of French police clearing up the final refugees at the Calais migrant camp before demolition work begins. Some 2,000 migrants left voluntarily on Monday for centres across France, with hundreds more leaving today. The tents and structures that formed "The Jungle" which was once home to some 7,000 residents are now being pulled down, marking a sad end to a torrid period in our geopolitical history.
Rise in shark attacks due to global warming and increased tourism, says report
The sharp rise in global shark attacks on humans are linked to global warming, tourism and new building projects in coastal regions. It appears that the water is more dangerous to enter in certain areas of the world, and sadly humans are to blame. It appears that humans are increasingly entering into the sharks natural habitat and that is leading to these attacks, which can easily be fatal. Warmer seas, due to global warming, allow sharks to increase their population...
DVD Review: Notes on Blindness
By Leslie Byron Pitt/@Afrofilmviewer A recreational documentary in a similar vein to The Arbour (2010) or Dreams of a Life (2011), Notes on Blindness details us of the grand upheaval taken of famed academic John Hull as he loses his sight days after the birth of his first son. Directors James Spinney, Peter Middleton carefully craft a delicate series of vignettes in which we are informed of Hull’s frank dealings with losing his sight. We trace Hull recruiting a team...
Restaurant Review – Walkers of Whitehall
The great British pub is almost dead and I, for one, am unhappy. A few weeks ago, I visited Avebury’s The Red Lion Inn – the only pub within an ancient stone circle, built during the 1600s. Ten years ago, it was impossible to leave without having been filled with great cask ale, honest pub grub and scintillating conversation with nomads, druids, vagabonds, spiritualists and hikers. Now, having been taken over by Old English Inns, the pub’s décor has about...
CSI – Crime Series Interference
Dr Nigel Mellor is a bit confused about the revolving door for actors in cop dramas We’ve got a severe case of CSI : Crime Series Interference. Unfortunately our recorder can only handle one show at a time, which means we watch one, save one, get one on catch up and watch the news in the middle. So sometimes we’re watching three or four at once. Now, Annie’s dead, which is awful ‘cos she’s gorgeous and she’s been in everything...
How to Tackle Dropping Wealth Levels
Recent research has found that people in their 30s are half as wealthy as those in their 40s when they were the same age, signalling a drop in wealth levels. This has made it harder to afford houses, led to lower pension levels and made it harder to save up. In the short term at the very least, Brexit is also set to force down the standard of living for most people as huge drops in £GBP is leading to...
Labour Fined £20,000 For Not Declaring Ed Stone
Labour has been fined £20,000 by the Electoral Commission for failing to declare the infamous Ed Stone. The commission launched an investigation after it was found that “two payments “totalling £7, 614, relating to spending incurred on a stone tablet – referred to in the media as the “Ed Stone” – were missing from the party’s campaign spending return”. The body said that the registered treasurer of the party, Iain McNicol, committed two offences in delivering this incomplete return, which has...
Regulators Need ‘Cultural Change’ to Avoid us ‘Sleepwalking into the Next Financial Crisis’
Regulators need to undergo a cultural change if we are to avoid sleepwalking into the next financial crisis, a new report has found. The study by Cass Business School for New City Agenda revealed that the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Bank of England need to go much further to improve transparency and engage with the public, and that the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chief executive Andrew Bailey will need to demonstrate his independence from politicians and the financial...