When we consider a “profession” we often think of paid experts: lawyers; engineers; nurses and doctors; teachers; musicians; electricians and many many more. (more…)

Having started to listen to Dylan again I wondered, as many have, whether Bob Dylan meant that the truth is so obvious (blowin in the wind) or one of life’s incomprehensible intangibles when he wrote the song in 1962. (more…)

Russia’s hosting of a very successful World Cup finals is a major step in a campaign to enhance the country’s international reputation – and the warmth of the welcome for visiting football fans, the quality of the new stadiums and other infrastructure, along with slick organisation of the tournament, seem to be shifting opinion in Europe away from a perception of an authoritarian, belligerent, isolationist state. (more…)

It’s a strange paradox that as a society we talk a lot and hear a lot about the need to reduce crime, bring offenders to account, the dreadful impact crime can have and the need to offer effective support to victims. Yet we also turn to crime as a means of light entertainment: crime novels, crime dramas on  television. I’m not sure of the psychology behind this but it’s real enough. (more…)

Most people last week were bombarded with emails, that you may have felt you were actually a victim of this new data protection legislation yourself. But as the calm is restored after the last few weeks of madness you might wonder what is GDPR all about and crucially what does it mean for victims. (more…)

As new Home Secretary Sajid Javid works his way through what is sure to be an over-flowing inbox, he will find that the impact of the ‘hostile environment’ policies employed by the Home Office extends well beyond the Windrush generation.
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