Despite the guilty verdict this week, Louise Mensch is sticking by her remarks that Thomas Mair’s trial – which resulted in his life imprisonment for the murder of Jo Cox – was potentially prejudiced. Mensch of course has a right to free speech and to her opinion. And she has raised some very interesting questions about criminal trials…
In an exclusive today, The Independent has learned that the Government has made a U-turn on one of its most controversial school policies. Previously, pupils would be required to provide information about their place of birth. It was a policy that would have targeted children as young as two years old – and it is only in…
Eight years ago, Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States. Today, Americans will choose their next President – a woman, or a so-called woman hater. America’s fate hangs in the balance, and during this stressful time, it would be pertinent to look back on Obama’s presidency. Since President Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination back in…
It is a good thing that Theresa May’s Conservative government is introducing an Alan Turing Law to pardon gay men convicted of historical victimless sexual crimes – that is what I wrote for The Independent last month. No one should be criminalised for being gay. At the start of the century, I was still policing these sex crimes…
Until recently, I didn’t even realise I was a Black Gay Man. Gay – yes, but Black – no. Ridiculous, it sounds. I lived in a world in which I thought I was accepted because of my mixed-race heritage, so I had no reason to consciously think about my blackness. I was just me. That…
In 2001, I stepped proudly through the doors of Greater Manchester Police and one of the first words I was called from a colleague was a “coconut” – you know, black on the outside/white on the inside. This was just before the BBC documentary The Secret Policeman aired highlighting racism in the service, I was at the…
In July 2010, I found out that The Sun newspaper had obtained my personal and sensitive information, and was going to publish this in an attempt to discredit me. This was because I had taken the not-easy decision to challenge my employer for behaviour in my job as a police detective I believed to be…
In the run-up to the referendum on changing the UK voting system this May, Prime Minister David Cameron gave a speech on multicultural Britain, claiming that the country has seriously been damaged by an influx of migrants, many who are from ethnic minority communities. This speech, together with my own experience of racial discrimination, got…
In the run-up to the referendum on changing the UK voting system this May, Prime Minister David Cameron gave a speech on multi-cultural Britain, claiming that the country has seriously been damaged by an influx of migrants, many who are from ethnic minority communities. This speech, together with my own experience of racial discrimination, got…
In March, my partner Alex and I went to see the March for the Alternative parade and rally in central London, which was organised by Britain’s Trades Union Congress (TUC). Up to half a million people gathered for the event, to protest against the UK Coalition Government’s plans for fast and deep cuts in public…
This Friday, the Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will be ‘United’, in celebration. Republicans will be celebrating the extra bank holiday this year, and Monarchists the marriage of Prince William of Wales to Miss Catherine Middleton, previously known as ‘Kate’. Like the many billions around the world, watching the wedding in London, I…
This Friday, the Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will be ‘United’, in celebration. Republicans will be celebrating the extra bank holiday this year, and Monarchists the marriage of Prince William of Wales to Miss Catherine Middleton, previously known as ‘Kate’. Like the many billions around the world, watching the wedding in London, I…
The news over the past few days about the East End Gay Pride (EEGP) which was scheduled to take place in London on 2 April has caused me some unease. There had been calls for it to be cancelled by LGBT organisations, support for it by other LGBT organisations and individuals, support then being withdrawn,…
Despite the wet weather in London, UK Black Pride held its fifth annual event in Regent’s Park last Saturday. The day after, I was lying in bed catching up on the news online when I saw a PinkNews.co.uk article on the festival. The comments from some readers towards the black and Asian community caught my…
On Mental Health… It was just after July of this year that I decided to really take control of my own life. I learned that a national tabloid was going to publish a story about me, detailing the challenge I was making against my employer on the grounds of race & sexual orientation discrimination. As…
There is public acknowledgement that cuts are needed in the country to help the deficit, but with the arts budget only one percent of the NHS budget, the arts punch above their weight and support a massive industry. Many students on the MA Writing for Screen and Stage are hoping to write scripts for film,…