The Mirror Crack'd

In an essay for the openDemocracy newsletter on the future of Ukraine, Aman Sethi discusses national.myths. As he puts it, "we are all shaped by our myths, but we needn’t be bound to them. We are all born into our respective national identities, but we can each choose to reinterpret what they mean to us". While the United Kingdom is clearly not facing the existential crisis currently being experienced by Ukraine as a result of Russian aggression, it is nevertheless in the throes of a crisis of identity. It could be argued that this is merely the latest iteration of a struggle that has existed at least since the Acts of Union of 1603 and 1707 between England and Scotland - the first personal, when King James VI of Scotland became James I of England on the death of the childless Elizabeth I, the second political, in the reign of Queen Anne - but with roots stretching back centuries before that, including the Union of England and Wales in 1536 under Henry VIII. It could also be ...

Tim Davie has resigned his post as Director-General (D-G) of the BBC following revelations of biased editing in a Panorama exposé of Donald Trump's alleged incitement to storm the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. Davie was appointed to the role in 2020 at a salary north of £500,000 per annum. A keen marathon-runner, he has proved to be not so fleet of foot in his handling of this scandal, merely the latest in a long line to hit the troubled public broadcasting Corporation, though possibly its biggest yet and conceivably an existential one. Now Trump has threatened a billion dollar lawsuit and, with nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide, the running man has wisely chosen this moment to hang up his running shoes - at least as far as running the BBC is concerned. For his part, the BBC Board Chair, Samir Shah, has admitted the edit of Trump’s speech was “an error of judgment”. No, Mr Shah, it was a crass, stupid and above all, inept act of vandalism. If you're going to doctor the truth f...

The Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy, stood in for his boss at PMQs today, making Keir Starmer look like a polished performer by way of contrast - no mean feat. While his performance was deeply tragic, to describe the occasion as Hamlet without the prince would be to seriously over-egg the pudding. It was a thoroughly lacklustre affair throughout, the oxygen sucked out of it by the absence of the two main protagonists and the presence of their utterly inept understudies. I never thought I'd find myself wishing for Starmer and Badenoch to get back to their respective despatch boxes as soon as possible, but such is the state of contemporary Westminster politics. When Lammy first stood up he was wearing a sharp suit but one with startlingly naked lapels. He mentioned Remembrance Sunday in his opening remarks and yet where was his poppy? Later in the proceedings, during Daisy Cooper's two questions on behalf of the Lib Dems' also absent leader I think, Lammy was suddenly spor...

News of the shocking knife attack on passengers travelling yesterday on an LNER London-bound train had added resonance for me as it's a service I often use to visit family and friends in the North. I've always had a soft spot for LNER, which took over as 'Operator of Last Resort' in 2018 when Virgin Trains hit the buffers after three years of having started running the East Coast franchise in 2015 as part of the Tories' disastrous rail privatisation programme. Efficiency undoubtedly suffered under Virgin - and the fact that the company has just been granted permission to operate a rival service to Eurostar on HS1 certainly doesn't inspire confidence - but the staff now transferred to LNER, unfailingly friendly and efficient throughout these commercial upheavals, are now shown not only to be dedicated but also very brave. Having handled an appalling situation, calmly and professionally by all accounts, I would hope that, as well as public recognition, they also r...