Telling Stories

Telling stories is important, but change takes time. For things to change, there must be enough people asking why bother, and deciding to act.

Black and dangerous?

Why are black people with mental health problems still more likely than whites to be heavily medicated, restrained and detained against their will?

Ordinary Europeans welcome migrants and asylum seekers

Many undocumented migrants and asylum seekers, having lost faith in the dreams of a better life in the West, often regain it through friendship with ordinary Europeans. There are hundreds of committed Europeans working to alleviate the problems faced by migrants, even when their own governments refuse to acknowledge the situation.

Is this what gentrification looks like?

I’m not really an opinion blogger; instead I prefer to tell stories based on my reporting and research. However, every now and then, I do like to let off steam. So below are a few […]

A humanitarian crisis in the forests of northern France

A better life? The European Union’s other problem France –  part III Many asylum seekers and migrants intent on getting to Britain set up camps close to the ferry ports and lorry depots along the […]

“The police make us feel like animals”

A better life? The European Union’s other problem France –  part II The large decrepit factory stands tall but offers little by way of shelter. There are scraps of rusted metal and an assortment of […]

What price justice?

Legal aid scores highly on the coalition government’s list of public services surplus to requirement, and is therefore ripe for cutting. This week politicians debate the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, which […]

Children: the deserving poor?

‘If there’s anything extra to buy such as a pair of boots for one of the children … me and the children goes without dinner.’ So says a working class woman from York interviewed for […]