Best articles: Britain NEWS^1510 August 2019 THE WEEKThe Brexit
myth of the
“left behind”
Philip Collins
The Times
It has becomea“truism” of Brexit journalism, says Philip Collins,
that parts of the UK have been “left behind”, ignored by a
political elite that doesn’t care about anyone outside the M25.
The theory sounds plausible, but it’samyth. Westminster has
directed endless funds and initiatives towards former industrial
towns over the past 20 years. In 1998, Labour began the New
Deal for Communities and the National Strategy for
Neighbourhood Renewal. It followed that with the Local
Enterprise Growth Initiative. The Tories and Lib Dems have since
launched lots of schemes of their own to regenerate struggling
communities. These efforts have not been in vain: new nurseries
and health centres have been created; 80% of social housing has
been brought up toa“decent” standard. But the lesson of the past
two decades is that intervention can only achieve, at best, slow
improvements, and that even these often go unnoticed by locals.
The idea that Westminster could transform depressed towns
simply by paying more attention to them is sadly misplaced.Give us back
our right to
spend apenny
Owen Jones
The Guardian
We havea“national loo scandal”. The number of public
conveniences in Britain has plummeted over recent years as local
authorities have slashed spending, says Owen Jones. In Cornwall,
the council has stopped maintaining 94% of its toilets. According
to areport by the Royal Society of Public Health,afifth of Britons
don’t leave their house as often as they would like for fear of
being caught short–aphenomenon known as “loo leash”. For
those with medical conditions, this afflicts more than four in ten.
It’s adisgrace. Do people with Crohn’s disease, the elderly or
heavily pregnant women “not have the right to take part in their
community, or to travel the country with ease”? Network Rail
did at least scrap loo charges in major stations earlier this year,
but it’s not right that in so many other public places, people have
to cross their legs, paya“bladder tax” or sneak intoapub or
café. The Government must reverse the cuts to local authorities
and make public conveniencesastatutory service that councils
have to provide. Let the “great toilet fightback” start here.Oxbridge is
entrenching
privilege
Simon Kuper
Financial Times
How can we improve Britain’s “stagnant” levels of social
mobility? Labour activists would like to abolish private schools,
says Simon Kuper, and that would surely help. Butabetter way
to disrupt “elite self-perpetuation” would be to target Oxford and
Cambridge. If we stopped those bastions of “inherited prestige
and wealth” from teaching undergraduates, they would no longer
be seen as incubators of the next ruling class. Canada, Australia
and Sweden all have private schools, yet also have above-average
social mobility. That’s partly because they don’t have highly
prestigious universities that confer “a life-changing advantage” on
the lucky few; just lots of good universities where students can get
adecent education before proving themselves in the job market.
Binning undergraduates might benefit Oxford and Cambridge,
too, as they currently lose money on these students. The
universities could concentrate on research and teaching postgrads,
and expand their summer schools for disadvantaged students. It
would retain what’s best about Oxbridge, but reduce the status-
symbol aspect of these institutions that so distorts British life.It’s time to
stand up to
“flying rats”
Alan Amos
The Sun
Adiner who tookabottle of
ketchup fromaNew Jersey
restaurant has apologised
and compensated the
management–after the theft
brought them “bad karma”. A
brown bag was found at the
door of Perkins Restaurant in
Lacey Township, containing
two unopened bottles of
ketchup and an anonymous
letter. “This is the worst thing
I’ve ever done,” the thief
wrote, explaining that the
crime had been followed by
acar crash withinamatter
of hours. “I’m sorry if I
inconvenienced you the
same way my life has been
inconveniencing me.”The nave of Rochester
Cathedral has been turned
into afree crazy-golf course
for the summer. The nine-
hole course, which takes
nearby bridges as its
inspiration, is intended to
attractayounger crowd to
the 1,400-year-old building.
“We hope that while playing
adventure golf, visitors will
reflect on the bridges that
need to be built in their own
lives and in our world
today,” said the Reverend
Rachel Phillips, one of the
cathedral clergy (see page 27).Aman who was circumcised
by mistake has received
£20,000 in compensation
from the NHS. Terry Brazier
had been admitted to
Leicester Royal Infirmary for
aroutine bladder procedure
under local anaesthetic.
Unfortunately, the pensioner
says, his notes got muddled
up with someone else’s, and
he was too busy chatting to
anurse to notice what was
happening. “They didn’t
know what to say when
they’d found out they’d done
it. They said they can’t send
me back to the ward and
they needed to talk to me.
It wasareal surprise.”IT MUST BE TRUE...
IreaditinthetabloidsVicious seagulls are taking over our country, says Alan Amos. The
decline of the fishing industry has left less food for these feathered
menaces to scavenge from the docks, so tens of thousands of them
have taken up residence in inland towns and cities. And they
aren’t just poking through rubbish bins. These “flying rats”, some
of which grow toahuge size, have been dive-bombing families,
biting toddlers and attacking pets. In 2015, gulls pecked a
Yorkshire terrier to death in Cornwall, and one was recently
reported to have carried offachihuahua fromawoman’s garden
in Devon. Asacity councillor in Worcester–which is fully 40
miles from the sea–Iaminundated with frightened parishioners
telling tales of aggressive birds pecking at them whenever they
venture into the garden. Residents and tourists are avoiding
eating in outdoor cafés, and business owners are complaining
about coming to work to find their shops “blanketed in white
droppings”. There’s only one answer to the gull problem: “We
must kill the bloody things.” Asanation of animal lovers, we
may baulk at the idea ofacull, but something must be done.