HOW ARE RADICAL politicians made? It’s usually out of their own experience, or that of their community. “My forebears refused to cut the sugar cane for plantation owners, and I am rexognisably a product of that background.” Diane Abbott, Labour ...

IT’S THE economy, stupid. And it’s also possible to be stupid about the economy, it seems. “The way forward is for governments to consciously pursue monetary and fiscal stability through setting clear objectives, establishing proper rules, and requiring openness and ...

TODAY is Candlemas, also known as Candlemass, the formal end to the Christian season of Christmas. Christian ceremonies often echo ceremonies held in pagan communities which pre-date Christianity – and Candlemas is no exception. Many early communities marked the end ...

APATHY for politics was a problem 2000 years ago! “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” Plato •Read more about it: Thought for today The Thames Today

THE POWERFUL have always enjoyed freedom of movement. “My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too.” US President Barack Obama •Read more about it: Thought for today The Thames Today

FED UP WITH injustice, but tired of constantly fighting? You’re not alone. “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically… No, the only tired I ...

RICHARD BURGON MP, current candidate for Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, indulged in some plain speaking during the 2015 leadership contest. “I do think it’s unfair to characterise Jeremy Corbyn and his campaign as some sort of time travel ...

JUST A MINUTE… it’s the end of an era. “…that’s what life’s about, isn’t it? Having fun.” Nicholas Parsons, 1923-2020, RIP •Read more about it: Thought for today The Thames Today

HERE IS A timely quote from Cllr Rabina Khan, written three years ago, to mark Holocaust Memorial Day but which also raises a much more profound question. “Genocide starts with the rhetoric of hate, and we can’t forget that on ...

THE PRINCE and the prosecutor: one issue; two points of view. “[I am] willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency.” Prince Andrew, speaking last November about the inquiry into the allegations of sex trafficking against his former friend, the ...