Matthew Carr's Blog, page 54

Hunger is political: let’s not pretend it isn’t

The government has adopted a strikingly conciliatory pose in response to yesterday’s report from the All Parliamentary Inquiry into Hunger in the United Kingdom.   The hapless Lady Jenkin may have expressed what many Tories secretly believe when she suggested that … Continue reading →

Russia Today and the new Information Wars

‘Information’ that supports your side; disinformation that invents, distorts or invents the truth or presents spurious allegations and assumptions as facts; outright lies and propaganda; controlling the flow of information through ‘embedded’ reporters and hand-picked pools in order to eliminate … Continue reading →

A Plague of Violent Cops

Police have long been a indispensable feature of popular entertainment.   Cops and detectives pour through our cinemas and tv screens in a seemingly endless stream of films and tv cop dramas and police procedurals routinely take their viewer into  dark, … Continue reading →

Why can’t the United Nations feed Syria’s refugees?

In the oxymoronic world of humanitarian war, refugees occupy a precarious and unenviable position.   Sometimes they will find themselves propelled to the forefront of international concern, and then suddenly they will become a problem and a burden, and they may … Continue reading →

A Week in Galapagos

Last month I was lucky enough to spend a week in the Galapagos Islands while leading a walking group in Ecuador.  In fact we didn’t do much walking on Galapagos itself, but spent most of the time on board ship, … Continue reading →

Remembering Sherman’s ‘March to the Sea’

It has passed virtually unnoticed in the UK, but this year is the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of one of the most famous military campaigns in history:  William Tecumseh Sherman’s ‘March to the Sea’ from Atlanta to Savannah.    I … Continue reading →

Black Friday Blues

It’s safe to say that the last week of November hasn’t really shown Britain at its best.   On the contrary, an almost daily barrage of bad news suggests a society that is gradually  coming apart at the seams.    … Continue reading →

National security: a concept in search of a meaning?

Good morning folks.   It’s National Counter Terrorism Awareness week, and the government and police forces across the country are doing their best to remind the public of the gravity of the threats we face from terrorism, radicalization and extremism.   The … Continue reading →

Liars’ Ball

Even within the dizzying race to the bottom that British politics has become, last week’s ‘white van tweet’ marked a new low point in political dishonesty, stupidity and crass opportunism.  The central role in this farce was played by Ed … Continue reading →

Saint Tony Ascends to Heaven

It’s been a good year for that jetsetting businessman, philantrophist and peace envoy Tony Blair.  In September GQ Magazine voted him ‘philantrophist of the year.’   Now Save the Children have given him its ‘Global Legacy Award’ at a ‘gala dinner’ … Continue reading →