GAZETTE THE MET POLICE AND BORIS JOHNSON: IS 'EVADE AND ESCAPE' THE MOTTO? - #1 - Bylines Network
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GAZETTE
CITIZEN JOURNALISM | LOCAL & INTERNATIONALIST
BYLINES
#1
THE MET
POLICE
AND BORIS
JOHNSON:
IS ‘EVADE AND
ESCAPE’ THE
MOTTO?
BYLINES
#1
GAZETTE I’m Lizzie, fly me
How can it cost £500,000 to send Foreign Secretary
04
Cover illustration by
Liz Truss to Australia and back?
High anxiety spreads in the Brexit camp 06
Whisper it, but there seems to be a certain kind of
nervous disquiet about Brexit creeping in at The
Spectator
How shapeshifter Liz Truss
trumped the Turnip Taliban 08
As Johnson’s odds of making it to the next general
election diminish daily, Peter Thurlow traces the rise
of Liz Truss, a leader in waiting
Rape culture in UK secondary schools 10
Kate Weston writes about rape culture in our UK
secondary schools and the BBC documentary
Uncovering Rape Culture
What’s the holdup? 12
Traffic is queuing on M20. What’s the holdup? Could
it be the extra paperwork and inspections that came
with Brexit? It’s set to get worse
Is the NHS overwhelmed?
Jake’s last Friday on Earth 14
A Nottingham man died after an overwhelmed NHS
was unable to help him. He sat untreated in A&E for
nine hours before being transferred. Just 36 hours
later he died
Of potholes, patronage and the press:
the truth behind a blown-up scandal 16
“Taxpayers’ money used to repair Lord’s driveway”,
screamed the headlines. But the real scandal is how
the media and politicians got it so wrong
Feeling safe, being safe: strategies to
10
combat violence against women and girls 18
Barbara Morrison challenges the government’s
strategy on violence against women and advocates a
strategy where the perpetrator is held to account
Profile: Mo Kanjilal of Sussex Bylines 21
Rape culture in UK It’s the volunteer writers, orgnisers, proofreaders and
editors behind the scenes who make it all happen
secondary schools
Kate Weston writes about
rape culture in our UK
secondary schools and
the BBC documentary
Uncovering Rape Culture
Welcome! I’m delighted you
are here, perusing our shiny
new Bylines Gazette
06
It’s less than two years ago that we
had a vision for a local news network in
partnership with Byline Times.
We started tentatively with Yorkshire
High anxiety spreads in the Brexit camp Bylines in spring 2020, which took off
The wind seems to have gone out of Brexit’s sails
and quickly spawned half a dozen other
regional titles following the model.
08
Our outpouring of citizen journalism
has had many millions of reads and is
testament to the vibrancy of this network.
Hundreds of passionate volunteers have
made this happen – writing, researching,
editing, cartooning, promoting and
How shapeshifter Liz generating content that has been picked
Truss trumped the Turnip up by MPs, BBC News, Sky and more.
Taliban
As Johnson’s odds of making This gazette is all about bringing us
it to the next General Election
together in one place so that our
diminish daily, Peter Thurlow
supporters can see the best of the Bylines
traces the rise of Liz Truss, a
leader in waiting
regionals. It brings the family together and
into a news magazine format, to show the
collective soul of what we’re doing around
this country. News isn’t for us to just
absorb – it’s for us to generate and own.
14
We should all have the opportunity to
have our say, make our mark, and get our
knowledge and ideas into the local and
national democracy around us. And we’ve
Is the NHS overwhelmed? got a lot to say!
Jake’s last Friday on
Earth So, as you peruse this first edition,
As I left A&E, the security guard think about what powers our thriving
confirmed that there was community and, if you haven’t already,
only one doctor on duty. In think about joining us.
Nottingham, a big city, in the
middle of the worst pandemic in
Dr Mike Galsworthy
300 years
CO-DIRECTOR
BYLINES NETWORK LTD
By David Edwards
in HOME AFFAIRS
I’M LIZZIE, FLY ME
How can it cost £500,000 to send Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to
Australia and back?
How does the Bagging an upgrade ‘UK plc’ livery applied at a cost of
£900,000, rendering it somewhat
government get useless for clandestine military work.
In 2015 David Cameron arranged
around? Since then, it has continued to be
a £10m refit of one of the RAF’s
A330 multi-role tanker transporter largely unavailable and spends most
The cost of government ministers’ of its airborne time in its previous
aircraft, claiming that this would save
travel, whether by road, rail, air or sea role flying round in circles above our
£775,000 a year. Whether it achieved
has long been a matter of interest coastal waters on refuelling exercises.
this objective is far from clear, but in
and comment amongst British One suspects that this has something
2018, on a trip to South Africa, the
taxpayers, but this week’s suggestion to do with the fact that it’s a bit big to
then foreign secretary Boris Johnson
by Simon Calder of the Independent land comfortably at many provincial
told reporters that the aircraft was
that Liz Truss’ flight to Australia (and airports, and the RAF would rather
“hardly ever available” and in a “drab”
back) cost the taxpayer £500,000 not have its operational fleet on
livery. He also suggested that if there
will have raised more than a few display for every Tom, Dick and Harry
was a way of arranging a dedicated
eyebrows. to gawp at.
plane that wasn’t “exorbitantly
expensive”, it would be a good idea to
In the past government ministers If there was anything at all to be
get one to promote Britain abroad.
have relied upon a mixture of commended about this plan, it was
scheduled and chartered flights for that the aircraft was already under a
You will imagine the collective
air travel round the world and indeed, lease contract and did not therefore
sharp intake of breath when it was
the UK, and have also had access to incur additional lease costs.
announced by this government in
smaller aircraft of the Queen’s Flight
early 2020 – under the leadership of
(more formally No 32 (The Royal)
the very same Boris Johnson – that
Squadron RAF). Since 2015, however,
the aircraft that was hardly ever
the government has been looking at
available had somehow become
maintaining its own fleet of aircraft, in
unexpectedly available to have a
a manner of speaking.
4 BYLINES GAZETTE Photo Sgt ‘Matty’ Matthews RAF/© MoD Crown Copyright 2020 from Wikipedia Commons
Upgrading the It was this little beast that flew Liz Alternatively, since £75m is the
Truss to Australia this month, via maximum contract value, presumably
upgrade Dubai and Kuala Lumpur. based on a full 600 flying hours a
year, we could surmise that there are
In early 2021 the government
acquired a second aircraft in ‘UK plc’
Adding up the cost two elements to it; a fixed retainer
to keep the plane on exclusive
livery. The original aircraft didn’t get
So, how do we establish the cost? standby 24 hours per day/seven days
a lot of use in its ‘UK plc’ role so it’s
Well, the contract is for a maximum per week/365 days per year and a
not entirely clear why an additional
of £75m over five years, for 50 hours separate fee for flying time.
aircraft was required. Unless perhaps
flying a month. On that basis, it could
the original was, indeed, hardly every
be argued that the trip to Australia Depending on how (or if) the fixed
available, a bit too big to operate
used up more or less a month’s element of the lease is included
comfortably on domestic flights, and
allocation of flying time, and so cost in the £500,000 figure, we could
a trifle too sensitive to be left hanging
1/12th of the £15m a year. However, be looking at between £5,000 and
round provincial airfields.
we don’t know whether the terms £10,000 per flying hour.
of the lease include fuel, staff, and
This time, the aircraft was an Airbus
catering(!) costs, in which case the Whichever way you look at it, whether
A321neo-LR, registration G-XATW,
true price could rise further. it cost £500,000 or £1.25m to send
on lease from Titan Airways via
Liz Truss to Australia, spending £75
Corporate Travel Management
Alternatively, we could divide the million over five years or £25,000
(North) Ltd, an existing supplier
annual cost by 365 and look at the per flying hour to keep a brand
whose contract could be amended,
daily rate of about £41,000 per day. new commercial airliner idle for
circumventing the need for a
For the six days the aircraft was in 93 percent of the time is simply
competitive tender process. The
use this would account for £246,600, ludicrous.
contract is worth a maximum of
leaving us to find an explanation for
£75m over five years and gives the
the remaining £250,000 or so. This That the taxpayer has no idea how
government exclusive use of the
sounds quite a lot for fuel, staff and the costs are incurred is a disgrace.
aircraft, with an expected usage of 50
catering, even allowing for Liz’s love
hours a month!
of an extravagant lunch!
DISCOVERY, LIVERPOOL’S COLONIAL HOW WARRINGTON
COLLABORATION, STATUE OF MAJOR BOROUGH COUNCIL
COMMUNICATION: OUR GENERAL EARLE WERE SHOCKED BY THE
LOGO EXPLAINED Liverpool has an impressive statue of ENERGY MARKET
Brian Derby explores the Jodrell Bank Major- General William Earle, but the Investing in the energy market will
Lovell Telescope, its history and why imperial legacy of the bronze statue lose Warrington Borough Council
it was the perfect choice of logo for makes it problematic. tens of millions of pounds. How did
North West Bylines. this happen?
By Richard Millington
By Brian Derby in OPINION By David Myall
in REGION in REGION
Jodrell Bank from Free Images / Saint Georges Hall in Liverpool from Pixabay / Warrington Town Hall from Wikipedia Common
BYLINES GAZETTE 5
By Anthony Robinson
in BREXIT
HIGH ANXIETY SPREADS
IN THE BREXIT CAMP
Whisper it, but there seems to be a certain kind of nervous disquiet
about Brexit creeping in at The Spectator
The wind seems to have gone out There are understandable fears that The journalist and broadcaster casts
of Brexit’s sails. The resignation voters will soon discover Brexit is not aside any pretence at impartiality and
of Lord Frost and an encounter all it was cracked up to be. Nowhere points to several mythical ‘benefits’
with economic reality has left is this becoming clearer than at the of Brexit (vaccine roll out, freeports,
Boris Johnson’s European policy world’s oldest weekly magazine The alcohol pricing, etc) all of which
drifting aimlessly in the doldrums Spectator. Britain could have enjoyed as an
with much speculation about EU member, but dismisses them as
the direction in which he or his “hardly game-changing” anyway. Neil
Andrew Neil opposes
successor will next be blown. says the way to transform post-Brexit
“generous health and Britain is via “regulatory reform”
Meanwhile, in the pro-Brexit welfare benefits” to create the sort of “light-touch
community, there are increasing regulatory environment in which the
signs of impatience at the glacial Spectator chairman Andrew Neil, technologies and entrepreneurs of
progress of change; an impatience writing in The Daily Mail (A year after tomorrow will feel welcome”.
mixed with more than a little anxiety. quitting the moribund EU, why aren’t Unfortunately for him, virtually
It’s not real panic – yet – but give Boris Johnson and his Brexiteers all of today’s technologies and
it a few months. The reason for making the most of our freedom?) entrepreneurs are demanding
the edginess can perhaps be seen says EU economies are “notorious” regulatory alignment with the EU
in recent polling figures. Support for saddling workers with higher in order to avoid needless trade
for Brexit is falling at a rate not far taxes to pay for “generous health and barriers.
behind the PM’s own plummeting welfare benefits” and laments that
approval rating. that now appears to be our direction
of travel too.
6 BYLINES GAZETTE Image licensed from Adobe Stock - ©BortN66
ADVERT
Moreover, Neil overlooks the fact asked: Was I right to support Brexit?
that Britain was frequently a first If this is ‘Global Britain’, I’m starting
mover or world leader in tomorrow’s to wonder. Europhile Nelson was
technologies. Steel hulled ships, questioning the assurances given
steam propulsion, railways, jet by silver-tongued Brexiter Daniel
engines, motor cars and motor Hannan before Nelson threw in his
cycles are good examples. We made lot with Vote Leave.
the first computer and a Briton,
Tim Berners-Lee, dreamt up the Now, The Spectator’s American-born
World Wide Web while working with economics editor Kate Andrews, in
colleagues at CERN. We have often her latest piece for the magazine,
been at the birth of these industries asks “Has Boris made you better off?”
of the future. This is not really the I suspect she knows that the answer
The national movement for
issue. It’s holding the lead and for most readers is no, although Proportional Representation
competing where we tend to fail. Johnson might not have made them makevotesmatter.org.uk
very much worse off – yet.
Productivity, about which Neil says attention to the economy before the
nothing, is our real problem and EU You would have thought as next election when he will ask: ‘Are
membership is key to improving it. economics editor she would know you better off now than you were
that Brexit is unlikely to make four years ago?’ She says Johnson
anybody feel better off next year – or is banking on the answer being a
Has Boris Johnson resounding yes.
indeed in the years after that as well.
made you better off?
Andrews claims that Johnson’s plan If so, he is bound for disappointment.
Last month, Spectator editor Fraser
is to “ride out the turbulence” in
Nelson, writing in The Telegraph Continue reading online
Downing Street and then draw voters’
ANOTHER INSPECTION PAINTING THE TOWN THE NORTH’S BUSES
REPORT SHOWS THAT RED: HOW ARE MUST RETURN TO
THE HOME OFFICE YORKSHIRE RED WALL PUBLIC OWNERSHIPS:
CANNOT BE TRUSTED SEATS FEELING IN A LESSON IN
TO DETAIN ASYLUM 2022? PRIVATISATION
SEEKERS HUMANELY What do Yorkshire red wall seats The privatisation of buses has
History shows the government is think of Brexit? Are they optimistic contributed to the slashing of
incapable of developing a humane about levelling up? And what do they services and increased prices in
and well-functioning refugee and make of static disposable incomes? Yorkshire, impacting many elderly
asylum seeker system in the UK, let people.
alone elsewhere.
By Jane Thomas By Hashaam Yaqoob
By Dr Stella Perrott in POLITICS in TRANSPORT
in HOME AFFAIRS
Home Office photo by Malcolm Laverty / Halifax, a red wall seat - Image by Billy Wilson on Flickr / The privatisation of buses in Yorkshire - Colin Smith / Halifax Bus Station
BYLINES GAZETTE 7
By Peter Thurlow
in POLITICS
As Johnson’s odds of making it to the next general election diminish
daily, Peter Thurlow traces the rise of Liz Truss, a leader in waiting
It is very easy to describe Liz unwavering political principles have She also gave a fierce denunciation
Truss as the epitome of the been out of fashion for some years. of the monarchy at a LibDem party
modern career politician, and conference, a performance which
just as difficult to refute it. It is The LibDem student hinted that she had a taste for
also difficult to see what qualities the limelight. But then something
have brought her to the point Truss began her career as chair happened during her last year at
where she and her backers of Oxford University’s Liberal university, and in 1996 she jumped
imagine she is a plausible leader Democratic Party, with ideas galaxies ship and joined the Tories.
of their party and prime minister. away from those she currently
espouses. She was a champion of An affair and its after-
Yet for some time she has been the civil liberties, and in July 1994 held shocks
members’ darling, according to polls the Liberal Democrat banner at a
taken by the website Conservative demonstration at Twyford Down In 2001 having contested the safe
Home. It could be the strength of her against Tory home secretary Michael Labour seat of Hemsworth she was
convictions. However dramatically Howard’s criminal justice bill – a given a mentor to help sharpen her
her political principles change, puny thing compared to Priti Patel’s act. The mentor was Mark Field MP
her certainty about them never present intentions. and they went on to have an affair,
wavers. In these days, certainty is
which in 2006 became the cause of
a much sought-after quality while
his divorce.
8 BYLINES GAZETTE Photo Sgt ‘Matty’ Matthews RAF/© MoD Crown Copyright 2020 from Wikipedia Commons
Whilst still involved in the affair Then Truss was implausibly adopted to govern the country. Whereas the
however, in 2005 Truss was selected as parliamentary candidate for first priority of the Tories was to
as parliamentary candidate for the the safe Tory seat of South West undermine the Liberal Democrats at
marginal seat of Calder Valley, after Norfolk. The membership was every opportunity.
local Tories fell out of love with their unaware of the earlier affair at the
candidate at the time. Ironically it time. Once they found out, many Education was one of those
was over allegations the candidate members took exception to such departments where fighting between
had been having an affair with the moral laxity. This disgruntled rural Tories and LibDems was fiercest,
constituency chairman. The Truss group became known as the Turnip though it is doubtful whether the
affair remained secret, though she Taliban and demanded a review, but Liberal Democrats realised what it
still lost. Truss survived and won. Her father, was about. It was at this point that
a teacher with left wing leanings, your correspondent met Truss.
She was later shortlisted for the safe refused to canvass for her. The occasion was with a distraught
seat of Bromley and Chislehurst, mother to discuss the tragic death
though that eventually went to Coalition with of her child. Truss neither addressed
Bob Neill among allegations of the mother directly, called her by
LibDems
freemasonry. About this time the her name nor offered any sympathy
affair was eventually revealed and for her plight. The impression given
Her first ministerial appointment was
made headlines, and according was that the meeting was merely an
as parliamentary under-secretary of
to the Daily Mail “her name was annoying interruption in a busy day.
state for childcare and education,
brought up in every incident that
as part of the coalition with the
happened inside the party”. She was Continue reading online
Liberal Democrats. From outside
appointed deputy director of the
Westminster and probably within the
Reform think tank, a useful platform
Liberal Democrats, it was assumed
to extend her political contacts.
the first priority of the coalition was
NATIONALITY AND IS NET ZERO THE NEW REMOTE WORKING AND
BORDERS BILL: BREXIT? THE DISAPPEARANCE OF
SOLIDARITY WITH As Conservative polling slides, the PRIVATE SPACE
MIGRANTS AND ASYLUM party’s factions fall to quarrelling. Net With businesses requiring staff to
SEEKERS zero could be the cause that rescues work from home, and checking their
The Home Office’s ‘hostile them. social media before employing them,
environment’ approach is shaping the lines between public and private
the new nationality and borders bill. By Stephen McNair space has blurred.
It doesn’t have to be this way. in ENVIRONMENT
By Alex Castillo-Powell
By Alexandra Bulat in BUSINESS
in POLITICS
Alex Bulat at her citizenship ceremony. © Dr. Alexandra Bulat
A divided Tory party. Photo by World Economic Forum via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) BYLINES GAZETTE 9
Public and private spheres have become blurred. Photo by Simon Evans via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
RAPE CULTURE IN
UK SECONDARY
SCHOOLS
By Katie Weston
in HEALTH
Kate Weston writes about rape culture in our UK secondary
schools and the BBC documentary Uncovering Rape Culture
I recently watched the BBC featured as well. Everyone’s own experience as a girl going
documentary, presented by Invited enables people to through the education system in the
Love Island’s Zara McDermott, anonymously post their testimonials UK. These are the incidents I can
entitled Uncovering Rape Culture. of sexual harassment, sexual remember.
The documentary focuses on assault and rape, alongside the
sexism and rape culture within school, college or university where The first time a boy made me feel
UK schools. McDermott herself it happened. Although visitors to uncomfortable was when I was nine.
describes an incident where a the site can’t see which incidents A few boys in my class would go up
teenage boy in his school uniform relate to which school, the site to girls and ask if they had a ‘fish
pinned her (then aged 20) up does publish a separate list of every shop’. They meant it as a euphemism
against a fence and sexually school, college and university which for vagina. Both “yes” and “no”
assaulted her. is mentioned. Unsurprisingly, my answers were equally funny to them.
secondary school and university both When I was 11 and starting
McDermott also speaks to feature on those lists. secondary school, boys started
teenage girls and boys about openly talking about porn in the
their experiences and views on The documentary and reading classroom. Although this may sound
rape culture within schools. The testimonials on Everyone’s shocking, it seems to line up with
website Everyone’s Invited was Invited got me thinking about my when children first become exposed
10 BYLINES GAZETTE Photo by Luis Galvez on Unsplashto online pornography. According genitals (thankfully still within his It was often in crowded corridors
to research commissioned by the trousers), thumped them on the between lessons, so girls often didn’t
British Board of Film Classification lab bench in front of me and my know exactly who it was.
(BBFC), over half of 11-13 year-olds friends. He laughed at us when
had seen porn at some point, despite we instinctively glanced down. Continue reading online
75 percent of parents believing their That particular incident really felt
child had not viewed pornography. like he was trying to make us feel ADVERT
Education around this topic in sex uncomfortable, purely for the sake of
and relationship education lessons making us feel uncomfortable.
is rare. By the time I was 14, boys had gone
beyond openly talking about porn in
When I was 12, two boys in my the classroom, to trying to engage
geography class repeatedly asked girls in that conversation – usually
We campaign for
the young, inexperienced student in order to try and embarrass them
teacher if she was going to the local and make them feel uncomfortable, a vibrant, inclusive
underage club night so they could in a similar way to what the boy in my democracy that puts
“get with” her. This was probably the science class did.
first time I noticed boys targeting power in the hands
someone they deemed to be From the North East of the people
vulnerable. They never treated older,
more experienced and permanent It began to escalate after that,
female teachers the way they treated beyond conversations that would
Cllck here to help us
the 21-year-old student teacher. make girls feel uncomfortable in stop the undemocratic
school. When I was around 14, a Elections Bill today
When I was 14, a boy in my top set group of boys would squeeze the
GCSE science class grabbed his bums of girls in the year group. unlockdemocracy.org.uk
FORMER POLICE CHIEF PROTESTORS THE MET POLICE AND
SAYS PARTYGATE DEMONSTRATE BORIS JOHNSON:
WORSE THAN SUPPORT FOR WOMEN IS ‘EVADE AND ESCAPE’
CUMMINGS’ BARNARD IN DETENTION AT THE MOTTO?
CASTLE TRIP HASSOCKFIELD The ongoing saga of the Met Police
Former Durham police chief, Mike Campaigners continue to protest and Boris Johnson. Prof Colin Talbot
Barton, has spoken candidly about about the controversial Hassockfield/ asks if ‘Evade and Escape’ is the
the current Westminster row, so- Derwentside IRC where women motto?
called ‘Partygate’. asylum seekers are now imprisoned.
By Colin Talbot
By Yvonne Wancke By Julie Ward in POLITICS
in HOME AFFAIRS in DEMOCRACY
Drawing by Suzy Varty / Photo by Simone J Rudolphi / Cartoon by Stan
BYLINES GAZETTE 11By Charlotte Mbali
in BREXIT
WHAT’S THE
HOLDUP?
12 BYLINES GAZETTE Licensed by Adobe Stock (smartin69)A British haulage to do those jobs are lacking. Many He added that the British
who used to check fresh meat, for government has not understood the
manager explains instance, have gone back to Eastern haulage industry for many years,
Seeing the long lines of lorries in the Europe. which has squeezed the sector. For
queue from Folkestone to Dover this example, a tax of £3,000 has to be
week, I rang up our Dover contact Prices up over 300 paid per truck each year in the UK,
in the haulage industry. He could and also road tolls have to be paid
percent
not explain if the delays are any when that truck is on the continent.
worse this week – as he was not in He was keen to tell me how much EU haulage firms just have to pay
Dover but in France, coming back prices have risen in the haulage road tolls, and no tax.
from holiday. But he said firmly – industry since Brexit. He used to
charge £25 per tonne which has
it is what we have been warning How is Brexit affecting
about all along since 2016: the extra now risen to £90: this would be
the extra cost a UK exporter would
the cost of living?
paperwork causes delays at the
border. bear. A consignment from Italy, for It would be interesting to get some
example, used to go through the quantification of how the Brexit
We’ve only just begun UK border for free (we were in the costs of haulage are affecting the
European single market!) but now various UK industries, especially
It will be much worse in July 2022, he has to charge £200 for handling fresh produce and grocery costs.
he told me, when the phytosanitary the customs papers. Altogether, not The problem is this is already being
regulations are due to be imposed. including these customs handling masked by talk of ‘general inflation’.
Each driver will then have to carry charges, prices per truck have gone Initially it was Covid, and now it is
the original health certificates. up £1,000. high energy prices as the excuse to
I asked him if he knew anything avoid the marauding elephant of
further about the staffing of the
Have drivers’ wages Brexit in the room.
phytosanitary offices at Sevington,
the large new lorry park near
gone up?
So let the Bylines researching
Ashford, which is where these checks I asked him whether driver wages journalists keep a steady eye out
will be carried out. had increased. He said the bigger for haulage costs and problems,
problem is that the trucks were especially here in Kent where we are
There have been numerous adverts driven mostly by foreign drivers very aware of the flow of trade along
for the jobs there. I wonder if they and they are now refusing to come the M20.
are able to fill them, since it is to the UK because of all the hassle
well-known that people qualified (including those queues near Dover).
FUNGI TOWARDS A FISH OF THE MEDWAY
A review of Entangled Life by Merlin PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE Home of the largest marine
Sheldrake Might the German model offer an protected area in the UK
example For Britain?
By Juliet Blackburn By Tanya Ferry
in BOOK REVIEWS By Chris Hammond in NATURE
in POLITICS
Mycelium – photo by Rob Hille CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 / German Bundestag by @silverringvee from Unsplash / Image from KEIFCA by living-river.org
BYLINES GAZETTE 13IS THE NHS
By June Roche
in HEALTH
OVERWHELMED? JAKE’S
LAST FRIDAY ON EARTH
A Nottingham man died after an overwhelmed NHS was unable
to help him. He sat untreated in A&E for nine hours before being
transferred. Just 36 hours later he died
My husband, Jacob, was a reading and immediately told him to
Straight to A&E
hard-working father of two get to A&E as fast as he could.
who coached the local football There it was established that he had That evening Jake’s chest started
team, Eastwood Town in the actually suffered two massive but to get ‘crackly’ and he became
Notts Youth Football League, in silent heart attacks, as well as three increasingly short of breath. This
his spare time. He was an avid strokes which had left him practically time, he felt pain in his chest and
Nottingham Forest supporter. He blind. His heart had been damaged neck, so we went straight to the
had no history of heart problems and there was a big clot in one of the hospital. He spent that Friday night
but on 1 December 2020, he had a chambers. The doctors put him on in a rammed but eerily quiet A&E
telephone consultation at 9.30pm blood thinners and on 9 December reception. He was cold, blind, alone,
with his GP, Dr Shah, about what 2020, he was sent home to recover. and clearly having heart attacks. He
he thought were panic attacks. But two days later, things started to sat in reception until 7.30 the next
go wrong. morning, when he was eventually
The doctor was brilliant – he had Jake transferred to the acute cardiology
describe the panic attacks, instructed 11 December 2020 was Jake’s last ward of another hospital.
him how to check his pulse and use Friday on Earth.
our blood pressure monitor to get a
14 BYLINES GAZETTE Photo by Luis Galvez on UnsplashI had been refused entry and had The still, almost silent waiting area She said he had been triaged, that
to argue that he was newly blind was full. Everyone was in the same he shouldn’t be moved and would
and needed assistance, just so that position and lots of people were, in be seen by the doctor really soon. I
I could sign him in and get him sat Jake’s words, “much worse off than believed her and I’m sure that she
down. Then I went back to the car. I me”. believed what she was telling me at
parked it as near as I could to A&E that moment.
and called reception to alert them It was true. There were some really
to the fact that Jake was clearly sick people there, some laying on As I left A&E, the security guard
having heart attacks and had only the floor and others with the ashen confirmed that there was only one
recently been discharged. There was pallor to their faces that severe pain doctor on duty. In Nottingham, a
only one nurse on the desk, I was brings. The nurse looked exhausted. big city, in the middle of the worst
concerned that she may not have The situation wasn’t her fault and pandemic in 300 years. He also said
initially grasped the seriousness of she was doing her best – if I had that this was often the case. I had
his situation. kicked up a fuss it would have used no idea – how can one doctor be
up valuable energy that she needed expected to see to all these people?
As I sat in the car, ambulance lights to devote to these patients. And
flashed past me every few minutes. Jake would probably have been even Back at my car, I realised why
more upset. ambulances passed around so often.
Much worse off than me They couldn’t park because the bays
The sense of despair and resignation were already filled, two deep, with
At 3am, I persuaded the security
in the room was palpable. What do other ambulances waiting to take
guard to let me in, to give Jake his
you do in that situation? Should I patients in. So I guess they were
phone charger and a drink. He
bring the car round, take him out of circling until a space became free.
looked shockingly pale and so very
there and try for another hospital? Throughout that night, there were so
tired. He was freezing cold and in a
That might send him to the back of many ambulances, more than I have
lot of pain. I was about to kick up a
the queue. ever seen in one place before.
fuss but Jake said not to. He pointed
out there was only one doctor on
I had a word with the nurse, Continue reading online
duty and told me to look around.
suggested I might take Jake to Derby.
THE GOVERNMENT IS BIG TOBACCO LETTER FROM A
IS DOING MASSIVE WINNING THE SMOKING CONFUSED CITIZEN
DAMAGE TO FARMING WAR? Carol Hedges scrutinises the
North Shropshire showed that The battle between Big Tobacco and government’s nationality and
damage caused by Brexit means the the WHO on the smoking war and borders bill by writing a letter to
mood of the Midlands is changing. tobacco use. Will we reach a smoke- the home secretary about stripping
Farmer Andrew Ward shares how free world? rights.
farmers are changing their views.
By Trevor Russel By Carol Hedges
in HEALTH in POLITICS
By Richard Hall
in BREXIT
Image supplied by Andrew Ward / Photo by Joshua Rondeau on Unsplash / CC Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Photographer: Philafrenzy
BYLINES GAZETTE 15STORM CLOUDS
By James Joughin
in POLITICS
GATHER OVER THE
ENGLISH VILLAGE
GREEN
English cricket is at an all-time low, just like English politics.
Is it karma, or something deeper?
If you walk across Brighton’s These days, all that is gone. State weather, cups of tea, Spitfires
Dorothy Stringer playing fields schools like Dorothy Stringer have overhead. And so on.
from the Ditchling Road side, you no budget for much sport, let alone Like this vision, however, the
will notice a series of concrete cricket. Some of them have even narrative no longer coheres. It
strips almost swallowed up had to sell off their playing fields. In doesn’t add up. Things have fallen
in the turf, some of them still a downward spiral, only a few state apart.
showing evidence of an unusual school kids play the game now and
green thatching. Not so many those that are keen, probably as a When I started this article, the
years ago, when my boys were result of family or tribal loyalties of England cricket team was suffering
at the school, there was still one kind or another, need to join the fallout from one of its greatest
(just) a cricket team and, of an clubs which themselves are also humiliations and, four days later, as
occasional afternoon, you could increasingly unsustainable at the I finish it, they are being praised to
watch boys and girls playing in grassroots level. the skies for managing to scrape a
the nets here and let yourself draw from the latest self-inflicted
be consoled by the traditional Cricket slips off its debacle. Ringing any bells?
thwack of willow on leather.
national pedestal
The potential for metaphor here
These concrete strips were the base At the top of the cricket pyramid is of course endless: Dunkirk, the
of those nets. Most of the walkers is the England Test team, once surrender of Singapore, Suez, last
this way won’t even know what they a marker of national pride and year’s collapse of Kabul, but, of
are now. They are the archaeology character and a central element of course, most obviously, Brexit. That
of a rapidly fading past. Sir John Major’s vision of a pastoral other fine Englishman, Dominic
and idyllic England. “Fifty years Cummings, made a succinct
Sussex has genuine claims to from now,” said the then prime comment on the performance of
being the birthplace of cricket with minister in 1993, Britain “will still the Cabinet Office and it works
children playing it here possibly as be the country of long shadows on well enough for the cricket
far back as Anglo-Saxon times and county cricket grounds, warm beer, establishment: “A total shitshow,”
with proper village matches taking invincible green suburbs…” not he wrote, in a WhatsApp message
place before the Civil War. to speak of village greens, balmy to Prime Minister Johnson.
16 BYLINES GAZETTE Public Domain English Village Cricket from Wikipedia Commons‘Only the English can significance. Unfortunately, as even years of politics, class and race.
the sportsphobics among us cannot The quality of the writing genuinely
keep a straight bat’ have failed to notice, unparalleled attracts readers of all political views
I am a Scotsman. My tribe are gloom has descended on the and the book sets a frame within
outsiders to cricket. At school it was whole national endeavour. Not which we can better understand
repeatedly instilled into me and my just humiliation but farce, and an the melancholic collapse of English
peers that we would never be any anguish so crippling that existential hopes in this current Ashes series.
good because, truly, only English questions are being asked as to
people could keep a straight whether Test matches can even To my mind this approach also
bat and play the game in the continue. helps build the general resilience
appropriate fashion. To be fair, this we will need if we are to resist the
was said with a wink and a chuckle. Cricket meshes complete collapse in standards and
It was the same kind of wink that integrity manifest in the gang of
politics, class and race
Johnson and Truss use when they chancers currently in power.
tell the credulous farmers and And, sportsphobic or not, you
cannot live in England and not be
fishermen that only their trade deal For England: a sorry
with Australia will deliver the sunny- aware of the heavy metaphoric load
that Test cricket has long laboured
Test record
upland prosperous cheese and
barramundi industries that were under: essentially cricket as an In case there are any doubters so
promised, the same uproarious explanatory national narrative. In far, let us just remind ourselves of
chuckle Johnson used to pledge Beyond a Boundary (1983), one of the cricket situation as of a couple
the NHS a post-Brexit dividend of the best sports books ever written, of days ago. Despite two years of
£350m a week. the great CLR James, Trinidadian detailed planning, England lost the
historian, anti-Stalinist dialectician series with Australia at the earliest
Skip Brexit for a moment though and cricket analyst extraordinaire, available opportunity.
and focus back on the cricket, explores the game in an historical
that quasi-mystical game in and social context and digs in to Continue reading online
which England invests so much how the game meshes with 200
SUSSEX HAS ITS VERY IF YOUR VOTE FOR NUSRAT GHANI’S BRAVE
OWN LINK TO EUROPE. CHANGE RARELY STAND OPENS THE
LET’S CHERISH IT. MATTERS, TRY THIS… LID AGAIN ON TORY
Newhaven is important in Sussex Does your voice get heard at ISLAMOPHOBIA
history and could be in its future. elections? Probably not, unless you Highlighted by MP Nusrat Ghani’s
Brexit may be unhelpful but does live in one of a few key ‘marginal’ description of the discrimination she
not prevent travel. seats. has faced, Islamophobia remains
deep-rooted within the Conservative
By Tom Serpell By Robert Ellson Party.
in BREXIT in COMMUNITY
By Mo Kanjilal
in POLITICS
Jodrell Bank from Free Images / Saint Georges Hall in Liverpool from Pixabay / Warrington Town Hall from Wikipedia Common
BYLINES GAZETTE 17FEELING SAFE, BEING
SAFE: STRATEGIES TO
COMBAT VIOLENCE
AGAINST WOMEN AND
GIRLS By Barbara Morrison
in POLITICS
Barbara Morrison challenges the government’s strategy on violence
against women and advocates a strategy where the perpetrator is
held to account
FEELING S
All women deserve to feel other instances of abuse will never 6 percent in the year to nearly
and be safe, at home, in their make the headlines. The scale of the 850,000 offences. This was during
communities, on the streets and problem is enormous and pressure the periods of lockdown. While
SAFE: STR
at work. The murders of Sarah has been mounting on government some may argue that this increase
Everard, Nicole Smallman, Bibaa to tackle violence against women is atypical, reflecting the particular
Henry, Sabina Nessa, 18-year-old and girls more effectively. circumstances of the pandemic,
COMBA
Bobbi-Anne McLeod in Plymouth it may well be simply highlighting
and many others have shone a Reported cases of sexual violence new opportunities to abuse during
light on the epidemic of male showed an 8 percent increase in domestic isolation.
violence against women and the the year ending June 2021 (164,763
AGAINST W
way it blights every single day of offences) compared with the What then, are this Conservative
the lives of all women and girls. previous year, according to the latest government’s plans to tackle this?
ONS report. Rape offences were the
For many years, an average of two highest ever recorded in a 12-month The government
to three women per week have been period, with 61,158 offences
strategy on violence
murdered by men in the UK. More recorded by the police in the latest
than 80 women have been murdered year.
against women
by men since Sarah’s death. Vigils In June last year the government
have been held, candles lit and tears The number of domestic abuse- unveiled its long-awaited Violence
shed, but we know that millions of related crimes also rose by Against Women and Girls (VAWG)
18 BYLINES GAZETTE “Your Body belongs to You” demo in Bonn November 2020 – Mika Baumeister on Unsplashstrategy which is to respond to and falling. Sexual abuse in schools is sexual behaviours against women
ultimately prevent VAWG, to improve being normalised, according to the and girls travelling on public
the experiences of survivors, to recent Ofsted inspections. Ending transport over the last five years
ensure perpetrators are brought violence against women and girls is a with disproportionate rates amongst
to justice, and to enhance the cross-party issue, on all sides of this women in LGBTQ+, black and ethnic
way different organisations work House there is a profound concern minority communities. A shocking
together. and desire for an ambitious strategy 88 percent of respondents surveyed
that would deliver. The strategy experienced some form of unwanted
A raft of commitments were made, today is not ambitious enough.” behaviour on public transport,
including a new national policing despite reduced footfall during the
lead on VAWG, a £5m ‘Safety In response to the government’s pandemic. On this issue, there is
of Women at Night’ fund, the new strategy, the former Tory remarkably little in the new strategy.
criminalisation of virginity testing, minister, Caroline Nokes, said she
Continue reading online
additional support for helplines, was disappointed there is “no
a communications campaign current commitment to outlawing ADVERT
targeting perpetrators and harmful public sexual harassment”. The
misogynistic attitudes and an online laws governing sexual harassment
tool where women and girls can log are piecemeal and antiquated. It
areas where they have felt unsafe. is outrageous that if a girl is going
to school on public transport and PRODUCING
However, many have said that these a man presses against her and FEARLESS
plans are not far-reaching enough. whispers obscene comments in her JOURNALISM
Jess Phillips noted in the Commons ear, she is not protected by existing NOT FOUND
that – laws. IN THE
MAINSTREAM
“Today rape prosecutions are at A survey by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust MEDIA
a record low, domestic abuse in reveals a “concerning prevalence”
this country is soaring, charging is of unwanted violent, aggressive or bylinetimes.com
SAFE, BEING
RATEGIES TO
AT VIOLENCE
PARTYGATE – A
BETRAYAL OF TRUST
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
– THE BATTERY
ANNE HIDALGO: LAST
PRESIDENTIAL HOPE FOR
WOMEN AND
Partygate shows Johnson’s arrogant REVOLUTION THE FRENCH LEFT?
disregard for the sacrifices we all Electric vehicle battery prices have Anne Hidalgo, an intelligent,
made because of Covid and is a fallen dramatically and will continue compassionate and determined
GIRLS
betrayal of trust. to fall as engineers and scientists woman, has the potential to be a
focus on design improvements and breath of fresh air in French politics.
By Claire Jones innovation. But issues are raised
in POLITICS around mining, re-use and recycling.
By Genèvieve Talon
By Mark Haller in WOMEN
in INDUSTRY
“Your Body belongs to You” demo in Bonn November 2020 – Mika Baumeister on Unsplash / EV charging, photo from Pixabay
BYLINES GAZETTE 19ANN C HOLLAND – CENTRAL BYLINES
SUZY VARTY - NORTH EAST BYLINES
STAN – YORKSHIRE BYLINES
ART FROM
THE REGIONS
DORMOUSE – EAST ANGLIA BYLINES
We don’t just have talented writers.
20 BYLINES GAZETTEPROFILE:
MO KANJILAL
SUSSEX BYLINES
I was aware of Byline Times I became involved in the initial set-up people see there is the potential for
from early on, and was a of Sussex Bylines, using my business change if they engage in democracy.
strong supporter of the idea of and communications background to
developing news sites outside take the project forward, together Summer 2020 saw huge changes in
the mainstream media. I have with my expertise in diversity and narratives around issues like race,
seen discussions so polarised inclusion. I continue to write on democracy, and the people elected
and people so misinformed by issues I am passionate about, such to govern us. At Bylines, we hold
there not being good sources as inequalities in our society, giving a people to account, look for the truth
of analysis and information voice to minorities, and inspirational behind the headlines, and engage
available for people. international stories. with people in our communities. The
network offers like-minded people
During the 2020 lockdown, I saw a The Bylines Network is about a chance to connect, gives citizens a
call-out on social media for people citizen journalists – people in their voice, and brings people together to
to get involved in a Sussex version communities who want to get the drive change.
of Byline Times. I was drawn to it truth out to others. So many, like me,
immediately, as I knew that there have been disillusioned by Brexit, by And it’s the volunteer writers,
would be great stories in the area, the 2019 general election, and by organisers, proofreaders and editors
and a chance to create change the lack of representation from our behind the scenes who make it all
before the next general election. politicians. We need to tell stories so happen. Our unsung heroes!
Read Mo’s articles online
BYLINES IS A NETWORK OF
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BYLINES GAZETTE 21We hoped you enjoyed
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