Late-night pub openings aren’t in the right spirit | Letters

Late-night pub openings aren’t in the right spirit | Letters

Readers respond to government plans for extending pub hours, highlighting the financial and health costs The government’s plan to extend licensing hours seems to be a rather desperate measure to encourage growth ( Pubs to stay open until early hours in push for UK growth, 8 October ). Will there be enough customers for pubs to afford the additional staffing and running costs of staying open later? Many pubs are already closing early on some evenings and perhaps not opening on others. If the government really wants to give licensed premises a boost, it should find a way of reducing the price of the drinks they sell, but this would be unpalatable when it’s looking for ways to raise taxes. Continue reading...

Farage, not Marxism, risks ‘poisoning our kids’ | Letters

Farage, not Marxism, risks ‘poisoning our kids’ | Letters

Dr Jan Udris says the Reform leader represents the antithesis of fairness, harmony and emancipation, while Terry Ward thinks he is confusing Karl Marx with Groucho Marx. Plus a letter from Huw Bradbury I am one of those proud teachers that Nigel Farage has in mind ( Nigel Farage accuses teachers of ‘poisoning our kids’ on race issues, 9 October ). For many years, as part of teaching media, film and journalism, I sought to educate students about basic political terms and concepts. Marxism was, and is, nothing resembling the totalitarian bogeyman that the USSR so conveniently became. Marxism is a doctrine espousing fairness, equal opportunity, redistribution of wealth and emancipation. It aims to be fully democratic. I found examining the lyrics of John Lennon’s Imagine to be most effective. The poison here is Farage’s ethnonationalist rhetoric, rooted in the kind of capitalism that Marxism sets out to destroy. He represents the antithesis of fairness, harmony and emancipation. He must find the time to read up about Marxism. Dr Jan Udris Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire Continue reading...

What is the best pillow for your sleeping style?

What is the best pillow for your sleeping style?

The wrong pillow can disrupt sleep, so finding the right one can guard against decline in mental and physical health Life is full of mysteries: What is dark matter ? What happened to DB Cooper ? And the most perplexing to me personally: How tall should pillows be? I can never seem to find the right pillow. They always seem too soft and flat, or too tall and stiff, and I end up tossing and turning all night. Currently, there are six pillows on my bed, none of which are quite right. Continue reading...

National grooming gangs inquiry stalls over remit wrangles and lack of chair

National grooming gangs inquiry stalls over remit wrangles and lack of chair

Exclusive: Source says senior legal figures appear reluctant to head investigation launched by Keir Starmer in June Keir Starmer’s national grooming gangs inquiry has stalled amid wrangles over its remit and difficulties in finding a senior legal figure willing to become its chair, the Guardian has been told. Terms of the statutory investigation are still being discussed by a panel of stakeholders including survivors of abuse rings, four months after the prime minister bowed to pressure and set it up . Continue reading...

Nothing to fear in London but loud Lamborghinis | Brief letters

Nothing to fear in London but loud Lamborghinis | Brief letters

Capital crime wave? | ShelterBox Book Club | Port Vale shipping goals | Polytechnic revival | Betting shop gamble We’ve just spent two weeks in London, staying in south Kensington ( ‘London has turned into something crazy’: is the city in the grip of a crime wave?, 11 October ). The only crime we witnessed was being woken up in the early hours by people racing Lamborghinis and Ferraris, with little enforcement by the police. We travelled all over using public transport and walking, and felt safe, so I don’t think the supposed crime wave is anything to fear. Fran Leach Plymouth, Massachusetts, US • If reading a book every month is too much ( Letters, 12 October ), you can join the ShelterBox Book Club, where you get a book in the post every six weeks, and being a member helps ShelterBox support disaster-hit families around the world. There are also online discussions and author Q&As. Sally Smith Redruth, Cornwall Continue reading...

Katy Perry reacts to closure of G-A-Y bar: ‘They can’t shut down the gays’

Katy Perry reacts to closure of G-A-Y bar: ‘They can’t shut down the gays’

Famed astronaut Katy Perry has joined others voicing their despair at the news that London’s G-A-Y bar has closed its doors. Earlier this month, it was announced that the famous venue in the heart of Soho was shutting its doors so that its owner, Jeremy Joseph, could focus his business around its nighclub sister venue, […] The post Katy Perry reacts to closure of G-A-Y bar: ‘They can’t shut down the gays’ appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news .