Imagine that you’re a conscientious citizen, a dying breed. You’re asked to serve on a jury where the accused faces a charge of tax evasion. He is alleged to have kept his considerable wealth instead of handing the right amount over to fund hospitals, schools, and transport. You hear that he kept stacks of cash […]

This week some media outlets incorrectly reported that Iceland was the first county to legislate for equal pay. The UK passed the Equal Pay Act in 1970 and other countries, including Iceland, already have legislation in place. The Equal Pay Act, replicated in the Equality Act 2010 decrees that men and women performing work of […]

Following last week’s blog about Queensland Rail and the Commonwealth Games I was contacted by someone praising the British approach to public transport for sporting events. When I stopped laughing, I wondered what events they meant. Surely not the Champions League final in Cardiff last year, when Cardiff Central was closed to local trains? Could […]

This week my commute by train was constantly interrupted by an annoying automated message from Queensland Rail, telling me to be ready for the Commonwealth Games. Here’s what it really means. The Games are coming. We’ve known this for seven years, but we decided not to hire enough drivers and buy enough trains to keep […]

Once there was a man who wondered, very briefly, if he could do anything to help the unemployed. That morning he drove his foreign built car to the train station, because the council could not afford to run a bus. On the way he stopped for petrol, and paid at the pump, then listened to […]

It is a century since women were given the right to vote in the UK. Not all women, just those over the age of 30 who owned land or a home. It followed a long campaign that perhaps began with the formation of the Women’s Suffragette Committee in 1867. Over time some supporters became more […]

Old people used to keep large quantities of cash under the bed, claiming it was to pay tradesmen. It seemed odd because banking was easy in those days. You went down your high street and saw a branch manager, who knew you by name. He kept your money for as long as you wanted and […]

This week I am supporting calls to change the date of Australia Day. 26 January has only been a public holiday in all states and territories since 1994. It marks the proclamation of British sovereignty over what is now New South Wales in 1788. For the next 146 years the newly arrived convicts fought frontier […]

This week my short story “The Crimean Centaur” appeared in the Doctor Who charity anthology, Time Shadows Second Nature. All proceeds benefit CODE. The story features Lord Raglan, the British Commander in the Crimean War, memorably portrayed by Sir John Gielgud in The Charge of the Light Brigade, which is 50 years old this year. […]