Ruxunda Teslo offers a bracing outsider's view: "Trains do not arrive in time, houses are getting old and you cannot build new ones because of weird regulations, wages are stagnating and so on. Britain, captured by the comfortable illusion of its past, seems to observe the world's relentless march from afar, reluctant to emerge from the cocoon of inaction."
"Co-operatives fix things. Co-operatives share power as well as wealth. We prioritise social good and generate substantial social impact and we reinvest in our communities. I'm inspired every day by the actions and activities of our members attempting to fix things, to solve problems and not just for today, but laying the groundwork for tomorrow." Rose Marley from Co-operatives UK on the prospects for the sector.
Rachael Allen reflects on being a working-class academic: "One of my most eye-opening experiences as a working class person moving into educated and middle class spaces was the correction to my misconception that wealthy people are clever. I held onto this misconception for longer than I should have, because, at university, and then into my professional life, I was surrounded by the rich."
"These days Gervais’s adoring fanbase seem more enthusiastic at the prospect of upsetting their political opponents than about the material itself." James Bloodworth says Ricky Gervais is a reactionary bore.
"It’s always annoyed me when people ... dismiss voice-overs as a failure of storytelling, as if cinema was a pure art form and not a mongrel one made up of all the others, plus that little bit extra, that alchemical magic. There are tons of sloppy voice-overs, of course, but the best add mood, poetry, depth and complication. Voice-overs and narration have been so essential, in fact, to so many great films the history of the medium would be immeasurably poorer without them." Brian Phelan speaks up for the use of voice-overs in films.
