4 d. ago Fathers plan legal action to get smartphones banned in England’s schools

Two fathers tell education secretary they will seek judicial review in bid for statutory ban to safeguard childrenTwo fathers plan to take legal action against the government in an attempt to get smartphones banned in schools in England.Will Orr-Ewing and Pete Montgomery wrote to the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, on Friday warning that they would seek a judicial review. They argue that current guidance, which allows headteachers to decide how smartphones are used, is unlawful and unsafe for children. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Crime Scene Cleaners review – Warning! This show is truly vomit

In this astonishing and gross series, we stand witness as teams battle to clean up blood, guts and body fluids. Viewer discretion is very much advised – there will be maggotsIt has been a while since we had a good, honest point-and-boke documentary, is it not? “Boke”, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, means to be sick. I use it here because the onomatopoeia gives a better sense of the fight that precedes the act, especially if – say – a programme is unspooling in front of you that keeps the nausea building until you are past the point of no return. Viewer discretion – and a plastic bowl – is advised.So, then, to Crime Scene Cleaners, a 10-part documentary – yes, 10! – that does exactly what it says on the tin. It follows teams from British and American companies as they move in after bodies have been removed and evidence bagged and tagged by police to clean up anything left behind. “Anything” can mean blood – spattered, accumulated in the bottom of a bath tub, trailed along...

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3 w. ago Britain must ‘actively prepare’ for a war on home soil, major government review warns

The new National Security Strategy has been published with a grim warning as international turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine continues

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3 w. ago Britain ‘must prepare for wartime scenario on home soil’, security review warns

Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden says whole country must be ‘clear-eyed and hard-edged’ about threats faced major powers like China

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3 w. ago Britain ‘must prepare for wartime scenario on home soil’, security report warns

Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden says whole country must be ‘clear-eyed and hard-edged’ about threats faced major powers like China

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3 w. ago UK must ‘actively prepare’ for a war on home soil, major government review warns

The new National Security Strategy has been published with a grim warning as international turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine continues

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4 w. ago Notting Hill Carnival could be cancelled without 'urgent funding', organisers warn in leaked letter

Warning comes after a review identified ‘critical public safety concerns’ surrounding the carnival

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last month Sanctuary by Marina Warner review – the power of stories in an age of migration

An ambitious meditation on the ability of narrative to shape our perceptions of one another and our experience of homeMarina Warner begins this dazzlingly protean book with a distinctly mundane memory. It is the 1950s, she is a young teen, and the highlight of her week is going to the Saturday morning “flicks” with a neighbour’s slightly older daughter. One particular movie scene has stayed with her: it involves a man dressed in a vaguely historical costume who is fleeing for his life. Face contorted with terror, he makes it as far as the door of a cathedral, whereupon he knocks loudly and cries “Sanctuary!” The door opens a crack, the man slides inside, and the Saturday morning audience breaths a collective sigh of relief. Even if the plot points remain hazy – is Robin Hood somehow involved? – the underlying principle needs no explaining. The fugitive has invoked the ancient right by gaining entrance to a designated sacred space. As long as he stays put his pursuers can’t touch him...

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