What will you discover today?

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  Friday 21 August

  Nathanael’s A-Level Algorithm

  The furore and subsequent U-Turn over A-Level and GCSE results being allocated by algorithm have dominated headlines this week. Instead of students’ results being decided by their exam performance, grades were to be determined by a projection. The calculation included – amongst other things – factors such as their school’s historic record. Whether intended or not, the outcome saw those from disadvantaged backgrounds more likely to have their marks downgraded than students from wealthier areas....

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  Friday 5 June

  We Can’t Breathe

  George Floyd is the latest in a long line of black people who, in recent years, have died at the hands of the police in America. This has led to a global outcry against racism, demanding fairness and equality in interpersonal relationships. But more than this, justice requires us to root out and re-order any system, structure, or narrative which privileges white people over people of colour and their cultures, norms, and perspectives....

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  Friday 31 January

  Business as Usual?

  Big Ben won’t bong, but time will roll on regardless and Britain will leave the European Union at 11pm on Friday 31 January 2020. It will be the end of one of the most significant political processes of our times. How we feel about that and the new era that lies ahead will depend on a host of well-rehearsed and hotly-contested factors, which will not disappear overnight....

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  Friday 6 December

  The Significant Insignificance of Politics

  ‘Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.’ Psalm 145:13 Or, as Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message, ‘you never get voted out of office’. At a time of political fixation and turmoil it’s important to hear those words from Psalm 145. For too many, I fear, politics has become an idol....

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  Friday 2 August

  Neighbours, Everybody Needs Good Neighbours

  It’s been a good season for this Northern Irish/Irish/British sports fan. My neighbouring identities have been beautifully threaded together. For two Sundays in a row, Irishmen lifted trophies to the cheers of mostly British crowds in front of a global TV audience. It’s said that the USA and the UK have a ‘special relationship’, but is it possible that recent sporting exploits have revealed an even more special relationship – in fact, a kinship – within these countries we call the British Isles? We are quite literally neighbours aft...

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  Friday 22 February

  Do You Have Trust Issues?

  With only 35 days to go until Brexit date, the Prime Minister continues to ask the British people to trust her and her plan. Meanwhile, the list of manufacturers that are stockpiling parts or products in view of a possible ‘no deal’ keeps getting longer: among them Honda (car parts), WH Smith (notebooks and pens), and Unilever (Magnum ice cream). Meanwhile, Twitter users can check out what to fill their shelves with in case of a no deal Brexit (#whatsinyourstockpile). With Edelman’s Trust Barometer showing that the UK public’s trust in ...

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  Saturday 25 August

  Kofi Annan: A Man of Distinction

  Kofi Annan was a man driven not by greed or a lust for power but by a genuine desire to make the world a better place. He was Secretary General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2007, and he died on 18th August at the age of 80. Born an Anglican and educated in......

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  Saturday 4 August

  Stockpiles, Shortages, and Shalom

  I can remember the outrage in the 1970s and 80s, when it was revealed that various government interventions had resulted in foodstuffs being stockpiled in grain mountains, butter mountains, and milk lakes across the EU. Now I hear that we’re facing the opposite: the British government is preparing for potential shortages of foods and medicines......

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  Thursday 5 July

  The NHS: ‘A Piece of Real Christianity’

  There are two significant dates in July that may at first glance seem unrelated – the 5th is the 70th anniversary of the National Health Service, and the 31st is when I owe my ‘payment on account’ taxes to the Inland Revenue. The NHS was based on the idea that anyone should be able to......

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  Friday 8 June

  Just Justice?

  The horrific blaze at Grenfell Tower last June has seared scars deep into public memory. As a tower block made up almost entirely of social housing was engulfed in flames, what might have been a one-off tragedy came to symbolise an unjust divide between rich and poor in the heart of London. ‘If you want......

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