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SubscriptionsSection: Argument
Honestly held opinions and provocative argument based on current events or our recent reports.
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The Cummings Scandal Shows Us Just How Dependent the Billionaire Press is on Boris Johnson
Brian Cathcart explains why Britain’s right-wing newspapers will try their best to support the Government in its attempts to ‘move on’ from the scandal of the Prime Minister’s chief advisor.
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Cummings’ Contempt for Us All has Revealed the Real Man Behind the Myths
Otto English shares a personal story of tragedy during the lockdown which was unfolding at the same time as Dominic Cummings was conducting his Barnard Castle eye test. My family loves Easter Sunday. It marks the start of spring and who doesn’t like a party? This year, the visits from favourite relatives and friends were…
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The COVID-19 Crisis is a Chance to Reinvent Education for the 21st Century
Dr John Ashton, a former director of public health, argues that we must not miss the opportunity to modernise education in the UK and, at the same time, tackle social injustices following the Coronavirus pandemic.
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The Conservative Government is Protecting Dominic Cummings More than they have Protected our Care Homes
James Melville argues that the Dominic Cummings Scandal has become Boris Johnson’s ‘Black Wednesday’ moment when authority drains away even from his core support
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Dominic Cummings’ Biggest Blind Spot is Dominic Cummings
Hardeep Matharu explores why the chief advisor’s revelation about his failing eyesight was so revealing – about his lack of self-knowledge and need for reality.
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Boris Johnson Cannot be Allowed to Treat the Country as his own Private Urinal
To Musa Okwonga, the Dominic Cummings scandal proves that the Prime Minister and his Cabinet are no longer public servants — they treat the public as their servants.
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14,000 Brits Could Now Appeal Lockdown Fines Thanks to Dominic Cummings
Gareth Roberts explores the unexpected legal consequences of the Government’s defence of the Prime Minister’s chief advisor
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Bearing False Witness: How Mr and Mrs Cummings Broke the Ninth Commandment
Reverend Joe Haward provides a Bylines Times ‘Thought for the Day’, in light of current events and the duty in the Ten Commandments to tell the truth.
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Ruling from the Shadows: Why Dominic Cummings Poses a Threat to the Country
The track record of the Prime Minister’s chief advisor – under fire for breaking lockdown rules – has proved him to be anything but transparent, writes Iain Overton.
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Is Murdoch’s New Radio Station Part of Dominic Cummings’ Onslaught on his ‘Mortal Enemy’ the BBC?
Ellin Stein considers whether Times Radio could be part of a wider campaign against public service broadcasting in the UK
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Boris Johnson’s Latest Weapon of Mass Distraction
Knighting Captain Tom Moore – rightly admired for his fundraising for the NHS – is a cynical ploy by a populist Prime Minister struggling to do his job in an actual crisis, says Otto English.
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PEAK DENIAL: How the Corporate Press Negates Journalism
By failing to be transparent about themselves, it is difficult to trust most of the mainstream newspapers when it comes to the truth about others.
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The Northern Hemisphere Must Not Stand by and Let Coronavirus Devastate the South
Portia Antonia Alexis looks at the devastating results if COVID-19 runs rife in the southern hemisphere and how an international response is needed to save more than 30 million lives.
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After the COVID-19 Crisis, Social Care Needs a Rapid Ownership Re-Think
After more than 12,500 care home deaths, Iwan Doherty considers what should happen now that business model for social care has proved itself to be not fit for purpose.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: Boris Johnson’s COVID-19 Message Exploits a Long-Established Culture of Individualism
Jon Bailes explores why the Government may have changed its Coronavirus messaging to ‘Stay Alert’ and how this represents the tenets of a culture in which social problems are blamed on perceived individual failings.
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The Mainstream Media Needs to Give Learning Disabled People their Own Voice
Saba Salman calls on the mainstream media to more accurately reflect the lives of those with learning disabilities and explains how her new book of essays, written by the learning disabled, aims to change the narrative.
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A LAX LOCKDOWN: ‘On Behalf of the Children Keep the Schools Closed’
16-year-old student Olivia Eren explains why students distrust the Government’s plans to reopen schools and defends teachers against the tabloid onslaught.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: It’s Time to Discuss the United States’ Most Dangerous 36%
CJ Werleman discusses a new poll which indicates sustained support for Donald Trump over COVID-19 and distrust of the country’s top infectious disease expert – and where this lethal aversion to the truth among a sizable part of the population could lead.
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In a Life and Death Crisis, Will the British People Finally Wake-Up to the Reality of Boris Johnson?
Musa Okwonga explains why, despite the Government’s objectively scandalous handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, those in the UK remain broadly supportive of the Prime Minister.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: Beware the Hawks and Vultures Cashing In On Public Health
Azfar Shafi examines how the conflation of security and public health, as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, has the potential to hollow out our public services to an extent not seen before.
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Stay Alert. Take Back Control. Don’t Blame Us
Mike Buckley argues that the UK Government’s apparently confusing ‘Stay Alert’ messaging is actually carefully calibrated to wash their hands of blame.
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BAME Coronavirus Deaths Inquiry: Trevor Phillips Appointment ‘Insensitive and Insulting’
As British Muslims on the healthcare frontline bear the brunt of COVID-19 fatalities, Dr Shazad Amin joins mounting calls for Public Health England to reverse its decision.
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Nigel Farage’s End of the Pier Show
Otto English delves into how the Brexit Party leader is keeping himself relevant now that we have taken back control and his American dreams have not come to fruition.
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Strangling Democracy: Millions Paid to Corporate Press at the Expense of Journalism
With Boris Johnson handing out millions of pounds of public money to subsidise a cheerleading press, Brian Cathcart says that the corruption is so brazen it takes your breath away.
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Dangerous and Subversive – The Government’s New ‘Stay Alert’ COVID-19 Messaging
Rebecca Welshman detects a disturbing subtext which echoes Boris Johnson’s Churchillian rhetoric over the pandemic while shifting blame away from his administration.
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It’s Not Too Late to Prevent the Mental Health Crisis of Coronavirus
Stephen Colegrave compares the failure to prepare for the mental health impact of COVID-19, especially on the young, to the Government’s neglect of care homes.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: Grabbing the Future Back from Nationalists
How has Brexit impacted on the UK’s COVID-19 response and why is the UK’s future relationship with the European Union now more important than ever?
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The Media Needs to Stop Pretending Elon Musk is a Wise Sage rather than a Grifter
CJ Werleman explores the Tesla CEO’s contribution to discussions around the Coronavirus crisis and why his need for personal recognition in such times is dangerous.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: The Forgotten Consequences of those in a ‘Double-Lockdown’
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has rightly focused on hospitals and care homes – but hidden hotspots of the virus such as prisons should not be forgotten as we tackle the outbreak.
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A Year On from the Scandal of the European Elections, Democracy is Still in Danger
Maike Bohn, co-founder of the 3Million Campaign, explains how thousands were disenfranchised last year and their plan to take the Government to court over a dangerous precedent.
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After the Coronavirus Crisis – What is the Point of the Conservative Party?
Gareth Roberts makes his case that UK’s catastrophic handling of the COVID-19 pandemic should not be blamed on Boris Johnson’s Government alone – but on the entire Conservative Party
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The Coronavirus Crisis: The ‘Little England’ App Can Be No Replacement for COVID-19 Testing
Dr John Ashton, a former director of public health, provides his regular update on the UK’s Government’s Coronavirus response and the need for real local testing and tracing.
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The Rohingya, Uyghurs, Shiites, Ahmedis and the Homosexual: A Warning to British Muslims
Shahmir Sanni explains how the only way Muslims can defeat the far-right who demonise them is by joining forces with the LGTBQ community.
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Neil Ferguson: The Difference between Public Interest Journalism and a Politically Motivated Smear
With a public inquiry into their handling of the COVID-19 crisis looming, Brian Cathcart sees signs that the Government’s cheerleaders are helping to make scientists the scapegoats
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Government’s New Exit Test and ‘Immunity’ Passport Puts Public at Risk
Geraint Davies MP argues that the Government is still trying to ‘manage’ COVID-19 under ‘herd immunity’ rather than eliminating it as other countries have done.
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CORONAVIRUS CRISIS: Government Economic Intervention is Neither Generous Nor Enough
Ben Lewis looks at the dire economic impact of COVID-19 and dismisses fears about an excessive Government fiscal and monetary stimulus.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: Brazilian President Dismisses COVID-19 as ‘Sniffles’ – But it Might Be Terminal For Him
Monica Piccinini reports on Jair Bolosnaro’s approach to COVID-19 and the likely impact on him and his people.
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Governed by Opinion? Governments and the Public Mood in a Crisis
Ian Sinclair looks at the role of Opinion Polls in shaping the Politics of the Pandemic and compares with the precedents of Afghanistan and Iraq.
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Science, Ideology and the Pandemic: A Way Out from the COVID-19 Crisis?
A new Byline Times event scrutinises the Government’s handling of the Coronavirus crisis and how the UK could still change course. Byline Times is pleased to present a new event featuring investigative journalists in discussion with top public health experts and social scientists. Why is the UK facing one of the highest Coronavirus death rates…
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Truth Must Rise: Church Silence over COVID-19
Reverend Joe Haward laments the lack of religious leadership in the UK during the pandemic, particularly in speaking truth to Nietzschean ideas of power.
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The Year of Living Distantly: The Architecture of a Post-Viral Society
If you want to know how to deal with social isolation and limited horizons, there are experts already among us explains Vida Adamczewski.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: The Centralising Failure of Public Health England
Dr John Ashton, a former director of public health, explores how the 2013 NHS reforms led to the shrinking and withering of our local and regional public health system.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: ‘Following the Science?’ – Boris Johnson and his Government Should Look in the Mirror
The Secret Scientist starts her new insider series for Byline Times by reminding us that there is not just ‘one science’, and its validity rests on constant probing and peer review.
