Mystified by Serco's mission statement
Your report about the extension of Gaie Delap's prison term because she was 'unlawfully at large' while waiting for Serco to find a tag for her (Just Stop Oil protester, 78, has jail term extended after no suitable tag found, 25 January) led me to Serco's website. Here it claims: 'We bring together the right people, the right technology and the right partners to create innovative solutions'. It's terrifying to think what it looks like when it gets things wrong.Sara DaviesIlminster, Somerset
A school report when I was 14 read: 'He still adopts the childish pose that the supreme art of the schoolboy is to outwit the master and do as little work as possible.' Having retained this pose for well over 50 years, I am glad to see that it still persists in so many contributors to the letters page (23 January). What satisfaction is greater than outwitting the master, whatever the context?Adrian WardSeaford, East Sussex
Everything your correspondents say about writing with a pen is valid (Letters, 24 January). But everything negative they say is about using a keyboard is swamped by the pleasure of being able to revise and improve one's text so easily. Plus seeing it as your readers will see it.Beverley Charles RoweLondon
Congratulations to Benjamina Ebuehi, a beautiful marmalade breadcrumb cake (The sweet spot, 24 January) and no mention of Paddington Bear.Jude CarrLondon
I don't believe that God saved Donald Trump (Trump embraces role of demagogue on divine mission to reshape America, 20 January). I think it was the other fella.Mike WilliamsSwindon
Make America Great Again, or Meta Amazon Google Apple. Indicate your answer with an X.Ariel WagnerBeidweiler, Luxembourg
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The Guardian
8 hours ago
- The Guardian
Police arrested autistic activist in supported housing as part of Quaker raid operation
The Met police operation in which officers raided a Quakers meeting house also resulted in the arrest of an autistic climate activist at his supported accommodation, the Guardian can reveal. Joe Booth, 23, had been in bed when seven police officers arrived at the flats for vulnerable adults in New Barnet, north London, to arrest him on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. The arrest appeared to be linked to his attendance at weekly meetings of Youth Demand, an off-shoot of Just Stop Oil, that describes itself as a nonviolent protest movement. The evening before his arrest, up to 30 Met officers broke down the front door of a Quaker meeting house to arrest six female members of the group in what appears to be a linked raid. It is thought to be the first time that police had forced their way into a place of worship used by the pacifist Quakers movement. The raid has been heavily criticised by politicians, campaigners and religious groups. Booth, who has never been involved in disruptive protest and who had previously attended one peaceful Youth Demand march on Downing Street, said the arrest has left him with post-traumatic stress disorder. He said the officers who arrested him appeared to be surprised that he lived in supported accommodation for vulnerable adults. After a support worker let the police into his flat, an officer had grabbed his arm, he claimed, and asked whether 'I need to put you in handcuffs' before reading him his rights. 'They did not know until they turned up that I lived in supported accommodation,' claimed Booth, who is a cleaner on the London Underground. 'When they arrested me, they said to me: 'Joe, is this supported accommodation?' They didn't know. You would think there would be a system in place when they are going to an address to say this is a care setting.' Booth had been in his pyjamas when the police arrived. They searched his bedroom and seized his work phone. He was then taken on a two-hour drive to Kingston police station where he was questioned and held for more than seven hours. He was released on police bail with conditions that included a ban on him entering Westminster. Booth, whose brother was allowed to attend the police interview as an 'appropriate adult' due to his vulnerability, said: 'They showed me pictures of protests that I wasn't even in. They showed me pictures of [information about] upcoming events, only a few of which were actually protests, the other which were just meetings and free food events. So they didn't tell me at any point what evidence they had on me and why they got me and how they even knew my face.' He had previously attended Youth Demand meetings at the Quaker meeting hall on St Martin's Lane in London where attenders enjoyed a spread of jasmine tea, ginger biscuits and a selection of vegan cheese straws. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Youth Demand had been planning a series of 10-minute protests in London and Booth had handed out leaflets promoting the group's plans to oppose arms sales to Israel and a lack of action on fossil-fuel harm, he said. Booth, whose father is John Leach, the assistant general secretary of the RMT union, added: 'I was only planning to spread news of the events. I'm not at a stage in my life where I'm ready to risk going to prison. 'Like all autistic people, I can often struggle to understand certain messages that are told to me, which is why I often need staff with me when I receive letters, because I interpret things differently and I also can't survive without structure and routine. So when that gets disrupted by ongoing issues that becomes a problem.' Booth said the arrest, which will raise fresh questions about the overpolicing of protest groups, had seriously affected his mental health. He said: 'Every time I hear noise in the corridor, even from a distance, I get scared that it might be police, especially when there's a knock at my door, especially if that knock at my door is early in the morning. 'But even if it's just from support staff or Amazon delivery or whatever, I get scared that it might be police. So my alertness has increased and my anxiety has increased. And I see a therapist every single week, because I always have and he's in full knowledge of how it's been affecting me.' Booth had previously been arrested in June 2024 on the same grounds after attending Just Stop Oil meetings, he said, but again released on police bail without charge. Booth had never been involved in their disruptive activities, he claimed. 'I remember specifically going to meetings and saying: 'I have not been at a protest,'' he said. 'It has left me bewildered.'
Daily Mirror
9 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Rare look inside top-secret Situation Room where Trump approved US strikes
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Spectator
3 days ago
- Spectator
The understudied importance of political slogans
'Make America Great Again'. 'Take Back Control'. 'Yes We Can'. There are many political slogans – but only a handful are truly memorable. Done properly, they can win votes, define narratives and shape the great issues of our times. Yet, oddly, there are few, if any, publications which centre on election slogans – despite a plethora of political books being published since 2016. Now, a new work seeks to rectify this deficiency. 'Eight Words That Changed The World' centres on the specific words which help political parties win elections. Chris Bruni-Lowe, a veteran election strategist, has created an impressive database of 20,000 slogans from two centuries of elections across the globe. He suggests that there are eight 'hit' words which have been central to most major election campaigns: 'Time', 'People', 'Strong', 'Better', 'Democracy', 'Change', 'New,' and 'Together.' Using a series of case studies, he shows the importance of picking the right slogan at the right time. One chapter focuses on Nelson Mandela and South Africa's 1994 general election. Mandela's party, the ANC, was determined to pick 'Now is the time' as their choice of slogan. But American political strategists Frank Greer and Stanley Greenberg warned Mandela that it risked alienating five million white South Africans, who were certainly not 'hardcore ANC'. After the stark divides of apartheid, reconciling the country was key. So Mandela ditched that slogan, opting instead for 'A Better Life for All'. Those five words suggested optimism and inclusivity. As Bruni-Lowe argues, 'It did what all good slogans do: it did not exclude anybody, inviting everyone to join in creating a brighter future.' The lesson is instructive – and amusing too. One cannot help but enjoy the thought of Mandela, the great South African statesman, fretting about polling and focus groups, like some grubby Westminster apparatchik. One cannot help but enjoy the thought of Mandela, the great South African statesman, fretting about polling and focus groups, like some grubby Westminster apparatchik. Then there is 'MAGA' and the contested lineage of Donald Trump's tagline. Bruni-Lowe details the chequered history of different politicians using 'Great Again' as a slogan – including Churchill at the 1950 election which the Conservatives fought under the slogan 'Make Britain Great Again'. Ironically, Bill Clinton, who claimed that 'Make America Great Again' had racial undertones, himself once told an Arkansas rally in 1991 that 'I believe that, together, we can make America great again.' Choosing the right messenger is key too. The 2025 Canadian general election is an ideal case study. Mark Carney's slogan of 'Canada Strong' evoked unity and resilience against an external threat: Donald Trump's tariffs. It worked well against Pierre Poilievre's 'Canada First – for a change.' Poilievre's use of the word only served to highlight his risky platform and echoed Trump's disruptive agenda, subsequently bolstering Carney's stability narrative. The book's strength lies in emphasising the timelessness of certain words. The author makes a virtue of his experience in elections across the globe. In America and the UK, political consultants tend to only work with one side of the political divide: Labour or Tories, Republicans versus Democrats. Yet this tome shows the frequency of certain words and the universality of concepts like 'strength' and 'change' – regardless of differences in national political systems. Hence why 'It's time' was effective for both Australian Liberal Gough Whitlam in 1972 and Montenegro's Europhile premier Milojko Spajić in 2023. This is perhaps one of the two most important British political books published this summer, alongside 'The Art of Delivery' by the KCL academic Michelle Clement. Bruni-Lowe's work is about elections; Clement's is about office. Every aspiring politician ought to study the secrets of both.
