ACOMSDave

Community Journalist

ACOMSDave Community Journalist

Identity (a gay journal) – reviewed by Graham Walker

By Leave a Comment

Identity

NOT THE MAGAZINE COVER FOR IDENTITY

Identity is a new Gay Journal published by the National Gay Switchboard in Dublin.  At the time of writing Gay Star No. 10) three issues had appeared, the latter two of which are discussed here.

Let it be said straight away that ‘Identity’ is very welcome.  It is modeled though not too obviously on journals such as Body Politic and Christopher Street in that it seeks to combine substantial literary content (short stories, poems, reviews of books and films) with political polemics and special items of news and current day affairs.

A good balance has been struck and the serious is necessarily tempered by the humourous.  The writing is in general of a high standard, and it is never less than interesting.  ‘Identity’ wisely eschews long, rambling, and invariably tedious ‘consciousness-raising’ in favour of shorter, more trenchant pieces, which in most cases make a strong impact.  The diversity of the journal is its greatest strength.

Several items deserve mention – T C Breen’s admirably researched articles on the Dublin Scandals of 1884 (no. 21), and the ‘Strange Case3 of Bishop Atherton’ (No. 3), lend an instructive historical dimension to the paper; David Norris’s article on the Christian Churches (No. 2), is lucidly erudite if a little blib; Damian Stewart’s ‘Last Dance’ (No. 3), an engaging story which captures the ‘treadmill’ nature of the gay scene and the desperate anxieties of its patrons; and David O’Connor’s ‘Crumbs’, while frequently losing its way in the author’s frenetic attempts to intellectualize his characters, still manages to be a refreshingly unconventional piece of writing.

It is still possible to quibble.  While some pieces in ‘Identity’, most notably those of Father Joe O’Leary and Conor Davidson, raise important controversial topics, there is nowhere to be found a serioussELF iDENTITY discussion of them.  the journal exudes a ‘Glad to be Gay’ tone which is to be applauded; equally necessary is a facility for self-criticism and a questioning approach to many aspects of current gay lifestyles.  

It is to be hoped that in future issues, ‘Identity’ will open up debate on such topics as the positive and negative aspects of gay ghettoes, and the opinions before the Gay movement in its attempt to pursue political change.

 

Links:

 

The National Gay Federation is now known as National LGBT Federation (NXF)  – Identity

Identity

 

 

 

 

 

Review of ‘Identity’ first published in Gay Star No 10 (held int he Linenhall Library Archives)

Olympic Medals and Population

By Leave a Comment

So the Tokyo Olympics are over and the medals are coming home, and yes there will be disappointments, but it is a big but, every one of those athletes went and represented their country to the very best of their ability.  And yes, if we just look at medals, as one newscaster did when he stated that the United Kingdom had done as well as in Rio or London (a  statement now proven to be at least half incorrect).   The United Kingdom has achieved more than London and only slightly less than Rio – an absolutely brilliant result when considering the pandemic’s impact and comparing Olympic medals against the population.

It is very easy to forget that the United Kingdom is fifth in population size in the top ten medal winners, which means that for every 1m people in the population our Olympians achieved a medal.  This is absolutely stupendous when you compare that again People’s Republic of China (1 med per 16.4m), the USA (1 medal per 2.9m) or the ROC (1 medal per 2m).

It is estimated that at least 182 ‘out athletes’ from about 30 countries attended the Tokyo Games. 

…At least 55 of those athletes, who competed in 35 different sports, won medals — five nabbed gold for Team USA women’s basketball alone. In fact, if the LGBTQ Olympians competed as their own country — affectionately labeled “Team LGBTQ” by Outsports — they would rank 11th in the total medal count (right behind France and before Canada), with 32 team and individual medals: 11 gold, 12 silver and nine bronze…NBC News

Our Olympians are marvellous. and wouldn’t it be wonderful if the media realised this for more than just the two weeks of the Olympic Games!

 

Olympic Medals and Population

 

 

  Top 10 Countires Olympic Medals 2021 with Population  
Rank Team/NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank by Total Population Total  
1 United States of America 39 41 33 113 1 332.9 million  
2 People’s Republic of China 38 32 18 88 2 1444.2 million  
3 Japan 27 14 17 58 5 126 million  
4 Great Britain 22 21 22 65 4 68.2 million  
5 ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) 20 28 23 71 3 144.2 million  
6 Australia 17 7 22 46 6 25.8 million  
7 Netherlands 10 12 14 36 9 17.1 million  
8 France 10 12 11 33 10 65.4 million  
9 Germany 10 11 16 37 8 83.9 million  
10 Italy 10 10 20 40 7 60.3 million  

 

Links:

Belfast Pride and Economics

By Leave a Comment

Belfast Pride and Economics!  Originally, we had Pride Day with a march to show people that we are part of their community and that we had a right to exist.  At this point we were fighting for our lives;  abuse, both physical and mental, was normal, and murder occurred and was usually brushed under the legal table as justified due to overtures or something similar. (Portsmouth Defence)

And again, marches started in large cities like New York and London, and like a spider’s web slowly the marches spread into other cities and links were formed.

In the background to these marches were the fights in court to get us legal recognition and protection (e.g., Jeffrey Dudgeon, MBE).

 

…’Try to will yourself into – or out of – loving someone,  try to will someone into loving you, and you collide with the fundamental fact that we do not choose whom we love.’  …James Baldwin on Love, the illusion of Choice and the Paradox of Freedom

 

Time has passed and so the Pride March has become Pride Month, with a lot of regions or cities now holding the Pride Parade which is almost like a Lord Mayor’s Float Parade!

With a parade comes flamboyance, but why?  To quote i-d-vice.com  in their article the significance of men’s fashion at pride’: 

 

…Queer men have always worn outlandish clothing within the safety of their own spaces but Pride is different; it’s an occasion which allows you to dress however you want, in broad daylight, in the centre of the city. Fashion at Pride is a way of being defiantly visible, satirising the straight world, and experimenting with gender….

 

However, this last year during the covid lockdown we have all seen how shallow the acceptance has been, with an increase in LGBTQ+ attacks, with the homeless of LGBTQ+ increasing and with some countries even reversing (or seeking to reverse) the laws which were fought for to give the LGBTQ+ community acceptance and protection.

I love Belfast Pride, having been one of those few souls who marched on the very first one in 1991 (all 200 of us), and walked past the various vociferous groups protesting us being there and alive.

That first Pride in Belfast was a small affair, but so significant as it allowed the Belfast population going about their normal daily tasks, to see that we were just like them from one end of the spectrum to another, with very flamboyant characters to extremely conservative ones – and that just as other groups have marched for centuries in the belief of their right to exist, so were we.

Today, as I have mentioned above, the Pride Day Parade is a large affair in Belfast, with conservative numbers for those taking part being (55000) and with watchers at least double that.   We have support groups from Trade Unions, the PSNI, local councils, student groups to name but a few.  The detractors have gone down in number, and indeed the local papers generally write in a positive way about the parade.

I welcome this change, but again I caution everyone to remember our roots, there are still those who would seek to have us put back in the closet.

The one thing that is not often mentioned about Gay Pride Parades is the economic benefit that regions, towns, or cities get from them.  I come from a background of finance, and I am also a local community journalist for our community, so I was extremely interested to see if anyone knew what economic benefits were brought into Belfast specifically and for Northern Ireland in general.

There is little available documentation regarding this area, but one that I have read with interest is the Greater London Authority Mayoral Decision for funding for Pride in London for the period 2018-2022.  I would like to share an extract from it: –

…During the past five years, Pride in London has continued to see growth and improved community engagement.  It is the UK’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) event and parade that typically attracts an annual attendance of up to a million people into central London.  Independent audience survey research in 2016 (the most recent data set) showed that additional spend in the local economy from people attending Pride was approximately £26.3m…

Now obviously Belfast figures as I have stated above are nowhere near 1 million (55000 approx.), however, if you conservatively look at the projected spend figures then I would suggest that Belfast economically benefits to the tune of

 

  Attendance Figures Additional Spend Spend per Head Estimated Policing Cost Estimated Cleaning Up Costs Estimated Net Benefit
             
London 1000000 £26.3m £26.30 £1m £1m £24.3m
             
 Brighton 400000 £20.5m  £51.25 £420k* £200k* £19.8
             
             
Belfast 55000 £.825m £15.00 £55k £45k £725k
  55000 £.550m £10.00 £55k £45k £450K
Northern Ireland            
             

 

Now the statistics for Northern Ireland are a lot more obscure as the Northern Ireland Tourist Board does not seem to track increased  figures for the period of Pride Month, and in particular Belfast Pride (FOI Request reply to 3 questions on Belfast Pride and in general N Ireland Pride Festivals dated 25 Jun 2018), but I believe that economically, the events help attract tourist income, stimulate employment, encourage spending, and contribute to public infrastructure development; and in so doing events prove the opportunity to revitalise communities and foster economic development. 

Also, the rural pride events can help members of the LGBTQ+ community to feel supported and accepted by creating visibility about different sexual orientations.

In the last week, we have seen reference to 1991 A Belfast Pride to be remembered!  It is important to realise that Belfast Pride is both a celebration of life and who we are, but also a political statement to show we are here, that we will not be going back and that we will continue to fight for our rights in society.

 

Belfast Pride and Economics

 

 

Links:

 

 

1991 A Belfast Pride to be remembered!

By Leave a Comment

1991 A Belfast Pride to be remembered!1991 A Belfast Pride to be remembered!, happened.  An intrepid bunch of gays and lesbians marched through Belfast in the first Belfast Pride.  This was an auspicious day and has been rightly celebrated because it said we were more than just a court case (Jeffrey Dudgeon v the United Kingdom).  

In fact, we were and are!

But what people forget is that we didn’t just have a march (or in Belfast terms ‘a wee dander’), we also had a week of events. e.g.

 

  •  ‘Mixtures and Allsorts was in the Old Museum Arts Centre.  It was billed as a cabaret – we were required to bring our own refreshments – so we did! There was a vast range of performance styles:
  • large chunks of Martin Sherman’s ‘Bent’ done by the Gauntlet theatre group
  • The Confused Sisters juggled with flaming torches
  • Two women from Out and Out theatre company performed a dance, which was reminiscent of the beautifully choreographed love scenes from Desert Heart. 
  • Paul Johnston, of the Dublin-based mandance, did a beautiful, angular solo, described as being based on dreams
  • The Hole in the Wall gang (Eamon Freil, Hugh Jordan, and Brian Lynch) did various pieces, including some risque jokes.
  • The Queen’s University Drama Society produced an inverted parlour-farce
  • There was Mary Scarlett’s 20-year-old ‘Insight in the life of the”Heterosexual” (A married (male) couple trying to talk their rebellious son out of his obsession with …  wait for it … ‘het-ero-sex-ual-ity

All this was completed on a minuscule budget, and with the best-willed volunteers you could imagine.

For a first attempt, it was good, indeed it was brilliant and excellent, and obviously, the current Belfast Pride is radically different and has grown.  But what mustn’t be forgotten is that this first Belfast Pride came on the back of a historic judicial judgment in the Europe Courts which had been brought by Jeff Dudgeon with the support of so many individuals and groups throughout all of Great Britain and Ireland – from fundraisers in Liverpool, Manchester, London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Dublin, to people who distributed flyers and distributed them in venues everywhere.

1991 A Belfast Pride to be remembered! 1991 A Belfast Pride to be remembered!

 

Belfast Pride is our pride – but remember we still have to continue and show who we are, and therefore what we are marching for yearly.

 

The full write-up of the first Belfast Pride can be found in the Linenhall Library archives, where copies of all the Gay Star, update, and upstart magazines have been placed for research.

 

Links:

Brexit in one!

By Leave a Comment

Brexit in one!I have clearly stated many times that I found the departure from the EU to be a farce; so many lies, mistruths and out of it all we get the Brexit deal which is very close to scuppering the Good Friday Agreement.  An agreement which is not perfect, has at least allowed the people of N Ireland to live relatively peacefully, and for the LGBTQ+ community to continue to fight for their rights, and most of the political parties now in N Ireland at least on paper support our community.

As an example of how Brexit has failed, I would suggest reading the article in the Guardian ‘Out! How Brexit sent one UK tennis kit firm to Romania‘, which highlighted the plight of one small company that moved lock, stock and barrel to Romania.  And, I am not just talking about the company, but the owners with their children also.  

…The Walkingtons decided they had to relocate lock, stock and barrel with their two children – after whom the company is named – last autumn and are now in the process of moving into new premises in Romania, where they are not only free of Brexit bureaucracy but are also benefiting from abundant skilled labour and help from the country’s authorities…

But to further compound this story about one small company, there is evidence that a substantial amount of other small companies are doing the same with Department for International TradeBresit in one! advisors advising them to do so!

…Six months after the UK finally left the EU’s single market, thousands of other small companies have faced similar problems, and many have either relocated entirely to the EU or set up branches or warehouses inside the EU to avoid the export delays and costs. Advisers at the Department for International Trade have encouraged many to do so. The authorities in EU countries including the Netherlands, Austria and Romania are going out of their way to help UK companies shift their operations to the continent, knowing local jobs and new economic activity will be created…

This would tend to indicate a further weakening of the British economy.

Brexit in one!But bringing the article back to LGBTQ+ politics, I am afraid that the DUP’s latest little foray into trying to win the LGBTQ+ vote is limp handed.  A few words by one of the team which are almost repudiated the next day by the leader in terms of ‘others should be apologising to us’ does not indicate a party that has accepted us.  To this, we can also add the continued delay by the Prime Minister (Rt Hon Boris Johnston) with one review after another, and nothing actually happens – reminds me of Yes Minister – A Public Inquiry.

We also have various stories now highlighting how since the pandemic, incidents of violence to eh LGBTQ+ community have increased. 

These are not helped by the stories coming out of Hungary of violence being perpetuated on the LGBTQ+ community – and now we have the new EU chief Janez Jansa, Prime Minister of Slovenia, warning the EU that if it continues to try to impost ‘the west’s liberal views on Central Europe’ then it would be ‘the fastest road to collapse’ of the bloc.

 

Links:

 

 

 

Homophobia and Terrorism are not limited to Muslims.

By Leave a Comment

 

Homophobia and Terrorism

Homophobia and Terrorism are not limited to Muslims, history shows that and often what we do not understand and fear (often irrationally) we throw out words like terrorism, not our people etc.

Andrew Pulver wrote an impassioned article on how journalism in all its forms needs to stop the ‘Toxic portrayals of Muslims’!  I would suggest that we need in the West, and in other cultures, to take a reality check.  The portrayals of terrorists as being only from one side of the world’s population is disingenuous.  All the major maritime powers in Europe sponsored pirates to enact terrorism on their rivals!  Then we have terrorists/freedom fighters, for example,   in 1867 there was the Clerkenwell explosion in London by the Fenians / Irish Republican Brotherhood (proto – IRA), in 1903 there were the Thessaloniki bombings by a Bulgarian group from Veles, mostly young graduates from the Bulgarian Men’s High School of Thessaloniki. Terrorism and Homophobia The list is endless, go and have a look at the Wikipedia article ‘Terrorism in Europe’ as a starting point.

But and it is a large BUT, terrorism by its very nature is subjective; dependent upon where you are with your life, your family, your community, your society, One Man’s Terrorist Is Another Man’s Freedom Fighter

So, therefore, you must ask why am I Interested?  My interest lies in my knowledge of Muslims.  I have been lucky enough to work, live and make friends with Muslims within their society whilst working in the Middle East; I have also been able to have similar experiences in the Far East, Canada, South America, and Europe.  I have always found a welcome within these communities, and I have had many discussions covering all aspects of their and my own society over politics, religion, homosexuality, with these debates has come an understanding of the local fears, even the fear of loss of identity (the Northern Irish are not unique).

In an article published in LGBTQ Nation (commentary by Michael Jensen and Brent Hartinger) it highlighted the position that a few of the local queer Muslim’s had in Turkey, a country which is 97% Muslim and where LGBTQ rights have gone backwards in recent years.  But similar pressure is being placed on LGBTQ freedom in other parts of Europe, e.g., Hungary and Poland.  According to the European Union in 2020 43% of LGBTQ people, last year said they felt discriminated against, up from 37% in 2012.

So, you can from this short overview firstly that terrorism and homophobia are not just related to Muslim society.

We need to educate against toxic rhetoric and politics wherever it is shown.  We need to be vigilant locally and fight against what certain elements among the local politicians will repeatedly roll out – remember throughout history it has always been easy to use a minority as the whipping boy for society wrongs – the Jews when they no longer were willing financiers of the British Crown, and indeed with a number of European monarchies, the travellers, Jews, homosexuals by Nazi Germany, the travellers even today in the United Kingdom, and for certain parties in Northern Ireland politics the LGBTQ+ society.

 

Links:

 

 

Virtual Belfast Reception

By Leave a Comment

 
Virtual Belfast ReceptionOn July 1st, 2021 the PinkNews, in partnership with Citi and the Rainbow Project, under the title “Virtual Belfast Reception” organised a panel discussion on LGBT+ equality in Northern Ireland.  The Virtual Belfast Reception online meeting involved Doug Beattie, UUP leader, Mary Lou McDonald, president of Sinn Fein, Colm Eastwood, SDLP leader, Naomi Long, Alliance leader and justice minister, and Mal O’Hara, a Green Party councillor in Belfast and the event was moderated by John O’Doherty, director of the Rainbow Project.
 
 
The virtual meeting was conducted through Zoom, with the audience being able to view but not comment except through the messenger facility of the program.  Areas under discussion were:
 
                • Transgender
                • Self ID Laws
                • LGBTQ+ and Education
                • Conversion Therapy

 

Obviously, during 1hr 30min+ discussion, there were sidetracks; the main one being over political parties and LGBTQ+ rights to which Paul Bradley, deputy leader of the DUP, said that in response to a question from Mr O’Doherty about the DUP and its history of negativity on LGBTQ+ issues, 

“I’m not going to defend some of the things that have been said over the years, because they have been absolutely atrocious. They’ve been shocking, so they have.
“I certainly couldn’t stand by many of those comments – in fact, all of those comments.
“Because I know that the hurt they have caused people and I know that fed into the hatred some people have had to endure in their life, and I think that’s absolutely wrong.
“I think the vast majority of those people that made those comments are no longer there, and the ones that are there have said that they have learned their lessons, that their language at times has not been right.
“It’s something I’ve brought up on numerous occasions with my own party because I think not sometimes, all the time, our language very much that we use as elected representatives has an impact in wider society.
“I can certainly say I apologise for what others have said and done in the past because I do think that there has been some very hurtful comments and some language that really should not have been used.”

(A full transcript can be found in the Newsletter link which is at the end of this article)

 

Now, this was a welcome response, however, it was then followed by Sir Jeffrey Donaldson speaking on Sunday, July 5th 2021|:

Mr Donaldson acknowledged past comments by members of the party had been “hurtful” to LGBT people here, before adding it was “not just in the case of the DUP”.

While the DUP leader said it is right “that we say sorry and acknowledge hurt”, Mr Donaldson went on to add: “Equally in time, I hope others will be able to acknowledge that they have caused hurt, for example to people from a strongly held faith perspective.”

This is the politician two shoe shuffle, give on one hand and then take away by blaming it all on someone else.

 

Much as Paul Bradly may wish, and indeed believes, that the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) is making strives to reform, it would seem that its current leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, has more in keeping with the leader he replaced Edwin Poots, or if you go back further Mrs Iris Robinson, a previous MLA and wife of the then First Minister ‘Peter Robinson’,  and ‘her’ psychologist who claimed that he could cure gays (gay conversion therapy).

 

Virtual Belfast Reception

 

 

Whilst I have concnetrated on the DUP during this virtual meeting, the other participants were very clear in the answers and supportive.  Some of the phrases which I have written down are:

  • Even though things have changed, there is ‘always a need to remain alert’.
  • If you ‘Stop pushing forward, then we will move back’
  • Even though we have had ‘Immense change, the lesson is we have to keep gong’
  • ‘Always think about those young people in turmoil’
  • ‘A Safe Place For All Of Our People’

Links:

 

Travellers and Roma – Calling All LGBT+

By Leave a Comment

Calling ALL Travellers and Roma, June is PRIDE Month would you like to appear in the Digital Dublin Pride Parade Video?

 

If so then look at our Info Sheet 21 which is available for download, and it also contains a wealth of other interesting bytes of information for everyone, but especially for ‘Travellers and Roma’.

 

Travellers and Roma

 

Make Saving Simple

By Leave a Comment

Make Saving SimpleNow that the lockdown is easing, we all have hidden pressure to go out and enjoy ourselves, which leads to more expenditure.  However, if you follow this simple guide, you can ‘Make Saving Simple’, keep yourself in the black, and switch careful planning you can afford those guilty pleasures that we all long for.

The hated word in any discussion is ‘budget’, it normally causes more rows in a family circumstance than any other as you are talking about money and money is a limited resource.  However, if you implement a simple budget you will be surprised at how quickly (even from small amounts) your savings will develop.

Remember putting a budget is not about stopping you spending, it is about making you realise what you spend on, and then by looking at this expenditure you can decide what is important and what you can adjust to make a saving (if possible); or even, if you need to get help.

I have created a simple spreadsheet for those who have access to Microsoft Excel, and I also have created a PDF so that those who do not have excel can download the four sheets of paper and fill them in that way.

 

The four sheets are:

  • Summary
  • Needs
  • Debts-Savings
  • Wants

If you are using Excel, all you have to do is fill in the Needs / Debts-Savings / Wants sheets and the totals will automatically complete the Summary Sheet.  Then you will need to fill in your earnings figure.

If you are using the PDF sheets, you will have to fill each item in yourself, then use a calculator to get your totals on each sheet, then manually fill in the Summary Sheet and total the figures in the first section, and then fill in your earnings in the second section.

Once you have completed this then subtract your expenditure in box 1 from your earnings in box 2 – if you end up with a minus figure, then you will need to go back to box one and see what (if anything ) you can adjust so that you end up with a positive figure.

 

“When your income is £20 and spending is £19.98, the result is happiness. When your income is £20 and spending is £20.02, the result is misery.”

 

Downloads:

Don’t forget to contact us if you need further help!

Make Saving Simple - Contact Us

Links:

Pandemic Impact on our LGBTQ+ Youth

By Leave a Comment

Pandemic Impact on our LGBTQ+ Youth

 

In 2018 whilst discussing ‘Rainbow Colours At Ards Town Hall’ reference was made to a report on suicide prevention from the World Health Organisation, Pandemic Impact on our LGBTQ+ Youthand the methods of measuring suicide attempts.  Reference was also made to the Rainbow Project report ‘Through Our Minds’ which indicated that 25.7% of those who responded, ‘had at least one attempt at suicide.’

But this is not the whole story, the following table gives a more concrete overview of the facts and figures:

General population (suicide attempt ever) LGBT population (suicide attempt ever) General population (suicide attempt past year) LGBT (suicide attempt past year)
Northern Ireland 4% 25.7% ? 6.17%
Great Britain 4.4% ? 0.5% 4.02%*
Ireland 7%** 21.4% 1.68%** 5.63%

 

*Excluding transgender people, recalculated on the basis of the two studies (2008; 2011) taken together
**Aged 17-25

 

LGBT Ireland’s Annual Report

LGBT Ireland’s Annual Report for 2020 published yesterday (May 10) highlighted how the LGBTQ+ community was affected by the COVID pandemic with a higher number than ever of younger people calling the LGBT Ireland helpline with a correlating uptake in online peer support groups….[FactcheckNI(https://factcheckni.org/articles/have-1-in-4-lgbt-persons-attempted-suicide/)]

So why am I raising this again?  We are all still living and working within the pandemic and its impact on all of the community within the United Kingdom.  However, the LGBT Ireland’s Annual Report covering the year 2020, has highlighted the LGBTQ+ community was affected by the COVID pandemic with a higher number that ever of young people calling the LGBT Helpline.

Pandemic Impact on our LGBTQ+ YouthBut in Northern Ireland, I would also suggest that the number of calls for support whether by phone, text or online will have gone up.  Our youth have also suffered from the impact of the pandemic, and so many reports, studies and articles over the period have indicated that for so many that had to return home from university halls, or from rented accommodation which they could no longer afford had the ‘return to the closet’ syndrome as they either were not out to their families, or their families preferred that they kept a low profile.

The cancelling of so many venues and the limitation of support groups has also brought further psychological pressure on our LGBTQ+ youth.

Indian Variant

Today we heard that we are moving forward towards new normality, however almost immediately we are being told about the ‘Indian’ variant and that if the numbers continue to increase from this it may lead to local or limited lockdowns. 

None of us knows the future, and indeed the one thing that is guaranteed apart from birth, death and taxes (which are bound to go up due to Brexit fallout and the pandemic costs) is that the pandemic is here forever, and that it is down to us all to be sensible and use the skills we have developed over the last 15+ months, but also that we need to think carefully on how we can support and care for our youth ( and indeed everyone).

 

Links: