Innholdsfortegnelse for 7/2/2018 i The Big Issue

I’ve just had four operations on my ankle and I have to say the treatment I had on the NHS was top drawer. There are obviously problems as it turns 70 though, as we see on page 20. I had my final operation on a Friday morning and I was discharged in the afternoon so I was kind of shooed out the door. But I can’t fault the care. On page 33 we review the film of Mary Shelley’s life. I’ve read Frankenstein, people doubted she wrote it at the time but now there are rumours she was actually behind a lot of Byron’s work. He and the Shelleys were quite a triumvirate, all that absinthe and laudanum... And you can read my story on page 46.…

It’s sunny. Your mind is elsewhere. You’re thinking about the sun. You’re thinking about water and kicking back and enjoying it all. You might be looking for a little shade. You might be complaining it’s TOOOOOO hot. In case you’ve missed things, in case you’ve been taking a break, this is where we are. There’s a beer shortage. It’s because manufacturers of CO2, who supply the bubbles in lager and fizzy pop, have scaled back production. There could also be a meat shortage soon, also due to CO2. And Danny fackin Dyer is being hailed as the truest commentator on Brexit we have after calling David Cameron a tw*t. Which, when written down, doesn’t sound like much. It’s all down to the timing of delivery. Harold Pinter loved Danny Dyer.…

Vulnerable survivors of domestic abuse and their children are sleeping rough as local authorities fail to find them safe accommodation, according to a new report from charity Women’s Aid. Of the 264 women supported by the No Woman Turned Away project, 12 per cent were forced to sleep rough before making contact, including pregnant women and women with children. The project comes to the aid of women with additional complex needs who are unable to secure a safe refuge place through the national domestic violence helpline. But one in 10 women were told they had made themselves intentionally homeless while almost half of the women surveyed were forced to sofa-surf as they waited for a refuge spot. And eight per cent were left with no choice but to return to…

I left home when I was 16. With the blessing of my parents. I’d already written a couple of plays and done an awful lot of am dram. My parents found out that at South Warwickshire College you could actually study theatre studies as an A-level, which was very unusual then. I moved there on my own and lived in digs, and it was really horrible and lonely. There was very little food and no heating. I ended up living in a caravan in a field on a farm. Quite a funny thing to do when you’re that young. But I was able to write plays and put a few on at the college and my parents were right behind me. They thought I should follow my dream, as the…

The Big Issue: How can the problems with the NHS be fixed? Ben Gershlick: There is no quick fix for these issues. This is firstly as there may not be a problem to ‘fix’ – the population growing, ageing, and living on with conditions they may have died of 70 years ago is in many ways a good news story. And with that comes increased pressure on the health service due to the prevalence of certain long-term conditions associated with age, as well as a bigger population needing to use the service. The amount required to keep pace with these and similar demands is about 3.3 per cent a year – less than the 3.7 per cent that the NHS has historically received, so not unsustainably expensive by any means.…

'HUMANS NEED SUPPORT AND CONNECTION AS WELL AS MEDICINE' I have had moderate to severe depression on and off for most of my adult life. The system makes the condition far worse. I don’t want to rely on drugs for the rest of my life if there are other options. My GP (who is good when I get to see her) referred me to the mental health team in November. I was eventually contacted by a ‘student’ who recommended I tried a CBT course. She tried quite hard to push the online computer course but I explained I needed advice and help from an expert. I was sent an appointment six months later. I really wanted help and for it to work. During my first of four appointments, I was…

It’s hard to write about a Victor LaValle book without spoilers. Like predecessors Big Machine (2009) and The Devil in Silver (2012), the cult New Yorker’s latest novel The Changeling is a dark, shape-shifting, unpredictable beast, best enjoyed as a series of surprises. With books like this, the reviewer is like a naughty Freemason, breaking the agreement by spilling closely guarded secrets with irresponsible abandon. Even suggesting a genre is potentially joy-killing, though labelling The Changeling a modern horror fantasy morality tale and love story doesn’t square too many swirling circles. The story centres around Apollo Kagwa, a New York native raised solely by his Ugandan mother, Lillian. Despite being haunted since infancy by a sinister recurring dream about the father who disappeared when he was four, Kagwa becomes a…

Anew film out this week is called Mary Shelley. I guess most of us would know she’s the woman who wrote Frankenstein, but the interesting thing about this handsome biopic of the author is how close she came to being forgotten. When the novel was first published, it was anonymously attributed, and much of literary London assumed that Percy Shelley, who did pen the introduction, was the true creator. The film tells the story of Mary’s relationship with Shelley: a tumultuous, mostly unhappy pairing of a guileless young woman – Mary was 16 at the time – with a charismatic narcissist that led to the writing of the novel that made her name. And it’s the tenacious attempt by Mary to assert her true ownership of the book that provides…

Timeless , a unique exhibition of images of Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe, is currently on display in the picturesque Suffolk town of Bury St Edmunds. We’re giving readers the chance to win a weekend away for two in the beautiful town, including tickets for the exhibition, a night in The Northgate hotel, and afternoon tea in the historic Angel Hotel. This stunning collection of rare vintage photographs and limited-edition prints has been hand-curated by Kudos Memorabilia for the historic Moyse’s Hall Museum, featuring some of the 20th century’s greatest photographic artists and celebrating the remarkable life and career of Monroe. It’s a rare opportunity to explore stunning portraits from her early years as an aspiring actress and model through to her dazzling rise to international stardom. In the historic…

WHAT I READ (AND WRITE) I love the Horus Heresy series of books. It’s by a collection of about half a dozen authors and it’s the best sci-fi I’ve ever read. I also like Tolkien, Orwell and Jean-Paul Sartre. And philosophers like Nietzsche, Kant and Bertrand Russell. I also write poetry. IF I WON THE LOTTERY I’d see to it that all my friends and family had a property that can never be taken off them. Bought outright. Then I’d grab my passport and go travelling. I’d still rough it in 20-dorm hostels.…

Arch enemies This is yet another example of a deaf and ignorant government living in an evidence-free zone. “Never let facts get in the way of helping the rich.” Alan Craw, Chesterfield Food for thought In response to the letter from Marie [Letters, June 18–24] and the subject of online foodbank donations. I have previously placed online supermarket orders to be delivered directly to a foodbank. My experience has varied – some happy to accept, others have declined the offer. I get in touch to check if they will accept an order, preferred days/times for delivery and any particular requests, which often tends to be for heavier items such as longlife milk, or items people may not think to pick up as they go round a supermarket e.g. packets of…

Last week brave vendor Karl Lamsdale shared his incredible story of returning to his pitch of 19 years after “seeing the face of God” following an alleged hit-and-run incident. The Birmingham Snow Hill station vendor, known as Bubble, told The Big Issue that his customers have been stunned after reading the tale told in his own words in last week’s magazine about how he battled back from broken bones, sepsis and two heart attacks. “It’s been a good opportunity for people to see me in the magazine because a lot of my regulars have been asking me when I was going to be in, aside from the little updates. The feedback has been brilliant,” he said. “There a few people who have said, ‘Where have you been?’ and then they…

Just when you thought it was pens down for exam season, the National Library of Scotland has only gone and brought papers back from the past. The library published tests from 1888 to 1965 on its website last week alongside its Re-Sits art pieces, including Crow by Jules Bradbury, her artistic response to a 1937 English comprehension exam. To see if you would have made the grade, try this question from 1888: A person walks from Rugby to London in four days, and back in five days. Each day he walks one mile less than on the preceding day. What is the distance between the two places? And they say exams are getting easier.…

What if someone said to you, you could give one thing, at no cost or detriment to you that could affect the lives of around 10 million patients? Would you say ‘where do I sign?’ Would you say, ‘tell me more’? Or would you say, ‘no thanks’? We all visit our doctor, dentist, nurse, physiotherapist and expect them to know all about our body, in sickness and in health. But how did they learn this? There are many methods of teaching anatomy including some fantastic virtual reality. However, the real experience remains the most valuable in enabling learning. This is where the role of the silent teacher comes in. Silent teachers are the donors who generously bequeath their bodies to a medical school for others to learn from. Each year…

Planning a summer getaway? The double sunset shots visible from Kepler-16b would go down a storm on Instagram, but before you book your flights, be warned that it may be a gas giant. Nasa has set up an Exoplanet Travel Bureau to showcase the potential holiday destinations of the far-distant future. Whether it’s visiting the unbeatable nightlife of PSO J318.5-22 – a rogue planet that doesn’t orbit a star, so effectively it’s always night – or the crushing gravity of HD 40307g, classified as a ‘Super Earth’. With eight times the mass of our own, the sights and sounds are unimaginable. And who knows what alien life you might encounter on the way. exoplanets.nasa.gov…

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES by Arthur Conan Doyle Because Sherlock Holmes is surely the world’s greatest detective and he smoked a pipe – maybe even at the scene of the crime! He did not have the benefit of DNA, which, of course, came much later. Instead his tools were intuition, logic and good tobacco. MAIGRET: SIGNED, PICPUS by Georges Simenon Jules Maigret is one of the best-known pipe-smoking policemen and he features in 76 novels. It’s no surprise that Georges Simenon made his character a pipe smoker, since he was one himself. THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde He smoked and coined the phrase “a cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied”. I think the great writer…

James Corden: he of a thousand faux-outrageous-banter award ceremony presentations and annoying price comparison website ads. A man with whom I suspect I would enjoy sharing a short trip in a speeding 4x4 little more than I would a short trip under a speeding 4x4. And yet, much as it pains me to say so, he earns my and I’m sure many others’ newfound respect for bringing to pass a moment of rare and bona fide music television magnificence, by taking Sir Paul McCartney on a drive down memory lane in Carpool Karaoke. Born as a feature on his Late Late Show and subsequently spun off as a standalone series, Corden’s slebs-singing-in-the-car segment is a veritable golden goose of shareable video content. Carpool has become no stranger to phenomenally big…

As a ‘dyed in the wool’ Tory I never thought I would ever get behind a campaign supported by Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell [Campaign, June 25-July 1] . However, Network Rail’s decision to sell off the railway arches strikes at the very heart of small business entrepreneurs. My wife was a personal assistant for many years to one of the major principals in Formula 1 motor racing and he never lost sight of the fact that he started working for a small racing team base in the arches. If not for the availability of cheap premises under the arches after the war the UK would not be world leaders in racing technology today. I fully support Guardians of the Arches and their aims. Ross Herbert, Herefordshire…

Just take a minute to imagine that you are running a business (or renting a property). Now imagine your landlord raising your rent from £33,000 per year to £147,000. This is what Ronnie and George Grant from Clapham North MOT were faced with last Christmas. Ronnie, who is 93-and-a-half, first rented the arch that houses their business in 1960. After 58 years, a 345 per cent overnight rent rise seems unjustifiable. But they are not alone. Many of the 5,500 businesses operating out of the UK’s railway arches – which are set to be sold off by Network Rail and the government for a short-term cash injection (at the cost of long-term reliable income) – face similar demands. Network Rail and the government are fattening up the calf for market,…

120 120 members of Social Enterprise UK work in the health and social care sector 90% 90 per cent of those public service mutuals reported faster or easier decision-making than when part of the public sector with 85 per cent believing they have a happier and more engaged workforce £1.6BN Public service mutuals – organisations that have left the public sector but continue delivering public services – account for £1.6bn of value across all sectors 70% NHS spending on care by private companies in 2017/18 is £3.1bn with non-NHS firms winning almost 70 per cent of tendered contracts in England last year £16.8BN NHS social care spending is currently £16.8bn a year – including contributions from the Better Care Fund – 9.9 per cent less than at its peak eight…

I have been trying to catch up on Radio Four’s A Point of View , a 10-minute pause for thought that I find far more effective for my godless mind than Thought for the Day. I fear Will Self in the way that I used to fear Jeremy Paxman. Working as the warm-up man for University Challenge many years ago, having been brought in to replace the previous warm-up man whose jokes about nuns on bicycles had not been considered fitting for the usual audience of active librarians, I found my brain jarred mid-sentence by a Paxman look that said, “What is this man and why is he doing this?” It was a moment of jovial contempt. I had a similar experience in a studio with Will Self. He could…