Innholdsfortegnelse for 2/1/2021 i The Big Issue

“It’s not surprising that several million have sought much-needed breathing space by taking payment holidays on a wide range of regular commitments, from mortgages to car finance. “Coronavirus payment holidays (or ‘deferrals’) were made available in March, backed by the FCA, to enable people to pause regular payments to mortgages for three months. They were later widened to include other accounts such as personal loans, credit cards and car finance. The deferral period was also extended to six months. “This support, which has largely been provided on a no-questions-asked basis, has given a vital lifeline to several million consumers and is available to March 31. However, if you’ve already used your maximum allowance of six months and still need help, the lender should be able to discuss more tailored support.…

A former brother-in-law of mine studied geology before ending up in a bank. Every now and then I would reflect on what to me seemed at the time a waste of a good brain. Geology was so old and so irrelevant because it seemed unable to explain what was occurring now. And explaining what occurs now seemed to be what you needed to do as appositely as possible. The other day though I sat in a socially distancing glass booth and took part in a parliamentary debate. The debate was in response to a report into intergenerational fairness. And suddenly, unintended and uncalled for, geology came floating into my mind. What were the rocks, so to speak, on which the intergenerational divide were based? What was the political and social…

As a longterm fan of Dostoevsky (and yes, unusually for a 19th century literary novelist, he does have a kind of fan club, many of whom are adolescents high on the thrill of first encountering his freewheeling combo of philosophical pondering and jazz-style ri›fing), I’ve read a lot about the life of the man. Like every respectable Dostoevskian, I know the headlines: his troubled outsider youth in Moscow and St Petersburg; his lifelong debilitating epilepsy; his unorthodox blending of utopian socialism with Russian Orthodoxy; his last-minute state reprieve awarded on the gallows, moments from execution; his gambling addiction and perpetual debt; his marriages and many extra-marital affairs. And, to paraphrase another great thinker, Bob Dylan, I’ve been through all of his books. So why would I want to read yet…

Rams  On VOD from February 5 Sam Neill is on a one-man mission to make social media a better place: the Kiwi actor is always posting heartwarming updates about the various chooks, pigs and other animals that roam round his Two Paddocks vineyards in New Zealand. So it seems appropriate to see him as a rough-around-the-edges sheep farmer in Rams, a film set in rural Oz. Neill’s gruff Col has been feuding with his choleric brother Les (a whiskery Michael Caton) for four decades, despite the fact they live side by side on the family farmland. At first glance, it looks like Rams might play out as the broadest of rural comedies: we are introduced to the Grimurson brothers as they warily pit their prize rams against each other in…

One of the benefits of all this time in lockdown is that it’s been a year since I have had to step foot inside an office. I have spent most of my working life trying to avoid proper jobs where you have to turn up at a certain place every day at a particular time and do some idiot’s bidding. But even as a feckless freelancing good for nothing I am obliged, at times, to show my face in soulless corporate gulags for meetings or ‘coffees’ or some other bullshit. These days, the furthest I ever have to go is into my bedroom, where my webcam is rigged up, so that I can communicate with ‘colleagues’ until such a time that the conversation becomes unbearably tedious and I pretend that…

VENDORS Across the country vendors are prevented from working on their pitches by the national lockdown. Our staff is working closely with each vendor to make sure there is extra support to make up for lost earnings. We also understand that apart from reduced income, the lack of social interaction will cause a lot of distress. If you would like to pass a message on to your local vendor please email editorial@bigissue.com and we’ll do our best to make sure they know they still have your support. SUBSCRIPTIONS AND SHOPS Since the first national lockdown in March, we have supported our vendors with more than £700,000 of financial assistance to make up for lost sales. As the only certainty is more uncertainty, we urgently need your help to make sure…

FINANCIAL HEALTH: A dvice from a range of experts and partners on bigissue.com and The Big Issue UK app will cover topics from problem debt to how money worries can impact on mental health. We’ll have features, guides and videos to help. MONEY Q&A: On our app every week we’ll ask experts to answer to your questions and concerns. JOBS: Sign up for our RORA Toolkit to get a weekly newsletter, access to our jobs and training boards, and regular news and advice – bigissue.com/jobs-training…

Writing this in early 2021, the world of January 2020 seems like a far-flung land. To reach back there over the expanse of the pandemic, the successive tsunamis of Covid and suffering of the public and our health service is like visiting a forgotten and distant dimension far removed from today’s reality. Initially, once the first lockdown hit in late March, there was an outpouring of public support. Although we knew little about Covid-19, and the prognosis appeared bleak for our overstretched, under-resourced health system struggling to cope with the consequences of long-term ‘austerity’- driven public sector policy, there was a sense of purpose and resolve. The country was facing a once-in-a-lifetime disaster, and everyone wanted to do their bit. Keyworkers going above and beyond in hospitals, shops and transport,…

In the aǼtermath of World War 2, a handful of Christian airmen and women surveyed a world devastated by war; one where aircraft had been used for defence and destruction. The question stirring their hearts was: ‘Could planes used so effectively for war bring peace and help to isolated people in unreached areas?’ Among them, Betty Greene, a 25-year-old WASP pilot, Stuart King, an RAF engineer and D-Day veteran, and RAF Squadron Leader Jack Hemmings believed they could. Joining as members of a fledgling charity named Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) – the brainchild of New Zealand pilot Murray Kendon – Betty, Stuart and Jack became the first aviators to survey remote parts of Africa and Latin America never reached by air. The earliest MAF flight, leaving Los Angeles on February…

‘Conductor leaves orchestra’ is not usually a hold-the-front-page news story – except, of course, when the conductor is Sir Simon Rattle, and the orchestra is the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO). Britain’s best-known baton wielder has just announced that he is to leave the LSO in 2023 to take up a position with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich. Much was made of Rattle’s return to the UK in 2017, following a lengthy stint leading the Berlin Philharmonic. Rattle’s homecoming was accompanied by controversial support for a new concert hall in London. (The conductor reportedly said of the Royal Festival Hall, “The will to live slips away in the first half-hour of rehearsal.”) The LSO’s home at the Barbican is a brutalist rabbit warren with a relatively clean acoustic but,…

The Super Bowl is always the biggest event on America’s sports calendar, but this year’s will be more than significant than ever, as a nation never more divided comes together for the first time after months of political uncertainty, racial tension and pandemic. “Football in America is more popular than all the other sports combined,” says Osi Umenyiora, sports pundit and Super Bowl winner with the New York Giants in 2008 and 2012. “So when the best teams play, the entire country comes to a halt. “There’s so much tradition wrapped up in the Super Bowl, it’s like a holiday, a coming together of American tradition and values. Where there’s a game that is unifier of sorts, where we can put aside differences – even if it’s for a couple…

More people than ever before are keeping up with the latest news at bigissue.com. Are you? Here are the latest highlights: •Get that job with our free CV templates for application success •Meet the young people fighting the future generations •Friends and neighbours Joan Bakewell and Stephen Mangan shoot the breeze about art •How working out works wonders for your mental health – hear from Big Issue vendor Kenny •Learn more about our 100 days campaign and the impact of the pandemic on vendors…

Fear and worry takes a toll on all of us. Action is urgently needed. Early in the first lockdown we launched the Ride Out Recession Alliance (RORA), to unite organisations and individuals, share ideas and support those who most need it. For 2021 we have introduced the RORA Toolkit with access to jobs and training opportunities, to improve job chances and help people skill-up for the future. And starting today we are joining forces with Experian as part of its United For Financial Health programme, working with partners including The National Literacy Trust, National Numeracy, The Mix and The Trussell Trust. “Covid-19 has sent shockwaves through the country,” explains James Jones, head of consumer affairs at Experian. “While much of the focus has been on public health, understandably with so…

‘After Nirvana I needed music to keep me alive. It’s the reason I never stopped’ At 16 I was already fully immersed in music, and learning to write and record and perform. I was a music junkie. So I was amassing this crazy record collection, most of it underground independent punk rock bands. But I wasn’t only listening to the albums for personal enjoyment. I was learning to play my instruments from them. I never took drum lessons, I just learned from listening to Led Zeppelin and Bad Brains and The Police and Sex Pistols records. I didn’t have a teacher to show me how to write songs, I just had a Beatles songbook. I would sit and play along to Beatles songs, and I started understanding composition and arrangement…

01 Julia and the Bazooka by Anna Kavan Just as if you’re sad, you should listen to melancholy music, so in lockdown it can be a good idea to read stories of isolation and unhappiness. Autobiographical tales tell of Kavan’s poor relationship with her parents and husband, and her attraction to death-defying racing drivers. 02 New Terrors II, edited by Ramsey Campbell One of my favourite horror anthologies because it contains great stories by some of my favourite writers including Christopher Priest, Giles Gordon and M John Harrison as well as – bonus ball – my favourite Stephen King story. 03 Pharos by Alice Thompson King was a fan of this brilliant historical ghost story that feels timeless, like it could be happening today. It probably is. 04 The Leaping…

1. Tony the Tiger was the advertising cartoon mascot for which breakfast cereal? 2. What country is the Temple of Artemis located in? 3. What is the technical name for the hashtag symbol? 4. Which US state has the longest border with Canada? 5. What was the name of the first FIFA World Cup trophy, given permanently to Brazil in 1970? 6. The Diet is the legislative body of which country? 7. What is the name of the river that runs under O’Connell Bridge in Dublin? 8. Which US band released an album called Pocket Full Of Kryptonite in 1993? 9. Which British food chain opened in 1992 in Bloomsbury, London? 10. In which James Bond film does he go into space? 11. Which famous Welshman died aged 39 in…

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