Innholdsfortegnelse for 11/3/2025 i The Big Issue

EXCLUSIVE Digital ID scheme will be a ‘passport’ out of homelessness, Keir Starmer tells Big Issue → Digital ID can be a “passport” out of homelessness, prime minister Keir Starmer has told Big Issue – but will people without a smartphone be left behind? That’s the fear of campaigners as the government doubles down on its plan to require Brits to prove their right to work in the UK with digital ID. The policy – intended to tackle illegal working and therefore illegal immigration – will be rolled out by the next election in 2029. It has drawn the ire of privacy campaigners, who fear an expansion of state surveillance. But in an exclusive interview with Big Issue, the prime minister denied these claims. Instead, he insisted digital ID could…

→ Recently I was asked to speak on the radio about a particular high-profile person who has been used for almost 30 years by various governments to add some balls to delivery of government targets, largely around poverty and homelessness. The person in question is a tough, no-nonsense woman who, using some oft used cliches, does not ‘entertain fools gladly’ and ‘takes no prisoners’. She is, and has been, impressive. What’s not impressive is the tasks she has been set. Another cliche springs to mind: ‘a racehorse used to pull a milk cart’. In other words she has been assigned, not on all occasions, a job to do that lacks depth and does not utilise her true skills. I concluded my piece by suggesting that if said person had put…

Remembrance Day is a national opportunity to reflect on the burdens that soldiers bear. But as we pause to remember the sacrifices of the past, we should also consider those who will serve in the future. A decent society is one in which the benefits and burdens of social cooperation are shared fairly. This standard should be applied to the burdens of military service. Of course, many people who serve are proud of the sacrifice they have taken on. We can acknowledge this, while nonetheless reflecting on whether Britain’s approach to filling the ranks is as fair as it could be. We think there’s reason to be sceptical. One reason is that the burdens of British military service are concentrated on the (very) young. Britain is an international outlier in…

One of the greatest comedy films of all time, This Is Spinal Tap didn’t make much of an impact upon its release in 1984. An improvised mockumentary about a fictional English rock band played by American comic actors who weren’t particularly well-known was, apparently, a tough sell. However, it gradually became a cult hit on VHS and is now part of the cultural fabric. In A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap, the film’s director Rob Reiner recounts its making alongside co-creators Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer. A fascinatingly fact-packed gift for Tapheads, it’s as much of a labour of love as the film itself. What began as a sketch for a 1979 TV comedy special hosted by Reiner quickly took on a…

GET IN TOUCH The Big Issue, 2nd floor, 43 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 1HW letters@bigissue.com @bigissueuk @bigissue.com @bigissue /bigissueUK thebigissue ISSUE 1690 The Labour government give me nightmares. Dave Shaw, Facebook Fighting talk I saw the article about Greta Thunberg and others [on bigissue.com] who are willing to speak publicly about their beliefs and causes. I have been a campaigner within disability for over a decade and when I look back at my CV l feel proud. We need people who are willing to say when something is wrong and speak to society. Many of our human rights were created by people who didn’t accept the world as it was. Could you imagine a world where women couldn’t vote, for example? Or a wheelchair user couldn’t board a train? (Yes,…

At 16, I was just starting to take writing seriously. I became obsessed with lyricism and writing lines and my heroes were all musicians. I was absolutely crazy about music. I loved a lot of east coast rappers, because they were at the peak for innovation at that time. But there was also lots of interesting stuff in London, where drum and bass MCs were doing interesting things with flows. I started to realise that there was a difference between a creative life or a life of destruction. Music was everywhere. It’s how I socialised, it’s how I partied, it’s how I celebrated, it’s what I did all day long – sitting in the park, writing lyrics and rapping at people. I just love, love, love music. My ears love…

Veterans and refugees are often pitted against each other. This summer saw false claims being made that ex-forces personnel were being evicted to make way for asylum seekers. Petitions called for the government to prioritise British veterans for housing over asylum seekers. But veterans are not overrepresented among the wider homeless population. Veterans’ groups say they are used as a ‘political football’ against other vulnerable groups. The government has promised that veterans won’t face disadvantage as a result of their service, and announced millions in extra funding – on top of wider homelessness support. Meanwhile, a new report from MPs has exposed how taxpayers’ money is being wasted on asylum accommodation – but the cash is going to private profits rather than asylum seekers. 1.2% of rough sleepers recorded in…

The rain falls hard on a humdrum train, and another and another. Delays at Carlisle give me time to walk in drizzle and leave empty-handed from the Oxfam bookshop. I look at the ghost signs of ‘Woolworths’ and ‘Threshers’ left on a building ready for destruction. Memories of pick’n’mix and Geoff Love’s war film soundtrack LPs will soon be in the ground. At Edinburgh Haymarket, the sun dawdles just high enough to propel light down platform 3, and my journey to Linlithgow offers fabulous skies. I stand in a progressive church, surrounded by warm images of inclusion and talk to a congregation about neuro-divergence, anxiety and the brilliance of Jane Goodall. Sally from Madding Crowd, Linlithgow’s glorious bookshop, gives me some homemade cakes and biscuits, and a bottle of white…

The landlord asked us to leave under section 21. I am a little bit stressed. → Now I am very famous here in Alnwick because everyone knows me — I’ve sold magazines for 17 years in this pitch. It’s a little easier for me now. I’m from Romania originally, but I emigrated when I was 18, from Romania to Spain. I lived in Spain 10 years until 2007, when the economy went down and I lost my job there. After 10 years it was not very easy to go back to Romania, because I felt lost in time. In 2007, I tried Newcastle. We had some family friends here. But it was very difficult for me because my English was zero. Anyway, my English is not good now, but it’s…

→ We are living in an era of vibes. That is the key defining element of social and political discourse and influence. This is not a take I can claim for myself. I heard Simon Clarke, former MP, former chief secretary to the Treasury, at a time the second-tallest MP, come up with it. He was on Matt Chorley’s very listenable show on BBC Radio 5 Live. Clarke’s vibe assessment went something like this. There is no great benefit for those in power attempting to tackle really thorny insolubles. These take time, money and patience. That is a trio that is almost impossible to score as wins. Instead, those without power, either challenging for it or trying to land a few glancing blows, can get a sense of what is…

→ Hundreds of veterans could be made homeless as government funding for key accommodation faces an uncertain future, Big Issue has learned. Leaders of veterans’ charities providing housing funded by Op Fortitude, which has helped over 1,000 veterans avoid homelessness, say they do not know if they will receive cash for the accommodation beyond March and have warned rough sleeping could increase. Keir Starmer promised the government will “house all veterans in housing need”, and put millions of pounds towards stopping veteran homelessness. Ahead of Remembrance Day, Big Issue is looking at how those promises have been shaking out. We have discovered that one charity promoted as receiving Op Fortitude referrals never received government funds. And a failure to make changes to a ‘local connection’ rule is putting veterans off…

Perhaps you’ve already heard about Jennifer Lawrence’s high-wire performance in Die, My Love, either from admiring film festival reviews or her recent boisterous appearance on Graham Norton. She plays Grace, a socially isolated new mother in rural Montana whose sturdy denim dungarees belie the fact that she is coming apart at the seams. Grace stalks through her garden’s tall grass on all fours like a panther, which might feel like a playtime goof if she wasn’t also holding a large kitchen knife. We see her standing in the middle of her kitchen before she alarmingly flops her head and arms down like a puppet who has had their strings cut. She parks her butt inside her old-fashioned fridge, casually spitting out an arc of beer onto the floor (that we…

A familiar tune is shared among the brass band, with the euphonium and tubas leading the march. The little melody grows in stature with each repetition, stirring cracking memories. When Julian Nott wrote the theme for Wallace & Gromit in 1989 he could not have expected that it would become, alongside the inventor and dog that it introduces, an icon in its own right – a blossoming sound so cheerful it was used to wake up astronauts aboard a space shuttle mission in 2010. Today it is played by the Fairey Band, an ensemble founded in 1937 by a group of employees at the Fairey Aviation Works in Stockport. Conductor Phil Chalk is seated so as not to block the screen behind the musicians. The band segues into lounge music…