Author Archives: Claudia Tomlinson

Measures must be introduced to curb the spread of acid attacks on young women

By Claudia Tomlinson | Published: May 21, 2013

Politicians need to decide whether new legislation is required to deal with this crime before it spreads.

Posted in Good Society | Tagged , , | 1 Response

The shocking death of Nigerian student in Durham Prison and the search for the truth

By Claudia Tomlinson | Published: April 29, 2013

A Nigerian student, Boniface Umale, has died at Durham prison, shortly after his arrest. His death was only discovered when his visiting solicitor arrived at the jail to find arrangements being made for his cremation, according to Nigerian Watch.

Posted in Good Society | Tagged | 4 Responses

Ed Miliband should listen to Len McCluskey’s real message

By Claudia Tomlinson | Published: April 25, 2013

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, has warned Ed Miliband of the need to keep Labour firmly on the left, in order to avoid defeat at the next general election. Specifically, Miliband has been advised by McCluskey to purge the shadow cabinet of its remaining Blairites, in the form of Jim Murphy, Douglas Alexander, and Liam Byrne.

Posted in Clean Politics | Tagged , , | 3 Responses

Cameron needs to do more than attend the Stephen Lawrence memorial service to win the Black vote

By Claudia Tomlinson | Published: April 23, 2013

When Conservative councillor John Cherry spoke openly about his fear of Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) children boarding weekly at a school in the West Sussex countryside, it was reminiscent of language that was not unusual in the 1980s and 1990s. The legacy of Stephen Lawrence’s murder, 20 years ago this month, was to trigger the Macpherson Inquiry, resulting in legislative reform that has driven out the worst such overt racist behaviour by those in public life.

Posted in Good Society | Tagged , , , | 1 Response

The musical backdrop to the backlash against Thatcherism

By Claudia Tomlinson | Published: April 9, 2013

From the late 1970s Thatcherism ushered in an unexpectedly rich dimension of music-based protest and activism that pulled together youth movements from the very communities she sought to destroy.

Posted in Good Society | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Responses

Why it’s right to extend hate crime legislation to members of subcultures

By Claudia Tomlinson | Published: April 8, 2013

Hate crime is when someone is targeted because the assailant hates ‘what’ that person is or what the assailant perceives them to be.

In some quarters, there has been an expression of dismay that Manchester Police will now record criminal acts against subcultures as hate crimes, where there is evidence of this.

Posted in Good Society | Tagged , | 2 Responses

Why did Kenyans elect a human rights abuser?

By Claudia Tomlinson | Published: March 11, 2013

The Kenyan general election has been narrowly won by Uhuru Kenyatta, a man facing trial at the International Criminal Court for his alleged part in the killing of over a thousand people following the general election in 2007. The question must therefore be asked: why would a nation someone who stands accused of such crimes against humanity?

Posted in Multilateral Foreign Policy | Tagged | 5 Responses

Are the South African police to blame for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp?

By Claudia Tomlinson | Published: March 6, 2013

The South African police, and the government have a lot of injustices and failures that can be laid at their door, but the actions of Oscar Pistorius on Valentine’s Day is not one of them.

Posted in Social Justice | Tagged , , , | 12 Responses

Why are South African police mimicking white supremacists?

By Claudia Tomlinson | Published: March 2, 2013

The sickening killing of 27 year old Mido Macia in South Africa this week brought to mind the white supremacist murders in the US which amounted to ‘lynchings’. This, together with the recent high profile rape and murder of Anene Booysen – and even the Oscar Pistorius case – point to a latent violence in the country that the government seems reluctant to tackle.

Posted in Social Justice | Tagged , , , , | 11 Responses

How far back should retrospective government apologies go?

By Claudia Tomlinson | Published: February 21, 2013

Now that Enda Kenny has apologised to the victims of the Magdalene laundries scandal in Ireland, Claudia Tomlinson asks how far back retrospective government apologies should go.

Posted in Good Society | Tagged , , , , | 4 Responses