Society

The Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC) is a strange beast. Its membership largely consists of Asghar Bukhari and his brother. Occasionally another person appears on television claiming an affiliation to the group – an affiliation promptly proved by use of the organisation’s modus operandi, viz furious shouting backed up by ferocious stupidity. Anyhow, it has long been plain that Asghar lives in the fever swamps. I suppose Sky just think he makes good noise. But today brings a particularly moving example of where this can lead. Thanks to the excellent Jamie Palmer (@jacobinism) who reads Asghar’s Facebook rants so the rest of us don’t have to, the world can now read

If you ever doubted it was the case, here’s the final proof that in the UK, Health and Safety legislation trumps everything. Tamanna Begum, a Sunni Muslim nursery school ‘teacher’ in Essex, has just lost an employment appeal tribunal. She wanted to wear a full head to toe Darth Vader style jilbab to work. Her employer preferred that she would not. The tribunal decided that the employer was within his rights as the jilbab was ‘reasonably regarded as a tripping hazard.’ Not that it was scary for the kids, or embodied sexism, or was alien to our way of life – simply that the stupid woman might trip over it. The only

From ‘Longs and Shorts’, The Spectator, 12 June 1915: Names of things in constant use should never be too long. The cinematograph has inevitably dwindled into the “cinema,” while young America calls these shows the “movies.” But the passion for polysyllables, though considerably abated, has not died out of the Press. (How could it, when so much work is paid for by length?) Not so many years ago Mr. Punch’s famous advice to those about to marry was referred to in a leading daily as “the memorable monosyllabic monition of the Democritus of Fleet Street.” The world would be much drearier if journalism were shorn of these decorations, and refused

Sore heads over at the Guardian this morning after yet another leaving party for Alan Rusbridger. In what Mr S makes to be Rusbridger’s third leaving do, politicians and celebrities gathered at the Battlebridge Room of Kings Place to raise a glass to the departed editor. Ed Miliband chatted away to Benedict Cumberbatch over a bottle of Sol, while Chuka Umunna and Harriet Harman tucked into the prosecco. No sign of any of the Labour leadership contenders, but a smattering of Tories were in attendance, including Lord Grade and David Davis. Perhaps the most surprising appearance was from Jonathan Aitken – after all, it was Rusbridger’s dogged pursuit of the disgraced former Tory MP

Jemima Goldsmith’s love life has been well documented by the red tops in recent years, with her former loves including Imran Khan and Russell Brand. So Mr S was pleased to hear that – in the name of research – she has been adopting a new approach and experimenting with the dating app Tinder. Goldsmith took to the stage at Vanity Fair‘s digital summit to conduct a Q&A with the app’s founder Sean Rad. Things started off politely with Jemima, who is the sister of Zac Goldsmith, quizzing Rad over why he had come up with the idea for the app, which has over 50 million active users: ‘I think meeting people should be

From ‘The Industrial Reserve’, The Spectator, 12 June 1915: The Industrial Reserve (227 Strand, W.C.), which was started eight weeks ago, and has already placed over nine hundred men in useful employment, directly or indirectly concerned with war work. These men are for the most part drawn from classes who do not ordinarily come into the labour market. Many of them are middle-class men normally engaged in business or professions who have lost their work through the dis- organization caused by the war, but who, being useful with their hands, are able to take on skilled or semi- skilled work in munition factories. Many others are retired artisans who have