Perhaps the most renowned passage of Thomas Carlyle’s On Heroes, Hero-Worship & The Heroic in History   opens with the decree that ‘a man’s religion is the chief fact with regard to him’, a proposition through which Carlyle elucidates how an individual’s true faith often lies outwith their professed church creed. Separate from the divine teachings of any sect, Carlyle instead argued that an individual’s true religious persuasion lies in the set of core beliefs which they hold

For the past six months, Westminster has been swirling with rumours that the Prime Minister’s days are numbered. Commentators have been split as to whether the Prime Minister would be challenged following the local elections in May, or before that, but they seem pretty certain that he will be challenged . The Prime Minister himself has appeared in the media stating that he will be Prime Minister by the end of 2026 . Critics both within the Labour Party and the media have pinn

I am not a fast, nor an avid, reader of books. The news and social media sure. TV, films, music, audio books, podcasts, YouTube videos; all are seductively unchallenging compared to sitting down and reading a book. Some are blessed with more awe-inspiring bibliographic curiosities: my friend Lydia read 115 books last year, so I asked her why she likes reading. She told me that she ‘likes learning about difference experiences of the world’, that ‘it feels like a solid routine

Three years on from a sweeping victory  in the Gorton and Denton by-election, Polanski becomes Prime Minister, presiding over an undefeatable Green Party majority in the House of Commons. The people of Britain feel hope and vindication after prolonged stagnation. It is day one in a new era of prosperity and peace. The UK will begin healing, and all will dance happily around a maypole. This is more-or-less the presented vision of Polanski’s Green Party in 2026. It is a kind an

Trigger Warning - mention of suicide & violence & sickening greed / minor spoiler alert “You know what it is,” says Ash. “It’s the free jazz. If that gets out…” In the concluding episode of Joseph Bullman's new docuseries Dirty Business , Ash speaks in hushed tones with James about the burglary of his home. In the midst of his disquieting investigation into Thames Water's conduct in the River Windrush, his lighthearted jest feels misplaced. It calls back to one of the opening