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BBC News
11 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- BBC News
'I never saw writing as a viable career', says Wales' national poet
Hanan Issa has just surpassed the halfway milestone in her five-year stint as National Poet for up, she said she never saw writing as a viable career: "I'm working class, raised in a council house and to me, it wasn't considered an option."But as the 11-day Hay Festival draws to a close on Sunday, she has praised organisers for providing a space for people from marginalised backgrounds in what she said had traditionally been a "very white, middle class space".Hay Festival Global describes itself as "the antidote to polarisation", bringing together "diverse voices to listen, talk, debate and create", tackling some of the "biggest political, social and environmental challenges of our time". After graduating from Cardiff University, where she studied English literature, Hanan felt teaching was her only plausible career but knew it was not for her, having already had some experience in the field."I was the first in my family to go to university and so I felt this pressure to have what's considered 'a proper job'," the 39-year-old went on to work in the voluntary sector, expecting a life-long career in social was until 2016 when then-prime minister David Cameron said some Muslim women were not integrating into British society and were not learning English. "[He] spoke so ignorantly... I was like 'umm, hello! We're here you know'," Hanan was the catalyst that turned Hanan's writing from personal to public, writing a spoken word piece that she posted online. Since then, poetry - which she did only for herself or as a gift for loved ones' birthdays and weddings - has become something she has shared publicly to connect with others. Hanan's first time at Hay Festival in the Powys town of Hay-on-Wye was seven years ago as a selected writer joining the Writers at Work programme, which aims to support emerging Welsh talent. She described the 10 days of workshops and events as an "eye-opener", helping to demystify the process of getting published and filling her with confidence as a writer too."If it had just been a one-off, I would say that was a tokenistic opportunity. But it hasn't been. I've been asked back time and time again... as a performer onstage," she said. Some of Hanan's highlights of the festival this year included seeing Pulitzer Prize-winning data journalist Mona Chalabi in conversation, as well as Kehinde Andrews, the UK's first professor of black her visit this year, the poet said she noticed "way more hijabis"."In a very sort of shallow aesthetic way, for me it's a natural thing to walk into a space and look around to see what the demographic is," she said. "It's not very often that I look around and see hijabis in literary spaces, put it that way, and it's been lovely."She said children were genuinely excited about writing a poem during one of her on-site events."If kids are still excited about books, then there's hope," she said."There's hope for that curiosity that we need to drive forward any kinds of progress and kindness in this world." For Jade Bradford, from Hertfordshire, it was a life-long dream to attend Hay a communications and engagement manager for a social housing provider in south Wales, writing is Jade's second growing up seeing the Guardian's Hay Festival supplement every year when her dad would buy the paper, this year she was in attendance as a Writer at Work."Publishing, it can feel like a closed door sometimes and it's hard to know who you need to speak to, what it is you actually need, how you get an agent," the 39-year-old said. She said if audiences at events like Hay Festival were not representative they may not know their books are not diverse enough, or "that they need to hear other voices".Jade added the festival's efforts in engaging with TikTokers bringing in a younger audience and providing a space for all voices was "really making the difference"."I'm seeing younger people, more ethnically diverse people, a lot of really good queer representation happening... and that's really, really important," she said. "We're seeing a more modern Wales perhaps being represented whilst not losing that classic literary approach."We have a really rich national history of literature and there's nothing wrong with being middle-class, there's nothing wrong with really literary writing like classic books."There's just a place for all of our different types of writing. That's the most important thing." A highlight of Jade's week at Hay was going to see curator, writer and broadcaster Ekow Eshun "on a panel of black voices talking about black history", while another standout was attending a talk with the writer of the film Mr said if someone were to tell her childhood self that she could go somewhere and meet writers, breathe the same air as Jacqueline Wilson and then in the future become a writer herself, "her head would explode". This year was also Rhys Thomas' first time at Hay had a "full circle" moment watching poet John Cooper Clarke take to the stage, after first seeing him while working at his local festival aged 16. "I just didn't realise that poetry and literature could have that raw edge to it," he said."He was funny, he was swearing. He's a rock and roll star who uses poems instead of guitar solos."Rhys, a journalist from Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, said it was not until he moved to England for university that he started immersing himself in books and 28-year-old described the literary world as "very elite", and said it could "feel alienating and inaccessible"."I didn't have any books in the house growing up. So I was both sort of economically and culturally not really someone you'd associate with the art world," he said. "Over time it has given me a lot of self doubt and confidence issues, especially around like, can I function in the world as a writer? But also in a bigger existential way of, this is a clash against the person I'm supposed to be." Rhys has been writing for a year and a half, and before applying for the competitive Writer at Work programme said he "didn't believe in himself".He said the scheme was "pretty full-on", with eight hours of activities a day helping to develop writing skills and tailored to all 10 emerging writers on the who has already filled his 125-page A6 notepad up during the scheme, said he was one of the lucky ones getting to "spend 10 days or so really feeling like we can be in this world, without it breaking our bank accounts"."Even at a practical level, it's given me hope for when I'm scribbling away at the dead of night, it's not a pointless endeavour," he added. Hanan said she has now reached a point in her life "when you feel a space is not inclusive or open to you, you be the one to open that door and wedge a doorstop underneath"."If you can, then do it because you opening that door, wedging in that door stop, means that other people can walk through after you," she added.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Labour's poll ratings have plummeted – so is Starmer's future in question?
A lesson in comms for any prime minister: when asked whether you will serve another term, try to express some enthusiasm at the prospect. When at the end of his first term, David Cameron breezily told a reporter he would not serve a third, he inadvertently fired the starting gun for leadership jostling between his potential successors. Keir Starmer fell into the same trap this month when he was asked whether he would fight the next election. 'You're getting way ahead of me,' he said. This equivocal response triggered such a frenzy of speculation that the prime minister quickly gave another statement saying: 'Of course I am going to stand at the next election. I've always said this is a decade of national renewal that I intend to lead.' But the damage was done. Starmer's ambivalence fuelled suspicions that he has not entirely made up his mind on whether to seek re-election past 2029. The deep dissatisfaction among Labour MPs with the direction and performance of the government, which has spread to even some of Starmer's most loyal supporters, has created a febrile atmosphere where his future is being called into question. More than any other issue, parliamentary discontent has crystallised over the government's £5bn of welfare cuts, particularly cuts to support for disabled people. Nearly 200 Labour MPs are said to oppose them ahead of a crunch vote expected in June. Critics on the left of the Labour party have become increasingly vocal. Louise Haigh, the former cabinet minister, has called for a wealth tax and warned against a lurch to the right. This week John McDonnell, who now sits as an independent, urged the Labour grassroots to mount a challenge against Starmer and said the party was at risk. In the mainstream of the parliamentary Labour party (PLP), many MPs are unhappy but they also agree on one thing – Starmer is safe in his position for as long as he wants it. 'The Labour party doesn't do regicide,' one said. Another Labour MP said 'Keir is totally safe' because although there is 'universal discontent, there is total fragmentation over the cause of discontent'. Some MPs feel the government needs to be more left-wing on the economy and more progressive in its rhetoric; others want a bigger crackdown on irregular migration; those in rural areas are bruised from the farm tax changes; yet another group feel the problem lies with the Downing Street operation. 'People returned from the locals with their own lessons about what is going wrong,' a government source said. 'Depending on whether they're losing votes to the Lib Dems, to the Greens or getting humped by Reform, they came back with somewhat different asks of what they think could solve the problem.' While the breadth and depth of discontent is remarkable less than a year after a landslide win, there are a number of factors behind it. Starmer's popularity has plummeted at a historic rate and the fact that MPs' margins were so slim means they feel the threat personally. The frontbench appointments so far have led some to conclude they have little to no chance of promotion. 'Incumbent MPs feel super locked out. And some of the newcomers have a relatively good sense of whether they are in or out,' a Labour MP said. There is more pain to come with a difficult spending review that is expected to make deep cuts to unprotected departments such as education. 'That's not going to improve the mood,' a government source said. In this febrile context it is no surprise that ambitious cabinet ministers will be assessing their options. The single event that has fuelled speculation over Starmer's position – and reopened an old rift – has been the leak of a memo written by Angela Rayner setting out her alternative tax-raising proposals to Rachel Reeves. Despite her denials, Rayner is widely blamed for the leak – not least because it improves her standing in the party. 'It means she can say, 'Remember that point of difficulty? I put a mark in the sand,'' one MP said. 'The PLP is aware she is making a case at least – even if she's not being successful – for some slightly more progressive measures,' another source said. Rayner has been lending a sympathetic ear to Labour MPs over teas and lunches over the past few months. Wes Streeting, the telegenic health secretary, is also the perennial subject of leadership speculation and has a cadre of parliamentary supporters. 'It's already deeply unfashionable to say anybody other than Angela Rayner can be the next Labour leader,' one of them said. 'But Wes is the only one at the moment – admittedly helped by large amounts of cash – who can turn around and say, 'oh look, delivery.'' Some MPs are unconvinced. 'What does Wes want to be PM for? What does he want the country to look like? I don't know the answer to that question – I just know that he wants to be PM,' one said. The next few weeks are key for Starmer's government. The spending review on 11 June will be totemic for Reeves, whose actions as chancellor have decimated her popularity in the party. The vote on the welfare cuts is now expected later in June, with government figures planning for the bill to pass all its Commons stages before the summer recess. And some around Starmer are pushing for a cabinet reshuffle to be held before MPs break for their constituencies in late July, to give ministers time to bed into their new briefs before the autumn budget and party conference. There are already moves afoot to ensure that the party's annual gathering in Liverpool is populated with loyal delegates and that awkward motions are kept off the conference floor as far as possible. 'The reason Keir was able to change the party was exercising an exceptional grip on the candidates process. That micro grip continues to exert itself,' a Labour MP said. 'It's quite an important few weeks and there's a lot of hurdles to get over, but there is a scenario in which those go relatively well, welfare is done and actually it doesn't look too bad going into the summer,' a government source said. If things do turn around and the economic situation shows improvement MPs will start to feel more chipper. One said: 'Things are still pretty early on in parliament, and the solace people have is that living standards are trending in the right direction.'
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
The revealing inside account of how Baroness Bra came undone: CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews The Rise and Fall of Michelle Mone
The Rise And Fall Of Michelle Mone (BBC2) Baroness Mone scares people. Nobody says as much, no one turns white at the mention of her name and scuttles away from the camera. But they don't have to. Michelle Mone is known as Baroness Bra, after building a lingerie business whose biggest product was a brassiere filled with bust-enhancing gel. She was elevated to the House of Lords by David Cameron in 2015. But it was telling that, during the two-part investigation into her life, The Rise And Fall Of Michelle Mone, not one friend or family member appears in her defence. Neither her current husband Doug Barrowman nor her former husband Michael Mone agrees to be interviewed. Even former employees insist on anonymity, with their voices disguised. The only person willing to speak up for her Ladyship was her American therapist, Dr Ted Anders, a smooth-skinned man with more teeth than is strictly necessary. Director Erika Jenkin's documentary builds to an infamous confrontation with the BBC 's Laura Kuenssberg, with the Glasgow businesswoman squirming under questions about the PPE scandal — one stone-faced Scottish blonde charging another with helping herself to an inordinately large slice of the public finances. Barrowman's company PPE Medpro, which was awarded contracts for medical equipment worth £200 million during the pandemic, has been accused of providing unusable materials, with his wife Baroness Mone and her children standing to benefit from a £29m trust fund. Despite this, the two-hour programme — both episodes now available on iPlayer — is not an all-out hatchet job. It stops well short of accusing her of any crime (unless you count 'lying to the media', which Baroness Mone reminds us is perfectly fine). But she comes across as a thoroughly unpleasant woman: dishonest, bullying, self-obsessed, manipulative and lacking much talent for either business or innovation. In real life, she might be a lot worse than that, of course. Her former PR man Jack Irvine accuses her of 'massive deluded self-confidence,' and says: 'She had a strange relationship with the truth. It's difficult to work with people who can't be honest.' That said, I can't help feeling she draws a lot of criticism for a business style that would be more admired if she was a man, particularly a man who went to public school. Her ambition as a teenager, when she worked as a bikini model, was to be 'the female Richard Branson' — and it's Branson's brash self-confidence that makes him both charismatic and unsinkable. Mone is roundly criticised for spreading stories that Julia Roberts wore her Ultimo bras, in the film Erin Brockovich. The claim was as fake as an Ultimo cleavage, but so what? There's a fair bit of snobbery and chauvinism among her critics. But she invites this, by constantly harping on her upbringing in 'Glasgow's East End' and by posing in her own products. All very tacky.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Farage isn't the first leader to promise tax breaks for couples. They all failed
In 2015, then-prime minister David Cameron introduced a marriage allowance letting one spouse transfer £1,260 of their personal allowance to the other, although this is not a significant tax break – saving only up to £252 in tax per year. To claim the benefit, the lower earner must have an income below the personal allowance and the higher earner must be a basic-rate taxpayer. Across the Atlantic, Donald Trump has promised a $1,000 'baby bonus' in the hope of boosting the birth rate. But such policies have had mixed success. Some experts question whether financial giveaways are the best way to support young families, although other countries such as South Korea and Hungary have successfully used tax reforms to increase the birth rate. Jason Hollands, of the stockbroker Bestinvest, said: 'Bolstering the tax benefits of being married might play a part in addressing this but needs to be considered against other options to help people have larger families, such as making childcare more affordable.'
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
A1 Northumberland: Homes 'left to rot' on cancelled road route
In October 2024 the government announced it was cancelling a project to widen part of the A1 in Northumberland, years after National Highways had spent more than £4m on the purchase of houses and land in the way of the scheme. The affected families - including one couple who had to start afresh miles away in Cumbria - said they had "been through hell" as they saw their properties "left to rot" Wensby-Scott sat in her car and cried on the day she and her husband left Northgate House, which sits right next to the road not far from couple had been packing up the last of their belongings and she was still running the vacuum cleaner around when National Highways contractors arrived."They started boarding up the windows and changing the locks," she said. "I honestly felt like we were being evicted." Melanie and her husband Julian had had "big plans" when they bought the house in 2009. "We put in a new kitchen, new bathrooms, we were planning a new conservatory and we had no intention of ever leaving," she in 2014, the then Prime Minister David Cameron announced plans to dual a 13-mile section of the A1 and it became clear their house was in the path of the chosen route. "When they first came round I said I didn't want to move and they basically said I had no option," said Mrs Wensby-Scott."It was just awful to know you were going to lose your home." The A1 scheme stalled for a few years, alternating between ready to start and still on hold until, in May 2024, Rishi Sunak's government approved the Development Consent Order which gave the final go-ahead. However, Labour swept back into power two months later and cancelled the project in October 2024, stating it had to make "difficult decisions about road schemes which were unfunded or unaffordable". Mrs Wensby-Scott said: "When I heard the news, I just thought 'oh my God all that for nothing'."Everything we went through, the heartache, the angst, I just couldn't believe it. "You drive past now and it's falling apart, it just looks awful. It's such a shame, it was such a beautiful house." At the other end of the proposed route, Felicity and James Hester were living in East Cottage near the village of was a "perfect place" for them because it had a paddock and stabling for their horses, but they soon realised the bulldozers were heading their way. "It was just horrible," Mrs Hester said. "We went through four or five years of utter hell trying to find somewhere we could actually move to, it was just a nightmare. "The way the property market was at the time in Northumberland, we couldn't find anything which matched what we had so we had to move to Cumbria."Now we're a couple of hours away from all the friends we had." Next to East Cottage is Charlton Mires, a large 200-year-old farmhouse and steadings that had been the home of the Beal family since 1904, but would also need to be flattened for road building. Martin Beal described its loss as "very painful". "I felt like I'd let my family down somehow because I couldn't save our home," he said. "There are just so many memories in there."They were also taking part of our land, so I couldn't plan ahead. I had sleepless nights, it was very hard." A freedom of information request by the BBC revealed that more than £68m had already been spent on the A1 scheme by the time it was cancelled, and that figure continues to rise by just under £30,000 a month. That is partly because National Highways is obliged to pay insurance and council tax on the unneeded properties, including an empty house premium. Land agent Louis Fell, who represented the Hester and Beal families, described the situation as "a mess"He said: "I know National Highways didn't make the decision to cancel the road, but they need to have a strategy for the properties, perhaps consider refurbishing them and renting them to young families."For them just to sit here rotting is such a waste of money and it's not a good look for an area popular with tourists." National Highways previously said it was "sympathetic" to Mr Beal's situation after delays to payments for his a statement, it said: "We carefully review expenditure on all our projects to ensure that lessons are learned and processes are improved for any future road improvement schemes."Discussions surrounding the future of the homes purchased as part of this scheme remain ongoing and will be communicated in due course. "The properties are being managed by our estates team until a strategy is agreed."During this time, the properties will be secured by our maintenance contractor and inspected on an appropriate basis." Under what are known as the Crichel Down rules, in situations like this the properties should be offered back to the owners, but all three families say they do not wish to go back to homes which have been empty for several years. Martin Beal said his former home was "full of damp and falling apart". He now has permission to build a new farmhouse nearby but when it is built, because it is a direct replacement for Charlton Mires, planning arrangements mean the original farmhouse has to be demolished at a cost to the taxpayer of an estimated £100,000. "It has been there for 200 years, it's a beautiful house. It is just ridiculous it has to be demolished for nothing," Mr Beal lamented."I'm just so angry about everything my parents and I have been through, and all those millions of pounds wasted for what?" Follow BBC North East on X and Facebook and BBC Cumbria on X and Facebook and both on Nextdoor and Instagram.
