Latest news with #Robespierre
9 News
27-07-2025
- 9 News
'Elevator Girl' survives 75-storey fall
8 of 9 Attribution: Supplied Lawyer, statesman, and leader of the French Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre, was executed by guillotine on July 28, 1794, in Paris. Robespierre had been one of the principal architects of post-monarchical France, including authoring its famed motto "Liberte, egalite, fraternite". However, he was also the driving force of the period of arrests, executions, and purges known as the Reign of Terror. He was among several revolutionary leaders arrested on July 27 when the governing Convention came to fear another purge was in the works.
New Statesman
23-07-2025
- Climate
- New Statesman
The government's government problem
The Environment Secretary Steve Reed promised to revolutionise the water industry. But what has happened? Photo byThe heavy rain that arrived last week was, for the nation's gardeners, an encouraging sign after what had been the driest spring since 1893. But the sad truth is that relatively little of that water will have ended up in the country's reservoirs, the newest of which was completed in 1992. Most of it ran into our combined sewers, where rainwater is mixed with household waste. The untreated effluent then overflowed into our rivers and inshore waters, giving them a fresh coat of bleach, microplastics and faecal matter, just in time for the school holidays. Fortunately the government had prepared by adding this long-running disaster to the list of things it is planning to do something about, unless anyone has any strong objections. The public wants water companies to stop extracting tens of billions of pounds from a captive market of bill-payers while turning the country's waterways into open sewers. The Environment Secretary, Steve Reed, has promised them a 'revolution'. Will the system be renationalised? Are the most highly remunerated executives going to prison? Will they be forced to swim through the noxious gubbins while a gleeful public pelts them with toilet rolls? Not quite. Ofwat and the Drinking Water Inspectorate will be replaced by a new regulator, hopefully by 2027. Robespierre was not available for comment. On the same day, the Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall, revealed that she, too, had a revolutionary solution to one of Britain's deep, long-running problems: the fact that very few people of the current generation of workers are saving enough for retirement. Almost half of all working-age adults are putting nothing at all away for later life, and will spend the last 20 years of their lives wholly dependent on the state. This is a slow-moving disaster that can be seen happening from a long way off, and there is a set of options that have been discussed by economists and pension fund companies for decades. Employers could be told that they have to contribute to employees' pensions whether or not employees opt out of paying in (as many people on lower incomes do). Auto-enrolment could start at 16, or as soon as one starts working. The default rate of contributions could be bumped up to 12 per cent. We could make pension contributions mandatory, as they are in Switzerland and for some employees in Australia. But let's not be too hasty: the first step is to bring back the Pension Commission, which will also look at the options, really stare at them, like one of those magic 3D pictures, until the right one pops out. And then it will report to the government in 2027. Both these commitments to doing something, eventually, follow the hotly anticipated 'Leeds Reforms' announced by Rachel Reeves in her Mansion House speech on 15 July. In it, the Chancellor committed to probably doing something about the fact that British companies are underinvested in, and that many British savers are keeping their money in low-interest savings accounts rather than using them to Back British Businesses. Reeves had previously considered making significant changes to cash ISA allowances, but this was a bit contentious, so there will be an advertising campaign, reminiscent of the 1980s 'Tell Sid' adverts, which encouraged the public to buy shares in the newly privatised British Gas. The difference with Thatcher's ad campaign was that Thatcher was actually doing something for Sid to be told about. The thing that was being done (privatisation of state industries) was ideologically driven, inept and ultimately disastrous for the UK economy, but one thing we can say about it is that it did in fact happen. The problem that the Labour government has is that it is a group of very clever, well-intentioned people who do not seem to be able to get things done. The Employment Rights Bill and planning reform are other areas in which good plans are turning into insufficient compromises. The most immediate danger of this trend is that it creates a financial credibility problem. When investors decide how much they will pay for Britain's debt, they are to a great extent making a prediction about two things: the path of inflation (because higher inflation reduces the returns from buying bonds) and how much more debt the government is going to borrow (the more debt it sells, the lower the demand). When the UK is run by a government with a large majority, which is apparently unable to enforce its own policies to save money, a reasonable prediction is that it will have to borrow quite a lot more in the future. This means the market will pay less for our debt, which means our borrowing costs are higher. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Politically, this will combine with growing frustration among the government's own MPs, such as the 100-strong Labour Growth Group, which is increasingly resorting to blatant means of criticism, such as fulminating in the New Statesman about 'the exhausted politics of technocratic incrementalism'. Not all revolutionaries need to be Montagnards, determined to write history in blood. As Camille Desmoulins put it, having been sentenced to death on the order of his old pal Robespierre, 'a little ink would have sufficed'. But in times that demand change, withholding it begins to look less like prudence, and more like the narcissism of people whose political project does not extend beyond holding on to power. [See also: Who is an acceptable migrant?] Related
The Review Geek
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Review Geek
The Sandman – Season 2 Episode 6 'Family Blood' Recap & Review
Episode 6 Episode 6 of The Sandman Season 2 begins in England, 1794. Lady Johanna Constantine is visited by Morpheus, 5 years after their first meeting. He tasks her with the retrieval of Orpheus' head. Seems like he ended up in France and Robespierre locked him up out of fear of his oracle powers. In Paris, Johanna is able to steal back the head but two soldiers spot her. While she hides, she and Orpheus bond. He misses his father and wonders if Morpheus is behind his rescue. Johanna looks sad as Morpheus has forbidden her from revealing her employer. In the morning, Robespierre and his men show up. Unable to find Orpheus, they arrest Johanna. Via her dream, Morpheus too asks after Orpheus. Johanna shares how he is lively and how his spirit hasn't been broken. She asks for help and Morpheus suggests a song. In the waking world, Robespierre gives Johanna a chance to return Orpheus. She pretends to agree. She has hidden him among the guillotined heads and retrieves him. On cue, he sings a song of liberty. The soldiers fall into a trance, allowing Johanna and Orpheus to leave. Soon after, Robespierre is guillotined for his reign of terror. Our unlikely duo returns to Orpheus' island. Johanna doesn't want to part ways and suggests visiting Orpheus. He doesn't think it is a good idea as he doesn't want her to fall for a severed head. But he wishes his father would visit and she tells Morpheus so. The Dream King deflects and asks for her fee. She simply wants more time with Orpheus. At present, we see that she has been buried on the island as Delirium and Morpheus arrive. Delirium is nervous and tries to stop Morpheus from kicking off the chain of events that will lead him to killing his son. If an Endless kills one family, the Three Sisters' wrath is brought on the killer. However, Morpheus wants to put his son out of his misery and goes inside. Orpheus is glad to see him and they have a bittersweet reunion as both apologise for their foolishness. Delirium is waiting outside and looks sad once Morpheus returns. However, they have got what they came for – Destruction lives on an island nearby. Unsurprisingly, this second reunion is bittersweet as well. Having accepted their stubbornness, Destruction is happy to see Delirium and Morpheus. Delirium peppers him with questions about his disappearances while Morpheus is angry with him for taking innocent lives as warnings. This amuses Destruction who reminds Morpheus that the old him never cared for humanity. Morpheus continues to provoke him, calling him out for abandoning his responsibilities. But Destruction refuses to return. He reveals that he doesn't have to be present for destruction to exist; it is an independent function. And he refuses to take the blame for it. And while he is glad to see his siblings, he doesn't want anyone to find him again. Delirium begs him to return as she is lonely and he asks Barnabas to stay with her. He then points out that Morpheus has changed for the better, helping Delirium and Orpheus. He reminds Morpheus that he loves humanity which is why he left; he doesn't want to be responsible for their destruction. He hugs his siblings and leaves for the stars. Delirium is glad that she got closure but her smile falls when she remembers the boon which is indeed Orpheus' death. Orpheus is relieved when Morpheus returns. The Dream King confesses that he initially refused to kill Orpheus as he didn't want to live in a world without his son. Morpheus finally kills him and then bids Delirium farewell. He is in a daze as he arrives in the Dreaming. He tells Lucienne to have the priests bury Orpheus. Alone, he struggles to wash the blood from his hands and he finally tears up. At the end of The Sandman Season 2 Episode 6, the Three Sisters are busy drinking tea and knitting. They learn of the filicide and the younger two sisters are sympathetic as they try to delay fate. However, the oldest reminds them of the rules and that Morpheus needs to pay for killing his son. She cuts a thread. The Episode Review The Sandman Season 2 Episode 6 is the perfect point to split the season and could have also worked as a finale had this not been the final season. All major conflicts and storylines are wrapped up, everyone gets closure, including Delirium and Orpheus, and it ends on a satisfying and almost positive note. And there are enough clues hinting at what happens next. There's the aftermath of the prophecy, and what Fate has in store for Morpheus following the killing of his son. He also believes something otherworldly forced him to look for Destruction. However, that 'otherworldly' force could also just be him missing his brother and wanting to help Delirium. Destruction's parting words suggest that, since he is proud of Morpheus changing into a more compassionate being. But the last few flashbacks in this chapter also prove that this change hasn't been sudden or only due to Morpheus imprisonment at the hands of Burgess. 18th-century him is still arrogant but he cares for his son, rescuing him, asking after him and allowing Johanna to be buried on the island so that Orpheus is not alone. His character development has been gradual but enough to not only make him likeable but also an anti-hero to root for. Boy, we do hope nothing bad happens to him in the second part which marks the end of his story… Previous Episode Next Episode Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!
