For this week’s Observer I wrote about Britain’s strange relationship with plastic surgery

What surprised me is that any doctor - even e.g. a psychiatrist with no surgical experience at all - is allowed to perform facelifts or liposuction in the private sector

From the piece

We have fierce protections over buildings and artefacts (such as broken bits of pottery found 'near' Jane Austen's home)

Why the lack of equivalence?

Did you know the only listed tree in Britain is a dead one? (The stump of the Elfin Oak in Kensington Gardens - because it was decorated by a children's illustrator)

While we are talking about the Sycamore Gap, we should ask why culturally important trees and landscapes aren't better protected

The real solution might be to take action a decade or so earlier. We spend far less than the OECD average on early years - by the time we are tinkering with GCSEs, its way too late

There's been lots of discussion about getting rid of GCSEs or making them easier - but there would be trade-offs

In fact it would be bad for social mobility in another way - bright kids from tough backgrounds would find it harder to make it to the top

It's long been policy that "all" children should pass English and Maths GCSE - but nothing much seems to help

How is it that so many kids leave the UK education system without basic qualifications?

For my weekly column in the new Observer I looked at the state of Christianity in the UK

Is Generation Z really flocking back to church?

We need to make a self-interested case for green policies www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

But the reason I think people are interested is in the problems ketamine can cause, which are on the rise

If you want to argue that such a small increase is not worth commenting on, there are about 50 other articles based on the same info that you can take issue with! www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10...

Journalists don’t write their own headlines.

The online version of the chart isn’t great: the paper version makes it clearer. Ketamine use has risen amid a general fall in drug use

The reason there have been loads of articles re young ppl and ketamine is because of its underrated harms

I looked into why young people are taking fewer drugs - and why some drugs are bucking the trend

This is just a feature of scandal in general - not specific to Westminster/Britain…
Scandals happen not when they are uncovered but when people decide they are scandals. Wrote on this a couple of years ago www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...