Poem: A bird in a graveyard

High up above I watch them,
Knelt on the ground below,
Some in calm and peacefulness,
Some with faces filled with woe.

A letter to my dog

Phoebe,
10 days since we said goodbye and I miss you more and more with every passing day. Whenever I would tell people about you, I would refer to you as my dog. You weren’t so lucky, and did well not to have an identity crisis with all the affectionate and ridiculous names I had for you, each one lovingly treasured in my heart. In that heart, which hurts so much for you now, you will always be alive and present.

There could yet be a Lazarus moment for a second referendum

A few short weeks ago, it looked like the prospect of a second referendum was well and truly dead in the water.

Matt Hancock's prostate cancer pickle shows why genetic testing for the healthy must be approached with caution

When he announced in January that the NHS will offer a paid genetic sequencing service for healthy people in England, Health Secretary Matt Hancock must have known he was venturing into controversial territory. Only a couple of months later, Mr Hancock himself has unwittingly exposed the very real drawbacks and challenges that this presents.

The Tory quitters walked away and made a no-deal Brexit that little bit more likely

Who would have guessed that Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry and Dr Sarah Wollaston would quit the Tory party? They have sounded off, voted against the government and openly criticised virtually everything the party has done for ages.

The TUC's stance on zero-hours contracts is stuck in the past – a ban is bad for everyone

Frances O’Grady, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), has written an impassioned piece in today’s Times, outlining why so-called ‘zero-hours contracts’ should be banned. The arguments are not new, with Labour regularly politicising this issue in recent election campaigns.

There's a special place in hell for the intolerant, arrogant politics that Donald Tusk represents

I wonder if it has ever occurred to European Council president Donald Tusk, that the brexiteers, who he has today claimed should have a special place in hell, didn’t have to have a plan. A referendum is just a campaign. The EU membership referendum of 2016 was an advisory referendum that asked the public one simple question: did we want to leave or remain in the European Union. That’s it, plain and simple.

Social networking sites can't shoulder the responsibility for our kids' mental health

Social media companies have become the latest target of public hand-wringing, even prompting Instagram’s head to agree to meet the health secretary, signalling a greater willingness to engage than the platform’s owner Facebook has ever shown before to talk with politicians. Probably a smart move if your company’s products are to be scapegoated for all the ills of our young people.