Anoosh Chakelian

Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s A British Childhood uses children’s books, television and personal memories to examine how childhood has changed in Britain. The review highlights his belief that children’s literacy and imagination are being damaged less by screens than by poverty and the erosion of support systems such as Sure Start, libraries, youth work and health visiting. Examples from schools, prisons and community projects show how shared reading can strengthen family bonds and provide cultural access, while the discussion of books including Peepo! and The Tiger Who Came to Tea reveals how children’s stories encode class, family life and social history. The book ultimately argues that rebuilding childhood requires sustained public and community investment rather than simple technological or parenting fixes.

Andy Burnham’s highly visible early political style is presented as more than a campaign of “vibes”: it reflects a revived communitarian strand of Labour politics associated with Blue Labour. The approach emerged after Labour’s 2010 defeat as a response to New Labour’s perceived centralisation, detachment from local communities and reliance on unaccountable institutions. Although Blue Labour later became associated with immigration scepticism, community-focused groups and figures around the Labour movement have revived its participatory and socially rooted elements. Burnham’s personnel choices, emphasis on place, cultural Catholicism, devolution and proposals such as Greater Manchester’s “Live Well” network embody this updated tradition. The key unresolved question is whether devolving power will produce tangible improvements in people’s everyday lives.

Westminster has England's highest number of rough sleepers, with 2,583 people recorded in 2025–26, making it a crucial test for Andy Burnham's pledge to eradicate rough sleeping. The article attributes the concentration to central London's transport links, anonymity, public spaces and perceived safety, while highlighting the effects of migration restrictions, asylum-hotel closures, exploitation and deteriorating NHS and support services. Burnham's government plans to spend £340 million on 1,200 homes and intensive support for at least 3,000 people, drawing on Housing First and his previous Greater Manchester initiatives. The policy could succeed, as New Labour's earlier programme did, but its outcome will depend on support services, local implementation and unresolved questions around migrants' eligibility for public assistance.

Gary Stevenson, formerly Citibank’s most successful trader, built his fortune by betting that post-crash economic recovery would fail due to rising inequality suppressing demand. His experiences comparing wealthy colleagues with struggling friends led him to conclude that interest rates would remain low and recovery would stall. After leaving trading, he pursued economic research, criticizing traditional academic economics as detached from real conditions. Influenced by leading inequality scholars, he now advocates wealth taxes and argues that concentrated wealth is pushing society toward a new form of aristocracy, declaring that capitalism is effectively ending.