For Jimmy

James (known as Jim or Jimmy) was my grandfather. He was born on 31st March 1921, which means that today is the anniversary of his 100th birthday (he passed away aged 84). We try to avoid writing personal information about us here on Plague Island’s pages, but sometimes we will make exceptions when necessary. My

A Warning For History

Ah, Donald Trump. I must say that I’ve kind of missed him, in the most perverse way. Make no mistake, I’m no fan at all, but I do love to hate him. He’s like the villain at the end of a horror film: you know he’s gone for now, but he will be back.  And

The Greed and Capitalism of the Rt. Dishonourable Boris Johnson

This week on Plague Island, we have been treated to a litany of Borisisms. The next phase of unlocking our most recent lockdown is upon us tomorrow (as the school’s Easter holidays approach, the ‘Rule of Six’ reapplies outside, and outdoor team sports restart). Our Beloved Leader would like us all to forget the past

Eye of the Storm

I’ll be totally honest: we have found it difficult to write a new note for Plague Island over the course of the past week. Usually, we will take in what has been reported in various news outlets, we talk about it together and then write. There is often an immediate flow to what we write;

Brave New World

‘One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution. One makes a revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.’ George Orwell, 1984, (1948) This Orwell quote could very easily relate to Brexit over the promises it made. It is beginning to increasingly look like when they said ‘Take back control’, what they

They Were Just Holding a Vigil For The Woman Who Was Just Walking Home

This article immediately follows our last note,’No Protests, No Demonstrations. No Safety, No Voice.’ We are glad it went ahead. It had to go ahead because people cannot be silenced on issues as important as this. Lighting a candle is one thing, but this kind of act could never have replaced a vigil to express

No Protests, No Demonstrations. No Safety, No Voice

Something terrible has happened on Plague Island recently. A 33 year-old woman named Sarah Everard disappeared in South London when walking home from a friend’s house on the evening of 3rd March. It’s a developing story but PC Wayne Couzens – a serving Metropolitan Police Officer, of all things – has tonight been charged with her

In Other News …

To say that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey has dominated the news on Plague Island since the weekend is a massive understatement. We will not delve into this subject because everything written about the Royal Family is subjective and based on conjecture. Anything we write would be based on the same,

Boris Antoinette

At a time when we have: Increasing numbers of unemployment, More people queuing to use food banks, Working poverty is at an all time high, NHS staff are set to get just a 1% pay rise and,  Covid is still a big issue here, It has been reported that Our Beloved Leader and his fiancée

The Battle Against The 1%

Plague Island’s Chancellor, Rishi Sunak – the main architect of ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ and the one who vetoed a ‘circuit break’ lockdown in September 2020 – unveiled The Budget for 2021 on Wednesday (3rd March). In it, NHS workers have are set to receive an insulting 1% pay rise. 1%. Let that sink in.