There’s a reason why the exodus story in the Old Testament remains inspiring – the account of an enslaved people’s liberation from Egypt, led by Moses, is threaded with hope and redemption.
Ministerial denials are coming fast and furious, but ministerial denials cut no ice. They fail the duck test: if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. Cabinet member after cabinet member is rejecting suggestions that the Government has flinched, buckled and withdrawn in the face of local objections to male international protection applicants being housed in their midst.
It was a very good ambition, but tarnished quickly. As the author Elizabeth Bowen reminds us, nothing stays bright but mornings. A programme for government pledge to end direct provision was hailed as humane and progressive, but the Coalition now concedes abolition cannot be delivered in its lifetime.
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The Santa Claus myth is one we’re introduced to in childhood, and perhaps that early exposure is the reason why it coils such deep roots into our imagination. For many of us, Santa Claus is our first hero: generous, kind and with magical powers.