I'm English Enough To Feel Something Of

I Write As Someone Who Has No More Time For Repressive Islam Than He Does For Repressive Christianity Or Judaism, But At Least Look At The Face In The Hijab - And Try To Imagine The One Beneath The Niqab - Before You Depersonalise Its Wearer.

I Think The Fundamental Apprehension Is That The City's An Organism Of Some Form, Rather Than Being Governed From Above.

Sometimes, When I Hear People Without Experience Of Addiction Blame Addicts For Their Behaviour I Feel Like Saying To Them: "you Simply Don't Understand - How Can A Child Be Held Responsible For Doing Such A Dreadful Thing To Himself?" But Then Again, At Other Times I Have To Acknowledge: It Was Done Wilfully.

The Future Continues To Preoccupy Me As A Reliable Source Of Hopes, Fears And Anxieties, But Increasingly The Present Seems To Have No Outstanding Qualities Of Its Own, Being Merely A Way-station Through Which Events Travel To The Vast Shadow Lands Of The Past.

There Is Something Mysteriously Powerful That Can Happen When Young, Inchoate Minds Come Into Contact With Older And More Worldly Ones In A Spirit Of Intellectual And Creative Endeavour - If I Believed In Progress, I Suppose That's What I'd Call It.