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Articles by Robin Pickering-Iazzi
Remembering Letizia Battaglia, the Photographer Who Fought the Sicilian Mafia for Five Decades
Late Italian photographer Letizia Battaglia, seen here in 2016, used her images and later a position as council member to rage against the Sicilian Mafia's reign of terror. Photo: Eric Cabanis/AFP via Getty Images When Italian photographer Letizia Battaglia passed away on April 13, 2022, the biggest shock among those of us who have written about her was that she didn’t die at the hands of the Mafia. For nearly five decades she fearlessly fought the criminal enterprise.
Champions League final: France blames Liverpool fans for its own ineptitude
No, Monsieur Darmanin, the blame for the turmoil at the Champions League final in Paris does not lie with the Liverpool fans. It lies with you and your unruly, ill-prepared police force. No sooner had the game between Liverpool and Real Madrid concluded on Saturday night, with defeat for the English club by one goal to nil, than Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, unburdened himself on the cause of the chaos and the response of his officers.
Kissinger's right - punishing Putin won't help Ukraine
In the UK and the US, the invasion of Ukraine has led to a dispute about geopolitics, and the wrong side might be winning. The contenders are Henry Kissinger and the Skibbereen Eagle. In 1898, the editor of that newspaper, one Frederick Potter, warned the Czar of all the Russias that the Eagle had its eye on him. Potter enjoyed wagging his finger at emperors: a harmless pursuit, in those days when his freedom of speech was guaranteed by the British Empire and the Royal Navy.
Books Digest - The Year of Miracles and Raven Smith's Men
Saffron Swire Mourning the death of her partner John, the cookery writer Ella Risbridger found solace in the sanctuary of the kitchen.
Stop and Look - The Isle of the Dead by Arnold Böcklin (1880)
We seem to be living through apocalyptic times, and the art of the Symbolists such as Arnold Böcklin, fraught with anxiety and foreboding, offers congenial, if not always agreeable, subjects for contemplation at the moment. In the last decades of the nineteenth century, when Britain was reaching the height of her Imperial power and Germany building up its rival industrial and military strength, Europe was becoming more and more aware of the complexities of human life and the human mind.
The Chancellors review - A must-read let down by one-sided thinking
Sir Howard Davies has probably the best calibrated political antennae of anyone I’ve ever met. His political judgements are invariably shrewd and he fully understands the interplay of politics and administration, having worked in the Foreign Office, Treasury, McKinsey, CBI, the Bank of England and the City. He is, then, ideally placed to write about some of the key economic controversies of the past quarter-century in his new book, The Chancellors.
Weeding out the woke poseurs from the real gardeners at Chelsea
Just as the Wimbledon fortnight inspires lapsed tennis players to pick up their rackets, the Chelsea Flower Show unearths the nation’s inner gardeners. I had two in my house this week, three if you count my husband, and as I, a non-gardener, listened and observed, I was struck by the difference between an arriviste horticulturist and the real thing. On one couch sat my sister-in-law who knows her hostas from her helianthuses and is green-fingered to the tips of her (often chipped) nails.
Boris, Brexit, and still the SNP can't persuade Scotland to break with Britain
I visited Scotland several times during the pandemic, most notably for last year’s Holyrood Parliament elections. It was a bleak experience each time: shops closed, no service in hotels, compulsory mask wearing — all imposed with a greater unsmiling steeliness than in England. This week it was a pleasure to return to Edinburgh to find the capital city coming back to some semblance of normal life. Foreign tourists are back, especially the Americans. Stations and airports are packed.
What to Watch This Week
Welcome to our weekly What To Watch television and streaming guide. This week features The Queen: 70 Years in Her Own Words, PRU, New Elizabethans with Andrew Marr, Goo: Ga, Prehistoric Planet, and The Crown Jewels.
Cricket has finally become a truly global game
The Times, Scottish edition at least, had a piece in it this week about a young Scottish cricketer, Ollie Davidson, who first played for his father’s club Stirling County — well, for its third — when he was only eight. Now, aged seventeen, he is in the Scotland squad about to play four ODIs against the USA and the United Arab Emirates in, of all places, Texas. Cricket in Texas. Well, that’s global cricket today. There are people who think cricket of little account in Scotland.
If Boris Johnson finds his Dr Jekyll side, the Tories could win again
It is safe to say that no British government has ever suffered from such downright incoherence as Boris Johnson’s administration. Governments have faced bigger crises, have performed more calamitously or have acted even more irresponsibly; but none has laboured under an identity crisis more extreme than the present Number 10 regime. It says Conservative on the label, it identifies as redistributive in policy and it screams expediency in its every action.
Boris Johnson rigs the system by tweaking Ministerial Code
If you thought ministerial standards under Boris Johnson’s watch could not sink any lower, think again. Today, Downing Street published a watered-down version of the Ministerial Code, effectively allowing ministers to avoid resigning if they fall foul of the decrees in the bible of parliamentary procedure. In the updated foreword, the Prime Minister said it is “disproportionate to expect that any breach [from ministers], however minor, should lead automatically to resignation or dismissal”.
Is Rishi Sunak’s cost-of-living crisis package un-Conservative?
Many are now asking whether the Treasury’s latest package of measures to tackle the cost-of-living crisis is “un-Conservative”. Some are also wondering if we should worry about the impact on inflation. My short answer to both questions is “no”. But there is still a lot here to make me uncomfortable too. To begin with, though, there is nothing un-Conservative about helping the most vulnerable in a crisis. In the current circumstances, simple cash payments may be the best way to do this.
What Russia’s Black Sea blockade means for the global food crisis
Russian naval forces have blockaded the Ukrainian coastline on the Black Sea, preventing Ukraine’s exports from leaving the country. With Ukrainian produce normally exported worldwide, the blockade could impact global food prices and supply for years to come. Here’s what you need to know.
It’s time to call the Ukraine war a genocide
Since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, the world has watched unspeakable horrors carried out by the Russian military. The scenes from towns such as Bucha, Irpin, and Mariupol have been burned into the collective memories of those plugged into Western media. And yet few have dared to call this conflict what it truly is – a genocide.
No growth, no plan - just inflation
You’re reading Reaction. To get Iain Martin’s weekly newsletter, columnists including Tim Marshall, Maggie Pagano and Adam Boulton, full access to the site and invitations to member-exclusive events, become a member HERE. Listen to what the government is saying, and bet on the opposite happening. If not quite a golden rule, it is a handy guide, and nowhere is it more true currently than in the purported policy of levelling up.
Eamonn Holmes - Favourite Things
Eamonn Holmes is a Northern Irish broadcaster and journalist who has been appearing on television and radio for 41 years. From 1993 to 2005 he co-presented GMTV, before moving on to Sky News Sunrise for the next eleven years. From 2006, Eamonn and his wife Ruth became the popular hosts of This Morning which they presented until 2021. He currently presents GB News’ breakfast broadcast alongside Isabel Webster.
Rishi Dishi: Chancellor rides to rescue with helicopter money
Every household in Britain is to receive hundreds of pounds off their energy bills in the government’s £15 billion rescue package to help ease the cost of living crunch. After months of wrangling over strategy, Rishi Sunak finally announced a support package which will distribute £400 to every household irrespective of income, but a payment of £650 to those who are means-tested and receiving benefits. In addition, pensioners on low incomes will be offered £300 alongside the Winter Fuel Payment.
The public wants gene-editing regulated - the government should listen
On the first day of his premiership, Boris Johnson vowed to “liberate” genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in farming and food from stuffy EU regulations. The declaration was a little vague on details but was widely viewed as a Brexit win; a very public display of how different modern Britain’s goals and aspirations are from those of the stuffy old EU.
jeremy clarkson Russian press UK heading for cannibalism
A Moscow news outlet owned by ultra-orthodox oligarch Konstantin Malofeev has written that the UK is preparing for starvation and that pundits are suggesting outbreaks of cannibalism are on the cards. The TsargardTV article – headlined “Cold, hunger, cannibalism: London fell into its own Ukrainian pit” – explained that British politicians are warning of mass starvation and that some British cities have declared a state of emergency.
Norwegian feminist faces jail for saying a biological male cannot be a lesbian
Whether in war-torn Ukraine, Laos or Spain, a lot can be learnt from the art created by kids living in war-torn regions across place and time.
Texas shooting is the result of fantasy politics
#EnoughIsEnough is trending… again… just as America attempts to come to terms with a body count that might yet eclipse the last body count it came to terms with. It’s difficult, at times like these, not to descend into cliché. Life increasingly feels like it is lived in shorthand. Even if the details change, the fundamentals stay the same. This time it is elementary school children shot dead in their classroom alongside their teachers.
Partygate: Boris does another Houdini
After months of hype, and a tumultuous period of leaks, denials and fines, perhaps it was inevitable that the Sue Gray report would fall flat, writes Mattie Brignal. Yes, the 37-page document paints a damning picture of a Downing Street completely divorced from the caution towards Covid, and Covid rules, that the rest of the country exercised at the time.
Is Victor Orban's new war emergency a calculated ploy?
Hungary may be blocking sanctions on Russian energy and refusing to send military assistance to Ukraine, but its response to war across the border is anything but relaxed.
A4 waists and coin-layered collarbones: Inside China’s eating disorder crisis
In countries around the world, body-positive moments are cropping up that aim to dismantle unrealistic beauty standards by promoting all shapes and sizes. Yet in countries like China, thinness is still prized as the ultimate beauty ideal; the daintier you are, the more desirable. A “good woman”, it is commonly believed within Chinese society, “cannot be over 100 jin” which equates to roughly 50kg. Historically, China’s “perfect woman” is a paragon of youthfulness, whiteness and svelteness.
Elizabeth Line: an engineering marvel worthy of the hype
Standing in the centre of Soho Square Gardens, admiring what was once one of London’s most fashionable areas, you will likely be totally oblivious to what is happening underneath your feet. Twenty-four metres below street level, running under countless listed townhouses, the trains of the new Elizabeth line are hurtling, almost silently, at speeds of around 60 mph – revolutionising rail travel in the capital, and cutting commute times for those living outside London.
Elephant in the room ignored at fractious PMQs
You’re reading Reaction. To get Iain Martin’s weekly newsletter, columnists including Tim Marshall, Maggie Pagano and Adam Boulton, full access to the site and invitations to member-exclusive events, become a member HERE. Boris Johnson vowed to “put our arms around the country”, as the government scrambles to finalise a package of measures aimed at alleviating the cost-of-living crisis.
Profit is an afterthought for woke corporations
“He blasphemeth!” The world of banking and extraneous hordes of woke and politically correct enforcers were reduced to biblical outrage after Stuart Kirk, Head of Responsible Investment at HSBC Asset Management, suggested at a Financial Times event that the financial perils posed by climate change might have been exaggerated. Within minutes, the scribes and pharisees on Twitter were tearing their beards and rending their garments in derangement at the articulation of this heresy.
No, the police are not institutionally racist
You’re reading Reaction. To get Iain Martin’s weekly newsletter, columnists including Tim Marshall, Maggie Pagano and Adam Boulton, full access to the site and invitations to member-exclusive events, become a member HERE. The latest organisation embarking on what appears to be a national apology tour is the police.
Sue Gray partygate report finally published - read in full
Whether in war-torn Ukraine, Laos or Spain, a lot can be learnt from the art created by kids living in war-torn regions across place and time.
Should Ukraine strike a peace deal?
As the war in Ukraine drags on into its fourth month, there is still no end in sight. Russian forces launched a major offensive today around Sievierodonetsk in Eastern Ukraine, in an effort to encircle Ukrainian troops. The area surrounding the city is the most easterly point of Ukrainian-held territory in the Donbas. Sievierodonetsk has come under intense artillery and missile fire in recent weeks. Capturing it would be a big prize for Russia in its push to seize control of the Donbas.
Is Boris planning to do a Blair to survive partygate?
You’re reading Reaction. To get Iain Martin’s weekly newsletter, columnists including Tim Marshall, Maggie Pagano and Adam Boulton, full access to the site and invitations to member-exclusive events, become a member HERE. Boris Johnson could try to mimic Tony Blair’s “masochism strategy” to cling onto power after Sue Gray’s full report into the Partygate scandal is finally published.
UK's gene-edited crops could curb the global food crisis
Free from the shackles of Brussels bureaucracy, Britain’s farmers will soon be able to start growing gene-edited crops which should go a long way in helping to solve the current global food crisis. Ministers will table legislation this week that will allow farmers and companies to grow the ingenious crops – made possible by Britain’s departure from the European Union.
MPs savage Foreign Office over botched Afghan withdrawal
You’re reading Reaction. To get Iain Martin’s weekly newsletter, columnists including Tim Marshall, Maggie Pagano and Adam Boulton, full access to the site and invitations to member-exclusive events, become a member HERE. Sue Gray’s impending Partygate report is dominating the Westminster news agenda. But a damning inquiry by MPs calling for the resignation of one of the government’s chief mandarins over the UK’s botched evacuation of Afghanistan should not go unnoticed.
New pictures of Boris Johnson drinking at lockdown party
You’re reading Reaction. To get Iain Martin’s weekly newsletter, columnists including Tim Marshall, Maggie Pagano and Adam Boulton, full access to the site and invitations to member-exclusive events, become a member HERE. Pictures have emerged of Boris Johnson drinking at a leaving party in 10 Downing Street. Four images obtained by ITV, show the PM raising a plastic cup of wine, while bottles of alcohol are seen on a table next to him.
Is Putin ill?
Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, has stuck his head above the parapet to predict that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be out of power and in a sanatorium for long-term illness by 2023. During an episode of the podcast he co-hosts, the former head of British intelligence said: “I’m really going to stick my neck out. I think he’ll be gone by 2023.
Macron's new cabinet: how a vintage French farce unfolded
If Westminster-based political columnists and sketch-writers sometimes feel there are no more jokes to be made about Boris Johnson and the Tory Party, they might consider an exchange scheme with their opposite numbers in Paris. The drama – actually more of a farce – behind the formation of the new French government could have been written by Georges Feydeau rather than Victor Hugo, who would have searched in vain for the tragedy.
Living in an inflationary world
A personal view from Ian Stewart, Deloitte’s Chief Economist in the UK. With UK inflation at the highest level in 40 years and set to hit the 10% mark later this year, households are seeing an acute squeeze on spending power. On Friday, the polling group GfK reported that its measure of UK consumer confidence had dropped to the lowest level since the series started in 1974. High inflation is hitting lower-income households the hardest.
The Tories can avoid electoral annihilation if they change leader
Many Tory MPs have recently been spending a lot of time discussing history, especially the events of the mid-90s. They are all asking the same question. Is the Conservative party now once again doomed to drift helplessly, a process which will inevitably culminate in electoral destruction? Few Tories would deny that their party is in a serious mess. That said, exact comparisons about events a quarter of a century apart are always tricky.
Boris storing up a thrashing from anti-Tory Britain.
The greased piglet, as David Cameron calls Boris Johnson, has escaped again. He has survived. He has wriggled himself out of trouble over Partygate, the scandal that a few months ago looked like it might do him in. The Met has wrapped up its investigation. That’s the Met the London police force, not the Met New York opera company, though Partygate would perhaps be best performed in operatic form.
Wordwatch: Precipitous
Here’s an old chestnut – it was noticed and authoritatively corrected a hundred years ago – that I’ve come across rather a lot lately in the prose of respectable writers. Is it taking on a new legitimacy? That’s what can easily happen when an outright mistake is repeated often enough. But as readers of this column may have noticed I belong to the school of optimists who hope that with a little encouragement good English may prevail.
Hamlet at the Met review - Shakespeare on steroids
Brett Dean’s Hamlet set the New York Met stage alight. Started with a growling, sinister, single, rising bass note, delivered in darkness. Slowly, the Danish court became illuminated. Finished with a narrowing spotlight on the dying Hamlet, as the “to be” question was answered, emphatically in the negative. The court had faded to…. nothing. Never a moment during the two Act performance that was not totally absorbing. This was Shakespeare on musical steroids.
Emily Shah - Favourite Things
Emily Shah is an Indian American Actress. Shah grew up on the film sets of her Bollywood producer father, Prashant Shah, and later went on to be the first Indian-American to compete in Miss USA. She recently founded a liquor company selling the world’s first Ayurvedic Inspired distilled spirit, Dharma Indian Dry Gin, and is an ambassador for several charities and nonprofits including UNICEF, Autism Awareness, and Alicia Rose Victorious Foundation.
Books Digest - Life Time, Tenants and The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
Welcome to our weekly Books Digest where we round up the new books you should, and shouldn’t, be reading. This week features Life Time: The New Science of the Body Clock, and How it Can Revolutionize Your Sleep and Health by Russell Foster, Tenants: The People on the Frontline of Britain’s Housing by Vicky Spratt and The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw. For more books take a look through our Books Digest Archive.
Adam Boulton's fantasy cabinet
There is great unrest in ministerial ranks both in government and among their front bench shadows in the opposition. The County Durham police investigation may force Labour to choose a new leader and deputy leader before the summer break. Sue Gray’s report could yet do for Boris Johnson. If it doesn’t the Prime Minister has long delayed a reshuffle “to strengthen his position”.
Atoms and Ashes review - the perils of a nuclear future
At the beginning of February, the eminent Ukrainian historian Serhii Plokhy gave an interview about Russian official attitudes to Ukraine. It proved prescient. Plokhii explained to the New Statesman that Putin’s version of Russian history was one current in 19th Century Imperial Russia, where the Tsars ruled three combined Russias; Russia itself, “little Russia” i.e. Ukraine, and “White Russia”, today’s Belarus. This is now Putin’s view.
Cricket season is off to a high scoring start
What an odd and interesting start to the cricket season it has been and how little attention even our so-called or self-styled quality newspapers give to County cricket, in comparison with the acres of space they devote to football. Perhaps I’m out of date in this as in so many things, but I still think it’s likely that many readers of The Times, Telegraph and Guardian are as likely to be as enthusiastic followers of cricket as of football. I admit to being old-fashioned.
French Letter: Dog watching and elderly Breton cyclists in Lycra
The Café de la Place, our usual daytime watering hole, is taking its summer break early this year, so on Wednesday — market day — my wife and I looked into Les Marronniers, which, if you discount La Buvette, opposite the station, is its main competition. In recent years, since the closure of L‘Hermine — a bar in which I always felt I was not so much welcomed as tolerated — the Marronniers has served as the local bookies, part of the state-controlled PMU betting network.
What to Watch This Week
Welcome to our weekly What To Watch television and streaming guide. This week features The Suspect – Counterterrorism, Islam and the Security State, The Chernobyl Disaster, Tutankhamun in Colour, and The Essex Serpent. The Suspect – Counterterrorism, Islam and the Security State Conway Hall online, Sunday 22 May at 3 pm What impact has two decades’ worth of policing and counterterrorism had on the state of mind of Muslims in Britain?
Gabriel Waterhouse - Food for Thought
Tucked down a side street off Regent’s Canal in Bethnal Green lies an unassuming warehouse with a double-height ceiling, low-hanging lights and a “borderless” kitchen that flows seamlessly through the space. Bundles of dried flowers punctuate the room, and terracotta ceramics thaw the otherwise cold-steel building. One could easily mistake this for a Scandi-inspired showroom, but this is something far more memorable.
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