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Gimson, Andrew
2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Child protection data-base in U.K creates polemic
The British government's proposal of a Children's Index, a central register of all children and their parents in order to detect child abuse, provokes a violent reaction from Andrew Gimson. "The state cannot regard every parent as a suspect. It is grossly unjust to do this, and completely at variance with our traditional understanding of justice, under which each of us is innocent until proved guilty. To erect a system of surveillance over all households, because terrible things have happened in a few, is an affront to the great majority of parents and carers. The British idea of liberty includes a deep respect for privacy, conveyed in the expression 'An Englishman's home is his castle', and a deep abhorrence of unwarranted intrusions into that privacy by agents of the state. The people who dreamt up this index seem to have no conception of the arrogant act of trespass that they are committing on the ancient rights of a freeborn people."
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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » United Kingdom
'Loser' Britons thrive on winning against all odds
"A nation of losers who happen to win", runs the headline to Andrew Gimson's commentary about the peculiar appeal to Britons of the "implausible victory". He asserts that while "the Australians' self-image includes the idea that in major sporting contests they will be victorious, our own tends to involve ample psychological preparation for defeat. We are reduced to hoping that some player of infinite promise, such as [footballer Paul] Gascoigne or [Wayne] Rooney, will at the last moment lift us above our normal, inadequate level. We are looking again for a miracle, and have had to content ourselves so far with barely competent performances, with the result that we approach tomorrow's quarter-final against Portugal with our trepidation inadequately concealed behind a forest of St George's flags. There is a certain virtue to not appearing to take these things too seriously."
» full article (external link, English)
More from the press review on the subject » Sport, » United Kingdom
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