Catherine Meyer-Funnell

  Although lockdown measures are beginning to ease and life is starting to look a bit more normal, most of us would agree that there are still lots of lovely things we’re missing out on – holidays abroad, concerts, sports events, even just a night out on the town. It is important for us to remember that the good times will come around again and in fact they might feel even better than before. For instance, life’s simple pleasures will not be so taken for granted - giving your mum or your best friend a hug will be, at least at first, so much more meaningful than in a pre-coronavirus world. Six months ago, we would never have thought that our physical closeness to each other could be so heavily restricted, and hopefully in the not too distant future it will seem an equally strange idea that our interactions could be so limited. Being able to walk out of your front door and go down the street without thinking about wearing a mask or keeping socially distant – how incredible that will ...

'You're cancelled'. It doesn't sound like the right thing to say to a person. We cancel appointments and dinner dates, not people. Yet whenever someone, particularly a celebrity or somebody prominent in the public eye, voices an opinion deemed unacceptable it has become ever so easy to block them out on social media and call into question everything they have ever done or said. It is possible to come back from being cancelled, but the indiscretion will never be forgotten. It is a cloud shadowing the glory of their former achievements. In a world where everything can now be documented and filed away ready to be dragged out into the light at any random point in the future, it simply feels unsafe to voice a controversial opinion.  At this point I feel I should clarify what I mean by cancel culture. There is a difference between a genuine criminal being prosecuted for their misconduct and a public figure on Twitter making a stupid thoughtless comment. Harvey Weinstein canno...

Face masks have become mandatory in shops, takeaways and cafes, having already been compulsory on public transport for a number of weeks. And I for one am relieved. Not only does this rule allow for more consistency and clarity as to whether we should wear face masks or not, it seems as if our government are now listening to the advice of doctors and scientists. Our politicians have finally started to show some degree of leadership, rather than backing away from all responsibility – in other words they are actually doing their job. In this rather scary and confusing time it is a comfort to feel like there are some guidelines in place to help protect us. Critics have voiced their concern over the restrictions these rules will impose on our lives, when really this more ordered approach is far more likely to get us out of this mess and back to our pre-coronavirus existence as quickly as possible. If there is any way that masks might reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading and protect us ...

I have just finished watching Michaela Coel's magnificent 12 part series I May Destroy You , and while it is rare for television shows to live up to such extraordinary hype, this one certainly does. It has everything that excellent TV in recent years has incorporated and uses them to make something completely new. The story centres around London-based writer Arabella who is spiked and sexually assaulted on a night out, taking a simple whodunnit premise and forcing the viewer to confront the thorniest and most controversial issues that we now face. It's hard for TV to shock these days, as sex and drugs and crime pepper our most prolific shows, yet Coel has managed to shed light on all those drak tricky parts that the entertainment industry - indeed society as a whole - likes to ignore, giving us the perspective we have been lacking for so long. To completely dissect the show would be to spoil it for those who have not yet watched, but in a post MeToo world it still feels fresh...

The absolute dominance that COVID 19 has had over the news over the past months is understandable, if somewhat draining. However, many other otherwise headline-grabbing issues have been relegated into second or third place on our Twitter feeds. Just in case you missed them, here is a brief overview of some of the more important topics - and some more positive stories in case you need reminding that it's not all bad. Hong Kong and China Last year protests in Hong Kong kicked off over China's plan to extradite Hong Kong citizens back to the mainland, a move many feared would affect judicial independence and allow China to have greater control over the population in Hong Kong. This would be a violation of the "one country, two systems" policy put in place when the British returned Hong Kong to China in 1997. It allows Hong Kong more autonomy and freedom from some of China's influence. The extradition bill was suspended last September but protests continued - a...

Now that a steady stream of students are starting to trickle back into school and plans are being put in place for everyone to return come September, a stripped back version of the curriculum is currently being debated. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has insisted that this will not be the case, despite guidance from his own department suggesting that there will need to be a focus on maths and English in some areas to cover any gaps in pupil knowledge. The priority to get children back in school and back to learning is an understandable one, particularly since home schooling has proved to be somewhat challenging, to say the least. But if the push for core subjects above all else really does go ahead, we are at risk of alienating children from their education even more than COVID 19 has. What this issue highlights is the problem with the way education is defined in our current system, and how it should be defined in an individual rather than collective sense. Like many areas o...

The recent announcement of the reopening of pubs, restaurants, and other places of leisure on 4th July hs led to a collective outcry of joy from those whose social calendar has been depressingly bare over the last few months. In accordance with government guidelines on social distancing however, it may be that these establishments may, at least at first, look a little different to how they did back in those sacred pre-COVID 19 days. Things may become a little easier if social distancing is successfully reduced to 1m, but even then there remains questions as to whether Summer 2020 is still salvageable. So all the big summer events, from music festivals to Pride, are still cancelled. On the other hand, it has been proposed that UK tourists will be able to travel to countries such as Spain and Greece without having to quarantine on their return from 6th July. This feels a little early for many people, especially when the next story on people's newsfeeds may well be one warning ab...