A Small Island Man

Please! I invite you to come back in time with me to when I was not sixty-four but twenty-four. Fresh out of university with a first-class honours in computer science, awarded special commendation and a prize for outstanding achievement. I was on top of my game, hand firmly on the tiller of my small craft, charting a course to make a better world armed with the ruthless efficiency of my newfound craft. I was sitting in the smart living room of a townhouse just a stone’s throw from a world-leading Cambridge hospital. Around me sat the board of a newly founded company, created to provide efficient tools for the new science of genetic analysis, diagnosing everything from Down’s syndrome to cancer. We were going to make the world healthier, from cradle to crypt. Before business, the custom was coffee and cake. *Yabalkov sladkish*, a moist sponge with grated apples, cinnamon, sometimes walnuts. Delicious. A Bulgarian favourite. I don’t recall how the subject of digital identity cards came u...

White, male, and privileged talking. Born in the '60s in London, UK, to a working-class family that, while not rich, made sure I never knew what it was to be hungry or cold. I had free education, a full grant that took me to university to study computing, and a qualification that kept opening doors for me. I worked hard to make the most of those opportunities, but no harder than countless others who never got the same lucky breaks. And now, at sixty-four, I am only beginning to understand how dark white, male privilege runs. Day by day, the world unravels with ICE immigration raids under tRump's presidency, genocide in Gaza, and Starmer pandering to small-c conservatism with immigration paranoia and digital identity cards. All I see is a sea of complacency, a chorus of "I'm alright, Union Jack." It is an endemic, low-level, passive cruelty. And it leaves me queasy. Everybody looking after themselves and their own. I will judge you. Not by how you host your friends...

Me: I see Israel's actions in Gaza being described as Genocide. Is this reasonable? ChatGPT: Many human rights groups, UN experts, and even the International Court of Justice say there is a plausible case that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide. The Genocide Convention defines it as killing or causing serious harm to a group, or deliberately creating conditions to destroy it, with intent. Over 30,000 Palestinians killed, huge displacement, and starvation used as a weapon have been documented. Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, and B’Tselem say this meets the legal definition. In January, the ICJ ordered Israel to take urgent steps to prevent genocide — a sign the court sees the risk as serious, though it hasn’t yet ruled on the final charge. Israel rejects the label, saying it is fighting Hamas, not Palestinians as a people. Bottom line: Whether or not courts ultimately confirm it, calling what’s happening “genocide” is reasonable, not exaggeration.

Letter to my MP Pippa Heylings regarding the proposed proposed £2 billion, 15-year contract with Israeli Elbit Systems Dear Pippa Heylings, I’m sorry to write again so soon, but I feel compelled to ask you to speak out against the proposed £2 billion, 15-year contract with Israeli Elbit Systems UK to run the Army’s Collective Training Service. Please do all you can to oppose this. For clarity: I am no supporter of Hamas. I am also a hereditary Jew. But I believe Israel is engaged in ethnic cleansing, and the ongoing devastation in Gaza proceeds as if genocide were an acceptable consequence. I cannot reconcile that with Britain awarding such a contract. My personal and business taxes will help fund this. Whatever obligations the government cites, morality must come first. I ask you, as my MP and representative, to raise this urgently, publicly and in Parliament, pressing for the contract to be halted or reviewed against our commitments to international humanitarian law and basic decency...

If my children committed murder or rape, I would still love them. I would stand by them as their parent. But I would condemn, not condone, their actions. I would see them face justice for what they had done. Their punishment and shame would be greater for being mine too, for they are part of me. Yet there would be no compromise on my morality. That is what real loyalty is, love that refuses to hide wrongdoing in the shadows. But loyalty can also become a kind of blindness. When our sense of identity is tied so closely to a cause, we can find ourselves defending the indefensible, even when the truth is plain for all to see. Admitting what is in front of us feels like admitting a part of ourselves is wrong, and so we look away. So, search your heart. Where do your loyalties truly lie? Perhaps you feel them being tested. Are you sure your moral compass still points to what is right, or has it been deflected by allegiance to a flag, a religion, or a cause now engaged in something you can n...

International Agencies Calling Israel’s Gaza Actions “Ethnic Cleansing” It is now abundantly clear that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing. The scale and nature of the destruction, displacement, and deprivation inflicted upon the population leave little room for ambiguity. Whether by design or indifference, these actions risk culminating in the genocide of the Gazan people. Major international bodies and officials who have warned that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to ethnic cleansing: UN Special Rapporteurs & Experts (2024–2025) Said tactics like forced starvation, destruction of homes, and mass displacement "point to ethnic cleansing".  Source: OHCHR, ohchr.org UN Human Rights Chief (Volker Türk) May 2025 Warned of "a push to permanently displace Palestinians" from Gaza, calling it “ethnic cleansing”.  Source: France24, france24.com UN Secretary-General (António Guterres) Feb 2025 Condemned far-right proposals to rese...

 Dear Pippa Heylings, I fear constituents such as myself might be the bane of your political life. Perhaps I have become a character in an Alan Bennett story, a gentleman of letters? That’s a depressing thought. Let me lighten the tone by acknowledging that I believe you are doing a wonderful job as our MP. I genuinely think you are in the role for the right reasons, rather than for personal gain. I don’t feel the need to agree with every decision my political representative makes to maintain that opinion. I had thought there could be no issue as divisive as Brexit to enter my life. And then, the Israeli-Hamas situation erupted. You will be well-informed on this matter. Perhaps, given the deeply divisive nature of the issue and the full extent of your workload, you might be hoping to remain neutral on it. From personal experience, I know that anything you say will draw as much criticism as praise—usually, more criticism, as most are quicker with negative feedback than with positive...