Martin Wainwright
No image available
/ 26 October 2007

Euphemisms no closer to pushing up daisies

Britain’s traditional reluctance to speak directly for fear of causing embarrassment or offence has survived into the new world of blogging and instant communication across the world. Far from turning into a frank, straightforward nation, the country has invented hundreds of new euphemisms to add to its ancient store of phrases, such as ”my unmentionables” and ”the departed”.

No image available
/ 5 March 2007

Large-scale slavery returns

Slavery has made a "horrific" return to modern Britain, according to the most wide-ranging study of the secret world of forced labour yet published. Shocking statistics about the country’s sex trade, including an estimated 5 000 under-16s coerced into prostitution, mask equally violence-ridden and illegal practices in jobs ranging from crop-picking and factory work to nursing and the catering trade.

No image available
/ 14 November 2003

Hotter than Potter

When Reverend Graham Taylor finally put his talent to use, he socked the biblical parable way beyond all previously known boundaries. Taylor was a rural vicar who had to sell his motorbike to get his first novel published. Now he’s considered a threat to JK Rowling, writes Martin Wainwright.