• Graeme and I enjoyed another two BBC Prom performances (Nos. 66 & 75), including the Penultimate Night of the Proms.  I know the latter does not have the kudos of the Last Night, but Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 (’Choral’) was outstanding: I’ve wanted to hear it live for years, and now I can’t wait to experience it again.  Ratings - ****/5 & *****/5.
• We also got the use of a Royal Albert Hall box for Classic FM Live.  The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor, Vasily Petrenko, were on fine form, with a programme featuring Bizet, Puccini, Schubert, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky.  There were also quality clarinet and trumpet solos by Emma Johnson and Alison Balsom; and the voices of Alfie Boe and Kate Royal - especially when united for Ave Maria - were sublime.  The canons and fireworks of the 1812 Overture were a fitting end to a great evening.  Rating - *****/5.

• My sister visited us for a long weekend, which included a night at the cinema (’Taken‘ is excellent - ****/5) and a day trip to Whipsnade Zoo (very cold, but great fun - ****/5).  However, the best part of the weekend was a visit to Alton Towers, undoubtedly the UK’s best theme park.  My queasy tummy and dizzy head testify to us trying most of the big rides (’Oblivion’ and its vertical drop was the best), but my favourite ride was probably the ‘Runaway Mine Train’ - plenty of twists and turns, kids laughing and lots of smiles, all without the need for a post-ride sick bucket!  We visited on an October weekday outwith the school holidays, which I would definitely recommend.  Alton Towers - *****/5.

That’s all for just now.  B x

It was an old colleague’s leaving do, so a few of us gathered for drinks and nibbles in Camden.  It was a weird night - not least because the guest of honour left before 10pm - but it was great fun: lots of banter, a decent(ish) pub, not many idiots and, for the first time in ages, we went for a boogie!

You can probably count on two hands the number of times G and I have gone clubbing in London.  It’s not that we don’t like clubbing; more that I’m not a fan of the big commercial clubs.  It’s probably because I grew up on the Edinburgh scene, where there was (and still is) only one permanent gay club - CC Blooms.  It’s naff, dingy and dark, but it is what it is and you can’t ask for much more than that.  The Black Cap in Camden is much the same: black walls, lots of mirrors, cheap booze (and occasionally cute men).

Anyway, it’s now the morning after the night before and I’m beginning to feel a bit rough - head, tummy, legs.  Alcohol and age are terrible things!

As well as presenting financial and professional opportunitues, this means I’ve achieved two of the goals I set when I moved to London in 2005: firstly, to gain top-level experience in the charity sector; and, secondly, to qualify as a Chartered (Company) Secretary.  I’ve even had the odd bit of fun!

Most importantly, I get a few more letters after my name ;o)

AlbaScot LL.B.(Hons) ACIS

The Coalition’s Declaration of Aims argues:-

• that in a pluralist, multi-cultural society, the State should promote tolerance and recognition of different values and beliefs;
• that schools should welcome all and be committed to non-discrimination; and
• that schools should promote a culture of questioning, of knowledge, of respect and of exploration of values, where students develop their own identities and sense of place in the world.

The Declaration continues, stating that State-funded schools should:-

• operate admissions policies that take no account of students’ - or their parents’ - religion or beliefs;
• operate recruitment and employment policies that do not discriminate on the grounds of religion or belief;
• follow an objective, fair and balanced syllabus for education about religions and non-religions beliefs; and
• provide their students with inclusive, inspiring and stimulating assemblies, in place of compulsory acts of worship.

‘The Guardian’s’ Polly Toynbee is also President of the British Humanist Association, a member of the Accord Coalition.  She used her most recent commentary piece to highlight and to oppose the (increasing) segregation of children by faith, especially in the era of the ‘Academy’.  Neither she nor the Coalition calls for anything extreme or radical - only that children, teachers and other school staff should be free from discrimination on the grounds of their religion or beliefs.

Toynbee writes that ‘class, ethnic and faith segregation are the most damaging reasons why the Accord Coalition needs to prevail’.  She adds: ‘The State can’t protect children from pernicious views and doctrines [about creationism, sexuality and women's rights] at home - but it has a duty to protect them in State schools’.  If only the State subscribed to that view.  Instead, we have 7,000 faith schools, with more opening every year in the form of Academies, which already discriminate against the majority by focusing much needed funding and expertise on the few.

Toynbee suggests that ‘faith schools may be Blair’s most damaging legacy’, yet their number continues to multiply with the permission of Parliament.  That’s why we have two choices: either to give credit where it’s due and to continue to despair about the undue and unfair influence of religious interest groups over our elected representatives; or to support the Accord Coalition and it Declaration of Aims.  I know what I will be doing!

To read Polly Toynbee’s commentary in full, click on the link below.

Faith schools may be Blair’s most damaging legacy (’The Guardian’, 2 September 2008)

London Zoo - June 2008 (1)

West End Live 2008

London Zoo - June 2008 (2)

Instead, Grayling suggests that religious movements should be seen as civil society organisations (like trades unions, political parties, the Scouts, etc.), with every right to exist and to have their say, but as self-constituted interest groups no more entitled to a bigger share of the public pie of influence, privilege, tax handouts and legal exemptions than any other interest group.

Moreover, Grayling recognises that religion - unlike race, age, gender, disability (and, I add, sexuality) - is a matter of choice, that one can change or not have at all. As such, he argues (and I’ve long agreed), it should pay its own way and take its place in the queue along with other interest groups.

Atheism is not an attack on any or all religions. It’s about levelling the playing fields; equality; fairness; and respect. That can only be a good thing.

To read the article in full, click on the link below.

The rise of Miliband brings at last the prospect of an atheist Prime Minister (The Guardian, 21 August 2008)

The official website of Matt Mitcham

Cadbury Wispa