Sheep – these two in Lancashire, England
Today thousands of Australia’s sheep await their government’s decision on how, when or if they will be shipped across the ocean to the heat-blazed summer of the Middle East.
A programme on the radio got me thinking. It was the gap in it that caught my mind.
Ten days ago a panel of experts in The Briefing Room on Radio Four put forward important reasons for the shortage of recruits for the British Army.
Not one of the experts represented, or mentioned, Army families.
A ewe and her lamb in the north of Spain
My thanks to Lyn Douglas in Australia for telling me about the new regulations announced today around the live export of sheep.
The key points are listed below.
RSPCA Australia remains concerned.
Here is the link to the UK Reuters report.
Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2018
A ewe and her lamb in the north of Spain
Recent footage in the media shows the cruel conditions faced by sheep sent over the sea to slaughter. Hot, trapped, dying of thirst and panic, they struggle for life as the ships take them to their death.
This trade across oceans, particularly to and from Australia, has gone on for decades unnoticed by most of us, but the recent publication of footage of the conditions on board the live export ships puts disturbing evidence in front of our noses. We can’t look away any longer.
From The Graphic – weekly newspaper 1879
This is copied from The Graphic – the bath routine looks interesting.
Our host for the day in London
I had the idea, I had the material, but I couldn’t see the shape … and I didn’t have a clue about what to do next with my fragile bubble of a plan. That was until last Saturday when my confusion switched suddenly to focus.
The ‘I-think-I-get-it’ moment was thanks to a Guardian masterclass programme on planning and pitching non-fiction. There were 14 of us in the class, all adrift with various book ideas. Our trainer was Jenny Rogers who has published seventy non-fiction books – here’s some of the advice she passed on.
Two world leaders exited our lives this month – one smothered in global affection – the other dispatched into silence for crimes “dissolute and depraved”. A few thoughts on how it looks from here in the UK.
