Paul Mcnamee

1 week ago | bigissue.com | Paul McNamee |Paul Mcnamee

This is how the US tariff war could affect your bin collection Last week, a man dressed as a giant rat stood up at a city council meeting in Birmingham to ask about the ongoing bin-collection strikes. He said he was the ‘Selly Oak rat’. I think it was a man. The rats rummaging amongst the uncollected 21,000 tonnes (21,000!) of rubbish in the city recently hit the ‘size of a small kitten’ stage. By the time you read this, they may have got to the size of a dire wolf. Or a big man.

3 weeks ago | bigissue.com | Paul McNamee |Paul Mcnamee

There are enough reminders that life is nasty, brutish and short. Let a little light in It comes back to Rod Stewart, as things inevitably do. Or should. Many aspects of the life we live have a Rod-shaped element. Take football. Think of knockout competitions and you will think of Rod, a little jolly following a Celtic victory, drawing teams live on TV for the fifth round of the Scottish Cup, in early 2017. We’re eight years on and few moments in football have bettered that.

1 month ago | bigissue.com | Paul McNamee |Paul Mcnamee

The unpopular decision to take money from society's poorest is a lost opportunity for this government to show a little bravery Sinéad Morrissey is a very fine poet. I don’t say this because she’s Irish and because of some inherent loyalty that means I have to say the Irish are the best poets. That would be crazy. Though Irish poets ARE great – obviously. And the Irish value poetry, and when you value something you respect it and take it seriously.

1 month ago | bigissue.com | Paul McNamee |Paul Mcnamee

Sunak apparently didn't believe in his 'stop the boats' slogan, but thought it would be a vote winner – which doesn't say much for his moral compass Yet another senior politician expresses buyer’s regret after his term in office is over. This time, it’s Rishi Sunak, the former PM. So, it’s pretty significant. He said that the ‘stop the boats’ message was “too stark”. He said he regrets ever saying it and conceded that it couldn’t be done anyway. He regrets ever saying it. Ever.

1 month ago | bigissue.com | Paul McNamee |Paul Mcnamee

But is there actually anywhere in the world left to hide, now that Elon Musk's Starlink can reach the most far-flung places on the planet? The appeal of the remote is strong. Any time an island, or place lost in the middle of nowhere, seeks new caretakers, there is a story. The most recent is Great Blasket, an island round the bend from Dingle, a part of Kerry, floating free, resting in the North Atlantic. It’s uninhabited, has been since 1953, aside from a lot of seals and puffins.