News

As Andy Murray broke the most unwanted record in tennis, 77 years without a British men’s champion, there has been a lot of debate about how much of a British victory this was. However, the statistics highlight that all corners of the UK were united behind Murray, not just Scotland, writes Douglas Jefferson.

As the NHS prepares to celebrate its 65th birthday, I’m reminded of how many of my own birthdays I celebrated at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston Lincolnshire, writes Douglas Jefferson, whose story of the first few weeks of his life in hospital offers a shining example of the efficacy of the NHS.

I am a child of the NHS, which celebrates its 65th birthday this week. I took my first breath in an NHS hospital, like many millions of Britons. And, if it hadn’t been for the NHS, I wouldn’t have come to exist at all. I was born British, in a Yorkshire hospital, in the spring of 1974.

Thirty years earlier, my parents had been born some 4,000 miles apart. It was the NHS that brought them both to Britain, writes Sunder Katwala.

A scan across social media, blogs and opinions among Muslims following a public incident like Woolwich yields similar shameful confessions about their first thoughts: “I hope it’s not a Muslim.” If the perpetrator turns out to be Muslim, how much then should other Muslims condemn the attack, asks Shelina Janmohamed.

At Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium where the IPC Athletics Grand Prix was held, the Olympic flames still seemed to be burning bright. Were people there because of a sense of nostalgia or did last year’s Games stir something greater – and more lasting – in the nation, asks Jo Tanner.

With the recent staging of Yellow Face at London’s Park Theatre this summer, a spotlight was cast on the Chinese community in the UK. Yet beyond that the Chinese community remains largely hidden from our public conversation, with opinion formers talking of it as the “silent” community. Is that a sign of successful integration or of problems that go under the radar, asks Jemimah Steinfeld.

In a letter to The Times, nearly 100 individuals and organisations have called Windrush Day an opportunity to give thanks for the positive contribution to Britain of modern immigrations and integration. Signatories include politicians from each of the main parties and both Houses of Parliament, faith groups, academics, business leaders, trade unions and cultural figures such as authors Zadie Smith and Malorie Blackman.

The MV Empire Windrush started its life as a vehicle for the Nazi Party and ended its life under the control of the Allied forces, transporting 493 passengers from Jamaica to the UK, thus transforming it into a symbol of multiculturalism and tolerance. Patrick Vernon OBE, founder of 100 Great Black Britons, was the first to call for a national celebration of Windrush Day. Here Vernon explains why it matters.

The Leeds Big Bookend brings together writers old and new and describes itself as a “rock festival for words.” The most encouraging thing was the celebration of writers from the past, with the present and future being well represented too, reflects Matthew Rhodes on a fascinating weekend in his home town.