Tag: culture

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Margaret Thatcher: 20 ways that she changed Britain

By Sharon Black

From the economy to women’s fashion, no PM in living memory has had such far-reaching influence on the social landscape 1 Transforming the City of London Until the late 1970s, the Square Mile was a genteel all-male club dominated by pinstripe suits, public school accents and a culture of long lunches. Money was made at the Stock Exchange with effortless panache, as a coterie of licensed dealers acted on behalf of stockbroker firms with redolent names such as Quilter and Co. The Big Bang blew the ancien regime apart

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War surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe and his ‘Guinea Pigs’ honoured

By Sharon Black

Second world war physician invent new surgical techniques to rebuild faces left unrecognisable by burns from combat The design for a unique memorial honouring the pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe, the hundreds of second world war air crew whom he rescued from despair, and the town of East Grinstead that was a crucial part of their rehabilitation, will be unveiled in the town on Friday. The project has been acutely personal for its sculptor, Martin Jennings.

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Spies chilled about Spooks but military heated over memoirs

By Sharon Black

Suppressed passages from official history of D notice committee reveal concern over special forces talking to media and ex-MI5 chief’s memoirs Britain’s top military brass and senior Whitehall officials were agitated about special forces talking to the media, concerned about a former MI5 chief writing her memoirs – but the spies were relatively relaxed about the BBC spy show Spooks, hitherto secret documents reveal. The newly released files give details of passages that were removed from the original manuscript of Secrecy and the Media, the official history of the defence, press and broadcasting advisory committee (DPBAC), where Whitehall officials oversee a system of voluntary self-censorship with the media.