COUGHT IN THE ACT: Salman Abedi, carrying the bomb in a rucksack, as seen by a CCTV camera in the lift of the Manchester Arena
HENRY BELL is fascinated by the underlying curiosities and contradictions of one of the great poets of the Mediterranean
DAVID RENTON recommends a books that explores the ways in which disabled people are made to feel both of and not part of this world
JONATHAN TAYLOR is fascinated by the philosophical problems that permeate the art of life-writing
GORDON PARSONS steps warily in between the lines of Britain’s most famous diarist
SIMON DUFF recommends a recording of Arvo Part that takes the listener on a pilgrimage through seemingly distant times and events of the Bible
Blowback: The Road to Manchester
Directed by Mark Curtis and Phil Miller
(Declassified UK)
NOTING “the traditional media have never covered British foreign policy accurately,” Mark Curtis has explained he co-founded Declassified UK with Matt Kennard to “provide public service journalism … to inform the British public what is being done in their name.”
Since it was set up in 2019, the investigative news website’s three staff journalists have arguably published more critical reporting of UK foreign affairs than the rest of the British media combined. And somewhat fittingly, with the admirable exception of the Morning Star, the British media have all but ignored Declassified UK’s output.
For example, while the 2011 UK-Nato intervention in Libya has been largely forgotten by the British commentariat, Declassified UK has repeatedly exposed Britain’s nefarious interference in the North African nation.
