A speaker who had been banned from speaking at the University of East Anglia for calling homosexuality “a filthy disease” was subsequently unknowingly hired by a charity, Global Aid Trust, to speak at a fund-raising party on a Thames boat, where he was covertly filmed making anti-Semitic claims by a BBC documentary camera crew.

The documentary, Exposure – Charities Behaving Badly, showed speaker Dawah Man telling his audience that countries and bankers were “controlled by Zionists”, and that “Anytime there is an English or American invasion of Muslim lands it is all a problem coming back to the children of Israel” The film also showed Man asking the Global Aid Trust representatives on the boat for some pre-speaking guidance on what he was there to talk about, and what not to talk about, and getting none. Continue reading →

Vinopolis, the wine tasting venue near London Bridge is to close at the end of this year, after 16 years trading, with the loss of 180 jobs. The 2.5 acre space will be converted into retail units.

According to an opinion piece written by wine critic and broadcaster Tim Atkin MW and published in Harpers Wine and Spirit Vinopolis “morphed into a venue that appeared to make most of its money from corporate hospitality and private events and was less and less interested in wine”. Continue reading →

Those who like their westerns raw and gritty will enjoy Man of the West (1958) Giving a nervy, twitchy performance as Link Jones, a former family gang outlaw gone straight and then forced back into his old lawless family, is a world-weary and haggard Gary Cooper, matched by Lee J Cobb (born Lee Jacob) as his sadistic and violent uncle Dock Tobin, the psychotic gang’s boss, who forces him to join them again for one last job.

An equally strong performance is turned in by actress, and jazz and pop singer Julie London (Remember “Cry me a River”?) as saloon singer Billie Ellis who fights back the tears as she is abused and humiliated by being forced to strip in front of the gang to save the life of Link, with whom she has fallen in love. Allegedly, this was followed by a violent rape scene filmed by director Anthony Mann, but this was cut, just leaving in the bruised and bleeding, but unbowed, aftermath depicted by London. Continue reading →