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Officers working on the front line for the irony police are taking a well deserved rest this bank holiday weekend after attending to their highest-profile case to date at a polling station in London. There, a local man was attempting to cast his vote, brandishing an envelope with his name on it and calling it voter ID. The irony police had been called in when it became clear that the local man was none other than Boris Johnson, the prime minister responsible for bringing in the UK’s new voter ID laws in the first place.
You’ll be relieved to know Johnson did dash home to pick up some proper ID and was able to cast his vote in the end (wonder who he went for) but the debacle tells a more important story than one man’s struggle against his own gerrymandering. Toby James has been forensically analysing the impact of voter ID for years and has warned time and time again that there are serious problems with the system. It was brought in to resolve a problem that hardly exists in the UK and, ever since, has resulted in people being turned away when they try to vote. He is, again, warning that a rethink is needed before the general election.
In a night with few moments of relief for the Conservatives, probably the most devastating result was the byelection in Blackpool South, where a swing large enough to take out Blackpool Tower was recorded for Labour. The
Conservatives will now be again reconsidering their position ahead of the national contest.
While we wait for further results to come in from these sprawling contests, why not have a look at one of our most popular articles this week, which tells the true story of what it was like to be a teenage girl in 1960s London. There are stories of choosing between love and work, exploring lesbian nightlife and, as one would hope in an article about the swinging 60s, testimony of coveting a lovely pair of white boots.
Stretching back a little further in time, a group of archaeologists recently unearthed a Roman dodecahedron in Norton Disney, near Lincoln. The 12-sided intricate object has holes on each face, all of which are surrounded by small knobs. The trouble is, that’s about as much as we can say about the find. Roman dodecahedra have been turning up in digs for years and we still don’t really know what they were for, since there’s barely a mention of them in Roman texts or images. Are they for knitting? Praying? Stress management? Some theories here, from one of the team that found the latest specimen.
Also this week, a quick update on what we know about the origins of life so far, news that the UK is now the world’s fourth largest exporter and, in a further blow to Rishi Sunak, we’ve found that something doesn’t quite add up about maths degrees.
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