Blackfriars Abbey in Gloucester is a glorious 13th-century religious site in the west of England. The priory for religious scholars was completed in 1239 and this month it’s been the base for Gloucester History Festival.
As I stared up at the great wooden roof beams, I was told by the organisers (with great pride) how one of England’s medieval kings ensured that long-lasting, high-quality timbers were – by royal instruction – used to construct the roof almost eight centuries ago. It’s the kind of detail that makes a visit so memorable.
Yet as I waited to talk to the Blackfriars audience about Britain’s past and what we can do to make a better future, I made the mistake. I checked my phone and became distracted. My timeline was filled with some of the very peculiar here-today-gone-tomorrow arguments, supposed scandals and conflicts on today’s social media.
One tweet from a “commentator” on an obscure TV channel complained that a BBC television history programme aimed at children was “rewriting history” because it suggested that people of colour were in Britain at least since Roman times. Of course, that suggestion is fact-based. The Roman Empire was – as empires tend to be – multiracial. It included people from Africa – Carthage, Nubia and elsewhere. But the stupidity of the post isn’t what irked me most. It was the accusation of “rewriting history”.
Here at the history festival, it’s obvious that “rewriting history” is exactly the job description of being a historian. It is what historians do. It is what historians are for. Imagine complaining that the trouble with farmers is that they grow crops, or that fishermen catch fish or that doctors practise medicine and you have an idea of how idiotic this kind of public commentary about rewriting history sounds.
I was distracted by the politics of distraction. When the world is full of complex problems – war, poverty, forced emigration, cataclysmic climate events and so on – instead of fixing, or trying to fix, intractable problems, it’s easier for some to turn their energies towards clickbait distractions such as whether African men were in Britain 2,000 years ago.
Imagine complaining that the trouble with farmers is that they grow crops
Another example in Britain this week also involved the BBC (where I worked happily for many years). It concerned one of our traditional cultural jewels, the “Promenade concerts”.
The “Proms” are held in the Royal Albert Hall and include the best of the world’s classical and other styles of music performed by a hugely talented diverse group of musicians and conductors. The Last Night of the Proms is the highlight, a grand finale of happiness.
This year, it included scenes of “promenaders” – those in the audience standing in the centre of the hall – joyously waving flags. So what? Well, alongside the British national flag there were many more prominent European flags, which set off much frothing from a few ardent Brexiters.
Personally, I don’t wave flags. I lived in Northern Ireland for long enough to know that waving flags can needlessly offend. Even so, reaction to the Proms flag waving was at times ludicrous. Members of right-wing political groupings complained that waving the European flag “spoils a celebration of the United Kingdom”. If a country of 68 million people can be “spoilt” by a bit of Saturday night fun, then maybe something more serious is wrong.
Of course, you could argue that social media is a safety valve. It allows some of the more peculiar members of society to complain about something not very important to an audience of those who are not very interested. In that sense it is harmless, merely a dog barking at the Moon.
But social media also allows a platform to those who wish to create discord where there is none. The intention of some of these complaints – as with the complaints about the children’s TV programme on race and the Roman Empire – is to act as a wedge to divide people. Worse, when such confected rows invent a silly supposed “problem”, they also obscure matters that are much more important and more difficult to address.
For example, there is a very serious matter about a British court ruling that the UK government’s policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda breaches the European Convention on Human Rights. What to do about asylum seekers is a truly formidable problem. But the politics of distraction means some politicians thunder that the answer is not to fix the asylum system (which is difficult) but to withdraw from the ECHR (which is crazy).
Prof Tom Hickman KC of University College London points out that withdrawal would also involve leaving the Council of Europe (which the UK helped found to protect democracy and human rights) and the European Court of Human Rights.
Looking up at these 700-year-old roof beams in Blackfriars in Gloucester inspired me to think that, maybe instead of evanescent social media distractions, we should think like the Tudor kings. They planned not for tomorrow’s headlines and distractions, but for the next dozen generations. The roof of Blackfriars still stands, magnificent, after centuries.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE results
Lost to Oman by eight runs
Beat Namibia by three wickets
Lost to Oman by 12 runs
Beat Namibia by 43 runs
UAE fixtures
Free admission. All fixtures broadcast live on icc.tv
Tuesday March 15, v PNG at Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Friday March 18, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
Saturday March 19, v PNG at Dubai International Stadium
Monday March 21, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
RESULTS
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh289,000
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16 second leg
Paris Saint-Germain (1) v Borussia Dortmund (2)
Kick-off: Midnight, Thursday, March 12
Stadium: Parc des Princes
Live: On beIN Sports HD
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand
UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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