Yesterday, Lois and I watched Pride (BBC Films, 2014), a truly inspirational film which I would highly recommend (thank you Kevin Finnan for your recommendation). A small minority group, hated and victimised, struggling 
with their own weaknesses and infighting, choose, in spite of that, to look beyond their own problems to recognise and do something about the needs of another oppressed group. In doing so, these ordinary, vulnerable human beings find something of their true selves, the immortal diamonds within. They, and the group they choose to help, discover within themselves, the capacity to show compassion, to see beyond the stereotypes and prejudices, to identify with others who are, perhaps, not so different from themselves. And, in doing so, they make a stand for justice that has an impact.
On the eve of the general election
On the eve of the general election I find myself increasingly exercised by the issues of justice that are at stake here. This election isn’t just about who we would like to govern our country, it is about how we, as a country, and the people who govern us, treat our fellow-citizens, particularly the most vulnerable in our society: children, the elderly, disabled people, immigrants and asylum seekers, those living in poverty, those with mental health problems… the list could go on.
Over the past three weeks I have spent a lot of time preparing and delivering lectures on child mortality, both in the UK and overseas. While there has been incredible progress over the past 25 years in reducing child mortality, we live in a country in which over 5,000 children and young people die each year, and in a world where over 6 million children die each year before their fifth birthday. One aspect stands out above all others:
there is a consistent inverse relationship between child mortality and socioeconomic status.
The more wealthy you are, the less likely your child is to die. This finding is persistent across time, and geography, and holds true regardless of whether you measure socioeconomic status at an individual or societal level.