Hadley Freeman leaves her Guardian column

[ArabellaScott]

I can completely understand this, but it is sad to see how the Guardian has become so diminished in the past few years.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/18/opinion-writing-has-changed-a-lot-since-i-started-out-its-time-for-something-new?fbclid=IwAR2otpLMDz7GHEZ3NL0mbOcIhUFGmOZOaOUj_1mNqAo4GiQ4HMlmLbF7LjY

[vivariumvivariumsvivaria]

I'd like to see what Hadley has to say when she is indie.

I love her, such a searing wit.

[VladmirsPoutine]

I love how she couldn't help but mention Corbyn one last time. Rent free.

But in all seriousness it's almost impossible to parody Guardian columnists as Hadley demonstrates so perfectly well.

[Abhannmor]

Aargh...Milne not Moncrieff...brain fart

[franke]

@Royat

Why did they turn off comments? Do they normally do this so soon? Hadley Freeman writes in the magazine which comes with the Saturday edition. There will be loads of people who won't have even read theirs yet. I was going to create an account to say thanks and good luck ☹ Have been a big fan for years. I'm sure lots of other people would have liked to do this too and now they won't be able to.

That's interesting Royat. I've only just seen her column because of this thread and I was just going to post here that I'm astounded that the Guardian opened comments at all. I didn't realise they'd turned them off already. But I'm amazed that more haven't been deleted by the Guardian thought police - someone even mentioned trans

[Abhannmor]

@VladmirsPoutine

I love how she couldn't help but mention Corbyn one last time. Rent free.

But in all seriousness it's almost impossible to parody Guardian columnists as Hadley demonstrates so perfectly well.

Yes ...not that they are obsessed with Jeremy of course. But despite this ould bollix I still love Hadleys writing.

[Didactylos]

Andyoldlabour

Of course the beauty of stats is that one can pick and choose the figures to demonstrate whatever picture you find most politically expedient

Fully vaccinated
Portugal 82%
Iceland 80%
Malta 81%
Spain 77%
Denmark 74%
Ireland 72%
Norway 65%
Italy 65%
UK - 64,95%
( Where did you get the 66.5% figure from? your own link quotes a 64,95% fully vaccinated figure from 16th Sept)

All figures from ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations?country=GBR

[RiotAtTheRodeo]

I enjoyed many of her columns. Was nauseated by her regular columns defending Woody Allen.

[andyoldlabour]

Didactylos

I think this may be a case of "who do we believe?"

It is now showing 66.7% fully vaccinated in the UK.

news.google.com/covid19/map?hl=en-GB&mid=%2Fm%2F07ssc&state=7&gl=GB&ceid=GB%3Aen

[EarthSight]

Well this thread derailed quickly!

Initially about Hadley and then turned into a debate about Brexit and vaccination stats!

[grapewine]

@mammajustkilledagnat

84% fully vaccinated in Danmark

Where are you getting that figure? TV2 (national news site with daily updates - in case you're not here) has 73.8 fully vaccinated today. I'm just curious because I always check their figures first. Thanks.

[sashagabadon]

It doesn’t really matter who has a slightly higher vaccine percentage now. It was the early start and the swiftness out of the blocks that mattered to save lives earlier in the year and that’s where the U.K. excelled. We’ve hit a wall now but that was inevitable unless you coerce your population or mandate the vaccine which thankfully we have not done in the U.K. ( with the exception of care homes which may yet backfire). We haven’t mandated vaccine passports for social activities like the French have for example.
I suppose we could increase our rates further if we did so but like everything, it’s a balance and I prefer our voluntary approach overall.

[FlyingOink]

And now we find ourselves with supermarket shelves empty
Do we?

[sashagabadon]

I’m also a Hadley fan and sad to see her leave the Guardian but no doubt she’ll get offers from better newspapers. I never see her on the telly as a talking head or panellist or commentator. I bet she’d be good at that.

[VladmirsPoutine]

Maybe Catherine Bennett will take her place.

[Floisme]

I've been a Hadley fan since she was on the Guardian fashion desk, before I even knew the meaning of ' gender critical'. It's been a pleasure watching her develop from a bit of a smart arse to one of the most rounded writers I know. I honestly can't think of any other contemporary writer who tackles the range of subjects she does, or who can turn and change tone on a sixpence.

It sounds like she's not leaving the Guardian completely (or at least not yet) and I have mixed feelings about that. I'd really miss her interviews but I also think it's time she broke away. She sounds thoroughly dispirited.

[DrBlackbird]

I just read the last Weekend hard copy. Came on here to find others also sad to hear of the end of her column. I didn’t always agree with Hadley but loved that she gave and defended her opinion. Was also sad at the end of the Review and the Guide. I’ve been reading all of them more or less weekly since arriving in the UK 20+ years ago. Assuming this is a further cost cutting measure.

Going back to the point that she was highlighting… A difference of opinion becomes a seismic breaking of alliances, and certain subjects are verboten in social situations certainly resonates. I’d add that this predates Brexit and believe that the lack of allowable debate and vitriolic tone arises from the anonymity of social media, which encourages the rise of the mob mentality curated or primed by narrow vested interests.

So many people and so many topics that I can no longer discuss without it quickly denigrating to the personal. For example, raising concerns about safe spaces for women became get your thick head around … Although we’ll still get her interviews, it’s worrying to lose Hadley’s calm and logical voice on the every day that matter to women.

The Graun has lost credibility and is disappointing particularly on women’s issues, but with so few media to counter the right wing press in this country I’m still supporting it albeit with sorrow at what it’s become vs what it was.

[ArabellaScott]

I don't see the point in the Guardian. Once upon a time I'd have read it. Now its just like the Mail but for the university educated.

You do the Mail a discredit. I've seen better journalism in there in recent years than I have in the Guardian, which has become almost wall-to-wall style for the metro hipster, comment and agit-prop.

[ScribblingPixie]

I always thought of The Guardian and The Mail as two sides of the same coin but I think The Guardian is far worse now - they employ activists rather than journalists and I think Hadley referenced that in her piece.

[MrsCremuel]

She isn’t leaving the Guardian as far as I’m aware but just not writing her column anymore. She is still a staff writer I think.

[Freespeecher]

RiotAtTheRodeo

'Death is a funny thing. Not funny haha, like a Woody Allen movie, but funny strange, like a Woody Allen marriage'.

Norm Macdonald (RIP)

[Freespeecher]

ScribblingPixie

Agreed. I also find the BBC website increasingly resembles an activists' gazette (to the level that they sucker you in with an unrelated headline in order to attract more eyeballs to the cause du jour).

[alittleprivacy]

@KimikosNightmare

If we were still part of the EU we would have been able to influence that decision

Not sure what point you're making. The EU programme was a mess. The UK was well out of it. Or are you suggesting the UK missed out by not being in the EU shambles.

Freeman's ok, occasionally funny, but I've never quite understood the adoration she gets on here.

Ah no. The EU programme started slower than the UK's because of UK and US protectionism. However, many EU countries, the ones with high public take up rates, like Denmark and Ireland flew past the UK during the summer.

[MrsSquirrel]

The Graun has lost credibility and is disappointing particularly on women's issues

I completely agree with this. There are still a few good writers sometimes, but mostly it's just clickbait.

I hope Hadley will write more books now that she is not committed to a weekly column.

[VladmirsPoutine]

My motto was for a while: "Lord grant me the confidence of a Guardian columnist."

Wrt UK vaccines I don't think using that as a trump card for Brexit really works.

[PurgatoryOfPotholes]

@VladmirsPoutine

My motto was for a while: "Lord grant me the confidence of a Guardian columnist."

Wrt UK vaccines I don't think using that as a trump card for Brexit really works.

I've not got over Zoe Williams confidently declaring that every woman knew she had a cervix.

In columns passim, Zoe Williams has variously found out she didn't know she was pregnant (found out she was pregnant with her second child after 20 weeks), found out that she was wrong to assume hay fever didn't exist, and found out that people aren't putting it on about needing reading glasses. None of this has taught her any humility about her presumptions.

Zoe continues to operate on the assumption that if she knows it, everyone else does, and conversely, if she doesn't know about it, it never happens.