The Slow Newsletter
Good afternoon. Welcome back to Tortoise’s weekly Slow Newsletter.?
Retreat from Kabul
For 11 days in August, the “special relationship” ceased to exist. Frozen out by the US, British ministers resorted to phoning up journalists for info on the West’s exit from Afghanistan. Meanwhile sniping, secret deals, and catastrophic misjudgments were happening in Whitehall. As one parliamentary source and Afghanistan veteran put it to my colleague Matt d’Ancona, “We’re watching what looks like a historic humanitarian disaster in the making on our TV screens. And all the important people are away.”
And how are the ramifications of that messy departure playing out today? An Afghan soldier who worked with Britain was among the 600 people who made the journey across the Channel on Wednesday – he survived. Countless others have not.?
After a week full of circus and bumbling speeches, “Retreat from Kabul” is real substance. Do listen to both parts on the Tortoise website, or wherever you get your podcasts.
KITE
If KITE’s launch last night is anything to go by, we’re in for a treat this summer. What better way to launch a festival of ideas and music than with an in-depth conversation between Marcus Ryder MBE, the editor of just-published ‘Black British Lives Matter’, Leroy Logan, formerly of the Met Police, and journalist Eva Simpson. Top it off with a hilarious chat about the shenanigans at Westminster and the afrobeat sounds of Nubiyan Twist, and it’s all beginning to feel a bit festival-y.
Join us for the real thing in June next year.
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Police culture
ThinkIns were created with the purpose of digging up those stories you wouldn’t come across from normal reporting. And it works. I can’t tell you the amount of times someone has come along to a ThinkIn and shared an experience that genuinely makes your jaw drop.
Our inquiry into policing was no different. We spoke to dozens of ex-officers, criminologists, NGOs and policymakers to work out why, so often, police culture seems resistant to change. The results are stark. Read what my colleague Basia Cummings made of the event, or watch it back yourself. As ever, if you’ve got something to share on this subject, please get in touch.
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Have a great weekend,
Katie