I started reading the Guardian at university while studying social policy (it will have been on the reading list). I’m 49 so it was quite some time ago. I grew up in south London. My parents were working-class African-Caribbean. I’ve always been a leftwing type of person and the social justice commentaries in the paper at the time really appealed to me.
I now work at a college in south-east London as an enrichment officer, facilitating students’ extracurricular activities. I help to get students involved in debating, and run equality and diversity events like LGBT Week, Black History Month, and International Women’s Day.
I like the Guardian’s honesty over social issues. Owen Jones is very refreshing, he’s for the underdog – I love that about it. I always read Aditya Chakrabortty and Giles Fraser. I like him because I go to church – he’s irreverent but he lives in the real world. I met Gary Younge at the Young Vic about 20 years ago and I love his coverage of the US. The Guardian has more and more columnists who reflect the society we live in. People like Gary, Hugh Muir. I like that it’s championing the rights of migrants and that it’s not rightwing. It doesn’t toe the populist line.
Saying that, it can be a bit twee. It might be leftwing but it’s a middle-class paper. I’d love to see more columnists who reflect society’s diversity.
I don’t like reading newspapers online – I need the joy of turning the pages. The main section and the sports section (I follow Liverpool FC) appeal to me most, alongside the Cook supplement on a Saturday. Some of Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes are really good. I’ve got a Spanish flatmate and am learning the language, so I cook a lot of Spanish. Whether it’s edible is another thing.
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