Top 100 Quotes & Sayings by Dawn Foster
Explore popular quotes and sayings by a British journalist Dawn Foster.
Last updated on December 21, 2024.
If Freemasons won't be completely open about their membership, should we not say that in all cases membership is incompatible with public service? Asking public servants to either confirm they are not a member of a masonic organisation or to be open when they are won't fully excise the backroom deals or the stench of privilege.
I've had grateful messages from people thanking me for being open about health on social media: from others with epilepsy who feel less alone; from a man who shows his daughter my tweets and Instagram pictures, and says she feels much less of a pariah knowing others are in the same boat; and from people asking for coping mechanisms and tips.
The police have spent years pursuing Islamic extremism while too often overlooking the growing violent threat posed by the far-right.
Here's why people don't live on oats and water: if you're cash poor, you're likely also time poor, and speed is of the essence when your job starts at the same time as your children's day at school.
Illness, especially chronic illness, can be very isolating. Not only does it limit how and when you can socialise, it causes you to feel unattractive.
Women can be as destructive, possessive and prone to rage as men, it turns out: but discovering that is what terrifies them, while exhilarating women.
No one joins the masons for the handshakes. It must be for the benefits it can bring.
The homeless often feel invisible, allowed to plummet through widening holes in the social safety net, then hidden in doorways from which people avert their eyes.
The academisation of schools under New Labour helped the Conservatives bring free schools into being. They said the new model would allow enthused parents to open schools. Instead, most free schools and academies are run by large chains that can outsource their IT facilities, cleaning services and other non-teaching jobs.
Almost all the people I've met in temporary accommodation fell behind with their rent because of benefit cuts, or found their landlord was no longer willing to keep them on since their income had been frozen.
For homeless and formerly homeless people, losing their ID and then having to apply for and afford new ID is insurmountably difficult.
Historically marginalised people - by gender, race or nationality - aren't willing to be silent any longer on the crimes of the past and the continuing misrepresentations of historians.
Every rough sleeper is the product of political decisions that have created a safety net riddled with gaping holes. No one wants to sleep outdoors in sub-zero temperatures, but far too many will, while politicians continue to cut welfare provision and bludgeon councils with austeritymeasures.
Fewer people than you might think seem to have truly enjoyed their formative education and, for those who did not, one theme in particular recurs: the breathtaking cruelty of children.
For children with special educational needs to receive the help they need to thrive in education, councils need targeted funding that properly addresses the costs of including children in mainstream classrooms with support, or creating space in specialist schools.
Good policymaking is evidence-based, and preventing crime and antisocial behaviour involves fixing the society we all live in, identifying risk factors and demographic characteristics that make some people more likely to become involved in certain crime, and then preventing those offences taking place as often as possible.
Children are more perceptive than we give them credit for: the poorest kids know their place as surely as the wealthiest children are aware of their station.
As austerity has drained the blood from public services, preventive services have been the first to suffer.
Many people are unable to see friends and family as often as they'd like due to the cost of rail travel.
People never know what to do with women who write, especially about lust, in a way that isn't sanitised and held back.
Many regard freemasonry as an 18th-century boys' club, all funny aprons and comedic handshakes. That's good for the masons themselves, but it's our mistake. The most senior figures are listed, but surely that's a sop because, all the while, the vast majority of lay members, 'the brotherhood,' remain anonymous.
I'd no more listen to a physicist's advice on my fertility than I would let a mechanic cut my hair.
Poverty is a trap: it should be eradicated. It's no real answer just lifting a few children from families stuck on low wages into a different social milieu.
Technology can help us connect to people and viewpoints we'd never otherwise experience: using it as a way of avoiding awkward but straightforward conversations that are part of everyday life just increases our isolation and disconnection from each other.
We can find any number of ways to criminalise begging, but when we do so, aren't we attacking the problem from entirely the wrong angle? Banning begging or rough sleeping treats street homelessness as a lifestyle choice that can be discouraged through threats of legal action and heavy-handed policing.
Bullying leaves permanent psychological scarring and young people become adept at learning what hurts, verbally and psychologically. Looks, personality and status are all easy targets, and particularly difficult to change.
Equality legislation, and audits on gender pay gaps, ethnicity and disability, - within companies and public authorities - all aim to stamp out the informal transfer of power through social networks, in favour of appointment through genuine merit.
There's a thin line between mockery and endorsement.
Focusing on the gifted always leaves people behind, and portrays working-class people as a repellent hinterland that 'gifted' and 'talented' children need rescuing from.
Housing, not buying, should be a right - and available and affordable for all. Right to buy is devastating our housing system, just as rail privatisation has devastated our transport infrastructure.
Towards the tail end of primary school, I was pulled aside by my headteacher and told I was joining a scheme for 'gifted and talented' children, that would run from my 10th birthday until I was 16.
I want to know when my friends need help, as well as when they're happy; when they're vulnerable, as well as when they feel strong.
Empathy is an uncomfortable force in politics.
For years I avoided loose fruit and veg - an absolute minefield - simply because it was impossible to tell how much they would come to at the till.
Homelessness can be complex, and some rough sleepers will refuse help when living on the street becomes entrenched. But fining people, confiscating tents, and forcing people to move on from certain areas will do nothing to combat the core issues that cause homelessness.
The long-term effects of privatising both rail and housing, aside from ensuring we live in a country of crumbling infrastructure (in contrast to mainland Europe), is one of diminished social and personal opportunities.
While, legally, universal suffrage has been achieved for all undetained citizens over the age of 18, many people still find it difficult to vote in elections.
Making it compulsory to show identification before voting risks compromising a basic human right by creating further barriers for people who may no longer have an acceptable form of ID, thanks to the often unpredictable and chaotic lifestyle homelessness can cause.
Disasters can also be averted, which is why the rigorous approach after Ronan Point was the correct response.
Winter is always the hardest period for rough sleepers because of the climate and the post-Christmas dip in generosity towards anyone begging. And there's a genuine risk to life for anyone having to sleep out as temperatures plummet.
Growing up poor is precisely as demeaning as you'd expect, and while forgiving bullies is easy, reliving those experiences emotionally is deeply upsetting.
Many benefit cuts hit single parents hardest and punish children by forcing their families into destitution.
Council housing works because it pays for itself relatively quickly: the rent paid by tenants covers the building costs in the long term, and eventually makes a profit for the local authority, which continues to invest in the local area. The money continues to circulate within the community rather than simply boosting the profits of landlords.
Passing a beggar who asks for money causes discomfort - and so it should. The act of facing and acknowledging human suffering and hardship on this scale ought to imprint itself on a society that has such glaring divides in income and comfort.
In one of my secondary schools, the single kindest thing I remember was a teacher who quietly offered to wash the uniform of a friend who was being hounded by children saying he 'stank': his mother was unemployed and couldn't always afford to take his clothes to the launderette.
None of us are as insulated from poverty as we think.
Cooking requires time, effort and fuel: increasing numbers of people I've visited can't even afford to turn on the kettle for a cup of tea as they eke out every penny to feed their extortionate gas and electric meters.
Throughout the west, the rise of populism has shaken establishments, with politicians and commentators asking why there has been a resurgent interest in socialism, and a growth of the far right on the opposite side.
Housing is predominantly presented as a generational issue: millennials aren't able to get on the property ladder in the same way their parents were. But while it's true that intergenerational fairness is an issue, this way of presenting the housing crisis glosses over much.
The impact of punitive government measures is long-lasting and widens inequality and social discord.
Renters didn't used to be cursed: social housing offered millions of people a steady, safe and secure home for an affordable price.
Supporting people to stay in their homes is surely a better method of reducing homelessness than acting after the fact.
The mental baggage involved in attempting to feed yourself when poor is immense. Being able to go into a supermarket and buy what you both need and want is incredibly freeing, but it's a luxury not appreciated by anyone who hasn't experienced longterm hardship.
It should be obvious that banning begging or criminalising rough sleeping will do little to combat homelessness.
Everyone should have a right to a home.
The majority of us don't do what's best for us all the time because life is complicated and busy - and creating excuses is so much easier than getting on with the business of wellbeing.
Focusing only on street homelessness is resource-intensive, and acts after the rough sleeper has already endured significant hardship and trauma. Acting before people are homeless makes far more sense, economically and for the long-term wellbeing of a household.
As long as almost no new social housing is built, gross inequality will persist, and class structures will grow ever more constraining.
I'm learning to believe that my epilepsy doesn't disbar me from being considered attractive, so if I think I look palatable in A&E I'll damn well Instagram it.
Exceptional teaching requires more time and space for teachers to address the differing needs of a classroom, with assistance in staffing and funding.
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