Lady Gaga is going to sing the anthem. Fucking hell.

I received the sad news that Sir William Macpherson, the retired High Court judge who led the inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, has died at the age of 94.

A distinguished army career, followed with time at the Bar and then on the bench, he had a major impact... 1/

Almost twenty-three years ago he was tasked with coming out of retirement to lead the inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, and was accused of being out of touch by virtue of coming from high Scottish gentry as the head of the Macpherson clan. How wrong people were...

In 2019, I was lucky to speak to him about his reflections on two decades since the seminal report on how the Met Police handled the aftermath. He hadn't spoken about it since, was reluctant to speak, and understandably suspicious of the media in general.

At the time the inquiry was being held at the Elephant & Castle (famously where suspects walked); he would catch the bus every morning at dawn from Islington and let himself into the building to start his work. He had no drivers, no security, nothing but a clear focus for the job

When I spoke to Jack Straw (then Home Sec) he told me the appointment of Macpherson was met with suspicion by everyone (including the Lawrence family). Macpherson knew this. And he was determined to show his fierce independence to follow the evidence without fear or favour.

YOU VS THE WORLD (THREAD)

Let me tell you a story about Sir Roger Bannister.

He was the first man to run a mile in under four minutes

Before Sir Roger, it was the mainstream GLOBAL belief that it was IMPOSSIBLE for the human body to sustain such speeds without breaking down ..

They thought the human body couldn’t physically go that fast – that it would literally collapse under the pressure.

Imagine going against a belief held by EVERYONE.

Everyone telling you that if you did this thing, your body would break down...

and doing it anyway.

"No-one can run a mile in less than four minutes.
It is impossible. You're crazy to even try!"

The 'experts' believed that the record could only be broken on a day with no wind, at 20 Celsius, on a hard dry clay track in front of a huge cheering crowd;

Ideal conditions.

May 6th, 1954 was no such day.

It was cold, the track was wet, and there were only 3000 people in the the Iffley Road crowd.

Bannister had rested for five days before because he’d reached his peak, both physically and psychologically.

Six men entered the race. Straight away, Bannister took the lead

Bannister began his last lap with a time of 3.07. He needed to do the last one in 59 seconds.

He flew past Chataway onto the last straight. He knew this was it.

The world stood still.

You wake up in the middle of the night. You look around your room and see two figures standing at your door. They flick on the light and two people appeared. The Tommy twins. Both shirtless and just wearing their sweat pants. they noticed your dick was hard so they walked over...

"I don't believe in God, but I miss him."

~ Julian Barnes 💎 #Botd 1946

"Books say: She did this because. Life says: She did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren't. I'm not surprised some people prefer books."
~ Julian Barnes

"To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness."
~ Julian Barnes

"Some admit the damage,and try to mitigate it;some spend their lives trying to help others who are damaged;and there are those whose main concern is to avoid further damage to themselves,at whatever cost. And those are the ones who are ruthless, and the ones to be careful of." JB

"In life, every ending is just the start of another story."
~ Julian Barnes