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Joan Smith

@polblonde

Known for her human rights activism and writing on subjects such as atheism and feminism, Joan Smith is a columnist, critic and novelist. An Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society and a regular contributor to BBC radio, she has written five detective novels, two of which have been filmed by the BBC.

‘Blair’s Babes’ brought hope of a more equal society, but nearly two decades on the world is a darker place
Voices

The world has darkened, but feminism shines a light

'The Queen’s birthday reminds us that support for the monarchy is bound up with support for the Queen'
Voices

Who really cares what the Queen thinks of Brexit?

Adam Johnson was convicted of a sex offence against a 15-year-old girl
Voices

Men like Adam Johnson rely on rife misogyny to operate

Rapist Arshid Hussain was given more consideration by the justice system than his victims
Voices

No more excuses. Trials must not cause victims extra pain

Health warning: Junior doctors on strike
Voices

The junior doctors's strike is about much more than pay

Egyptian police special forces are given state licence to terrorise all opponents of Sisi’s regime
Voices

Egypt’s Arab Spring reverts to a winter of fear and torture

Voices

I’m a fan, Jess, but please admit you’re wrong

The inquiry ruled that Litvinenko was probably murdered on the personal order of Vladimir Putin
Voices

When it’s Putin, different rules apply

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is currently in talks with other Christian churches about a proposal to fix the date of Easter
Voices

Don’t mourn the church – play some Bowie instead

Protesters in Cologne demand their right not to be molested after a series of sexual assaults in the city
Voices

Cologne is a wake-up call: all women have the right to feel safe

Refugees cross from Croatia to be escorted by Slovenian border police
Voices

Is anyone looking for the big idea to stop children drowning?

It is obvious to state that obesity is destroying individual health, shortening lives and putting a huge strain on the NHS
Voices

Dismiss it all you want, but obesity really is a national emergency

Hillary Clinton’s age is called into question far more often than her male peers
Voices

Ageism meets sexism: It’s no fun getting old if you’re female

Voices

Ageism meets sexism: It’s no fun getting old if you’re female

Hillary Clinton’s age is called into question far more often than her male peers
Corbyn is a man with positions, not policies
Voices

Labour must get rid of Jeremy Corbyn – now

It is high time leaders of Commonwealth countries embraced quality
Voices

LGBT people in the Commonwealth still treated as second-class citizens

Voices

How terrorist organisations appeal to alienated young men

Jim McMahon, Labour’s candidate in the Oldham West and Royton
Voices

Let’s stop using ‘humble’ in place of ‘poor’ or ‘working class’

Jim McMahon, Labour’s candidate in the Oldham West and Royton
Voices

Let’s stop using ‘humble’ in place of ‘poor’ or ‘working class’

Kids Company’s founder Camila Batmanghelidjh
Voices

Charities have to play Whitehall’s game to survive

Reeva Steenkamp and Oscar Pistorius
Voices

Feminism over? Not while so many women still fall victim to violence

As the Leader of Her Majesty’s Official Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn's role comes with an expectation that he will become a member of the Privy Council
Voices

Jeremy Corbyn is a terrible advocate for republicanism

Comment

Ethics isn’t on the Foreign Office’s map

During his trip to China last week George Osborne was welcomed by Chinese state media for his pragmatic approach and his “modest manner”
Comment

George Osborne’s visit to China is a new low

Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan want to be civil partners
Voices

What does sex have to do with tax?

Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan want to be civil partners
Voices

What does sex have to do with tax?

Voices

Cameron's idea of 'British' values is looking pretty hollow

Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan want to be civil partners
Voices

What does sex have to do with tax?

Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan want to be civil partners
Voices

What does sex have to do with tax?

Voices

Cameron's idea of 'British' values is looking pretty hollow

Alison Parker and Adam Ward: best remembered before tragedy
Comment

Killers should not be allowed to set the agenda

Comment

Killers should not be allowed to set the agenda

Alison Parker and Adam Ward: best remembered before tragedy
There are no current cures for dementia
Comment

What they don't tell you about dementia

The Duke of Cambridge wants only sanctioned pictures, such as this of George at his sister’s christening, to be used by the media
Voices

Prince George and the paparazzi: Deferring to the long arm of

Members of the Tunisian security services stand guard during a memorial ceremony and minutes silence for the victims of a terror attack on a beach outside the Imperial Marhaba Hotel, in the popular tourist resort of al-Sousse, Tunisia
Voices

Tunisia attack: The West's response to the atrocity in Sousse is in

Members of the Tunisian security services stand guard during a memorial ceremony and minutes silence for the victims of a terror attack on a beach outside the Imperial Marhaba Hotel, in the popular tourist resort of al-Sousse, Tunisia
Voices

Tunisia attack: The West's response to the atrocity in Sousse is in

Members of the Tunisian security services stand guard during a memorial ceremony and minutes silence for the victims of a terror attack on a beach outside the Imperial Marhaba Hotel, in the popular tourist resort of al-Sousse, Tunisia
Voices

Tunisia attack: The West's response to the atrocity in Sousse is in

Rafida Bonya Ahmed spoke with heartfelt eloquence during last week’s Voltaire lecture
Comment

Machetes fail to maim this human spirit

Rafida Bonya Ahmed spoke with heartfelt eloquence during last week’s Voltaire lecture
Comment

Machetes fail to maim this human spirit

A woman injured in the attack at Sousse is carried from the beach
Voices

One of the purposes of terrorism is to magnify the terrorist

Andy Burnham
Voices

Labour leadership race: Can anyone seriously imagine any of the four

Voices

Honours system: Have a gong, and leave your principles at home

Voices

Honours system: Have a gong, and leave your principles at home

Voices

Prince Charles' letters reveal him to be a prolix pesterer of

Voices

Girls in the West must be taught that there's nothing romantic about

Theresa May, the Home Secretary
Joan Smith

Theresa May's threat to broadcast freedom is staggering

A Syrian policeman patrolling the ancient oasis city of Palmyra
Voices

Isis threatens Palmyra, the ancient city that stands for both empire

Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha arrive to N10 Downing street in London
Voices

Human rights are at risk under our new Conservative Government

Voices

Human rights are at risk under our new Conservative Government

Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha arrive to N10 Downing street in London
Joyce Carol Oates is among 150 writers to protest that the award decision was ‘neither clear nor inarguable’
Comment

Charlie Hebdo's PEN Freedom of Expression Courage Award is well

The Nato campaign to support Libyans who wanted to oust Gaddafi failed to plan for the aftermath
Voices

Toppling despots is the easy bit, as the PM should know by now

Ashya King arriving at the Proton Therapy Centre in Prague in September
Voices

Ashya King: The summer of hate experienced by the hospital that

Depending on which media outlet you believe, Ed Miliband has either already lost the general election, or very much hasn't
UK Politics

General Election 2015: Is this the campaign off to a good start? Hell,

Depending on which media outlet you believe, Ed Miliband has either already lost the general election, or very much hasn't
UK Politics

General Election 2015: Is this the campaign off to a good start? Hell,

Depending on which media outlet you believe, Ed Miliband has either already lost the general election, or very much hasn't
UK Politics

General Election 2015: Is this the campaign off to a good start? Hell,

Clifford is already serving an eight-year jail sentence for indecent assault
Voices

Keith Vaz has got it wrong - protecting men should not be the aim of

Red Cross health workers in Liberia
Voices

Inequality remains the real killer in Africa - as the Ebola outbreak

Half Life: Women in India are expected to keep themselves out of harm’s way
Voices

India is in denial about its rape culture - but then so are we

The shrine of Iman al-Mahdi, Karbala. He is expected to return at the end of time
Voices

Jihadi John: Why are so many from Britain giving up everything to join

Michael Adebolajo killed Fusilier Lee Rigby outside Woolwich Barracks in May last year
Commentators

Why are so many young men inured to violence?

Ed Miliband is smeared because of his determination to finish the Leveson process
Voices

If Ed Miliband is useless, why are some newspapers so bothered by him?

The investigation into Rotherham Council last year concluded that 1,400 children had suffered sexual exploitation between 1997 and 2013 (Getty/PA)
Voices

Male power and a sense of impunity is at the heart of all child abuse

Stalin MKII? Vladimir Putin isn’t going to give up power of his own accord (EPA)
Voices

President Putin is a dangerous psychopath - reason is not going to

Stalin MKII? Vladimir Putin isn’t going to give up power of his own accord (EPA)
Voices

President Putin is a dangerous psychopath - reason is not going to

King Abdullah died this week at the age of 90 (Getty)
Voices

We can't afford not to hold Saudi Arabia's royals to account

Voices

We can't afford not to hold Saudi Arabia's royals to account

King Abdullah died this week at the age of 90 (Getty)
Stuart Kerner claimed the pupil stalked him (Rex)
Voices

How can a girl of 16 'groom' a teacher?

Spree killer Anders Breivik claimed he used video games to ‘train’ for the murders (EPA)
Comment

Paris attacks: These troubled men who project their self-hatred on

A migrant disembarking from the Sierra Leone-flagged vessel Ezadeen at Corigliano Calabro, Italy, on Saturday (Reuters)
Comment

Syrian migrants stranded at sea deserve far more help

Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s dictator, and the subject of the spoof Sony film
Comment

The week Hollywood got scared and had to grow up a bit

Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s dictator, and the subject of the spoof Sony film
Comment

The week Hollywood got scared and had to grow up a bit

Ukipland - a fictional country where the old values are no longer respected and people yearn for vanished certainties
Comment

In Ukipland there's a pint waiting for Russell Brand and Nigel Farage

Comment

PD James: The warm, inspirational woman I knew

Comment

The royal dress code can't cloak Prince Charles

The Rosetta Lander Imaging System on the Philae Lander shows the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Comment

Rosetta mission represents the very best side of human nature

Fiona Woolf, left, ex-BBC newsreader Martyn Lewis and Lady Brittan
Comment

Child abuse inquiry: Children's lives are destroyed by this culture of

Ched Evans has repeatedly denied he did anything wrong
Comment

A bit of contrition would help, but appallingly behaved footballers

Comment

Isis in Kobani: Why Turkey is allowing the town to fall

Alan Henning’s wife, Barbara, last month appealing for the release of her husband
Comment

Alan Henning: Media finally stops playing to terrorist's tune

The name Abu Qatada has become a byword for ‘crazy human rights’
Comment

When did 'human rights' become a source of shame?

Comment

Isis beheadings: The Hideous return of execution as a public spectacle

Alice Gross was last seen in August
Comment

Alice Gross disappearance: Murderers must stay on somebody's radar

Model Reeva Steenkamp, whose messages saying that she was afraid of Pistorius were ignored by the judge
Comment

Pistorius: Reeva Steenkamp was just a chapter in a scary story

Source of controversy: Ashya King with his mother, Naghemeh
Comment

Ashya King: This story isn't quite what it seems

Women were excluded from the decision-making progress in Rotherham
Comment

Rotherham child sexual abuse scandal - the lessons: Asian women's

Cost of a cure: Roche knows that patients have no other options
Comment

Priority for caregivers, not shareholders: Why campaigners support a

Thai immigration policemen investigate Vietnamese women who were allegedly lured into becoming surrogate mothers
Comment

Mother country: The harrowing truth behind Thai 'fertility tourism'

Women were excluded from the decision-making progress in Rotherham
Comment

Rotherham child sexual abuse scandal - the lessons: Asian women's

Cost of a cure: Roche knows that patients have no other options
Comment

Priority for caregivers, not shareholders: Why campaigners support a

Thai immigration policemen investigate Vietnamese women who were allegedly lured into becoming surrogate mothers
Comment

Mother country: The harrowing truth behind Thai 'fertility tourism'

Does Miliband have an image problem?
Comment

Actually, Ed Miliband never said he was 'weird'

Innocents’ tears: A mother yesterday mourns her son killed by an Israeli tank shell in Gaza
Comment

In modern warfare, it's the civilians who suffer most of all

Harman has said her gender affected her employment
Comment

Gordon Brown could have had a woman as deputy PM. He bottled it

Public disgrace: Andy Coulson’s conviction is just the latest case of how power can be perverted
Comment

Will the press ever be able to restore public confidence?

The 'World in Action' team making a program about the pirate radio ship Caroline, filmed on board in 1967
Comment

Jimmy Savile's crimes are rooted in 1960s pirate radio

Andy Coulson, left, has been found guilty of conspiracy to hack phones, while Rebekah Brooks and her husband Charlie were cleared of all charges
Comment

After Coulson, now is the time for robust self-regulation

Two Iraqi girls in a temporary camp near the Kurdish region on Friday
Comment

The Iraq invasion was wrong, but this time we must get involved

One world: The only way we can prevent future scandals is for all state schools to teach all children regardless of faith
Comment

Religion is no reason to let the ill-qualified become teachers

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