“Under the spreading chestnut tree/I sold you and you sold me…”Mark Lawson alludes to many literary texts in The Allegations – from Kafka’s The Trial to Mamet’s Oleanna…from Miller’s The Crucible to Philip Roth’s The Human Stain. He does not, however, mention George Orwell’s 1984, where the chestnut tree symbolizes betrayal in the ironic name of justice and honesty.And indeed, The Allegations i..
In 2014 Ned Marriott, a sixty-year-old academic at the University of Middle England and well-known as a telly-don, was reported to the police for historical sexual abuse, while at the same time his good friend and colleague, Tom Pimm, was reported to the university’s disciplinary committee for bullying.While the charges against Ned, if true, would be a serious matter and could lead to prison, those against Tom are political correctness gone mad and in a sane world would ..
