Table of contents for 12/16/2024 in The Big Issue

This time last Christmas my family was standing on the edge of a deep drop. We just didn’t know it. For several months, my wife had been going through the mill with physical ailments that lingered. It was beginning to take a toll on her mental health. But Christmas was coming, she loves Christmas, and we thought a boost might be delivered. It was a period of trying to help her find light. Then came the hard descent. As January ticked through things got much darker. I’d read about the physically debilitating impact of mental illness, but until I witnessed it I never really understood. When that anguish grabs tight, and there is a sense of utter hopelessness in the person, it is an almost impossible thing to handle. There…

James Timpson This year, he was given the keys to the justice system. He also bagged Oasis tickets Are you more or less hopeful than at the start of 2024? Definitely more hopeful. We inherited a justice system in crisis but it’s already beginning to stabilise. We have thoughtful plans for the future to better steer prisoners and ex-offenders away from crime, and make sure victims get the support they need. What has been the standout moment of 2024? Being appointed as Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending in the new Labour government was certainly a standout (and unexpected!) moment. Supporting ex-offenders was a big part of my business career, and it’s already been a privilege to take this further. What would your browsing history say about you this…

John Swinney Becoming Scotland’s First Minister was a fairly big event for 2024, but he would love to have been able to share the news with his mum What has been the standout moment of 2024? Being chosen to serve as First Minister of Scotland. It is a tremendous honour and I will give the role all that I have in me. What is the oddest family Christmas tradition you keep? We buy our Christmas tree at the very last minute. It started off as something we just did because time was always under pressure, but it has become a bit of a tradition. Are you more or less hopeful than at the start of 2024? More hopeful. The best part of my job is getting to meet people from…

Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst (Pan Macmillan, £22) We first meet trepidatious young gay black man Dave during the summer holiday he spends with the rich sponsors of his boarding school scholarship; he is well treated by the adults but secretly suffers at the hands of their obnoxious bully-boy son, Giles. The book – Hollinghurst’s seventh novel, and arguably his best – follows Dave through the next 50 years, noting how the two boys’ lives deviate, as Dave becomes an actor and Giles a Tory MP (some readers will enjoy the theory that boys who ruthlessly deliver Chinese burns to friends turn out to be Tory MPs). Through Dave’s first-person chronicle we are introduced to his various exciting lovers, the mostly white friends who are kind to him but unaware…

Sixty Christmases ago, aged 18, I hitchhiked with my Scottish girlfriend from London to Edinburgh and, though without overcoat or mac, through rain and snow, saw no obstacle. Sixty years ago, I expect an 18-year-old Donald Trump was enjoying his parents’ wealth and position. Sixty years ago, Hitler had been dead 19 years and his war ended. And we were about to enjoy a kind of renaissance. Or so it seemed. The previous spring of 1964, while pushing a barrow with a municipal lawnmower on it – a big heavy petrol beast – I had blocked a flash car from passing me in Notting Hill. I gesticulated wildly at the driver who kept honking at me to get out of the way. A truculent, recent inmate of a young offenders’…

Big Issue has always existed to change lives. This begins, of course, with our vendors. We provide a new start and a chance for them to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness. More than that, we stand up for those who are marginalised and ignored in society, and we demand change. Through our journalism we are not afraid to challenge powerful bodies and individuals over what we think is right. And what a year we’ve had. Big Issue’s reporting has helped address our readers’ terrible housing conditions. We have demanded change from landlords – including from one who is a TV star and household name. We’ve supported people facing the worst and most punitive parts of the benefits system, while some politicians and others in the media seek to…

The Yorkshire Vet: A Donkey For Christmas 17 Dec, C5 Peter Wright is a vet who just loves donkeys. In this Christmas special he travels the country meeting people who rescue donkeys across the land. One of them you might recognise: patron of the Flicka Foundation Donkey Sanctuary in Cornwall who adopted three donkeys in 2022 and goes by the name of… Dame Judi Dench! Since Yesterday: The Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands 17 Dec, BBC Scotland / iPlayer A terrific feature-length documentary tracking trailblazing bands from The McKinleys to Lung Leg via Strawberry Switchblade, celebrating women whose music is too often overlooked. A proper alternative soundtrack for the festive season, which also asks why women’s cultural contributions have so often been erased. Ilana Glazer: Human Magic Apple TV+ from 20 Dec…

JOHN CALE Welsh Velvet Underground alumnus I was annoyingly independent and free-spirited. Once I saw the sources of all this new music that was coming out, I zeroed in on it. I wanted to continue the pursuit of all that strange music. It was coming from all parts of the world. I wanted to find out more about John Cage and Stockhausen and all these composers. I was glued to it. Waving to my mother and father as I was getting on the plane to New York in 1963 is one of those scary moments. You really wonder, am I doing the right thing? HENRY WINKLER Former Fonz At 16, my key mission was survival. Because I was so dyslexic and so filled with shame. I could not do what…

Doug Johnstone A couple of exceptional novels have really stayed with me this year, both, weirdly, with animal themes. Willy Vlautin’s The Horse (Faber & Faber, £16.99) tells the story of elderly country musician Al Ward, living alone in the remote Nevada high desert when an injured horse appears outside his rundown shack. We learn of Al’s incredible life leading to this moment interspersed with his attempts to save the horse, and it’s heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure. Slightly more nerve-shredding is Whalefall by Daniel Kraus (Zaffre, £9.99), in which a teenage diver gets accidentally swallowed by a sperm whale. Yep, really. The narrative dovetails between Jay’s attempts to escape the stomachs of the giant beast and his complex relationship with his dead father, which led him to be…

Alan’s BIG Christmas Quiz Our resident trivia enthusiast and Pointless winner tests your knowledge LYRICS The following are all lyrics from UK Christmas number ones. Name the song, artist and the year they topped the festive chart. 1. “Although he’s unconventional in hue, his philosophy of life will steer him through” 2. “A silent wish sails the seven seas, the winds of change whisper in the trees” 3. “Sweep through the heather like deer in the glen” 4.“Good times we had return to haunt me, though it’s for you, all that I do seems to be wrong” 5. “Mr Frears has sticky-out ears, and it made him awful shy” 6. “They’re party sized to foot long, listen to your belly groan” 7. “Christmas is love, Christmas is peace. A time…

Get in touch The Big Issue, 2nd floor, 43 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 1HW letters@bigissue.com @bigissue /bigissueUK @bigissueuk @thebigissue Trade winds I’ve just finished reading your excellent supplement on housing [Issue 1639, 28 October-03 November]. Reading the section on training, including the ongoing skills shortage, I was reminded of a well-expressed letter in Issue 1637 [14-20 October], which observed that for years academia has treated the trades as inferior to higher education. As someone who came to this country as an adult, I’ve always been totally flummoxed as to why Britain doesn’t embrace the trades; it seems so self-destructive. Maybe Britain is still very much at the mercy of its historic class system. This is so tragic, because I really don’t think the country will ever fulfil its true potential…

When Ahmed Najar speaks to his nephews and nieces in Gaza, he tries to distract them. “I say to them: life will not always be like this, the bombing and the death,” the UK-based Palestinian tells Big Issue. “But they have seen too much blood. They don’t believe me. “I was speaking on the phone to my nephew and I was on the balcony, and there were fireworks. He was so worried – he was asking, ‘you have gunshots, are you OK? Are you being attacked too? Are you safe?’” Najar assured him that everything was fine – but the little boy wouldn’t believe him. “I couldn’t convince him I was OK,” Najar says. “What is it doing to them? Even if they survive, what is it doing to our…

Keir Starmer Something from Pets At Home. When I interviewed him a few days before the election he told me his kids were lobbying for a German Shepherd if they moved into No 10. When I spoke to him again in September he revealed that he had “negotiated” down to a kitten, called Prince. By next Christmas the Starmer kids will be thrilled to have a stick insect. Get him some cat litter: dry, dull and useful for absorbing unpleasantness, the PM will appreciate the thought. After taking down all the portraits (because he doesn’t like how the eyes follow him round the room, like he’s in Scooby Doo) he could also do with some new art for the walls. Something upbeat to counter all that “things are going to…

Nicola Coughlan is one of the most popular actors in the world right now. After breaking through in Channel 4 classic Derry Girls as the wee lesbian Clare Devlin, Coughlan went global as Penelope Featherington in Bridgerton. She has been hot property ever since. Coughlan was set for a bigger role in Barbie. But she was too busy filming one of the biggest TV shows of the modern global streaming era to spend much time on the most talked-about film of last year. “I wish I’d had more time on Barbie, but it was a great excuse,” she grins. “And even being a tiny part of that world is such a special thing.” Penelope and Tom’s Bridgerton wedding was one of the cultural moments of 2024. So what exactly do…

Howard is from London and a regular contributor to Street Art, working across a range of mediums from painting to poetry and photography. He has struggled with mental health problems since 1986. “This image is inspired by my thoughts about connection and community,” he says. “I think about the importance of friendship at this time of year, and of sharing love that sometimes gets lost in daily life. I see my relationship with other people as being represented by the light in the window, that people are not forgotten, but valued.” ← BUY ME You can buy a print of this and other artworks featured in our Street Art series from Big Issue Shop. Scan the QR code or visit: bigissueshop.com/collections/art-photography to support marginalised artists. The work on this page…

Hauntingly human with piercing psychological depth, Jackal by Erin E Adams is an unflinching story about the darkness that shadows small-town America. Tackling complex issues of racism, trauma and survival, this provocative debut marks the arrival of a bold new voice in horror. @sianmdennis While there were many contenders, I’d say Lucy Foley’s The Midnight Feast. It was a fantastic read that I couldn’t put down. You always want to know what the next chapter holds because the last chapter was so gripping. I literally had a breakdown because I read it too fast. @Nmeso4dworld The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes is an excellent thriller. Both believable and unbelievable plots in an epic story that felt like seven rolled into one. Escapism at its best! @SafetyPete27 Clémence Michallon’s…

I like him [Rishi Sunak who visited Frank’s pitch in November]. I liked how he conducted himself when he was in office. I told him I liked what he’d done; he just smiled. I said when people put you down, you just have to get up. It makes us stronger. Frank McGucken, Sloane Square, London I like walking about on my own and listening to birds sing. My mum used to be a twitcher. Some of the sites we’re on [Lloyd also works as a gardener] you can hear the birds, and now and again I get a bollocking from my boss asking me: “What are you doing?” To actually hear nothing but a bird sing is still a nice thing to hear. Lloyd Rusdale, Waitrose, Marlborough I was diagnosed…