There has presumably been much back-slapping and high- fiving at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport after a rare item of good news for the government this week. The great New Labour dream of making Britain a land fit for gamblers has moved a step nearer to fulfilment. Most thrilling of all, it is… Continue reading Should children really be gambling?
Read moreThe week’s least surprising news is that the woman variously known as the Hairy Angel and SuBo has begun to behave oddly. In the few short weeks since Susan Boyle appeared on a TV talent show, she has been propelled from obscurity to über-celebrity. Her voice has made film stars, politicians and commentators quiver with… Continue reading Ms Boyle and a modern celebrity fable
Read moreIn a startling new survey, it has been discovered that not only are girls made of sugar and spice and all things nice, but that they can often induce niceness in others. Boys, on the other hand, have a slugs-and-snails influence on those close to them. Studies revealing the general superiority of female virtues are… Continue reading Why should a boy be more like a girl?
Read moreThe experts who have announced that the current crisis in our political system is the worst in living memory are already being challenged. The problem is far more serious than that. Like mad bidders at a history auction, the pundits are raising the stakes as they hype up the drama. Not since Ramsay Macdonald; not… Continue reading Believe the hype? We’re hooked on it
Read moreSome surprisingly positive news has emerged from local government. Across Britain, councils have been reviving the spirit of adventure and self-entertainment which many thought had died in the age of the computer; I-Spy, that game for all the family, is back. At least 17 councils are encouraging adults and children to play I-spy when it… Continue reading I spy a fly-tipper. And a litter bug …
Read moreThe people out there are angry, say the politicians. In a floundering attempt to play the sincerity card which has served them so well in the past, they turn their sheepish, plastic bag-claiming, moat-clearing, manure-collecting, property-flipping eyes to the camera, and bleat about the system and how voters are terribly, terribly angry. It is not… Continue reading Time to inject a bit of pizzazz into the Cabinet
Read moreThere is good news at last for the beleaguered motorist. The spying speed-camera may soon become redundant. There will be no need for that panicky, often dangerous application of brakes as one flashes past a speed limit sign. Soon it will be our cars which have a conscience; they will brake automatically as the speed… Continue reading Since when has our freedom been so readily sacrificed?
Read moreSo it was true, what the champions of multi-channel television told us. One day, they said, the variety of programmes on offer will herald a bright new dawn of choice. It will be incomparably easier for viewers to plan their evenings. How right they were. Viewing selection is certainly a straightforward matter these days. One… Continue reading TV shouldn’t exist to treat us like idiots
Read moreWhy are two people well-versed in the media turning to strangers for help? Two heart-breaking storylines from the world of soap opera have just been given a dramatic new twist. One is about a father whose drink-fuelled conduct caused him to be alienated from his girlfriend and their children. Legally bound not to approach them,… Continue reading Think before you share your pain
Read moreIn two days’ time, the extraordinary life and career of the daddy of all roots music, the papa of the protest song, will be celebrated. Pete Seeger will be 90. A concert in his honour will be held at Madison Square Gardens, with an all-star line-up which includes Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez and Kris Krist-offerson.… Continue reading Was a rebel ever quite so conservative?
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