That great self-appointed spokes-person for the spurned wife, Margaret Cook, is at it again. Over the 10 years since her husband, the late Robin Cook, left her, Mrs Cook has been the first port of call for editors and producers who need an enraged squawk when another high-profile marriage breaks up. This week the unlikely… Continue reading Silly skirmishes in the ancient battle of the sexes
Read moreThe director general of the BBC, Mark Thompson, is usually canny and sure-footed to the point of dullness when being interviewed but, on the Today programme this week, he allowed himself a moment of mild levity. Giving an advance puff to a speech he was to make, he argued that the BBC had an important… Continue reading Don’t blame cynicism, blame a slide in ethics
Read moreThese are golden times, apparently, for the arts. Last October, a £1bn settlement on the Arts Council was confirmed. One of the council’s senior strategists has predicted, as from next month, “the start of very, very exciting times in the theatre”. Meanwhile a government-commissioned report into artistic excellence, written by Sir Brian McMaster, is published… Continue reading The appalling shambles of our arts policy
Read moreBecause the English tend to take their language for granted, there is no equivalent of the American Dialect Society’s Word of the Year. Over there, “subprime” has just squeezed home from “Googleganger” (someone who shares your name when searched on Google) and “tapafication” the tendency of restaurants to serve small portions). A leading, if slightly… Continue reading We just can’t face up to our Englishness
Read moreThere are certain well-used contemporary clichs which are more than lazy verbal shortcuts. They represent clichs of the mind and the heart. Substitutes for thought, they are weapons used by the spin-merchants of commerce and politics. They simplify complexity and smother debate. A perfect example lies in that brutally neat little word, “nimby”. No definition… Continue reading Nimbyism should be applauded, not despised
Read moreReading a recent hard-luck story about Sir Steve Redgrave and a group of young rowers from Liverpool, it was difficult to keep at bay the remark that once landed Boris Johnson in trouble the one about Liverpudlians having a tendency to wallow in their victim status. The Redgrave story was admittedly rather sad. There was… Continue reading Missed out on TV fame? Don’t despair
Read moreThey will soon be all over the newspapers, the bright young faces of 2008, those sparkling, talented people in their twenties who this time next year will, we are reliably informed, be household names. The photographs which appear in the features and arts pages will exude potential. Some of the future stars will look cool,… Continue reading A word of advice for the ambitious young
Read moreHeartbreakingly, news of the ultimate gift of the moment has been announced just too late for the great present-giving orgy of the year. Jordan is planning to auction her breast implants on eBay. All proceeds of the sale will, naturally, be going to charity. It appears that the former model who is now a celebrity… Continue reading Things to do with Jordan’s old implants
Read moreAll the shop girls in Manchester were there. Reading this line in reports of the great Manchester United Christmas party, a man would have to be a very cold fish indeed not to experience a stab of envy, a twitch of forlorn desire. There were also models, and extras from Coronation Street, even former stars… Continue reading Normal rules don’t apply in football’s parallel universe
Read moreIt has been a week during which small but profoundly held beliefs have come into question. An ITN newsreader has been found sleeping rough in Brighton. That is not supposed to happen to newsreaders, least of all those who work for ITN. With their chiselled, android features, these men seem to have been selected for… Continue reading Well, if you will yield to preconceptions…
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