Fallacy of the bleak north
KEEPING matters in perspective, Lord Howell is an irrelevancy. A wellheeled, well-connected irrelevancy, no doubt, but it is a long time since he was anywhere near the centre of power. While his...
View ArticleSearching for the scapegoat
WE’RE all learning to do without a lot of things, but boom or bust, society will always need its scapegoats.
View ArticleFrom the Boro to beyond
IT’S a remarkable thing, but wherever you travel, whether it’s the UK or abroad, it’s never long before you meet someone from Teesside.
View ArticleBuilding a positive perception
COUNCILS get it in the neck for lots of things. Being unimaginative and set in their ways is a common charge.
View ArticleIt’s always best to sleep on it
I’LL admit it. When speaking in public and on a subject I feel passionate about – and yes, there are plenty – I can lose track of time. Or as the less charitable might put it, go on a bit.
View ArticleFootball’s not just about cash
AH well, it’s only money. We’ve got so used to the sums flung about in the football transfer market that adjectives – inflated, absurd, obscene – have lost all resonance. For most people struggling to...
View ArticleAre we all constantly engaged?
THEY used to say that television killed the art of conversation. Now, I’m not so sure. The box is responsible for many evils, but this one may be a wrongful conviction.
View ArticleA game of man versus machine
AFEW weeks ago, I remarked that we had become so used to the obscene amounts paid to and for football players that they had lost the capacity to shock.
View ArticleDebate that is out of this world
WE live in an anything-goes society nowadays. There are very few taboo subjects. Speech and broadcasting is freer than ever and there are scores of comedians and columnists who make a nice living...
View ArticlePolitics and empty promises
WHEN families split up, there’s sometimes a bidding war for the affection of the children. It’s sad, expensive and totally pointless.
View ArticleWe can forgive but not forget
I AM pretty sure this column will divide opinion, so let’s start with something we can hopefully all agree on. One fewer extremist on the streets, one more person accepting that violence and abuse...
View ArticlePolitics needn’t be a bun fight
CALM, patient and long-suffering. That’s how the world sees us and how we see ourselves. The queues may not be so orderly, the seats on the bus not surrendered so quickly to older passengers, but...
View ArticlePainting a brighter future
I’VE been reflecting this week on how, as we grow older, we become increasingly resistant to change, and perhaps we could learn a thing or two from our children and grandchildren. Of course, it’s the...
View ArticleThe risk of a rude awakening
JUST imagine this for a moment. It’s been lashing down all night and now it’s blowing a gale. There’ll be no let-up for hours, say the forecasters.
View ArticlePlebgate pressure on police
IT all seemed so simple. After all, it fitted in with our preconceived ideas. On one hand, we had a public school-educated representative of a government notoriously unable to engage with ordinary...
View ArticleThe true value of public art
BEAUTY is in the eye of the beholder they say, and nowhere is that more the case than in the art world. I’m not giving much away when I say I’m not really an ‘arty’ person, and I don’t know a great...
View ArticleWe need a hand on the tiller
THIS newspaper’s comments on the absence of a North-East voice and presence in David Cameron’s trade mission to China – two places out of 131 in case anyone missed it – really said it all.
View ArticleMPs deserve a rise – and our respect
SO, no turkey for our MPs this year, or the next for that matter. Or ever again, if we have our way. Serves them right too. They’re all the same, out for themselves, looking after number one.
View ArticleTime we saw some backbone
FIRST of all, a word of thanks to all those people who have buttonholed or phoned me over the past seven days suggesting last week’s column was the launch of my campaign to become an MP.
View ArticleThis legal farce is a disgrace
GIVE it a few months and it will be a quiz question that has everyone scratching their heads. What were the names of the two sisters at the centre of the Nigella Lawson trial?
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