Can a city be multi-cultural and racist?

Birmingham has long been held up as a beacon of multi-culturalism.
The “city of a thousand trades” has apparently evolved into a city of (almost) a thousand cultures over the years and many have spoken of the need for the rest of the UK to learn lessons from the harmonious nature of this diversity.
However, a new report suggests [...]

Misguided Blair’s lesson for Cameron

If David Cameron wanted further proof that copying the style of the Prime Minister is a foolhardy tactic and no guarantee that it will get him into No.10 Downing Street then it has come from a most unexpected source.
Tony Blair himself has provided it by acknowledging his own policies on combating anti-social behaviour and his much-trumpeted [...]

Another right royal headache for MoD

The mandarins of the Ministry of Defence must be seriously sweating that things don’t always happen in threes.
Following the debacle surrounding the Iranian capture of 15 British service personnel, it now finds itself in a “will he, won’t he” debate on whether Troop Commander Harry Wales should be deployed to Iraq with his regiment.
The troop [...]

Drop dead shrew to win The Apprentice

I’m still convinced that Sir Alan Sugar wants a “drop dead shrew” for his £100,000-a-year apprentice.
Others have told me he actually says he is looking for someone who is “drop dead shrewd”, but it really does sound like shrew to me whenever the opening scenes of The Apprentice are aired.
It would make more sense if [...]

Live 8 let G8 off the hook

None of us should be remotely surprised at the revelation that the G8 has failed to deliver on the promises made at the Gleneagles summit in 2005.
The elite group of leading industrial nations pledged to improve development assistance by $50bn a year by 2010.
But almost two years on and the Africa Progress Panel, headed by the former UN [...]

Chinese puzzle for UK education

The Royal Society of Chemistry is offering a £500 prize to the first person to solve the sort of Mathematics test set in Chinese university entrance examinations.
The society has also released a typical UK test to show how far advanced the Chinese are in preparing the next generation of scientists - or, rather, how far our [...]

Still rubbish at recycling

Fortnightly refuse collections help local authorities to improve their rate of recycling.
Do we need any other proof that we need to radically change our attitude towards refuse disposal?
Equally, what other justification is required for adopting the fortnightly collections?
The fact is that despite the new report showing the improved recycling performance of those councils that have [...]

The subtle art of selling

I think I may have been doing the contestants on the latest series of The Apprentice as massive disservice in my repeated criticism of their lack of basic business acumen.
Having watched their frankly pitiful efforts to drum up business or display any sort of common sense, I felt fairly confident that in the “real world” such [...]

Bargains or ethics?

The ethical claims of some of our biggest retailers have been exposed as a clever marketing tool that masks their real attitude towards social responsibility, according to a new study.
The investigation concludes that while some retailers talk about their green and ethical credentials, they are prepared to heap further misery on some of the poorest workers on the planet.
ActionAid [...]

David Cameron wants respect

The chances of David Cameron and I agreeing are usually quite slim.
But I’m prepared to admit I nodded my approval as he spoke of the need for people in the UK to start taking responsibility once again for what they do and what goes on around them.
The Conservative leader said less state intervention in certain areas of [...]