PMs, buck-passing, the police and the truth (sic)

To have one sitting Prime Minister interviewed by police about allegations of financial wrong-doing is unfortunate.
To have a second interviewed about allegations of financial wrong-doing smacks of a lot more than carelessness.
The Labour Government’s credibility has been seriously damaged by this succession of allegations.
On both occasions Labour has been struck by a malaise that seems to [...]

Ain’t no Taff in the Union Jack

Is the Government minister’s promise to “look into” the possible redesign of the British flag to incorporate Wales merely a case of saying the right thing at the right time, or is it a serious proposition?
Margaret Hodge told the House of Commons she will consider changing the Union flag, which currently does not have a [...]

Newspapers should play to their strengths

There is a lot of intelligent debate, genuine concern and some nonsense currently being written and spoken about the future direction of newspapers.
I’m glad to hear that icbirmingham is the next in line for a long overdue and (hopefully) major revamp.
Joanna Geary’s blog is already throwing up some interesting points about what the new-look site [...]

Religious nutter deserves some sympathy

I would never class myself as a religious person.
Although I studied the world’s religions at university, I did so more to try and understand those who do believe than an attempt to choose a faith for myself. Indeed, my studies confirmed my decision to avoid organised religion.
Still, I like to think that I’m never uneasy [...]

The right to swagger

When does self-confidence veer off towards arrogance?
Is it ever possible for the victorious to display just a little bit too much swagger?
Does the fact that I’m asking these questions point to the reason why British sport is littered with heroic failures, rather than glorious winners?
Over recent days I’ve been pondering success and the trappings it [...]

English football isn’t very good

The inevitable and endless navel gazing is well under way following England’s failure to qualify for the finals of the European championships.
The post-mortem will no doubt be a long, painfully drawn out affair without any satisfactory conclusion.
This much is true because we’ve been here before, plenty of times.
But watching the match last night I was [...]

Witty banter, but Dave doesn’t swear

I have been tuning into Dave on a fairly infrequent basis since it was launched.
For the uninitiated, Dave is the new free digital channel for men of a certain age created by the UKTV franchise and is amongst other things “the home of witty banter”.
The usual suspects are there to entice and entertain the 20-, 30-, 40-something [...]

Bearded wonder

The beard growing went quite well.
I’m happy with the results, not least because it kept my face warm in the cold Norfolk breeze.
But in truth I probably need another week to “flesh” it out a bit more and create something I could live with.
The problem is I have a meeting tomorrow morning with a prospective [...]

No benefit to sick note Britain

There is little doubt that your attitudes to issues can change overnight once you experience them first hand.
I’ve always had a rather ambivalent attitude towards incapacity benefit and disability living allowance.
But I tend to side with the various disability pressure groups expressing serious misgivings at the government’s plans to shake-up the disability benefits system.
Under the changes [...]

Rest, relaxation, reading, writing and facial hair

I’m going to have another week of blogging inactivity.
This time I’m going to enjoy a week away in a cottage with my wife.
I’m planning to rest, relax, read some books, write some stuff and attempt to grow a beard.
I’ll report on my success or otherwise in all five when I return.