Two-hundred years ago this year, Allied forces led by the Duke of Wellington brought peace to Europe after more than twenty years of Revolutionary anarchy and Napoleonic conquest, a peace that lasted for an impressive four
Continue reading →The First Cut is the Deepest
Tomorrow’s World
Forty years ago this month, BBC1 screened a new drama series penned by Dalek creator Terry Nation; but this was no journey through space and time; this was very much the here and now. Nation’s chilling portrayal
Continue reading →The Sunday Post: An Ordinary Copper
The Bobby on the Beat – the evocative vision of British policing politicians are prone to promoting in speeches whilst simultaneously scything away at the funding that enable this reassuring figure to patrol the highways and byways
Continue reading →Saturday Evening Posts Worth Reading and the 25-Hour News.
Des Freedman in the Islington Tribune – “the media consists less of an honourable array of impartial and independent organisations than a series of institutions which are intimately connected to
Continue reading →Up Close and Personal with the NHS.
Ms Raccoon has been back studying the NHS at close quarters. What a fascinating animal it is.
It reminds me of Windows 8 for some obscure reason – a bulk package which drains the lifeblood out
Continue reading →Woman’s Hour
Margaret Thatcher was called many things during her lifetime, from the nation’s saviour to a she-devil; but an aberration? A quarter of a century since she exited Downing Street, the likelihood of Labour or the Liberal Democrats
Continue reading →Two Little Boys
Once upon a time there were two little boys, Billy Bunter and Simple Simon. They lived in a strange village called Leftminster, home to two large families, the Tories and the Socialists. Billy and Simon belonged to
Continue reading →An Unlimited Supply!
Crisis – what crisis? This crisis: A National Debt standing at more than 200% of Gross Domestic Product; a Tory Government of wealthy individuals in thrall to the City of London, more concerned with the defence of
Continue reading →Janner's Janissaries.
Lord Greville Janner’s loyal family and supporters are fighting a futile battle to preserve his reputation in the face of the disingenuous statements from both the CPS and the Leicestershire Police.
The CPS laid emphasis on the
Continue reading →Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl
When asked if he was the anonymous sender of a valentine’s card by its young travel-tavern receptionist recipient, Alan Partridge replied, aghast, ‘No, I’m old enough to be your father – or your older brother; either way,
Continue reading →The 25 Hour News/Do You Remember The First Time?
There Ain't Nothing Like a Dame…
We’ve spent enough time discussing the hypocrisy of the main politicians – Emily Thornberry, proud owner of an ex-housing association property in North London campaigning against the Conservative manifesto pledge to allow the sale of, er, ex-housing association
Continue reading →Poofs’ Football and Plebs’ Ballet
‘Ballet,’ grumbled Albert Steptoe when seeking to quash son Harold’s attempts at bettering himself, ‘that’s just poofs’ football!’ Harold expanding his interests beyond his father’s limited horizons represented a threat to the senior Steptoe, so junior’s aspirational
Continue reading →A Home of One’s Own
Yes, it’s Manifesto Week! Buy one policy, get one free! Hard-working family? We’ve got something for you! Pensioner? We’ve got something for you too! School-leaver? Er… Anyway, hurry while stocks last! Offer only available until May 7!
Continue reading →Separate Lives
A couple of weeks ago, an imam from London appeared on the radio singing traditional Irish folk songs; the reason for this curious cultural anomaly was due to his cosmopolitan childhood. He explained he had been brought
Continue reading →The Sliding Scale of Justice.
Like Premiership footballers, or Formula One racing drivers, successful solicitors and barristers aren’t enamoured with the idea of working for minimum wages. The best charge more.
As a society, we ensured that the poorest and most vulnerable
Continue reading →It’s History, Ken; but Not as We Know It!
Remaking and reviving a revered and much-loved television hit from another era is a gamble than can go either way. The BBC is doing it at the moment with ‘Poldark’, forty years on from the original series
Continue reading →The 25 Hour News and The Millennium Blues
Faustus for Fifteen Minutes
We all know Andy Warhol’s most famous quote and how it has come to be the modern secular equivalent of an eleventh commandment; and it’s tempting to envisage a future date in which the doss-houses of Britain
Continue reading →Meet the New Boss; Same as the Old Boss
When Mick Jagger was first nominated for a knighthood, the ‘Keeper of the Flame’, i.e. Keith Richards, reacted with disgust; his response was that for his fellow Stone to accept such an award would be to feed
Continue reading →The Chinese Way
Anyone who tuned into the special election edition of ‘The Weakest Link’ last week would probably have experienced few revelatory moments when hearing what the seven party leaders had to say in their allocated 90 seconds. True,
Continue reading →Savilisation as True Entertainment.
The avowedly left wing ‘new comedy’ has spoken.
‘The time is right’. ‘People are ready’. Child abuse as mainstream entertainment. An evening out. Dressed to kill – or rather dressed to listen to allegations of Child
Continue reading →Savile – Battersea – Some Facts.
Some weeks ago, I was contacted by a journalist enquiring whether the Battersea flat, 240a Battersea Bridge Road – the basement flat in this photograph, was in fact the same address where I had stayed when I ran
Continue reading →The Sunday Post: Shrouded in Mystery
Regular readers will recall that from time to time I conduct one of my historical mystery tours. These have often yielded results which surprise me. It seems there are times when historical narrative and scientific fact
Continue reading →Saturday Evening Posts Worth Reading and the 25-Hour News.
Barthnotes on the UK Satanic Panic re-emergence.
Saff on ‘Pulp Fiction’ and whatever happened to Tim Tate’s book?
Tim Tate re-emerges with his reputation intact
Continue reading →Beating the Tattoo.
A perfect spring day yesterday; blossom fighting its way through the bark of the apple trees, not a cloud in the sky – just the day to take the dog for a walk on the beach.
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Even Grimmer Fairy Tales.
Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.
Long, long ago, in a leafy Sussex village, not far from where Piltdown Man was discovered to be a hoax, there came a man who had fallen
Continue reading →Clit-Lit
I know a few of you are…erm…‘getting on’, but if you can dust off the cobwebs and cast your minds back as far as two days ago, you might just recall mention of the ‘Clean Reader’ app,
Continue reading →We've become a False Allegation Society.
A year ago, the head of the NSPCC’s sexual abuse programmes, Jon Brown, claimed that:
Deliberately false or malicious accusations {against teachers} are rare […] I know many teachers, especially men, are petrified of
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Read With Mother
Hands up who sought out the dictionary in the school library to find the ‘dirty’ words. Somehow, their presence in such august pages seemed to legitimise them and also contradicted the stance of teachers when admonishing pupils
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