90 years ago, the grocer’s wife gave birth to Margaret Hilda. Alfred and Beatrice, her parents, fed her on the food that was nearing the end of what would become known as its ‘sell by date’. She thrived.
Continue reading →May the Fourth be with You!
The Sunday Post: Give a Little Whistle
Many associate the beginning of spring with the first call of the first cuckoo. I myself use a less bucolic method. For me, the season has officially arrived when I receive my first abuse from a passing
Continue reading →25 Hour News and 5 Days to Choose
Rahman and The Man
I’ve been around the block a bit, I think. I’d like to say I have seen most of the more bonkers behaviour of the human race, so that nothing much can surprise me. But life can still surprise,
Continue reading →Savell on Savile.
Detective Superintendent Jon Savell has finally spoken, albeit briefly. After 3 years of investigation into the allegations regarding Jimmy Savile at Duncroft, it amounts to 17 pages. 17 pages that are notable as much for what they don’t
Continue reading →Free Men and a Boat.
Once upon a time, Albania was a communist country. Those of us who grew up in the 50s were indoctrinated with the notion that anyone who ‘escaped’ from a communist country was nothing short of a Hero. We
Continue reading →The First Cut is the Deepest
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 →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 →