Ken Coates who has died at the age of 79 of a suspected heart attack was actively engaged in radical British politics, writing and as ever bubbling with new ideas almost hours […]
Tom Jones’ old friend Elvis Presley once told him “You have the voice of a black singer. Are there any black people where you come from?” To which this multi […]
As the Queen addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and pays her respects to those – including sixty three Britons – who lost their lives in the […]
One of the big business stories this side of the pond, is Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to buy the 61% of shares in Sky Television that he doesn’t own. Mr Murdoch, […]
Last night I met with an old friend in Central London, who used to be a journalist and who now works for a large, international company which makes good use […]
This then is one of the most memorable photographs of the 1960s, or at least here, a depiction of one of the most eponymous pictures of that decade. The original […]
As if further evidence is needed of the sheer parochialism ritually on display here on our media in ‘Little England’, I woke up this morning to hear a BBC reporter […]
Ok, I have to admit it. I did not watch the World Cup match between Germany and England. In fact the only match I have watched was the incredibly dull […]
Back in the summer of 2002, I tried unsuccessfully to be selected as the Labour Party candidate for the South Wales constituency of Ogmore, named after the former mining valley […]
Having staggered through one recession—and without emerging the other side of it—Britain now seems destined for another. This time it will really hurt. A Martian arriving in London, or rather […]
Two days ago the streets of the capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo, played host to a thundering parade of military hardware, as the Government of President Mahindra Rajapaksa celebrated the […]
“Fog in Channel, Continent isolated” is one of the better remembered British newspaper front page headlines, but as the new Coalition Government here in London takes its swingeing axe to […]
Boston, Amritsar, Derry; names of places and events that the British Army would rather forget. For although the events that occurred in these places span the centuries, they have one […]
It is an event with which I am slightly ashamed—and even the excuse that it happened over twenty years ago and that I was only a bit player does not […]
In just under a month’s time – July 7th to be precise – many Londoners will have cause to stop, think and remember that terrible summers day five years ago […]
Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron announces today that deep cuts in public expenditure “will change British life”. They will in short be the most drastic public spending cuts in a […]
Mass shootings are mercifully rare in Britain. “Gunman goes on killing spree” is a newspaper headline that one might expect to read every ten years or so. But none of […]
There have been repeated attempts by activists to deliver desperately needed supplies to Gaza since the Israeli blockade, ably assisted by Egypt, turned this narrow strip of land – one […]
There was a time, in the now dim and distant past, when Israeli Commando actions were often heralded as brave and awe inspiring. Take for instance the no nonsense approach […]
THERE is an exhibit more ghastly and gruesome than the tatty stuffed Alsatian dog, awarded the Gustav Husak medal for sinking its teeth into a record number of attempted defectors […]
