Game over for Julian Assange’s sexual offence charges? Perhaps not!
UPDATE (9 September 2015): the Crown Prosecution Service and the Ministry of Justice have been in contact with me to say that the provisions of Section 72 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 only apply to crimes committed against people aged under 18. This means that the entire premise of this blog post is wrong. […]
Can we PLEASE have some honesty from our politicians?
One of the things that you become aware of as a writer on religion is how much religious illiteracy there is in the country. But over the past few months, as my writing has veered more towards politics rather than religion, I have noticed that there is a far greater political illiteracy – particularly so when […]
The week that Walsall beat England
Well, not quite! But I was slightly amused yesterday, when it dawned on me that in the space of seven days I was on the pitch at Wembley addressing more than 72,000 football fans for a Saddlers match on the Sunday; and then the following Saturday I was on the pitch at Walsall addressing less than […]
I’m really not convinced the Wemley Stadium station announcer needs to be this loud
This is what the announcer at Wembley Stadium Station sounds like… …From the 10th floor of the nearby Holiday Inn. I really do not think that he really needs to be anywhere near this loud! VID-20150322-00000.MP4
The General Election televised Leaders Debates fiasco
Late last night, the Prime Minister’s director of communications, Craig Oliver, delivered what appears to be a devastating blow to the broadcasters’ plans for a series of leaders debates I’m the run up to the General Election. In his letter, the PM’s spin doctor says that David Cameron is prepared to appear in just one […]
The Bishop of Lichfield’s police incident
My old boss, Jonathan Gledhill, yesterday announced that he will retire from his post as the 98th bishop of Lichfield later this year after 40 years in ordained ministry. So I thought it may be an appropriate time to shed some light on a certain police incident! Before I returned to the purer (or darker, […]
Big Centre TV – Television as it should be
Last night, local commercial television returned to the Midlands. Big Centre TV is the new local channel for Birmingham, the Black Country and Solihull; and is available on Freeview channel 8 (you may need to retune your sets). London Live, the local TV service for London has hit a problem and has twice asked Ofcom to […]
Even the Royal Mail can’t afford to send letters now!
Today, as a business customer of the Royal Mail, I received a letter from the company’s sales director Graham Davis. The letter was to give me advance notice that postage prices would be “changing” with effect from 30 March; but the letter did not say what the new prices would be. For that I would have […]
The legality of invoicing a child for not turning up to a birthday party
A Twitter conversation between a BBC and ITV hack over the threat of court action for non-payment of a birthday party no-show invoice caught my attention. BBC Newsnight’s Jess Brammar wrote “PM [that’s Radio Four’s PM programme, not the Prime Minister] have just trailed a BBC legal expert analysing the child’s party invoice. *burns everything*”. ITV’s Damon […]
Church of England considers moving the north-south divide
The precise location of the north-south divide has been difficult to pinpoint with any clarity. Manchester is in the north, of course; unless you’re in the Highlands, in which case it is very much in the south. The midpoint of the longest north-south axis in Great Britain is in the village of Haltwhistle in Northumberland […]