Oxford, 23/06/2019. Last weekend the normal peace and quiet of the Cotswolds was briefly shattered by the Prescott Bike Fest, an event in which Prescott Hill Climb, normally the refuge of the Bugatti Owners Club, was given over to bikes, trikes and a succession of weird and wonderful machinery. Prescott […]

27/04/2019. I’ve no doubt that BBC standards are sinking; with ever-increasing budget cuts it must be difficult to maintain any kind of quality. But even so, last night’s short viewing, after a day in London that left me thirsty for a little quality content, brought not only disappointment but the […]

          Goodbye to the quiet, pleasant suburb that once was Headington (Oxford). I had to laugh at the Oxford Mail’s puff piece of the time (4th January 2016) for the new Barton Park (Oxford) development and its “waterfront” villas. The only waterfront will be the expanded […]

UK Labour party leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn may well turn out to have been the best candidate all along.

15/07/2015. Today that doyenne of middle England, the Daily Torygraph, put out a piece supporting Jeremy Corbyn for leader of the Labour party, suggesting that he is winning the race for the leadership. According to another story in the paper, Mr Corbyn has already “taken a ‘commanding position’ ahead of […]

Back to war in Iraq? Letter to an MP.

Tales from a Brussels bar   It had been cold outside all week, so I was happy that night to wedge myself against the radiator, pint in hand, and peruse the headlines. A quiet evening – there was just a sprinkling of customers – the usual suspects. And I wasn’t […]

Headington public library in Oxford, UK, is to close as part of the County Council cuts to local services. Local residents are unhappy ..

“Under Labour’s plans for transformational government,” wrote Henry Porter in March 2008, “an almighty surveillance structure is envisaged, through which the state will know ‘a deep truth about the citizen based on their behaviour, experience, beliefs, needs or desires.” The British government plans bear striking similarities to statements found in […]