Why is it that Channel 4 and ITV are doing the BBC's dirty work when it comes to holding Nigel Farage and Reform UK to account?
Missing in Action: The BBC, Reform UK and the Curious Case of the Missing Investigative Journalists
Quick Reads: The Clash, The Protex Blue and The Mysterious Woman on the Train.
Part two of my reinvention of every song on the iconic The Clash by The Clash classic album. Protex Blue.
Quick Reads: The Clash, Janie Jones, 1977 and the Petrol Station Heist.
A darkly comic reinterpretation of Janie Jones, exploring youthful rebellion, criminal incompetence and dreams of rock ’n’ roll. Two bored teenage accountants, a punk gig, a Ford Cortina and a spectacularly stupid petrol station robbery.
Janie Jones: The Scandalous Woman Who Inspired The Clash Classic
How a bored office worker, a Ford Cortina, a notorious prostitution scandal and a rebellious cabaret singer came together in one of punk rock's greatest songs.
Popular Idioms and Phrases: “All Mouth and Trousers.” The History of a Very British Insult
From northern working-class humour and sexual bravado to Last of the Summer Wine and punk rock, the curious history of a familiar British expression.
Led Zeppelin and Communication Breakdown: A Punk Classic. Zep’s Punk Connection.
Was Led Zeppelin's Communication Breakdown one of the first punk songs? From Johnny Ramone to Killing Joke, the surprising connections between Zeppelin and punk rock.
Protex Blue: The Condom Machine That Inspired a Clash Classic
How a gentlemen’s toilet in a West London pub may have inspired one of punk rock’s most famous songs, Protex Blue
The Split Up: When Did the BBC Become So Afraid of Something New?
The Split Up: When Did the BBC Become So Afraid of Something New?
Short Story: Love On The 11am Newhaven to Dieppe Ferry.
A tedious ferry crossing, an attractive stranger, an outrageously confident Frenchman and a spectacular failure of courage. A story about missed opportunities, Gallic charm and what might have happened — although not everything here is quite as it seems.
UFOs Spotted at RAF Fairford.
Britain’s security establishment faces its strangest crisis yet as mysterious cigar-shaped objects are spotted at RAF Fairford. Are they UFOs and camouflaged aliens preparing an invasion — or could there possibly be a rather more obvious explanation?
Popular Idioms and Phrases: “As Fit as a Butcher’s Dog”
“As fit as a butcher’s dog” is one of those unmistakably British expressions whose meaning is obvious even if its origins are not. From nineteenth-century slang to sport, politics and modern double meanings, it is a phrase that has proved remarkably durable.
Popular Idioms and Phrases: “Mad as a Box of Frogs” – A Peculiarly British Madness
A phrase that has survived our supermarket dash to knock the beauty, life and expressions from our wonderful language, to sacrifice at the altar of political expediency.