Rant of the week: Pedants

There is nothing wrong with striving for accuracy, after all if something is worth doing, then it was worth doing right.

And there is nothing wrong with correcting mistakes - if it is done in the right spirit.

However, putting someone right isn’t about humiliation. Pointing out a simple mistake in an attempt to be witty is the trademark move of the pedant.

But who cares if Nike is pronounced Niekey, who is bothered whether the line ‘Play it again Sam’ is actually uttered in Casablanca and why can‘t I just refer to myself as me rather than I?

If you know what I mean, then why correct me?

Is there anything more irritating than those who love being technically correct?

Rant of the week: Tube paper readers

At the best of the times using the tube network means leaving your manners on the platform.

It’s a curious place where usual British codes of conduct are left by the wayside oftening resulting in chaos.

The underground killed chivalry; young men refuse to give up seats for old ladies and women in pushchairs are shoved aside by businessmen trying to get on at Canada Water.

But this week I noticed a new breed of tube commuter - the paper reader.

Seemingly innocuous the paper ready keeps quiet and rarely peers over the top of the Financial Times to even be noticed.

However, their pattern of behaviour changes dramatically as the train gets busier.

Despite not having enough room to take my hands out of my pockets on the Jubilee Line this week, optimistic newspaper readers have been trying to maintain their habits.

And it was bloody annoying.

I stood in front of one woman who tutted, sighed and moaned every time the train lurched and I brushed against her copy of The Metro.

At one point the train stopped and I knocked the paper clean out of her hand and almost failed to stifle a chuckle as she didn’t even have the room to bend over and pick it up again.

From Monday, I’m going to make it my mission to nudge any idiot who thinks that they have the space to read a broadsheet on a packed train.

And when they react with Superman eye lasers - I’ll pretend it wasn't me.

Flood, fire, Farepak and financial distress

If we ever needed further proof that western governments only care about their wealthy citizens this was it

Sections of Los Angeles are currently ablaze and, keen to help the good folk of the region, the US government has extended aid to the area almost immediately.

Compare that to the plight of the victims of the New Orleans floods. A delayed government reaction. Accusations of looting and rape. No immediate airborne response.

Could that be anything to do with the difference between rich, successful white people and poor, working class black people?

And for those who think the British government are any better, look at the treatment of the Northern Rock and Farepak cases.

Last year thousands of citiznes, who had to save throughout the year for a plentiful Christmas, were devastated by the collapse of Farepak.

The government did nothing. The victims will only receive a few pence out of every pound they saved and will not see any money until 2008.

And the Rock savers got their money guaranteed. The Bank of England put more than £10 billion to help keep the bank afloat.

Surely a few million could have saved Christmas for the Farepak unfortunates.

Lets face it people. It's not what your country can do for you, it's what you can do for your country.

Is freedom of speech suffering a slow death?

Who would have though that freedom of speech was no longer an unalienable right?

First there was the situation in Burma where, although the nation's regime is oppressive, resistance was crushed so violently and so brazenly while the world looked on and did nothing.

Then there was the trouble Copenhagen where left-wing groups, punk rockers and anarchists protested the closure of the Youth House, a popular hang out where concerts and parties were often staged.

Protests in the Danish capital resulted in violence as police prevented protestors from reaching an abandoned building they hoped to make the new Youth House.

More than 400 people were arrested.

And today four members of an anti-war protest group were jailed for their efforts in London.

Hundreds of protestors made the march to Trafalgar Square after police, who had threatened to use a 100 year old law to prevent the demonstration, finally gave in to people power.

Surely, in a world where communication is key, we should not be barred from reaching out to our governments in the most effective way imaginable.

It is strange to think, that in a time where most countries have, or crave, some form of democracy, that the leaders we elect to represent us can repress us by not letting us having the most fundamental of all rights.

The right to stand up and speak our minds.

Why is no-one helping the Burmese?

What is going on in Burma? And why is no-one doing anything to help?

In front of the eyes of the whole world the Burmese army is slaughtering peacefully protesting monks and their supporters - and while these atrocities are being caught on video the west is sitting on their hands.

And even more insulting to the plight of the protestors, the west are shifting the responsibility on China.

When an oppressive regime is slaughtering its citizens it is not up to the neighbouring nations to step in – it's the world's problem.

As always the selfish western nations, chiefly the US and the UK, are reluctant to get involved for one simple reason….

No-one from our side has died.

If a British citizen, or an American for that matter, gets caught up in this mess then there will be action.

Then the police of the world would walk the beat and start twirling his truncheon.

Obviously the life of a westerner is more important.

Look at the tsunami coverage – it wasn't about how many people died, it was how many British people died and how many American people died.

It makes you wonder why we have the United Nations if they can't be used in a situation like this.

The situation reminded me, for some reason, of 9/11, where an oppressive regime had its hand in the death of a number of its own people.

However, when American lives are lost the west falls over itself to provide relief and condolences.

Racism caused by brain shrinkage?

There is northing worse then people playing the race card.

One of the most serious allegations that can be levelled against someone is that they are racist - so it is abhorrent when the few, no matter what their race, bandy the term about.

However, where racism is clearly evident it cannot and should not be excused.

Which is why I was extremely sceptical of new research produced by Bill von Hippel of the University of Queensland.

According to von Hippel, brain atrophy can account for some of the racist language used by the elderly.

Brain atrophy is the shrinking of the brain as we age - and this new study claims that this can lead to 'unintended racism'.

von Hippel says: "Because prejudice toward African Americans conflicts with prevailing egalitarian beliefs, older adults attempt to inhibit their racist feelings, but fail."

Senility can cause an untold range of problems but is it logical enough to cause racism in some cases and not in others.

And why would it effect just the white population?

It seems to me that this study attempts to put a biological reason behind the evils of bigotry and that is something which is hard to swallow.

After all, wouldn't young racists simply have the tendency to turn into old racists?

Treatment of the McCanns beyond biased

I have been very disappointed throughout the whole of the Madeleine McCann furore and the media treatment of the couple.

Since the child disappeared they press have been nothing short of scandalous.

It seems that, in the eyes of the British press, the parents, who are incredibly irresponsible, can do no wrong.

The tabloids, and unfortunately some of the broadsheets, have been more interested in damning the Portuguese police than providing an accurate account of a mising child.

A newspaper is supposed to act like a mirror held up to society, reflecting the events so that the public can see the world for what it is.

But for some reason, maybe it's a class issue or maybe even a race issue, the McCanns seem to be exempt form criticism.

And it seems to me that they deserve to be criticised. It must be hard to lose a daughter but at the very least they have been awful parents.

Why would any parents in their right mind continually leave three young children on their own, at night, while they go out for a drink?

There are also rumours that they couple drugged their children - with the police claiming that the McCanns other children were difficult to awaken after their elder sister went missing.

The fact remains that only the McCanns know whether or not they were involved in the death of their child.

So I don't know why the Daily Mail is so sure that they are innocent.

Why is Di's death still an issue ten years on?

I couldn't have agreed more with Polly Toynbee's piece in Saturday's Guardian concerning the tenth anniversary of the death of Diana.

It's funny to think that more than a decade after the death of a pampered Princess -who by all accounts just did the odd bit of charity work - that there is still so much media interest.

"For outside the chapel, where police with barriers expected multitudes, there were barely more watchers than at an ordinary August changing of the guard. An outraged Daily Telegraph had called for ten giant screens to satisfy the expected throng, Toynbee wrote.

"But journalists and camera crews from around the world almost outnumbered Royalists, with a shortage of Diana worshippers to film. Most who thinly lined the rails were curious tourists, few were British. Whatever that strange wailing, teddy-bear hugging spasm of public anguish was ten years ago, it ended here yesterday."

And I totally agree. I was actually glad to see that hardly anyone turned up for the tenth anniversary service because it was ludicrous.

The fact of the matter is that ten years ago a normal, average, run-of the-mill woman died. She just happened to be a princess. It was a tragic end to the life of a lady who the public did not personally - so why all the crying and candlelit vigils?

I just hope that the whole matter would just be put to bed once and for all.

Seeing Diana on the front of every right-wing claptrap broadsheet and tabloid was getting beyond tiresome.

Sotherton must realise it's innocent until proven guilty

I used to have a lot of respect for Kelly Sotherton.

Despite British athletics being a bit of a joke following the retirement of Linford Christie, Colin Jackson and Sally Gunnell, I was happy to see Sotherton land her World Championship bronze and Jessica Ennis claim a credible fourth place.

But then came the bitterness – the athlete in the silver medallist Lyudmila Blonska had served a two year ban for drugs in 2003.

And this was Sotherton's response: "She has cheated once, who says she is not cheating again?

"We're not interested when she's there, we don't support cheats. It tarnishes our event and we don't support it."

Considering the state of British atletics with the Dwayne Chambers and Christine Ohuruogu debacle, such comments not only seem unbelievably bitter but also incredibly hypocritical.

It may yet turn out that Blonska fails a drug test. If that is the case then such comments can be made but not before then.

She did wrong and served her time and needs to be treated with a little bit more respect.

Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

The only thing that Holyfield will defeat is his legacy

Why is that boxers don't know the meaning of the word retire?

The way I always understood it was that when you retire you gave something up permanently

Evander Holyfield, at the age of 44, has been handed yet another opportunity to lace the gloves for a title shot against Russian WBO champion Sultan Ibragimov.

Not only is the situation farcical but it is also quite dangerous., the last time Holyfield 'retired' in 2004 it was only after suffering a beating at the hands Larry Donald. He was rightly suspended form boxing for medical reasons.

This isn’t his first fight since the Donald incident but I will be the first time he will actually be in a contest - and a potentially harmful one at that.

Most boxing fans will agree that one of the most magical elements of pugilism is its legacy.

Boxers are famous for the memories they have left behind, the legend outlives the man, but too often do boxers comeback for one last failed attempt at glory – just ask Rocky Balboa.

So I implore you Evander, pick up your dictionary and open it to the letter 'r'.

Actually, I'll save you the effort: "Retire - to withdraw from office, business, or active life permanently usually because of age".

Cheating doesn’t end with the ‘Tour de Farce’

I always thought that athletics was the most drug ridden sport in the world but this week I had the chance to see some of the farcical Tour de France.

Cycling is a sport that commands endurance, speed – and apparently steroids.

However, while I was heaping scorn upon cyclists, especially Michael Rasmussen who was too cowardly to even take a drugs test, I began to think of examples of the dark arts at work in other sports.

In athletics Ben Johnson, Jason Gatlin and any Eastern Bloc women of the 1980s were doped up to the eyeballs.

Cricket, just wasn’t cricket, when Hanse Cronje was found guilty of match fixing and Michael Atherton caught ball tampering.

Horse racing is supposedly the ‘sport of kings’ but betting scandals are rife.

Formula One had Michael Schumacher the flawed genius with a penchant for rule bending and now it has wayward designers who deal in espionage.

Even the beautiful game is rotten to the core with diving, match fixing and bungs.

The beauty of sport is the thrill of competition but no-one likes an uneven contest especially if one party has cheated to gain that advantage.

What it comes down to is who has the guts to tackle the cheats?

Who will stand up to those that are ruining world sport?

Only the cycling authorities have the intestinal fortitude to tackle its demons and that puts it in a league of its own.

As funny as it seems other sports could learn from cycling – they should certainly sit up and take note.

Overpriced and overcrowded: Why I hate the railways

Not being able to drive has put me in the awkward position of having to use public transport. I don't mind the bus and I'm sure I could handle the tram but I absolutely despise the train.

Every week I pay £86 for the privelege to wait in the rain and turn up for work late. To get in on time I have to fold myself up and squeeze into spaces that would cause a contortionist problems.

Putting it at its simplest, trains in the UK are scandalously overpriced and dangerously overcrowded. And they're never on time.

Ruth Kelly has said the government are willing to pledge millions to improve the service by 2030. 2030? It's a damning indictment of the state of the railways if it will take more than twenty years to fix.

A good start would be to make trains cheaper. Maybe the franchises should be charged less or the government should subsidise it, either way it should cost less for the current state it is in.

Somehow they need to adress the problem of overcrowding. On the tube, where there is no standard of human conduct, people faint becasue they are packed in so tight.

There are no easy answers, all I know is that the service needs immediate improvement.

Maybe we, the rail passengers, should start a union. Lets make placards, chant catchy slogans and refuse to pay our fares.

Or maybe I'll just call the BSM.

I thought you had heart Jamie

Admittedly it's not the the most topical football story but I am still in shock over Jamie Carragher's decision to quit international football.

Personally, I think that Carragher is a good player, not great but good. Like many England internationals he is overrated but that is not really the point - my problem with Carragher is that he won't play for his country because he is not a first team regular.

International football is supposed to be the pinnacle of a professional footballers career. Although the Champions League is probably of a higher standard, representing your country is supposed to be the gold standard.

So, Mr Carragher, upset that he is not better than John Terry, Rio Ferdinand or even a fully-fit Jonathon Woodgate has thrown his toys out of the pram and just quit.

Liverpool fans say that he has heart and passion - obviously they are wrong.

No apocalypse at the Emirates

After two years of will he, won't he Thierry Henry has finally left Arsenal. It is obviously disappointing for any Arsenal fan and any English football aficionado but it is not the end of the road for the Gunners.

I've lost count of the smug Liverpool, Man Utd and Tottenham fans who are predicting the end of days at the Emirates but are mistaken. There is only one irreplacable man at Arsenal - Arsene Wenger.

Although a big club, in many ways Arsenal are a selling club. Since Wenger has been there he has had to sell off many players who simply wanted to move on to pastures new.

Think of the player he has had to sell - Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit, Nicolas Anelka and Patrick Viera and the club has not only bounced back but also found suitable replacements for each of those players among them Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas.

The magical thing about Arsene Wenger is that he always has less money to spend than the other big three but Arsenal always compete. Most of the players brought to the club were unknown or out of favour and then reinvented by Wenger.

Arsenal have a young squad now of relatively unknown but highly talented and very promising yougsters - and as long as Arsene remains at the helm anything is possible.

Apathetic West Indies contribute to one-sided series

West Indies bold attempt to chase a world record 455 to win against England in the third test at Old Trafford gave the cricket viewing public a glimpse of what might have been.

The chase fell a valiant 60 runs short and it was the first time in the series that the tourists showed some intestinal fortitude. Had they been this gutsy at the beginning maybe the test series would have been less one sided.

The West Indies were outplayed in the first test at Lords and were destroyed in the second test at Headingly losing by an innings and 283 runs.

The absence of retired ex-captain Brian Lara has been a massive blow and there batting order is obviously much weaker without him. However, his retirement says much more about the state of West Indian cricket than it does about him.

Without him in the time the West Indies have rarely looked like they can bat for a full 90 over day. Without him in the side it is hard to see where there next victory will come from.

The loss of big players was compounded when Ramnaresh Sarwan was ruled out of the remainder the series after injuring his shoulder on the first day of play. However, the tourists suffered a bigger loss…a loss of desire.

Never before have I witnessed a test series where one side has looked like they didn’t care less about the result. The resistance offered by Shivnarine Chanderpaul on the final day was refreshing in a contest where his team-mates, Darren Sammy aside, seemed so indifferent.

Chief among them is Chris Gayle, I have heard Gayle called relaxed, laid-back and cool but I think the best way to describe him is apathetic. He looks like he doesn’t care. He fields lazily, runs a single like he is strolling in the park and bowls no balls from a three step run-up.

The third test was simply a case of to little to late. It was the first time in the series that the visitors went down fighting and they have fully deserved to lose.

It is a tragedy that a side like the West Indies that dominating the cricketing world for two decades cannot produce a side that is capable of challenging the best of them but it is a travesty that the current crop do not seem to understand what it means to represent a team steeped in history and to follow in the footsteps of true legends.

Fatal wounding of policeman indicative of town's problems

Today a policeman was stabbed to death and two other people were injured in a serious incident in Luton.

PC Jonathon Charles Henry was attacked and fatally wounded as he tried to attend to a window cleaner who has been stabbed several times in what seems to be an unprovoked attack.

Such incidents greatly sadden me, the police are heavily criticised but their job is to protect the public. How can someone launch an unprovoked attack on a person whose job it is to keep us safe from harm?

This incident also struck a chord with me as it happened in Luton. Being born and bred in the town I champion it against its critics but recently I have had to remain quiet.

I cant remember the last time I heard news from Luton that was positive to the community. There is a history of racial problems, the crime and murder rates are high and i was once voted the worst town in the country.

An event like this cannot be blamed on the town and the individual responsible must be dealt with appropriately.

However, as a proud Lutonian it hurts me that such incidents and others, occur in our town perpetrated by our residents.

We really to tackle our negative elements in Luton before things in the town get worse.

Much ado about nothing

This week Channel 4 broadcast their controversial documentary detailing the final moment's of Diana's life and I was mildly disappointed to discover that it was much ado about nothing.

The documentary, Diana: The Witness in the Tunnel, provoked outrage and even prompted the princes to speak out against it.

It seems that dissenters should have waited until they say the programme before they gave such spirited protests.

Not only did the program deal with the death of the Princess sensitively but the photographs it used were not gratuitous and were appropriately censored.

It turned out to be a documentary not about Diana herself but the plight of the paparazzi who were inappropriately used as a scapegoat for the incident.

Channel 4 were able to attract 3.8 million viewers for their show helped largely by the over the top and premature reaction of those who see any treatment of Diana's death as disrespectful.

The McCanns and the media circus

At the risk of sounding very unpopular I think that is about time that the McCanns took a break from courting the media limelight and began to reflect on the actual whereabouts of their missing daughter Madeleine.

They have suffered a tragedy that must be every parents worst nightmare and my heart, and indeed the hearts of the nation, are with them but it is inappropriate for them to be touring Europe.

I understand that the purpose of these trips are to raise awareness of the missing girl but I think it is grossly unfair to devote such time and attention to one case where others are just left with the odd page in the national press. It also unnecessary for the McCanns to have an audience with the Pope where there surely must be others more in need.

I find it dismaying that some stories are subject to great media bias where others are afforded little coverage. Madeleine is not the first child to go missing and nor is she the last but I cannot recall any other occassion when a child has gone missing and their has been a continental tour of appeal for their return.

The media has heralded the strength and courage of the McCanns but has refused to criticise there inexplicable decision to leave three children under the age of four alone and unattended in a foreign country without even locking a door.

The McCanns appear to be becoming minor celebrities due to their irresponsible behaviour and this is must not be allowed to happen.

I am with everyone who wishes for a safe return of Madeleine but the time has come for them to stop playing ringmaster to the media circus and actually start working with the Portuguese police to find their missing child.

Emily meant no offence but had to go

Another Big Brother race row exploded this week as Emily Parr directed a racial slur at fellow housemate Charley Uchea.

Anyone who follows the television show will be aware of the controversy that followed last year when Shilpa Shetty was subject to racial bullying.

With that in mind it seemed obvious that any racial disharmony this time round would be dealt with in the most serious manner and when Emily was removed from the house there could be no complaints.

However, I think that I may be alone in expresssing sympathy for this naive young woman. Emily seemed to be making a misjudged attempt, as a middle class white woman, to speak to a young black female, on what she thought was her own level. It backfired... badly.

It is obvious that she used the word so comfortably that it must have been part of her vocubalry but labelling someone as a racist is a serious allegation.

The word in question has become so fashionable, mainly due to the popularity of rap music, that it may be part of the language of many young people. both black and white. While what Emily said was wrong it was not intended to cause harm.

As much as Emily would like to think that she is an intelligent and street wise young woman she has a lot to learn and her comment was plainly stupid.

But calling her racist is a step too far.

County back in big time after play-off rollercoaster

After five years outside the top-flight of English football Derby County finally made it back to the big time with their 1-0 defeat of West Bromwich Albion.

Stephen Pearson’s first goal for the club came at the crucial moment and the Rams will rub shoulders with the Premiership elite next season.

Personally, as a neutral to the play-offs it was heartening to see the team that finished in third position gaining promotion especially as Derby were so close to going up automatically.

Hence we are faced with the same question we arrive at every May: Are the play-offs fair?

Traditionally, it is the team that is in good form that is victorious and that team has often had a good late run of results to scrape into the play-offs in the first place.

The examples are numerous but one relevant recent case in point is that of Bristol Rovers.
Bristol had an excellent run towards the end of the season winning four times and drawing twice in their last six games, including a 1-0 win over Swindon on the final day, to sneak into the top seven.

Rovers beat Shrewsbury 3-1 on Saturday to gain promotion to League 1 despite finishing sixth.

The plight of Derby was quite different; they were always in contention for the automatic places and without Roy Keane and Sunderland’s heroics they may well have made it into the top two.
They finished the season eight points better than West Brom and deserved promotion but sadly the third place team often misses out.

Despite this obvious injustice, we need only think back to the days before play-offs to remember how dull football could be. After Christmas there were dozens of lower league teams with nothing to play for, as they were not promotion contenders or relegation candidates, and many games were effectively rendered meaningless.

Alternatives to the current play-off system have been touted; most interesting of them is putting the team just outside automatic promotion directly in the final with the other three teams slugging it out for the remaining place. This would give the highest placed team a deserved advantage.

However, we cannot afford do away with the play-offs all together, it is heart-wrenching for any season to come down to just one game, where one moment can be the difference between playing at Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford or Deepdale and Oakwell

As unfair is it may seem it makes football truly entertaining and after all isn’t that the point?

Justice must be in done in Jena

Jena, Lousiana, is a tiny old-fashioned town. It seems like nothing has changed in the last forty years... and that includes race relations.

Six black students are about to go on trial for the alleged assault of a white student and face between 30 and 50 years in prison.

The shocking events that led to the trial and the effect that it has had on the people have Jena have echoed the civil rights struggles of the 60's.

It began when a black student asked the staff of the school if he could sit under a tree that was traditionally reserved for white students, another throwback the troubled era, and was told that he was free to sit anywhere, he decided to break tradition and relax under the tree.

The following day the students arrived at the school to find three nooses hanging from the same tree.

The incident split the community and heightened tension at the school. The majority of the white residents regarded it as a tasteless prank.

The black residents regarded the issue as far more serious. It was considered a symbolic and threatening gesture, a reminder of white domination in the region.

When the culprits had the expulsion from the school reversed and instead received three day suspensions it was just a matter of when a spark would light the powder keg.

Soon after that the alleged attack happened, six black students allegedly attacked a white student who suffered bruises and concussion but was seen later enjoying a night out.

The culprits, were brought in but instead of being charged with assault and battery were charged with attempted second degree murder and could face up to fifty years in prison.

The police were more even handed than the local newspaper who didn't even say the attack was an alleged attack thus declaring the boys guilty in an attack it called 'the worst in school history'.

There is no doubt that violence in many cases is wrong but under such provocation it is surely unfair to punish a school fight with 50 years in prison.

Justice must be done and the rule of law must be applied otherwise American race relations could suffer a blow from which it may never recover.

Time to believe 9/11 conspiracy theories?

Being a sceptical person its not often that I believe in any sort of conspiracy theories but I saw something recently which gave me sleepless nights.

The movie, 9/11 - Loose Change, can be viewed by following this link http://www.tv-links.co.uk/show.do/4/1449 and its theories are mind blowing.

What is most disturbing is that many of the claims are backed up with hard evidence which is laid bare, some of it from the actual footage of the atrocity.

The movie does not claim that the acts were perpetrated by the US government but seriously dents the official accounts of what happened.

Without giving too much of the documentary away two of the most shocking claims are that the Pentagon was actually hit by a missile and that the World Trade Centre towers were brought down by a controlled explosion.

As far fetched as this may sound I urge everyone who visits this blog to follow this link and then comment on this post.

It will change your opinions forever.

Why didn't Scott warn Steve?

Chelsea have beaten a host of rivals for the signature of highly rated Reading midfielder Steve Sidwell.

Sidwell, has passed his medical and will be joining Chelsea on the 1st July and must be ecstatic to be joining a club of such high stature as he looks to further his career.

I've been lucky enough to see Sidwell play at the Madejski and he is certainly a good player. Far too good for Chelsea reserves.

The whole situation is eerily similar to that of Scott Parker. Parker was in tremendous form for Charlton when he decided to make the move to Stamford Bridge, which was followed by a stint on the bench and then a career resurrecting move to Newcastle Utd.

Think of all the central midfielders that Chelsea have already; Michael Essien, Claude Makelele, John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack. Where will Sidwell fit into this? Mourinho finds it very difficult to drop Lampard even when he is playing badly so it looks like Sidwell is fighting for one place.

I'm sure the lure of Chelsea is probably too strong for a young footballer to resist but the plight of Scott Parker should serve as a cautionary tale to anyone who makes Abrahmovic want to open up his chequebook.

Don't be surprised to see Sidwell turn up at Newcastle in two or three seasons.

Pay-as-you-go roads scheme driven forward

According to a BBC survey 74% of the public are against the proposals for pay-as-you-go roads that will charge motorists by the mile. However, the Government has still pressed ahead with plans to do just that.

Draft legislation, the Local Transport Bill, has been published that will allow interested local authorities to implement the scheme on a trial basis.

It is easy to understand why there is so much oppposition to the plans. One of the reasons for the state of the traffic on British roads is the very poor standard of public transport. With trains and buses being over-priced and rarely punctual who can blame people for using their cars instead.

The scheme will just be another excuse to raise tax revunue from motorists. The very same motorists who pay through their teeth for petrol, MOT and insurance.

Don't pluck Lewis before he has flowered

There is no doubt that Lewis Hamilton has had one of the best starts of any of the F1 drivers this country has produced. He has immense talent but there is a serious of danger of piling too much pressure on him.

The F1 season is only a few races old and already there is talk of Hamilton becoming a world champion in his first season. It's not that it is not possible, it could happen, but it is both unfair and dangerous to put so much pressure and weight of expectation on the youngster.
It is something that tends to happen whenever there is any promising British talent. When Wayne Rooney burst into the Everton first team he was compared with Pele and now the nations hopes sit squarely and unfairly on his shoulders. Andy Murray probably understands what he is going through.

The most sensible thing to do would be not to over hype and add to the pressure that these talented young men feel but to support them.

They media must make them feel like losing is a complete failure and for sportsmen so young it is all part of a steep learning curve.

Let's not to do to Lewis what we did to Jenson.

What to do with West Ham

"7 wins out of 9 games is Champions League form". That is Tony Cottee's opinion of West Ham's great escape which is statistically the finest rescue escape in the post war era.

However, there are still question marks over the registration of Carlos Tevez and whether West Ham should be allowed to retain their place among England's elite.

West Ham were fined £5.5 million for the improper registration of Tevez but it can be argued that it was grossly unfair. Premiership survival has been estimated at a value of £30 million, in that respect surely a points deduction would have been appropriate?

Not according to the Premier League.

In their reasoning of the fine they argued that it would be unfair to the fans to punish them for West Ham's misgivings. That reasoning is illogical and would not deter other teams from playing ineligible players in the future safe in the knowledge it would not result in a loss of league position.

If Manchester Utd had beaten West Ham on the final day it would have been poetic justice for Sheffield Utd who failed to beat the drop and there would not be the prospect of a prolonged high court battle, which will be a terrible blow for English football.

There is no doubt that West Ham were fantastic but they clearly and severely breached the rules. Much of their success is owed to Tevez ,who should never have been allowed to play, and it would be unjust if they were allowed to remain in the Premiership.

If we don't have fair play then the game has no integrity; West Ham have to go.

The war on Iraq: The day the legacy died

The 27th of June will mark the end of an era.

Tony Blair will step down as Prime Minister and is likely to be replaced by Gordon Brown and the protracted Labour leadership issue will finally be resolved.

However, Blair may not be fondly remembered for one fundamental reason: Iraq.

Blair and New Labour swept to power in 1997 and promised that 'things could only get better' and domestically it did.

Cast your mind back over the Blair decade and there are numerous changes that were made for the good.

The Human Rights Act, the lowering of the homosexual age of consent to sixteen and the ban on foxhunting are just a few and in addition the economy has thrived under chancellor Brown.

As leader as a major world power mistakes will be made and there have been decisions that have been less than astute: the introduction of university top-up fees, the cash for honours scandal and the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes will all leave a stain on his legacy and rightly so.

However, due to the massive failure of his foreign policy, most of his good work will go unrewarded. The war on terror was a huge mistake but the decision to ally himself so closely with George Bush and the war in Iraq sealed his fate.

All leaders should be judged on all the major decisions that they had to make not just one issue but Blair will remain synonymous with the war, especially because he flew in the face of so much opposition.

It was his decision and it was his fault and even though he says he honestly believed he was doing the right thing I am sure he regrets it.

If not for Iraq, Blair may have gone down with Atlee as one of the greatest Labour prime ministers of all time.

Now he may just be remembered as George Bush's lap dog.

Arsenal and Liverpool: Up your game

As the football season draws to a close many neutrals must have been left with a sense of what might have been.

It looked like the title race, for the first time in years, would go right down to the last day of the season with Man Utd's visit to Stamford Bridge being a title decider.

Hats of to Sir Alex for wrapping the title up earlier. Man Utd have been brilliant since the beginning of the Premiership fighting of Blackburn, Newcastle, Arsenal and now Chelsea to lift yet another Premiership trophy.

But is English football dull and predictable? Realistically, only four teams can win the title and to be honest for the last few seasons Arsenal and Liverpool haven't really come that close.

Liverpool have been very good in Europe under Benitez but domestically they have been inconsistent.

Arsenal have fared slightly better but are immensely frustrating. This year they completed the 'double' over Man Utd, beat Liverpool on numerous occasions and drew twice with Chelsea. If they had beaten some of the lesser sides that the title race may have been a different story.

The fact of the matter is that almost every season we can predict the top four and that has meant that most of the Premiership, especially teams like Tottenham and Everton are playing for the Uefa Cup.

Liverpool and Arsenal have the ability to make a two horse race into a four horse race if they can improve on disappointing league campaigns next season.

If it would have been great to see another title decided on the last day, imagine how exciting it would be if there were still four title challengers at Easter.

After all, this isn't Scotland.

Government of the 'living dead'

I think that David Cameron's assessment of the Labour government was spot on. They are certainly the 'living dead' .

They were handed the embarrassment of a crushing defeat in the local elections but this isn't the real problem.

The labour government has stagnated because of Tony Blair. He has tried to cling to power to build a 'legacy'.

The truth of that matter is that by refusing to name a date and let Gordon Brown mount his leadership challenge for months he has ruined his legacy.

We have had ten years of Mr Blair and foreign policy and top-up fees aside he has done his utmost to clean the mess that the Conservatives left the country in.

But his time was up a while ago and this fiasco will certainly affect the way that he is viewed in the history books.

Personally, I feel sorry for Gordon Brown.

He won't be in charge for very long.

Fertiliser Plot: The need for a 7/7 independent inquiry

The end of the fertiliser bomb plot, in which five men were jailed for life, is yet another reason why there must be an independent inquiry into the 7/7 attacks.

It transpired during the trial that members of the fertiliser plot had met with those responsible for 7/7, most notably Mohammad Sidique Khan, who was followed by police on numerous occasions.

The truth of the matter is that with the intelligence available to the police and MI5 more could and perhaps should have been done.

The public understand how difficult it must be to co-ordinate counter terrorism intelligence effectively. However with the successful scuppering of the fertiliser plot it is easy to see why many think that 7/7 may have been avoidable.

The public faith in those who protect us must be dwindling especially after the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes and the only way to restore confidence would be to show us that they are doing all the can to protect the nation.

Transparency then is surely the key. With the inquiry looking unlikely it seems as if poor use of intelligence is being swept under the carpet.

With 52 people dead surely it is time for the Government to answer the most important question of all: How could this have happened?

ICC let world down

I love cricket but from beginning to end the Cricket World Cup was a farce.

Cricket is already an unfashionable sport, especially in England and the World Cup has done nothing to showcase the game and attract the world's youth.

The fixture scheduling was so bad that the West Indies played three days in a row.

The tickets were so highly priced that the ordinary local man couldn't afford to attend.

The final was blighted by a comedy of errors and its final overs were bowled out in the dark.

The tournament was so long that by the end I had forgotten the beginning.

And of course there was the murder of Bob Woolmer.

On this display Cricket will not only continue to be seen as dull but also as a laughing stock... and the ICC is to blame.

Scared of St. George's?

Having being born in England but having parents from the West Indies I have always had a hybrid of cultures.

In some ways I consider myself an Englishman and yet there are some parts of the English culture, because they were never present in my household, are totally foreign to me.

As an ethnic person and an English person, I often try to ignore the ranting of random bigots and of course the BNP who try to make me feel as foreign as possible.

Maybe that's the problem with St. George's Day. Many immigrants and sons and daughters of immigrants would love to feel a part of the country but are often soured by the small minded and the plight of their parents.

With the cross of St. George having being seized by football hooligans and other thugs, many English people are scared of displaying their flag. It should be a symbol of pride but is now a symbol of fear. We need to emancipate the cross!

We are a nation built in the free labour of slavery and of the plundering of riches from other countries (sometimes known as 'The British Empire'). The legacy of this is that we have a multi-cultural, diverse and exciting society.

I think that this is what St. George's day should be about. Celebrating the country for what it is today.

Why the US can't plead the 5th on the 2nd

The second amendment of the US constitution gives all Americans the right to bear arms. Apparently this is a hangover from the post colonial years where a fledgling nation needed to give its citizens more protection.

Whatever the reason there is surely a need for control in the US today.

I am only 23 years old yet even I can remember several school shooting tragedies. The events of yesterday in Virginia which left 33 dead are shocking yet are becoming far too familiar.

It seems to me that the NRA and other gun activists must have the government in some sort of stronghold because I can think of no serious reason against tighter gun laws in the US.

The students at Virgina Tec were not allowed guns on campus. This alarms me, not because they couldn't return fire but, because it will give gun enthusiasts more ammunition.

They will point out the right to bear arms did not extend to the students and that this cannot be allowed.

Surely disarming everyone instead of arming everyone is the solution to this problem.

It often takes a tragedy such as this for the issue to be discussed but I would imagine the amount of people that die in these incidents are vastly out-numbered by those who have died in one-on-one incidents, accidents and gang violence.

Yesterday, I heard the American national anthem and for once I fully understood it.

It is the land of the free, so free in fact that you can take a gun into a place of learning and wreak havoc.

And the home of the brave, so brave that you need amazing courage to live under such conditions.

Dangers of the job

The plight of BBC correspondant Alan Johnston has once again underlined the dangers of journalism.

Johnston, who was seized at gunpoint in Gaza on 12 March, is now believed to be dead.

It is the job of the journalist to hold a mirror up to the world and to show the public its reflection.

It is sad to think that innocents trying to do a job can be caught up in the very politics theyy are trying to portray.

Fingers crossed that Alan will return safely but his capture only re-iterates the implications of

being a foreign correspondent.

It is sad to think that some have to take their lives in their hands just to keep us informed.

Admit it... we are biased

As a student of journalism it upsets me to have to say this but at times I have to despair for the British media. The bias it displays is too embarrassing for words.

This manifests itself in all the popular medium: from broadsheet to tabloid newspapers to television programmes and radio broadcasts.

I could cite many thousands of examples but here a just a few that happen to stick in my mind.

1. The Death of Princess Diana
The death of the Princess occurred only shortly before the death of Mother Theresa, a modern day saint., Diana stories had all the headlines and still continues to do so.

2. Jeremy Clarkson
Has clearly made xenophobic comments on television and still holds down a job at the BBC. Unacceptable

3. British Casualties in major incidents
It is obviously very important when disaster strikes to keep us informed of the British plight in case a loved has been injured, however it seems to me that a British life is worth more. Tragedies that don't involve the British are rarely even covered.

4. The amount of foreign affairs coverage in newspapers
Tabloids like the Sun and the Mirror have little or no foreign coverage and a Baghdad blast is seen as less newsworthy than Pete Doherty's latest stint in rehab. The broadsheets do a little better but there is still room for improvement.

.... and for me by far the worst is the coverage of sport.

There are some many things wrong here it is untrue.

English sportsman are over hyped and under perform (look at the likes of Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard compared to say Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Michael Essien and you tell me who has played better this season).

Commentary should be about describing the action not cheering your team on. This isn't SkySports Fanzone. Andy Gray lost it when Gerrard scored against Olympiakos, David Pleat loses it every time Spurs are on ITV and Ian Wright loves England too much to provide any sort of sensible analysis.

Then there is cheating versus gamesmanship. Michael Owen dives and Cristiano Ronaldo dives. The difference is that Owen is guilty of gamesmanship and Ronaldo is a cheat.

And when English fans have behaved badly and the police have reacted they are always seen as being heavy handed. Hooligans are still a problem in this country and we need to wise up to it.

I could go on and on but it would get boring. The point is that although we are patriotic it doesn't mean with have to be idiotic. There is no need to be biased or derogatory in our media representations.

I'd love like to see important news at the front of a paper and not just British celebrity nonsense.

The next time England fail in another major tournament of any sport I want us to hold our hands up and admit we were shit.

There can't always be a scapegoat.

Credit where its due

Being an Arsenal fan I have spent every season with my fingers crossed praying for two things. Arsenal victories and Man Utd defeats. To be honest Spurs don't really me bother because they haven't been our title rivals for years.

Yesterday I had to give credit where it was due. As much as I was depressed at the manor in which Man Utd tore Roma to shreds I had to admire the pure class they displayed. Last season he was a one trick pony but Cristiano Ronaldo has been the finest player in the Premiership this season.

As far as I am concerned Man Utd, because of the way they play, (obviously not as attractive Arsenal but pretty nonetheless) are the lesser of two evils, the other being Chelsea and if they win the title it would be some achievement considering the sold Ruud Van Nistlerooy and only brought in Michael Carrick.

They better not win the treble though!

Megan's Law

No-one would disagree that children should be able to live their lives totally free of harassment. Most would also agree that parents peace of mind about their children's safety is very important but I think that introducing a version of Megan's Law (incidentally to be called Sarah's Law in the UK, after Sarah Payne) would be unjust.

Following a Government report a UK version may be more restricted than the US version with parents being able to request information on local sex offenders but not given their names.

If people in the area are of such a danger to children that parents need to know about them should they really be allowed to live freely in the community?
More importantly without a foolproof justice system what about those falsely accused of such offences? What about the notion of rehabilitation?

These plans raise more questions than answers.

I am sure that if people find out that there is even a possibility of sex offenders in their community fingers will be pointed at the innocent. When the public gets the wind in its sails who knows what will happen?

Paediatricians will once again live in fear.