Opinion

Here I comment on a wide range of issues from education to politics, the arts and more. I welcome lively and opinionated debate, so please leave your comments.

  • Appearance on BBC Breakfast

    Appeared this Tuesday on BBC Breakfast giving my views about homework. A recent survey shows that not many parents understand their children’s homework and don’t have much of a clue about how to help. I spoke about the two types of parent: the nagger, who is always hovering over their child, checking to see if […]

  • Casual violence that children learn to live with

    A disturbing analysis of the current state of gangs in Britain: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3950162.ece‘

  • Girl gangs

    A fascinating piece on the evolution of girl gangs which ties in with some of the stuff I point out in Yob Nationhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/05/14/do1403.xml‘

  • Appearing on the Wright Stuff

  • BBC Interviews

    Spoke at length on two radio interviews today: BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Scotland. The Ulster interview asked for my comments on the Tories’ new proposals to stop the parents of excluded children appealing against a headteacher’s decision to exclude them. I said it was all a bit of a sound bite and that […]

  • Tender is the night

    Finished reading Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘Tender is the Night’ and was struck by the author’s deep psychological insight, his ability to scrutinise the tiniest reactions of people when they are confronted or challenged, his uncanny, enlightened cynicism that sees multiple causes behind every gesture, every flick of the eye, every glance. The scene where Dick Diver […]

  • Violence in the classroom

    A depressing survey that shows violence in the classroom is on the increase: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article3564297.ece http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/onethird-of-teachers-threatened-796778.html‘

  • Interesting article on the brain controlling accent

    Great article for English Language A Level students on how the brain controls accents here.’

  • BBC Radio 5 Live Debate On Universities

    Appeared on Richard Bacon’s show, arguing that too many students were going to university, studying non-courses’. Too many courses are not serious: Outdoor Adventure With Philosophy, Ghost-Hunting, Surfing Studies. The guest arguing the other point of view, said that students should be able to study whatever they want. I argued there was limited money in […]

  • Rose-tinted government recruitment campaign on BBC Breakfast

    Appeared yesterday on BBC Breakfast talking about the new government advertising campaign to recruit teachers. I complained on the Beeb’s very red sofa that the government didn’t tell the truth, that it gave false hopes and that it sold the lie that teachers are paid like people in the corporate world. The campaign highlights all […]

  • Good analysis of the crime statistics

    The Sunday Times ran a good analysis of the crime stats in this interesting comment piece. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/minette_marrin/article3382270.ece?openComment=true‘

  • Good analysis of the crime statistics

    The Sunday Times ran a good analysis of the crime statistics in this interesting comment piece. The same edition ran an illuminating interview with a former gang member.

  • The Asbo Round The Corner

    Our local corner shop has finally had an Asbo slapped on the local youths in our area to stop them intimidating and harrassing them, after years of abuse and violence. The local residents rose up and named and shamed the miscreants in court. All seems peaceful now at the shop: there are no youths smoking […]

  • Newsnight — Yob Culture

    Appeared on Newsnight talking about yob culture with Ken Jones, a top policeman, Rob Williams from the Children’s Commission, and a leading magistrate.

  • Two In A Tower and The Trumpet Major

    Going through a major Thomas Hardy phase, as if teaching ‘Far From The Madding Crowd’ wasn’t enough. I felt his novella, ‘Two In A Tower’ is a marvellous achievement. It’s about a poor, young, pretty astronomer who falls in love with an unhappily married lady of the manor. The pair secretly marry, only to have […]

  • Pere Goriot — Balzac in Paris

    Loved reading Balzac’s most famous novel in Paris, walking the streets, observing the lemony sunlight on polished stone, and living the life of Raustignac, the poor student, who seeks the high life in the ballrooms and salons of 19th Century Paris. The novel is a real pot-boiler, full of melodrama, wronged fathers, conniving daughters and […]

  • The Road Home by Rose Tremain

  • BBC Breakfast and BBC News 24

    Back at the Beeb on Sunday morning talking about new research which shows girls are just as badly behaved as boys, but just in subtler, trickier ways. I described how boys have thrown missiles, stuck ripped cans on my chair, fought and hurled abuse at me, while girls have caused probably more trouble by lying, […]

  • London Talking — Appearance January 15th 2008

    Made a brief appearance as a named guest on London Talking, with Konnie Huq, Nick Ferrarri, Vanessa Feltz and a rep from the NSPCC. The discussion was on whether it was right to smack children or not. Nick Ferrarri and some other ill-informed guests defended smacking, which in my view is tantamount to defending violence […]

  • A squirt too far — a review of Chesil Beach

    Read another ridiculous Ian McEwan novel, the denouement of which is laugh out loud funny. A poor unfortunate chap’s premature ejaculation on his wedding night in the 1960s leads to the break-up of his marriage and the effective demolition of his life. McEwan’s tone is serious, earnest, studied, descriptive, but he failed to convince me […]