In the UK school is almost never cool. Why do so many of our kids aspire to be thick?

Despite having the most dynamic economy in the South East, being a first class shopping destination and having a Premiership football team Reading is dogged by small-town thinking.

Driving standards aren’t what they used to be. Maybe its time to change how we teach road sense – there are dafter things in the National curriculum.

There is no doubt that Gordon Brown is right to make a priority of housing, but the road ahead is full of thorns if he means what he says and really want to deliver.

Politicians are far too eager to proposed banning things, but they’ll continue to do so because it is easy publicity.

Lots of us are landlords now – but is the ‘Buy-to-Let’ Boom ruining Reading

The press bemoan the lack of ‘characters’ in modern politics – the trouble is ‘characters’ generally self-destruct. So who want’s interesting politicians anyway?

The debate on environmental issues is sadly predictable. The British public won’t accept being patronised by people who don’t seem to understand the word ‘wash’.

The last of three articles written during Labour’s years in the wilderness. This one, written just over a year after Labour’s fourth consecutive defeat considered issues that now represent New Labour’s greatest lost opportunity.

One of three articles from Labour’s time in the widerness with a relevence in 2009. This one looked at Labour following its by-election defeat at Greenwich during the run in towards the 1987 General Election.