No cover up over Whittingdale, he just needs a better taste in wome

SO John Whittingdale has a relationship with a 'dominatrix', the press become aware of the story and had an 'obligation' to report it according to critics.

But they didn't because Whittingdale as Culture Secretary will be the ultimate arbiter over press freedom in this country and now is 'compromised'.

Now I have only worked in local journalism and maybe have a positive view of my profession but sorry, this is not a 'row', it's barely even news.

The key point is Whittingdale is a single man and began and ended the relationship before he became Culture Secretary.

If the press had reported it, Whittingdale could rightfully have claimed an invasion of privacy because as a single man he can do whatever he likes within the law.

Plus the story would have been basically 'single man meets woman on dating website who isn't all she's cracked up to be' – not something which will sell newspapers!

The only point at which it could have been in the public interest is if he had been cheating on his wife/partner, I suspect most editors tossed the story to one side because it's not really news.

If we open the door to reporting on the actions of single men and women in all walks of life then where will it end?

Whittingdale admitted the relationship in a statement and expressed his embarrassment, he's not compromised over regulating the press because he confirmed the relationship himself!

Yes, he'll probably face awkward moments with the editors' of our newspapers for a while and maybe his credibility is damaged but a sense of perspective here is vital.

Whittingdale is entitled to date in private, unless his partner wishes to go public as Justine Miliband did when Ed Miliband was Labour leader.

But maybe have a better choice in women eh John?

Don't just blame Wenger, Arsenal as a club has lost its way

WEDNESDAY night was probably the lowest I have felt as an Arsenal fan for a good number of years, certainly since we were embarrassed by Birmingham City in 2011.

After a very limp performance against Manchester United on Sunday, I'd hoped the players would roar back and shove the critics words down their throats with a dominant performance against relegation strugglers.

Instead it was another of 'that'll do' performances where Arsenal went 1-0 up and reacted with horror when the opposition dared to make a game of it. It's a performance we have got used to sadly in recent years and usually explained away by the manager as 'tiredness' or something else.

In other years we probably didn't do enough to win the title, but this year with Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City bobbing along, it looked the golden chance to win the Premier League.

Instead Arsenal lie somewhat marooned in third, closer to dropping out of the top four than reaching the summit, occupied by Leicester City. A team let's remember who were 'doomed' to relegation the Christmas before last....

The more damning statistic was Arsenal have recorded just THREE Premier League wins since Christmas or more to the point, three victories since we beat Manchester City at the Emirates and established ourselves as favorites.

Instead of pushing on and doing all we can to seal the title, we nervously stepped into the New Year. To the outsiders, of which many of us are because the club won't have anything said anti Arsene, it looks like they simply don't want to win trophies bigger than the FA Cup.

Do I blame Wenger and want him out? Not entirely, the players are just as culpable as the manager, after all Arsene Wenger can't score goals or keep them out!

But my problem with Wenger is the lack of desire and the willingness to be challenged, where are the voices in the dressing room calling people out for slacking, challenging the manager?

Answer? Out of the club, Wenger rules and if you don't like it you can look for another club to play for. Gone are the days of Adams, Keown, Vieira, Henry, Lehmann, Campbell – big players who would drag the team to glory.

The players know if they don't deliver on the pitch there will be an excuse from the manager and most have slipped into their comfy trousers to pocket the salaries on offer.

Any other club would have shipped Diaby out with his injury record, would be questioning why Jack Wilshere troubles surgeons more than midfielders, would have told Theo Walcott to PROVE why he should be played through the middle.

Instead the squad is a mish-mash of bored players who have settled for the level they are at and the high quality ones who want to win trophies.

While I applaud Leicester for their efforts this year, they shouldn't be top of the league, Arsenal should be dominating this league this season. That they aren't is a chronic failure on behalf of the manager and the players.

What should be done? Well in my opinion all reasonable fans should be questioning Wenger's continued presence at the club. Not the sack but a departure fitting the status as the man who revived our club.

He deserves our gratitude and respect but even the best sometimes need to be told when to leave the stage. Arsene's legacy is in danger of being unpicked now, as Gooners we need to ensure it doesn't happen.

If he does depart then I hope the slackers in that dressing room get a rude awakening, a jolt into life.

After all 'Victoria Concordia Crescit' does mean 'Victory grows through Harmony'.

There has been a distinct lack of that in and around the club this season!

Tories will regret stepping back in time

"We're leaving Downing Street for the last time," no not the late Baroness Thatcher but the words David Cameron will be using following a leadership coup despite his successful EU referendum campaign.

A prediction yes, but the odds on this happening should be shorter than Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister.

Just like Thatcher the storm clouds are circling round the Prime Minister. Despite being a majority winning Tory leader and despite winning reforms in the EU once again it seems the Tories want to throw it all down the toilet over Europe.

The comparisons are endless, a majority winning Tory premier, a Labour opposition not really bidding for power under a polarising leader, an uncertain economy. We may as well be back in 1990!

One wonders who will stick the final knife in aka the late Geoffrey Howe. Perhaps / sharp stiletto from Theresa May?

The Out brigade spent the weekend whining that Dave should stop being so nasty and hurtful about them. This despite the Prime Minister actively allowing members of his own cabinet to campaign for an 'out' vote....

They didn't seek to dismiss stories of a leadership challenge though? Why? Because figures like Boris Johnson know this campaign will be enough to bring down Cameron and start afresh with a more 'Conservative' leader.

The Outers have a back up in plan just in case they lose the referendum. They will oust Cameron instead as punishment , why else would Boris tell the world he wants out but what a marvellous job the PM did in Brussels?

If he really wanted out he would surely be at the forefront of the campaign for Britain to leave the EU? Not to one side letting messers Farage and Galloway hog centre stage.

Either way Cameron's time as PM can now be measured in months not years, his only hope is the Tory grassroots find the tactics of Johnson et al unpalatable and Boris's hopes end up crushed under a London bendy bus.

Allowing the stage to clear for a new face someone who wanted out but stayed loyal to the Prime Minister. And who is a proud Thatcherite....Prime Minister Sajid Javid anyone? 

Only bravery will save Labour now

DAVID Cameron took to the stage in Manchester, the first Tory Prime Minister in 19 years to address his party with a majority.

He left it an hour later having took the Tory tanks off the battleground, onto Labour's lawn, through the sitting room and kitchen and out the other side.

A devilishly bold speech sought to solidify his core vote and say to any moderates in the Labour Party "Come on in, we're open." Those same Labour moderates who have been told to 'go and join the Tories' now have an invitation. 

The speech was short on policy, based heavily on promises. But it was never designed to be policy rich, it simply is the next move in the Tory chess game.

Already proud of how they made the 'Labour crashed the economy' message stick and then the 'Vote Labour, get the SNP' follow up (ironically most in Scotland just bisected Labour and went straight to the Nationalists), the Tories now smell real blood.

The Labour corpse is still twitching after May but the election of Jeremy Corbyn has delivered a potentially fatal dose of 'leftitis'. The Tory wolves scent blood.

Cameron delivered a straight punch with the 'danger to our security' line, expect to hear that more in the months ahead. But there were the cursory jabs, the left of centre policies and the downright appeal to soft Labour voters to reject Corbyn's blast from the 70s.

Cameron gets it, to win power you need to win Middle England. Blair did it in 97 and he did it in May. He knows a Corbyn led Labour Party will never appeal to swing voters in areas such as Worcester so is looking to both toxify Labour and welcome new support at the same time.

Of course he will be judged on what he actually delivers. But when you compare the leaders speeches, one was full of desire, the other full of empty rhetoric and desire to be nicer on Twitter.

A very well respected journalist tweeted after the speech: "@janemerrick23: Labour's gigantic problem: why did I, from a Liverpool comp, who voted for Blair & never voted Tory, agree nearly every word of PM's speech?"

It's a problem a brave Labour Party need to solve. If not then 2020 is going to make 1997 look close. The answer? Alan Johnson, loved by the Blairites and a former union official.

Sometimes speeches change the politcal weather, well David Cameron made the rain fall eeven heavier on Labour. It's time to reach for the umbrellas! 

In praise of Michael Clarke

IN ALL THE excitement of England's Ashes triumph, the news Michael Clarke is retiring was relegated slightly if understandably.

Announced on the outfield to his mate Shane Warne, the 'Pup' who became captain of his country and almost the leader of a nation after the tragic death of Phillip Hughes revealed he would hang up his whites after the final test at the Oval next week.

Was he pushed or did he jump? It's hard to say 100 per cent either way. It's no secret his back is not the best and equally he is hardly a popular player on the dressing room or with some supporters.

But in paying tribute you can never say Michael Clarke didn't give 100 per cent everytime he donned the Baggy Green. Century after century including an incredible 329 not out against India. 

While the 'get ready for a broken f****** arm' comment during the last Ashes Down Under was hardly his finest hour, his statesmanlike approach following the death of Phil Hughes should never bee forgotten.

Australian cricket was in mourning and looked to Clarke to lead them through the darkest moments, a job he did manfully.

It's rather ironic following his return from injury and inconsistent form that Australia seemingly wasn't there for him.

A great player will be taking his leave next week, cricket lovers everywhere ought to stand and applaud.

Your nickname might have been Pup, Michael but you were one big dog in Australian cricket and will be missed 

What is the point of the Labour Party?

ONE of the great aspects of democracy is usually there is always 'another way'.

Unhappy with the Government? Well take a look at the party in opposition. Had enough of the Government? Then vote the other lot in! 

Be it Thatcher in 79 or Blair in 97, oppositions should show Governments up and present an opportunity for us to vote them in and 'let them have a go'.

Except today, the Labour Party - Her Majesty's official opposition - is not doing that.

Instead the party which once threatened to wipe the dishevelled Tory party of the late 90s almost off the electoral map is now giving the Conservatives a free run at being the Government.

Why? Because Labour must have a debate with itself about why it lost in May, a debate which has seen its MPs coerced into putting someone on the ballot they hope will lose!

The worst part of all this is the party is repeating the mistake of 2010 when it spent the whole summer 'having a debate'.

Meanwhile the Tories not only governed but spun the narrative that the nation was penniless and it was all Labour's fault - a charge which stuck and condemned Labour and Ed Miliband to defeat in May.

And so back to the present, Chancellor George Osborne delivered the first Conservative budget for 19 years.

Labour through Harriett Harperson trotted out the same tired cliches and the candidates all said they'd oppose the jolly bad bits they didn't agree with....

Three of four candidates standing will basically continue the same approach as Ed Miliband, trying desperately to regain economic credibility while also still reaching for their wallets to spend, spend and spend.

Liz Kendall said it was wise to adopt some of the Tory economic polices and was instantly branded 'Tory' by her rivals.

Which is fine, until you realise that actually at the moment, voters might not like the 'Tory' medicine but trust it more than Labour's cure.

Labour needs to start listening to the nation which once flocked to it in its droves and send a message it's still an aspiring Government.

Because otherwise very soon a lot more people may ask 'What is the point of the Labour Party?'

PS: Labour, you lost in May because people didn't like the policies and didn't trust your leader. Worst still while the electorate didn't like the Tories, they were scared of you. Debate done!

They called him Hansi, I call him a legend

THE Gentleman of Music, The Emperor of Elevator Music, The King of Easy Listening or just ‘Hansi’, however you knew James Last, you couldn’t fail to ignore his ‘Happy Music’.

Born Hans Last in Germany in 1929, both he and his brother Werner made music their life’s work and both were anglicised for the international market and Werner became ‘Kai Warner’.

Hans became ‘James Last’ but before too long his friends, anyone who simply enjoyed his music, knew him as Hansi.

Over an incredible five decades, this German bandleader broke record after record and shattered the conceptions surrounding music.

Nothing was off limits as Hansi ‘borrowed’ music from Mozart to Madonna and adapted it to his own ‘happy’ sound. In the process he served up an entire musical palette to audiences who might never have heard of Rihanna, Lady Gaga or even LMFAO.

And that was the mark of the man, he made music accessible to all, I’ve been to concerts where members of the older generation loved a particular new track but looked puzzled when told it was by The Wanted!

However, last night The Gentleman of Music moved on to become part of heaven’s orchestra, leaving me along with many thousands of fans distraught.

Quite simply, Hansi was my music teacher, my first musical memories are of James Last which is no surprise when you consider my dear mum was going to his concerts while pregnant with me.

There is a picture of a six year old me sitting on Hansi’s lap, I hope once this grief has subsided I’ll be able to find it and look at it with a smile on my face.

I’ve travelled thanks to James Last, seeing countries I may never have seen and learned more about music than I may ever have known.

Much more importantly, I’ve got to know hundreds and hundreds of people united by the love of the music of James Last. No not friends, more like an extended family.

To be at the historic Royal Albert Hall to witness a James Last concert was something to behold, to see the warmth this German was greeted with in a quintessentially English venue year after year reminded us to always make peace not war.

To have known the music of James Last was to have experienced an education in song, in verse but also in life.

I have tears in my eyes as I write this as 14 hours on I somehow still can’t believe it to be true.

But I also raise a glass to toast his memory and in keeping with the spirit of the man, I will do so with a ‘Happy Heart’.

Sleep well Hansi, may you Rest in Peace