😡😱 OMFG! WTF! How can you say that! What’s that? You’re outraged? Me too! Let’s mount a campaign! Let’s ban stuff!

Not one day goes past without another mob being “outraged” often by something they’ve read or seen on social media. And as we now understand all too clearly – ain’t nothing like social media for whipping up “outrage”.

So as an experiment I thought I’d go to England’s greatest and most revered playwright Mr. William Shakespeare no less to find grounds to be outraged…maybe even to get him banned!

Shakespeare on equality…

Well that’s an easy one – all his female roles were played by men. Case proven. Guilty!

Shakespeare on body shape…

The Comedy of Errors. A conversation between Antipholus and Dromio…

Ant.  What’s her name?

Dro.  Nell, sir; but her name and three quarters, that’s an ell and three quarters, will not measure her from hip to hip.

Ant.  Then she bears some breadth?

Dro.  No longer from head to foot than from hip to hip: she is spherical, like a globe.

Did you hear that? “Spherical! Like A Globe!” Obesity is no laughing matter! Ban him!

Shakespeare on antisemitism…

Well did you see how he portrayed Shylock?

I could go on (gender, slavery, sexism it’s all covered by the Bard) but you get the picture. If you want to be outraged you’ll find lots of stuff out there to keep you fuelled.

Inappropriate

And before anybody says: “But these were Shakespeare’s characters speaking, not the man himself.” Well William S. famously kept his own thoughts to himself thus freeing his characters to speak unhindered by their creator. But how many times have comedians been howled down for “inappropriate” jokes when the gags were clearly meant to be laced with irony? How many times have tweets or Instagram posts meant lightheartedly or ironically created a storm of “outrage”?

Shakespeare? Do we really know what he thought? Let’s ban him! Just in case.

by Mike McCarthy.

Whatever the future holds for our country this is hardly it’s finest hour. It seems that – not for the first time – our destiny is being shaped by political ego.

But standing proud above the gutter politics is that great golden dream of World Cup glory. Hang on! Who am I kidding?

Have I ever braved the cold and the rain to follow my team? Did I ever cry when my footballing heroes failed to lift the cup. The answer to both questions is an emphatic: Nope! I did once take my kids to watch Sheffield Utd but I can’t remember who they were playing.

Truth is – I don’t follow a team. I don’t have any footballing heroes. And to many I’d be classed as a “football fraud”, a Johnny-come-lately gatecrasher.

But my support for the England team is no less real for that. Despite my woeful credentials as a “true fan” I find myself in spasms of disappointment and elation when I watch our national team. I’ve even been drawn into following the non-England matches.

I actually fret about Gareth Southgate when he’s watching England take penalty kicks. I wince when they bring Harry Kane down. I want Danny Rose to be happy.

It all brings back memories of a long car journey I took while listening to Olympic radio commentary of a dressage event. Dressage for goodness sake! Compared to my knowledge of dressage I’m a veritable professor of football. And yet – when Charlotte Dujardin and her horse won gold for Great Britain I let out an instinctive roar that no-one but me could hear on that busy motorway.

So please don’t judge the “part-time” fans too harshly. Patriotism runs through our veins just as forcefully as it does for the full-blooded football supporters. For all of us – this is our England.

Do the motoring journalists who review cars only ever test them when they’re brand new? I ask because I bought my spanking new Nissan Qashqai just sixteen months ago largely on the recommendation of such reviews. One year and four months later I really wish I hadn’t bothered. Here’s why…

Sudden failure

Stranded for more than three and a half hours in a car park in November I had time to reflect on that important purchase last year. It had seemed like the perfect car for me. It was not to be. My Qashqai had suffered sudden clutch failure accompanied by a smoking engine but what kept my spirits up was that I had a three year warranty with roadside assistance. Annoyingly the ‘assistance’ (provided through the RAC) proved slow and nowhere near as efficient as the AA. But worse was to come. Much worse.

Dangerous

Over a period of forty years I have driven Vauxhalls, Audis, Volvos, Fords and Volkswagens. I have never been stranded by clutch failure. In fact I’ve NEVER experienced clutch failure. Luckily the normally busy dual carriageway where the Qashqai engine started to smoke was relatively quiet at the time. With a sudden reduction in acceleration it could have been far more dangerous.

Expensive failure

And as if that wasn’t bad enough Nissan are now charging me £1,800 to repair the car. “No Mr. McCarthy,” the Nissan dealer explained, “the warranty doesn’t cover your clutch.

‘It’s not component failure. It’s the way the car has been driven,” he continued.

It seems to me now that those words were to lead into the long, dark, laborious one-way tunnel that is the Nissan complaints department. I won’t inflict on you dear reader the depressing details of the apparently endless phone calls.

Needless to say, my forty year long driving record with experience of numerous makes and models was clearly not enough for Nissan. The fact that my Qashqai had been serviced by Nissan just a few months before the catastrophic clutch failure was not enough for Nissan. The fact that I had a three year warranty was not enough for Nissan. The manufacturer accepted no responsibility and instead put the blame on me. I, rather than the clutch, was the problem.

Nissan? Never Again!

Every time I hear the ritual condemnation of gun attacks in America the whiff of insincerity becomes more rancid.

Next time (and tragically as we all know there will be a next time in the not too distant future) precisely the same sentiments will be expressed…sentiments with which the world has become all too familiar.

There will inevitably be another plea from on high that America should “stay united” in the face of such an onslaught. (What does that actually mean?) I suspect there will be many who feel that the words ring hollow because those who express such thoughts know there will be a next time. They know that nowhere on planet Earth is a nation so divided over gun laws. They know that for all its greatness America remains largely incapable of uniting its people behind the reform of gun law.

“Body count”

Eleven years ago I reported on the slaughter of five schoolchildren in a one-roomed schoolhouse in the Amish district of Lancaster in Pennsylvania. The “body count” by US standards was nowhere near as high as other more infamous school massacres. Yet there was something in the nature of the attack and the helplessness of its innocent young victims that made me sense that America was about to experience a seismic shift in public opinion on gun law. I was wrong.

I reported the ritual condemnation. I reported the “defence” offered by the gun lobby and the world waited. Then came the next gun attack. And America waited. And the next attack and the next… It is a tragedy beyond description that America is still waiting and is likely to remain so long after the next gun massacre and the next…

I’ve always had respect for rank and file police officers especially when they have to handle demonstrations for which they might well as individuals have some sympathy.

But a few days ago my respect was seriously tested by a handful of officers who stopped me from filming an anti-fracking protest in Lancashire.

I’d been trying to explain on camera a “lock-on” tube.  It’s a device usually made from a super heavy iron bar which activists use to make themselves as immobile as possible. It makes the job of removing them from a public highway, for example, much harder than it might otherwise be.

No choice

Without warning a group of officers came up behind me, confiscated the device.  I explained politely that I was working for Sky News but they insisted on escorting me on foot to my car (about a mile away) so that they could see my Press pass.  We had no choice but to stop our work.

Arrest

The cameraman I was working with offered to show his pass there and then but the officers refused to accept it.  Two of them from the neighbouring Cumbrian force insisted on seeing mine.  I pointed out that I was obviously working together with the cameraman (they could see we had a satellite vehicle) and surely it was clear to anybody that we there legitimately…but still they insisted.  I was under no doubt that had I refused they would have arrested me.  

The purpose of my report was to show how both demonstrators and the boss of energy firm Cuadrilla were increasingly concerned at the level of violence being used at fracking sites.  Campaigners say police and security guards are becoming increasingly heavy -handed.  Cuadrilla’s chief exec Francis Egan says it’s the demonstrators using violence and intimidation to stop people going about their law abiding work.

I, like the vast majority of journalists, am trying to report as impartially as I can.  So give us a break officers.  I’m just trying to go about my law abiding work.

A woman is beaten to death after being tortured by two teenage girls. That woman is Angela Wrightson (39) an alcoholic from Hartlepool. Her death and the subsequent trial of her two young murderers made national headlines.

So why is it that a few months later officials investigating her death refuse to name her? Not only that – in a news conference to present the results of their findings they call her ‘Carol’ to “anonymise” her.

Angela Wrightson.
Apparently they changed the murder victim’s name on advice from lawyers. But why?
Let’s be clear – there is no legal reason why we should NOT call Angela by her real name. The legal advice, journalists were told, was offered on the grounds that anyone searching her name on Google might indirectly be able to indentify Angela’s young attackers. I tried. You can’t. Incidentally a search using the words “Hartlepool” “alcoholic” “murder” and “teenagers” instantly brings up news articles which quite properly identify the victim as Angela Wrightson. She may have been a desperately sad alcoholic but she was also a real woman with a real name.

Ironic

Given that the senior civil servants who investigated Angela’s shocking death were themselves critical of the lack of information sharing between the various agencies involved in her care – is it not ironic that they should try to draw a veil over the victim’s identity?
The identity of child criminals is usually, and most of the time quite properly, hidden. But an adult victim?
The effect of the secrecy flies in the face of the idea that publicly funded authorities should be open and transparent. It also dehumanises the innocent victim who may as well have been called victim A.

For secrecy’s sake

Legal advice is just that…advice. It’s a shame that senior professionals in situations such as this often use legal advice to excuse what in Britain regularly amounts to secrecy for secrecy’s sake.

Colin Firth in a wet shirt.

So far so good. The election campaign is over the half way mark and unless I missed something – it’s been largely celebrity free. Here’s my plea to all parties – please keep it that way.

Can anything be more patronising than the assumption that because the Tories drag in a faded pop star or Labour invites a comedian in drag onto their platform that it will swing our votes?

Much as I admire the skills of actor George Clooney I can’t get out of my mind his self-assured (complacent?) drawl as he told the world months before the presidential election: “There’s not going to be a President Donald Trump.”

Before the 2010 General Election Gary Barlow told reporters: “There’s nobody more with it than David [Cameron].” Well he’s not with it now Gary!

Acting royalty

Defections leave me just as cold. After the Libdems entered a coalition government with the Tories the celebrated actor Colin Firth announced that he would no longer support them.  

How could anybody dislike good old Colin. He is British acting royalty. But please Messrs Firth, Clooney, Barlow and the entire troupe of actors, pop singers, dancers, soap stars etc. enjoy your no doubt we’ll-deserved success but please don’t use it in attempt to exert influence over the electorate.

I know it can’t be easy. You’re constantly being asked questions by those pesky reporters and you always give a straight answer, right? And everyone whether they be from our neglected backstreets or gilded mansions is entitled to a view surely?

But (as politicians are fond of saying) let’s be clear – have your view, answer the questions honestly but don’t expect me to put my cross in the same place as your’s because you have a good singing voice or once wore a wet shirt on screen.

Elite bubble

Although Hillary Clinton had very public support from megastars such as Beyoncé, Jay Z, Katy Perry and Bruce Springsteen it seemed to strengthen the perception that she existed inside an elite bubble.

For all it’s faults social media can amplify each voice. It gives the impression at least that in cyberspace one viewpoint is worth much the same as any other.

Stardust

It enhances the sense that the world should be a more egalitarian place, that every opinion matters and though we may be undecided we will consider the policies rather than be dazzled by stardust and swallow the words of a celebrity.

By Mike McCarthy

1. Journalists (‘journos’) get a bad Press…mostly from people who’ve been exposed in the media for doing something wrong.
2. There are some excellent exceptions out there…but getting transparency from many local authorities is like getting refunds from airlines.
3. Courtrooms are in desperate need of reform…starting with the ridiculous gowns and wigs.
4. Sometimes In court there’s the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…even when barristers know it’s not the truth.
5. It’s inspiring to deal with people who are not afraid to challenge the status quo and are prepared to speak out when the odds seem stacked against them.
6. ‘Exclusive’ doesn’t always mean exclusive.
7. Teargas stings.
8. Some politicians are right honourable.
9. Some press officers are actually ‘anti-press’ officers.
10. Journalism is the best gig in the world.