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Noah's Ark is old hat so why tell it yet again? Noah's Ark is a story that people have told and retold for thousands of years. How can it be new? People at St Paul's Penketh Warrington have a project that will tell the story in a new way. It will be child-friendly but...

Worship is what you do in church isn't it? Worship takes place in old buildings made of stone with steeples and pews and pulpits. Everyone knows that. surely? All right, there are modern buildings, but a lot of people prefer the traditional ones. They give a sense of...

Tasers are in the news Tasers cause a lot of complaints. Obviously, nobody likes being tasered, but are the complaints fair? A recent report shows that many of them are. People rightly point out that the report looks only at cases where there were complaints. How...

Crime fiction is popular I write fiction in which my heroes fight crime, like so many in print and on TV, but in real life, the fight is not just about individuals. It involves the whole criminal justice system, which includes the police, the courts, the probation...

Police heroes occur often in crime fiction Police heroes appear on our TV screens every night and they appear in print in whodunits and thrillers. Most of us would like to think their real-life counterparts have much in common with these imaginary heroes. Books and TV...

Back to normal is coming soon Back to normal aka Freedom Day is promised for the 19th of this month, when the government will lift all, or nearly all, legal restrictions to control the pandemic. The government that imposed these is making this sound like a victory. It...

White working-class people are suddenly in the news White working-class people were once the bread and butter of news and current affairs. Apparently, they have been overlooking them for some time due to the emphasis on racial and other minorities. Suddenly some...

Gestures and gesture politics: what is it? ;Gestures', 'gesture politics' and 'virtue signalling' are expressions Pretty Patel and others have used recently. They were commenting on people who had taken the knee at football matches. Such acts are obviously gestures!...

What is woke? Woke is a fairly new word, I think. Some people have been accusing me of it. They say I am joining in a culture war. People do not usually think of me me as warlike or cultured. Not if you mean highbrow or sophisticated but I suppose everyone is part of...

Corrupt police are in the news not only in a drama series Corrupt police appear to have contributed to the death of Daniel Morgan, a private investigator from Cardiff. That is how I understand press reports on the independent enquiry into the case. Previously the...

Whose last enemy? The BBC may be the last enemy of the Conservative Party, according to some. Recent events have played well for the enemies of the corporation. Here's a sketch about how things might have gone. Who knows? Down with the Last Enemy: the BBC Prime...

Make History History? Why? How? There has been a lot of controversy about the teaching of history and the preserving of national myths and monuments. This sketch is my contribution to the debate. MAKE HISTORY HISTORY! Prime Minister [Sid James]: Cor blimey! What a...