Consumers Are Right To Be Angry Over Unfair Banking Charges Verdict
Consumers are right to be angry at the decision of the Supreme Court to overturn previous court rulings that the OFT should investigate whether bank charges were unfair. This stinks of wealthy judges backing wealthy banks against the man in the street and the ordinary consumer.It is quite clear to me that banks charging up to £40 for a customer exceeding their overdraft limit is not only unfair. It is outrageous. Don't forget that the OFT described the charges as "difficult to understand, not transparent, and not subject to effective consumer control".There needs to be a competition review of banks - particularly now that so many of them are kept afloat using our

Meeting The Rocket
I was thrilled to meet one of the real sporting greats at an event last night. Ronnie 'The Rocket' O'Sullivan showed off his genius at the pool table, as well as being an absolute gent. An all too large part of my youth was spent in 'Supa Snooker' in Consett, never quite being able to understand how the guys w

Labour's Failure To Tackle Crime Hits The Poorest The Hardest
I spoke to the Durham Union on Friday in favour of the motion that "Britain is too soft on crime." The Shadow Justice Secretary, Dominic Grieve MP, was also speaking The Durham Union is a great venue and there were some really classy contributions from both sides of the debate. My argument was quite simple - it is working class areas who suffer most from crime and it is working class areas that suffer most from this Government being soft on crime. I made the point that if you suggested in any council estste in the country that we were not being too soft on crime, you would be laughed out of town. If you live in the 20% most deprived areas of the country you are twice as likel

Labour Are No Longer The Champions Of The Poor
Labour have comprehensively failed to help the most vulnerable. They have betrayed the great traditions of the Labour movement and presided over rising unemployment, declining social mobility, widening inequality and rising poverty. The Government has comprehensively let down those who placed most faith in it.This Labour Party, which is a pale shadow of the moral crusade of the past, can no longer claim to be the party of the vulnerable in society. It is no surprise, then, to see a poll in The Guardian this morning, which shows that the Conservatives are now regarded as being the

Test Match Cricket Should Be On Free To Air TV
Test match cricket should be on free to air TV. I strongly believe this and I'm delighted that the DCMS sponsored independent commission has reached the same conclusion as me. For the long term health of the game, as opposed to the financial health of already bloated county clubs, test match cricket must be exposed to the widest audience possible.This year's Ashes series (shown on pay per view TV) had an average audience several million smaller than the last home Ashes series (shown on free to air Channel 4). Whereas 2005 was a great nationally unifying series, 2009 was a great sporting event that suffered too much from being tucked away on a satellite subscription channel.