50 years on from the day the music died

HE looked gawkish and perhaps even academic. The young man from Lubbock in west Texas who wore heavy black-framed glasses was to change the world of popular music for ever. And for that, Buddy Holly deserves his place in the hall of fame of immortals....

Where were you Gordon and Barbara

TO Downing Street at 6pm for the Prime Minister's regional media reception. Ed Balls and wife Yvette Cooper turned up, as did Alastair Darling, Bed Bradshaw, and Margaret Beckett, with Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Communities Secretary Hazel Blears....

No saintly performance from Theresa

THE Tories had Labour banged up to rights over Heathrow. How can it possibly aid the twin goals of regional development and reducing carbon emissions to turn Heathrow into a three runway hub to rival Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris Charles de Gaulle? How...

A smooth and civilised transition

And so, nearly 24 hours after his inauguration, we can all calm down and assess how we feel about Barack Hussein Obama. Last evening on my laptop - the main TV in the room was showing Manchester Utd's Carling Cup game against plucky Derby County...

Truly A People's Friend

EXCUSE my lack of blogging in recent weeks, but I've been struck down by the vicious lurgy which seems to be afflicting most of the population. The bracing sea air of Eastbourne and the delight of wandering the Lanes in Brighton have put me on the path...

Eric and Ken take centre stage

MORE than three years into his leadership, David Cameron has now assembled a team ready for Government should that fateful day arise in the next 16 months. Bringing back Kenneth Clarke to take on Peter Mandelson is surely a stroke of genius and in appointing...

Israel must defend itself

WITH only a few weeks left in office, George Bush speaks some of the most intelligent words of his presidency - if Hamas doesn't want Israeli retalliation, it should stop firing rockets into southern Israel. We should remember that Israel is a legal,...