Two sets of photographs 24 hours apart. One was at the Durham Miners’ Gala. The other was in Horden, a former pit village a few miles from where I grew up. At first glance they seem to tell completely different stories. One is a celebration of brass bands, banners and working-class history. The other has … Read more
The UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) took place in Leeds last month. Reform were out in force, making policy announcements with the confidence of a party already in government. Although they hold no national power, many of their newly elected councillors are clearly behaving as though they do. Among the familiar themes … Read more
On 4 July 1776 the United States declared its independence from the greatest empire on earth. For 250 years Americans have celebrated that act of rebellion. The United States likes to think of itself as the country that threw off colonial rule, rejected empire and built something entirely new. The latest anniversary falls during the … Read more
Inside the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship I attended another far-right meeting this week. This one didn’t feature skinheads, St George’s flags or chants outside a hotel. Instead there were smart suits, venture capitalists, cabinet ministers, think tank directors and some of the most influential figures on the international conservative right. It was the Alliance for … Read more
We woke up 10 years ago to discover Britain had voted to leave the EU. For many a day of national humiliation. I started writing Industrial Estate of Mind shortly after the Brexit vote. At the time I was working just outside Durham in an area that had been solidly Labour for generations but had … Read more
I was in the Cambridge pub in Liverpool when the news showed Margaret Thatcher leaving Downing Street. She was being replaced by another Conservative, but we drank anyway. Not because the government had changed, but because an era had ended. If I’d gone out drinking every time a prime minister left Downing Street over the … Read more
I am not a big fan of Andy Burnham. That might seem a strange thing to say given that I am a member of Mainstream, the pro-Burnham group within Labour. Burnham is an astute politician. His municipal socialism is not far from my own instincts and, unlike many politicians, he has experience of life outside … Read more
How the Economics of Crime Changed the Capital If you wanted to rob a bank in London in the 1970s, there was at least a certain logic to it. Cash was everywhere. Workers were often paid in cash. Pubs took cash. Shops took cash. Payrolls arrived in envelopes. Bank branches held large sums of money, … Read more
There have been some noisy headlines about chaos in councils where Reform won seats last month: resignations, council meetings in disarray, councillors disappearing on holiday en masse. Durham became a Reform-controlled council last year, and I finally managed to catch some Reform councillors in action. I had spent months trying to speak to, photograph or … Read more
