Men Are Not A Monolith

I’ve seen many a post along the lines of ‘Men need to talk about X’, ‘Why are Men not speaking out more about Y?’ or even ‘He’s a 10 but he hasn’t posted about Z.’ Men. Grouped together. As if we were a homogonous block. As if there were a club where we all get […]

The Beauty of a Good Bet

‘One whole year. You won’t go to Snobs for one whole year.’ ‘Bet.’ It hurt me, but I had to take the bet, I had to back my claim. I’m aware most people reading this blog will be familiar with Snobs, but for the uninitiated, Snobs was a pillar of Birmingham nightlife for decades. I’m […]

Beyond Motherhood and Apple Pie

During American Psycho, Patrick Bateman delivers this speech: Patrick Bateman : We have to end apartheid for one. And slow down the nuclear arms race, stop terrorism and world hunger. We have to provide food and shelter for the homeless, and oppose racial discrimination and promote civil rights, while also promoting equal rights for women. We have […]

The Grey Boy

It was my second year of teaching when Martin* first walked into the classroom wearing a grey shirt. He was a good kid. Top set but would often take it easy. Got his homework done, got his head down, and never gave me any issues. A student I was grateful to teach amid tougher groups. […]

Dismantle Height Supremacy

Ladies, your dating filters are keeping you single. I have a confession. I’m not 6ft. But I’ll tell you something, on every single dating app I was on in my single days, that stat went straight to 6ft. 6’1 if I was planning on wearing those boots with the chunky heel on the first date. […]

Everywhere is a Shithole

Spend long enough on social media and you’ll come across the person who has a location in their bio, ‘Cheshire / MCR’. These people wear where they live like a badge of honour. And it’s always struck me as odd. Look, as a throat clearing, I understand there is a practical element to this. Letting […]

Gin Lane ’22

You clicked on the link. Go figure. Thanks for stopping by. Years ago, I used this blog as a repository for my work. If you’re interested in reading some of it, please go for it, although I’d probably warn against doing so. I’ve left a few of the less tedious posts up as an archive. […]

Greater Birmingham needs a Super PAC

Published as a opinion piece on The Chamberlain Files. My colleague Paul Dale wrote at length yesterday about the ideas being discussed in recent contributions to the localism debate from Labour Party heavyweights in a series of lectures and pamphlets. He ended on a weary note, that devolution was always a day away, because he’s heard […]

London Vs. Everywhere

Published as a opinion piece on The Chamberlain Files. In his third voyage, Gulliver encounters the floating island of ‘Laputa’. The island hovers above the lower island of ‘Balnibarbi’, where it uses its considerable technological advances to dominate the people below. It’s a striking image of a nation divided, where rulers above are literally detached from […]

Hurricane Benefits Street: a perfect Twitterstorm

Published as a opinion piece on The Chamberlain Files. I suggest Benefits Street has achieved what Jon Bounds has termed 0.7 Morans. The ‘Moran Scale’, much like its Richter or Beaufort equivalents, is a means by which Mr Bounds suggests we can measure the strength of a ‘Twitterstorm’. Over to Mr Bounds: It’s an attempt to give a […]