Isolation telly - some from me to you - recommendations welcome

As we enter the third week of isolation, it seemed like a moment to sum up where we are with various bits of telly drama and films since I last did a review of telly in June last year.

The Crown (Netflix) - it took us a while but we're up to date with the sprawling dramatised peep into the lives of the Windsors. I liked the earlier ones with Claire Foy as Her Maj, but season three picked up with her warm relationship with Harold Wilson, brilliantly played by Jason Watkins.

The English Game (Netflix) - there were even more liberties with the historical truth in this period drama that felt a bit like Downton Abbey meets Escape to Victory. My eldest son Joe is in it as a supporting actor, (pictured, to the left) so I was bound to be a bit excited. The footballing history was a bit warped, which was a shame, blurring two Blackburn teams. But it was well made, with a good historical storyline that though it wasn't always real, it had a wider evidential truth to it about the era. There's a long piece to be done on Fergus Suter and Blackburn Olympic.

The Capture (BBC) - seems a while ago now, but this BBC dystopian drama set in London where a young soldier is fitted up for a crime was pretty gripping, even if its moral twists and turns were really annoying.

The Walking Dead (Fox) - I'm the last one standing in our family when it comes to this zombie apocalypse now in its TENTH season. Some of the recent episodes have been really good, plenty of tension and some unexpected deaths that seem to have had the effect of moving it all on from its dark days of season 8, when I actively wished its demise. The plotlines have sometimes followed the comic book arc too closely, but the rhythm has really picked up now. Disappointed I haven't managed to catch up with Fear The Walking Dead season 5, or even to locate where it is.

The Stranger (Netflix) - loved this locally shot thriller. Kept you guessing all the way through, with judicious use of plot manipulation. Loved the chase scene that went from Stockport Market, through Manchester city centre and ended up at the railways sidings in Bury. Impressive.

Homeland (Channel 4) - best season since the first. Half way through and Carrie is at her unpredictable and brilliant best.

Succession (Sky Atlantic) - Gutted we came to this late. The script is one of the sharpest, sweariest most cutting I've seen in a while. The acting so on point. We're now puzzled as to where we can see the second season.

COBRA (Sky One) - a bit of nonsense really, but slightly prescient as turned out. Scratched the itch that the absence of Spooks has caused, and liked Robert Carlyle very much.

Keeping Faith (BBC) - didn't like the second series as much as the first and wasn't sold on the idea of a new actor to play the arch baddie Gael Reardon. Good to see the return of Faith's yellow parka far more than her drippy husband.

Better Call Saul (Netflix) - me and Matt are really enjoying Season 5 of the Breaking Bad prequel, which has started gently segueing into the universe of Walter and Jesse. The levels of deception cut right across the storylines and the quality of the acting is never less than terrific.

Ozark (Netflix) - I'm one episode in to the third season which dropped at the weekend, as they say.

Looking forward to Save Me Too with Lennie James and Suranne Jones on Sky One. The first season was a couple of years ago and was probably the highlight when I did this round up in 2018. The two minute trailer had me panting.

Now all them things that seemed so important ...

Well, mister, they vanished right into the air

Day two of the great lockdown and here we are quoting Bruce Springsteen and trying to keep calm and carry on.

Last week the most pressing non-work issue on my mind was what new hiking boots to get in time to break in for my trip to the beautiful English Lake District to climb Skiddaw and Catbells in April*. Other quibbles like sporting tournaments, the trains and the Labour leadership election all seem so utterly inconsequential now.

We're not sure when or if or even how one of our sons is getting back from his posting in Africa. One of our students is home and the other confined to his high rise residence. But we have technology to keep in touch with parents and friends, these are the blessings we count.

We've signed up for the local support networks, we've done that through our Church and unofficial community networks, but it's imperfect and unclear what we can safely contribute other than to stay at home and try not to fall over each other.

On that imperfection, I've also heard it said that there will be a reckoning for how organisations behave. Rachel and I both work for large complex organisations trying to keep on top of difficult communications issues, and with so many moving parts. Difficult decisions are being made, but always with the very best of intentions. Seeing the government wrestle with this, and then how businesses react, show's painfully that not everyone will get this right all of the time. Yes, the Wetherspoons bloke, Ian Lavery, Mike Ashley and Britannia Hotels appear to have acted with predictable insensitivity, but in many cases we should try and cut people a bit of slack, I think.

This is new for us all. It is a test for us all, we can help each other, stay as positive as we can and hopefully emerge better, more decent and more caring as a result. I might post a few TV and book reviews from time to time, but if you fancy a natter, get in touch.

*Haglofs Skuta mid-proof eco in barque/maroon red, in case you were wondering

Our train hell - Channel 4 Dispatches on Monday

After five weeks of hard work, and a lot of train travel, Channel 4 Dispatches' "Britain's Train Hell" is airing on Monday 16th March at 8pm on Channel 4.

I helped out by talking through our experiences on the line from Rose Hill or Marple into Manchester Piccadilly and home again, and submitting a video diary. The producer has written to thank me for my contribution to the film. Many other people submitted video diaries, and they have tried to use as many of these as possible, but have a watch on Monday and see if mine is in there. If it isn't then I'm fine with that, because if someone else can give their powerful and personal testimony in a far better way than me, then brilliant.

It's more important we keep this message up that our trains are unacceptable. They are still shocking. I actually dislike the Sprinters as much as the Pacers. I love the beautiful long new electric trains that run from Blackpool to Hazel Grove, but we can't have them, we still have antiquated diesel cast offs.

Give the programme a watch and do let us know what you think.

Well done to Big Issue in the North - journalism at its best

Over the course of the last year or more I've done a few blog posts about a corrosive element of Manchester business that wasn't been held to account. One was a talk at Alliance Manchester Business School, here. Or this one about policing the boundaries of a community, here.

The media seem to have precious few reporters and editors prepared to dig in and do a story exposing wrongdoing. There are many reasons for that: some have become supine, some are complicit and others lack the resources.

So fair play to the bravery of the The Big Issue in the North, under the editorship of Kevin Gopal, in doing a story about missing pension payments by a bust company director with multiple identities, who also claimed to run a charity.

Go out and buy this terrific little magazine and support the work they do.

Or if you're out of range, read this excellent story here.

And shame on those who have supported and boosted the people who are doing such harm to the reputation of our city.

Lunch of the month for February - Refuge

Lunch of the month for February was from a fairly lean field as I was away for a week of a short month. But it is no less a mark of quality as it was the Worker’s Lunch at the Refuge. They rotate the menu depending on the week and on the day I went we were fortunate enough to have a choice which included a gorgeous chunky beef ragu in tomato with thick ribbons of pasta (which I had). My lunch pal Steve Kay had the vegetarian noodle soup. For £7 a head it’s really decent.

I was also treated to a lunch at Tast, which was long overdue - both for the company I was lucky enough to have - my mate Michael Finnigan - as well as the restaurant. However, really, honestly, this exercise is about something you grab and is under a tenner, ideally, rather than a culinary experience. Tast was a Catalan taste sensation, so I'm just putting that out there. 

Also impressive this month was Hanoi75 in the pop up paradise that is Hatch, under the Mancunian Way - and it was a very well blended box of veg, chicken and noodles. 

I also really enjoyed a gloriously dirty Katsu curry from Nudo. Sometimes when it’s cold and wet (and it was wasn't it, February really made me shiver) it is just what you need. Katsu like this has a taste and texture like the very best Chinese takeaway curry I remember from my youth, Woo Ping in Lancaster.

Keep the suggestions coming, and if I've not seen you for a while, let's grab lunch!

Tony Blair talking sense again

Martin Cook RIP my friend

We said goodbye to Martin Cook this week, one of the nicest guys I have ever known. It was an absolute choker, to be honest. More so for how sudden it seemed, because although I knew he'd been poorly, I assumed he was over the worst and on the mend.

There have been two dates marked on the calendar that won't have been met over the course of the last year. His wedding to Bev last July in Dublin which we didn't get to, and a night out in Blackburn with Trevor, Tony, Robin, and Cookie, next Saturday, after the Swansea game. The importance of both of those dates to him is now so cruelly apparent.

At the funeral in Dublin yesterday it was, as all of these occasions attempt to be, a celebration of a life as much as the mourning of a loss. But I still can't feel much to celebrate today. I spent the day with Trevor Curson, someone I met at the same time as Cookie, and with whom we have shared so much, and that is a real blessing. It rammed home to me the real aching need to connect and make sure these friendships get the love and attention they deserve.

I first met Cookie in 1989 when as a fellow professional Northerner in London I started turning out for the Blackburn Rovers London supporters team on Sundays at Wormwood Scrubs. Cookie was a great manager, bringing a bit of humour and effort to the job. He was the epitome of a team player, going in goal if necessary, making the tough decisions about who played where and who was a sub (me, usually). But a team formed of such a mixed bag of people inevitably you found your own. On our end of season tours to Devon and Sussex we'd properly bond, me Trevor and Cookie in particular eventually forming the editorial team on the Blackburn Rovers London fanzine Many Miles From Home (Best Boy, Key Grip and Dubbin Mixer).

I did a blog a few years ago about 20 amazing football memories - which was way too limiting. Cookie featured in a few but he pulled me up on missing out Grimsby away 1991, where we sold hundreds of fanzines, had an astonishingly good fish and chips and saw a terrific 3-2 win. It was also about the journeys, the mix tapes we'd make to play in the car, or the crack we'd have on the train. I have probably never laughed as much in my life as I did on the way back from Sheffield Wednesday in 1992 when we composed a ludicrously childish and self deprecating "what type of Rovers fan are you?" quiz for our fanzine. Nor will I forget kipping on his hotel floor pre-Cardiff in 2002 (18 years ago, almost to the day) and spending the match day together getting soaked, before heading into the stadium for an epic day.

Tinseltown in the rain - Cardiff 2002

We went out for dinner together in Dublin a few years ago and he brought some Irish Rovers t-shirts for the kids, which was such a great example of his generosity. I managed to squeeze into one last weekend for the trip to Charlton, where we seemed to bump into people all day all saying the same thing - "how sad about Cookie". Charlton, like most London grounds, was somewhere we went together loads of times over the years, one extending into a great East End night out with his mate Tom McCourt, a lovely bloke with a massive hinterland of stories from musical history.

Listening to the wonderful eulogies in Dublin yesterday you get to hear perspectives from people he worked with, his family from Blackburn, the friends he's made in Dublin since he moved there. Although they were a view of him I didn't have, they were all consistent in the themes of generosity, warmth, friendship, loyalty, doing things properly, but also with a real intelligence. He'd write incredibly well put together Christmas cards, and they were not only funny, but precise. It was apparent when we did the fanzine together that his standards and attention to language was very high. So it was no surprise that he eventually turned his back on local government and civil engineering and retrained as a broadcast journalist. Along with Facebook, that's given us a slice of Cookie in our lives; his recorded voice on the Dublin Inquirer podcasts and on Dublin City FM; all marked out with his humour, his commitment, and his absolutely tip top music choices, which he also must have chosen for his service  - The Clash foremost amongst them, a bit of Morrissey, but the observational melancholy of The Jam's That's Entertainment.

All I can say tonight is give your mates a ring. Invest in those friendships that truly mean something. I've always said the key to happiness is spending time with the people who you love and I loved Cookie, I'm really going to miss him. But not only are there all the times we didn't have more recently, but all the times we did. Go easy, step lightly, stay free.

Lunch of the month for January - Grow Cafe

Manchester lunch of the month for January is our very own Grow Cafe in the Manchester Metropolitan University Business School. Not only was it a wholesome home cooked soup and a slice of beetroot focaccia pizza, it felt healthy and fresh too. Lovingly served by staff who totally get the whole ethos behind Grow and its commitment to plant based eating and sustainable food, it is such a great addition to the choice I have. Not something you would always say about University catering. The whole idea behind Grow emerged from a  Project called Met Munch which promotes sustainable habits in food and drink. And all for just over £3.

Other honourable mentions to Philpotts, the Lasso Gowrie, Chimaek and Falafil. 

I was long overdue a trip to the ever excellent Philpotts branch on the corner of Portland and Oxford. I had a real craving for a hot sandwich on good quality bread on what was a cold day. The system in Philpotts does freak some people out, but I don’t mind queuing twice for something as good as the hand made beef, mushroom, onions and gravy in a seeded roll, not at all. It actually gave me time to think about which posh crisps to get as as a side - black pepper Kettle Chips as it goes. I did a story a few years ago about how Philpotts initially chased Pret out of town, and I'm really pleased they got out of the financial basket case that was Patisserie Valerie and seem to be thriving. The sandwich was just the job on a cold day, generous and well made, but a treat at just under a fiver. 

I was in two minds about whether to include Korean joint Chimaek and the traditional pub meal at Lasso Gowrie. For reasons of academic ethics compliance I can only refer to my lunch chum in the final report as “Professor A” but he did describe it as “KFC meets Wagamama” - and we devoured the potato twirl like a pack of hungry “wolves”. It was both an assault on the senses and a bit confusing as to what to order, which is why we emerged stuffed and spiced and probably a little lighter in the pocket than I planned. Here’s the other “but”. The Lancashire Hot Pot at the Lass doesn’t quite meet the criteria for popping out for a quick lunch AND it was part of a walking tour package with Freshwalks. However, we will be back at Chimaek now we’ve collectively completed a literature review of the menu and agreed on a future methodology.

First week back after Christmas the lunch of the week winner was a bit of a shoe-in. As I was in Nottingham one day and skipped lunch on two others, I had a great Friday treat in the shape of a fresh, tasty, and ridiculously good value of Falafil Express on Oxford Road. I go for a medium falafel wrap for £3, with hummus, tahini, chilli sauce, lettuce, chopped cucumber and tomatoes, potatoes and a dash of red cabbage. Astonishes me every time that I enjoy it without equivocation, know exactly what I’m getting and still manage to make such a mess! Yet I’m never tempted by a salad box, stuffed vine leaves or plain hummus. It is a triumph and never ever disappoints.

So, well done to Grow for standing out in a very strong field.

Labour in denial - why the leadership contest is devoid of thinking

So, I said I'd try and write a piece on our politics every week and set out the main topics in a rough order, starting last week with the personal story of how I got here. This time I'm looking at the basic premise that Labour party members are in denial; that the sheer scale of Labour's defeat hasn't sunk in.

I think they are, massively so. I base that on what people say, in person, on social media, in long reads and of course, how the leadership selections are going. There doesn't appear to be much self-reflection. Before I present any evidence, I should say it could be said that I might be proved entirely wrong by future events. That electing Kier Starmer or Lisa Nandy will be proof that the party is willing to change, and wants to do so, in order to win. In turn, if they elect Rebecca Long-Bailey, the clear continuity Corbyn candidate, then the point is proven easily. But I don't think it's as simple as that. I think the entire Corbyn project was an act of denial and indulgence, a cry to stop the world and imagine a better one is possible, rather than the one we have. The project is to turn Labour into a Latin American style movement of the righteous, or less like the social democratic parties of Europe, and more like Spain's Podemos and Syrizia in Greece. It would no longer be a party obsessed with what being in government means and how society works, and thus interested in a different way of governing. Example: how many times do you think senior Labour figures have asked Andy Burnham how he has managed to reduce rough sleeping in Greater Manchester and to make it a Labour policy to take nationally? Never. Nor were Mayors even mentioned in the Argos catalogue of endless bounty, the Labour manifesto of 2019.

The behaviour of new Corbyn era MPs is a further illustration of this, gurning in virtue signalling selfies, others posting videos insolently binning parliamentary correspondence. Then there's Len McCluskey, touring the TV studios extolling the "members" who are excited by Richard Burgon's "vision" without ever being able to explain what it is, nor seemingly aware of the irony of men in committees anointing their favoured sons with no democracy in sight. He's just the latest baron wielding an extraordinary power but with no other discernible success to his name. I wasn't surprised to discover that the vast majority of Britain's 35,000 firefighters don't even take part in leadership elections that see the left rule their union. At a time when the country faces a skills crisis, the one organisation with a direct relationship to its membership has utterly failed to seize their manifest destiny. It's a sick joke at the expense of the British people. A paper army.

But much as Len wishes it so, the Labour leadership election will be decided by all members, not just one. It's difficult to know who the members are at this stage, but the YouGov poll (above) seems to suggest they still adore "Jeremy" and hate the leader who won three elections. The activists turning up to CLP meetings to argue the toss on selections represent, on two recent accounts I've had first hand, around 10% of the local membership. Are they a representative sample? Again, I don't know. Though I've heard it said that the Labour period of reflection will be based on learning from the suffering of four straight election defeats. I disagree. Maybe the dedicated core do, but most of the Labour selectorate don't think like that. They weren't around for 2010 and 2015, they think they won in 2017 and the 2019 defeat was only because of the media and Brexit. One more heave should do it. Glen O'Hara nails it all in his long read here. The evidence is backed up by the further details of the YouGov poll, here, where the members polled think the party's purpose isn't about defending working people. Or the ESRC funded project which found almost a quarter of Labour members blame the media, to quote one: “Tory funded MSM lies and misleading articles and campaigns along with daily lies and propaganda on Tory owned main TV channels starting with the BBC!”. There's a good piece by Professor Tim Bale on this process, here.

At first sight another review of the General Election by Ed Miliband and a few others has set out a far reaching inquest. A first survey has blamed "division and gimmicks" but this isn't an official review, but a freelance operation. True, it might give a veneer of soul searching, but it's still asking the wrong people.

The official review was leaked this week. Allies of Andrew Gwynne have already distanced the Denton and Reddish MP from any role in it. Apparently the startling summary was written by Ian Lavery, the party chairman, who frankly came across as a thug and a bully in an encounter during the election with the journalist Michael Crick. It is a breathtaking account to read. Running through it is a zealous determination to avoid stating the obvious vote losing factor: Corbyn himself. No, they blame media smears and attacks, they blame the Conservative's social media campaign which reminded people who Corbyn's allies have been. 

Just a quick point on the so-called media smears. It's not a smear if it's true. This is called scrutiny. Frankly, I think they got off lightly. Precious few interviewers managed to lay a glove on magic grandpa on the subject of anti-semitism. The wreath, the mural, the Vice documentary where he attacks Jonathan Freedland and can't explain what Ken Livingstone had been suspended for. His record on Northern Ireland, his questions in the House of Commons on troop movements, were the actions of an operational outlier for the IRA, never mind a sympathiser. The lack of respect for any achievements of Labour in power shows they were never serious about winning it.

And this, in truth, is the mood music for the leadership election. Candidates must trash New Labour, call the Corbyn experiment a success, hail its radicalism, lavish praise on the wonders of the movement, the unions and the members, fetishise the membership without ever stopping to question whether the culture in the party is one of the problems. Maybe it has attracted the very people in politics who are the least able to do the required job of persuasion and advocacy? And it surely would be the kiss of death for any candidate to ask the members to take a moment to address that most uncomfortable of truths. Maybe the nation you feel you are morally superior to actually hates you. Hates the social media blue ticks and their abhorrent hectoring, those plummy media shock troops sent out to defend "Jeremy" against the "centrists", the "slugs and melts", and decry anyone who refuses to go along with this nonsense as a "Tory". Maybe the high contact rates and appearance of campaigners on housing estates works against the Labour party? And what are the stated priorities of the leadership candidates? Party democracy, that hideous idea that places an imbalance of power in the hands of a self-selecting self-appointed elite.

I'm reading a book at the moment called A Left For Itself - Left Wing Hobbyists and Performative Radicalism by David Swift. I'll let you know how I get on. But an early quote sets a marker - "Traditionally, people got involved in radical political movements mostly because they had to, to improve their own lives and communities." By contrast now it is out of a sense of altruism, and they'll soon get bored and do something else. Incidentally, there are traits of this in the liberal Remain movement too.

None of that comes close to addressing how the country feels and thinks, even less how a serious political party has to take any of that on board. Maybe promising more big state interventions doesn't quite cut it with someone who gets the runaround by the local council when they're trying to sort out fly tippers, or has a problem with a neighbour, or can't get a straight answer out of HMRC? Or trying to get a hospital appointment for a child, or for an elderly parent? Computer says no. While popular commercial services are increasingly personalised and relentlessly delivered for the convenience of their customers, who has the vision to shape public services in that same way, rather than looking at them primarily from the perspective of those struggling to deliver them? The officials in the DWP who order sanctions on people getting Universal Credit are supposed to be the vanguard of a solution. Yet the conversation pivots around more and more doing stuff to people, and by a distant other. Likewise, there still seems to be no serious attempt to understand how people in most places in this country live their lives. Theresa May came closest when she synthesised the 'just about managing' while Labour just lumped everyone in a box as the devastated poor and needy. Don't get me wrong, cuts to local government and mental health and drug and alcohol services have a direct line to those people holding out a cup when you walk through any town centre. But a mature response requires explaining what has happened and suggesting a solution to address austerity. But that also can't be all you have to say to people - portraying them as without agency and as in need of being rescued by Labour, when they generally get on with shoring up their lives, thanks very much. And while I'm here, people are not in low paid service jobs in the private sector because of austerity.  

There's another factor at play in the Labour selectorate. While Labour may have piled up votes in cities and university constituencies, this is also reflected in the movement of its membership in that same direction. How many of the supposed 580,000 members even know a working class person, let alone think they can build a movement to earn their votes and their trust? The longer this campaign goes on, the dimmer the memory of the election shines in the minds of the faithful, the more important are the articles of faith, rather than the hot takes of today. That favours the left and the loyalty to Jeremy.

Is it denial? Or just the actions of a party not serious about power. A party of protest, of hobbyists and virtue signallers. The intellectual searching that took place in the 1980s was deep and far reaching. Michael Foot took personal responsibility in a way that Corbyn simply has not. Rightly, the 1983 manifesto was referred to as the longest suicide note in history, while the 2019 version is regarded as a sacred text which struck all the right notes, just not necessarily in the right order. And while the work of Stuart Hall and the New Times analysis came to a series of smart (and winning) conclusions, in today's far more febrile, yet technologically enriching time of possibilities, there seems nothing beyond illiterate economics, luxury communism, and tirades against working class nativists.

So here's a prediction: I think Rebecca Long Bailey will be the next leader in a close run tussle with Keir Starmer. Angela Rayner will be comfortably elected deputy on the first round.   

NEXT: Find and Replace "industrial+strategy" - The nature and character of this Conservative government is still widely misunderstood. Why I'm not even convinced that they'll 'get Brexit done' to the satisfaction of Nigel Farage and the ERG.

Me and politics

With Change candidates and Luciana Berger (front left) in Liverpool 

I started 2019 pledging to work hard to build a new political movement, getting selected to stand in an election. I ended the year totally disengaged. Here's what happened.

I never made a secret of how much I opposed Jeremy Corbyn and his fellow travellers. I never wanted Corbyn on the ballot in 2015. I never accepted that he was credible, nor did I ever think it would work. Even if he did prove popular, I couldn't in all conscience want them in power.  But from that time on, though I would continue to read widely, would support events for groups like Progress and Blue Labour, and I still wrote a lot, in truth I dipped in and out of local activity. However, unlike Corbyn I campaigned to Remain in the EU like I meant it. In local elections I supported candidates I considered competent and who ought to be on the local council and was genuinely pleased when the Labour Group took control of Stockport. I stopped going to meetings in 2017 and though I campaigned for Andy Burnham to be Mayor, and for Jonathan Reynolds in the next door constituency in the General Election of that year, I was well on the fringes. There were rows along the way, I fell out with people, distanced myself from others, made a really foolish tactical decision, but during that period our house got attacked and a window smashed. There is only one person I know who would be angry enough to do that to anyone at this address, and self-righteous enough to think it was a justified response. But what disheartened me more than anything was the sense that they'd won. This was amplified by the compromises good people in Labour were having to make to accommodate Corbynism, and for me it was too much. Not when the depth of the thuggery and anti-semitism was so apparent.

But while there are so many Sliding Doors moments where I made small tactical decisions that may have worked out differently over the last five years, I only have to think of the colleagues locally in Labour who gave me the most encouragement. One was completely stitched up by the party and prevented from standing to be an MP, another has stepped down from politics altogether. Others keep their portfolios in different local councils and do an honest job looking out for their constituents in what must be the most undervalued and misunderstood role in British politics, the ward councillor. Partly because of the high standard, dedication and professionalism of people like them it's not a job I could do to that acceptable standard.

In the end leaving Labour wasn't hard. But I didn't do the whole show of cutting up my card and writing a long letter to the constituency chair. In the end I just stopped paying subs, eventually getting a very nice email from her checking whether I'd lapsed, thanking me for 'helping us raise our game', and passing on her best wishes to the family. It felt sad, but also a relief.

I'd always got on very well with Ann Coffey, the Stockport MP, and liked the cordial and thoughtful policy forums she would host in the constituency, separate from the toxicity of the CLP meeting. She was forthright and imaginative in how she thought about policy challenges, but resolute in her outright opposition to Corbyn. When she bravely stepped forward as one of the original Independents who quit the party in January 2019 I reached out to support her straight away. If I'm brutally honest, I was surprised so few others locally did.

Come April time, although Luciana Berger, Chuka Umunna and the rest were grabbing media headlines, they must have been disappointed more MPs didn't join them, but they made a stand against the fractious nature of politics, especially as there didn't seem to be a way of breaking the Brexit deadlock. With Theresa May extending her withdrawal of the EU and pointless European Parliament elections looming, I applied to be a candidate for Change UK. 

I was interviewed in London by Sarah Wollaston and Gavin Shuker, met a few other would be candidates (the identity of some would make your jaw drop). I was really thrilled to be selected to be on the top half of the slate. The other North West candidates and our tight group of supporters were great. We had illuminating and fascinating conversations and ideas, and they all came to the campaign with such a generous spirit and a remarkable can-do attitude. But the whole campaign was tough. Nationally it was a bit of a shambles, and on the ground the going was rough at times. We were spat at, jostled, verbally abused, though for the most part we supported one another and it was good fun. I also got a kicking on social media from the left, which caused me problems at work, and showed what a shabby rabble they are capable of being, but also how personally resilient you have to be.

Continuity Change, Manchester, Summer 2019

We all know the result, we got wiped out and the whole project fractured. But I firmly believed that we had to be part of a renewed radical centre and in those frantic days afterwards - when we all had an opinion - I urged MPs and candidates to stick together as a group and draw other parties to a new project, offering to host a gathering in Manchester to chart a way forward. We did that and it was energetic and optimistic, but it still felt like we were swimming against a tide. It just wasn't our time.

However, we weren't doing so from a position of strength, which meant we had to effectively join with the LibDems. After Chuka joined them, I sat at home one night and ticked a box to apply to join and waited to see what would happen. A few days later, I got a message from a Conservative acquaintance intimating he knew what I'd done and that it was gossip worthy - was I going to be a local candidate? By the end of the week I was called by the local party who said they'd need to come and have a chat. Long story short, it was less of a negotiation than an interrogation, never once was I asked what I might be able to contribute, and most of the conversation involved going through a dossier of rude things I'd said on this blog and in election leaflets. Basically, they didn't want me.

That was a fairly existential moment. Given my job, and my network, I talk to people with interesting ideas about policy development all the time. But my personal conduct, my style, owes more to commentary and journalism than party discipline. I bristle at cynical pavement politics, playing to prejudice, doing the easy thing, rather than the brave thing. Politics should be about leadership and service, not one at the expense of the other. I firmly believe communities that are engaged and passionate have endless possibilities to achieve more. My amazing wife has set up a youth social action group at our church, which proves that. And I really love the energy of a social movement like the People's Powerhouse which builds on my own lifelong passion for a renewed civic politics of a devolved England. But at the same time I also like the bustle of a campaign.

And so it came to December and apart from giving my son Matt lifts to Altrincham to campaign in Labour's key target seat, I sat out the 2019 General Election, just doing some events and media work. I voted Liberal Democrat, despite huge misgivings over their campaign. Appalled as I was by the terrible choice I had - the nation had - my only feeling when the exit poll came out was vindication. I'm aware that can be seen as a terrible indulgence, but it was always going to lead to this. Jeremy Corbyn was never going to win, nor was he going to end homelessness, injustice and poverty in one sweep. 

I genuinely don't know what to do now. This piece has been cathartic to write. Yes, it's all about me and what I've done, which is awkward, but hopefully I'm going to have time to write other analytical pieces and move on from this now, because obviously the world doesn't revolve around me. I'm still in touch with a great network of activists in Labour, the LibDems, and most of the ex-Change candidates. And yes, I'm even friendly with a few Conservatives. My job requires me to have a grip on what's going on politically, and my interest in the shifting sands of politics never wanes. But I don't need politics the way some people do. Maybe that's where I need to be, just on the edge. Afterall, there's plenty of material for another book!

Next: The sheer scale of Labour's defeat

Our politics, my take and where we go from here

I didn't take part in the 2019 General Election, except to host a series of hustings for Quest Media Group in their circulation areas of High Peak, Ashton and Stalybridge & Hyde. It also seems like I haven't taken part in this blog much either, which is neglectful.

There are a few reasons for that; I've got a lot on. But there's also plenty of opinion out there, so I'm not making a priority of pitching hot takes and ready made opinions into a crowded market. However, a few common themes keep emerging in meetings and snatched conversations though that could do with a wider consideration.

So, here are a few longer pieces I want to write:

Me and politics - I started the year pledging to work hard to build a new political movement, getting selected to stand in an election, campaigning and sticking with it for a while. I ended the year totally disengaged. What happened?

The sheer scale of Labour's defeat hasn't sunk in with the members - I've heard it said that the Labour period of reflection will be based on suffering four straight election defeats. I disagree. Most of the Labour selectorate don't think like that. They weren't around for 2010 and 2015, they think they won in 2017 and the 2019 defeat was only because of the media and Brexit. One more heave should do it. Glen O'Hara nails it all in his long read here.

Find and Replace "industrial+strategy" - The nature and character of this Conservative government is still widely misunderstood. I'm not even convinced that they'll 'get Brexit done' to the satisfaction of Nigel Farage and the ERG.

The cunning genius theory - what's all the fuss about Dominic Cummings?

Evil conspiracy theory - how do the left think? Who is rigging the rigged system? Why are bad things happening? Who are "the few"? And why this is a really big problem.

Electoral reform, if only the rules had been different - The Tories wouldn't be in power if the electoral system had been proportional representation by national vote share. Yes, and Manchester United would have beaten Liverpool if shots over the bar counted as three points as they do in rugby. It's also highly unlikely ever to be ceded by a government elected on first past the post.

The nature and character of this Conservative government - I can't say it enough, but this is a new government in every conceivable way.

The limits and opportunities of Metro Mayors and devolution - I'm literally writing a thesis on this, so yes, it's on my mind.

Optimism and a positive view of the future - the Tories had one, none of the others did, maybe the SNP? - guess what, it works. How do the rest of us build this?

Lunch of the month for December - the Couch Potato in All Saints

The Manchester lunch of the month for December was this hearty and warming baked spud with tuna from the Couch Potato van on All Saints Park.

I nipped across the road to the Eighth Day deli for a Longley Farm cottage cheese with chives to go on the side. I used to go here at least once a week when I worked in All Saints and I have heard people being a bit snooty about it. Personally I love it, I always have a good crack with the team there and with the punters in the queue, especially builders from the sites nearby. They often have choice things to say about protesters who use the square. All life is here. Once the bloke gave me a baked potato that was so big, and with such a massive filling, he almost couldn’t close the lid. “There you go lad, a big one there for you. You’ll sleep well this afternoon.”

He wasn’t wrong.

Special mentions for Dishoom, where we had our team Christmas lunch, and which was spectacular, but rather extravagant to qualify for this competition; but also for Barbakan deli in Chorlton, where I frequently visit for work. Their custom built Polish meatloaf, tomato, mushroom, onion and mustard beauty was made with real enthusiasm.

I'll be back to picking a winner once a week from now on, with a monthly winner announced at the end of the month.

This thing of ours - so lucky

I've said before how much I cherish our trips to the football with two of my lads. The rock on which this is built is partly our bond, but also the underlying foundation of football culture in our country. Sometimes it can be toxic and repellent, but for the most part we need to remind ourselves that it is a collective pursuit of a common good and something unifying in a time of division. Afterall, all living is meeting, and we have a really good laugh along the way.

We had a great fun day out in the sponsors lounge at Stoke with a mate and his business colleagues, who generously let the lads present the man of the match award to a gutted Joe Allen. He's probably our favourite Stoke player, though that's particularly for his international performances as the Welsh Xavi. 

Then the next Saturday, on the train home from our win over Derby, three lads from Finland got on my horrible Northern Rail train home at Manchester Piccadilly. They'd been to Everton v Chelsea, they were then heading for Norwich for a game the next day to see the Canaries Finnish striker Teemu Pukki. Clearly they were on the wrong train, having been as confused as I often am by Platform 13, and I so hope they managed to get to Carrow Road eventually. But in that short space of a journey to Stockport we talked about so much, mainly Shefki Kuqi, Stockport County and next year's European Championships, the first major tournament Finland have qualified for.

"You are so lucky," one said, while his mate shuffled anxiously through the Trainline app to find another route across our rail network. "To have this football culture in your country. We have nothing like this." He's so right, we are lucky.

New blog feature - Manchester lunches - and the first winner is... R&V

I've started a new feature on this blog and on Instagram. Manchester lunches.

It's not a fine dining extravaganza, but where I might go in the middle of the day, either with someone I'm externally engaging with (it's my job, afterall), or catching up with one of the sons.

I picked my best one each week through November, which included Tampopo (quality but pricey and in a poor location), Cafe Istanbul (solid and filling) and VietShack in Ancoats, which did a spectacularly spicy and dirty plate of Viet fries.

But the best all round lunch of this month was a new discovery, R and V on Oxford Street opposite Churchgate House, HQ of the Greater Manchester Mayor and other 'family' institutions. I went with a politician from one of the Boroughs who highly recommended it. He wasn't wrong. The ciabatta was a decent base for a Brasilien chicken salad sandwich with pineapple, cashews and salad. Really fresh and tasty. Another major plus was the space downstairs with a really chilled ambience.

The comments on the post also suggested that the owner really knows what he's doing and has the respect of some decent foodie types.

I’m getting quite militant about this now, there really is no excuse for eating crap at lunchtime in the city centre.

A grand day out in Sunderland - the People's Powerhouse

I came away from the People's Powerhouse convention in Sunderland earlier this month with two burning thoughts. The first was the way we use language and the way we refer to actual people. These can be emotional times and we have to be feisty to get what we want. And there’s a but coming. But there has never been a more urgent need to dial down the hate and to channel the anger. There are other people out there who want to build walls. I loved the Tortoise Media “think in” about how we can fix British politics, partly because I despair of the choice we’re faced with. But we need to go out and have conversations like that in communities, in cafes, in church halls, in schools and workplaces. I want to build bridges; and that means an urgent conversation with people when you might not like what they have to say.

The second thought was the power of “one”. Nazir Afzal’s talk was both joyous and shocking. Any conversation will shock and upset when it talks about victims of rape, grooming gangs, terrorists and, yes, family members who thought they were killing for ‘honour’. But it was joyous for how one man uses his impatience, persistence and canny sense of timing to correct wrongs. We need to take on bad people in workplaces and communities. That needs to fuel a narrative of love, against the easy answers of hate. And I know that’s hard.

I love the spirit of the People’s Powerhouse. I’ll be honest, I still like the idea of the northern powerhouse. But creating an unstoppable movement in the middle of perfect storm isn’t easy. But we don’t have a choice. We have no choice at all.

Two games in two days - and the goal of the season so far

I had the good fortune to go to two games this week. On Tuesday I was part of a group at work who took some international visitors to see Pep Guardiola's Manchester City in the Champions League v Shakta Donetsk, fully expecting them to present a masterclass in tika taka pass and move.

That came last night instead at Blackburn Rovers' 1-0 win over Brentford. In fact, if Raheem Sterling had scored that goal after starting a flowing move linking in Kevin de Bruyne, Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus and Gundogan then it would be hailed as the goal of the season. For us it was a great way to win a game in some style. Something that says that on our day Blackburn Rovers are a decent team.

The stand out performances last night were Corry Evans and Danny Graham. I say that without any slight intended on any other player. They each of them brought the very best out of the other players around them, Evans to Travis, Graham to Dack. Danny Graham is such a leader on the pitch, he defends well at set pieces, he encourages other younger players, and he reads the game ever so well. He should be the first name on the team sheet.

Remind me of this day the next time I get all negative on them. See you all at Stoke.

The Missing Crypto Queen - the story of the year

My favourite podcast of the year has been a real roller coaster of a story, the gripping tale of Ruja Ignatova, the so-called Crypto Queen of the so-called crypto currency One Coin, who seemingly vanished in 2017. I tried to book Jamie Bartlett to come back and speak in Manchester last year but he said he was involved in something which would blow my mind, and recommended his mate Carl Miller instead. He wasn't wrong (and Carl was great, as I said at the time).

More than just a radio documentary, Jamie has managed to create a compelling platform of information and an active network around the story. Jamie's narration, the use of music, the trust of experts, the whole feel of the production crafted by producer Georgia Catt. Jamie has written a really useful long read, here, which provides background, captures everything, but shouldn't stop you from delving in and listening to the series if you haven't already.

In the days when I used to write about conmen and scams I came across several individual acts of callous nastiness, all helped along by added helpings of delusion and greed. This has all those hallmarks on a massive industrial scale, but also with the added dimension of One Coin being almost cult-like, exploiting some of the poorest people in the world. It brings in global money laundering, tax havens and the dark web. In short it's a belting true crime tale for these dark times.

I can't believe it's not been a bigger story, and I'm now avidly following the trial in New York of some of the players in this unfolding drama. You can follow that here on a fabulous site called Inner City Press, which is all over the detail.

It feels like a real frontier moment, not just for crypto currencies, but also for the methods the BBC have deployed to get the story out.  Highly recommended.

Vinyl Finals 1980 - what a collection

The New Musical Express throughout the 1980s was at the very centre of my world, not only musically but politically and culturally too. Reading writers like Stuart Maconie really made me want to be a journalist. So to see this astonishing list of the vinyl finals 1980, from my 14th year, is something else. And then there’s this iconic photograph of Joy Division by Kevin Cummins on a bridge that I casually walk across between buildings at work.

It's hard to pick a favourite out of this lot, but it’s either Atmosphere, Going Underground or Treason.

There’s a Spotify playlist so you can make up your own mind, here.

Afterall, that’s the biggest lesson I learned of all in that decade, think for yourself and change your mind if you want. I had a great reaction on Facebook when I shared this there. Enjoy.

Never felt less like singing the blues

Riverside Twitter Rovers - Me, Ian, Joe, Jim, Louis, David

I always want Rovers to win. Always. Any winning goal is worth celebrating. Every time. And there's nothing wrong with winning ugly. Nothing at all.

So why did we leave Ewood so flat last night? I don't really pay much attention to Rovers Twitter beyond my own small group of pals (above), nor am I on the message boards, so I'm not aware of the sentiment that actively wants a defeat in order to hasten Tony Mowbray's departure. Nor do I want that. And there have been Rovers teams in my fairly recent memory with far fewer players worth getting excited about. So I think it is about the roller coaster of emotions and that the highs of yesterday only just cancelled out the lows. Enough to cheer the final whistle, but not quite enough to dance along the front of the Riverside.

It's partly about expectations. Here were the pre match pluses: we pre-ordered our pies from Leavers, Darragh Lenihan was back, Lewis Holtby was playing, Lewis Travis was playing, Joe Rothwell was starting. But I tweeted before we set off that I fully expected a frustrating and dire 1-1 draw. That's what I've become conditioned to expect this season. Once the game got going, I just couldn't see it clicking for us. Every good thing Amari Bell did seemed to follow up with a mistake. Sam Gallagher was having a nightmare stuck out on the wing. Bradley Dack was up for it, he scored, but wasn't getting decisions, which riles him.

It seems there's a golden thread in this side that when it clicks then that thread shines out. Dack's unpredictable artistry, Holtby's intelligence, Lenihan and Toisin's desire to play out from the back. Rothwell. And Travis. But there's also a thread of crap that when you tug it, then the whole tapestry unravels. Then we're left looking at Elliot Bennett's hopeless crosses, Bell's errors, Walton flapping and a collective lack of energy that says to the opposition 'we're here for the taking'. Fair play to Barnsley for spotting that. John Buckley's introduction seemed to be to better protect Bennett. Rothwell looked a danger whenever he got space to run at. Adam Armstrong didn't. I get the argument that Danny Graham isn't the long term solution, but neither is lobbing long balls at a little bloke, and sticking a lanky striker on the wing. I can't quite get over that.

We can't make it on Wednesday to see the Brentford game, but will be at Stoke next weekend. I wonder which thread will turn up? And whether anyone will give either of them a hard tug.

Old habits and Blackburn Rovers

We have rules and habits and rituals around our football day out that probably defy logic and sense. We could probably park somewhere more convenient. My commitment to my health and fitness at an intensive gym session on the morning of a home match is directly contradicted by the consumption of a potato and meat pie from Leavers bakery three hours later.

It becomes a pattern, a formation for the day. Something we expect and price in to the whole experience.

Similarly, I think our reactions have become deeply programmed as well: confusion about who is supposed to be playing where as the team emerges and takes shape; frustration with the referee who gives Bradley Dack too few decisions; an intake of breath as Christian Walton receives a back pass; a groan of irritation as a free kick in the opposition’s half is squandered into a series of pointless sideways passes and a fruitless punt upfield. And finally the bafflement at Tony Mowbray’s substitutions.

It was all of that and more yesterday. But if we have our rituals it sometimes seems the players and the manager have theirs; ultimately ending in an interview on BBC Radio Lancashire where Mowbray says he has been left “frustraaaaaaated”.

Me too, Tony.

So it was expected to be yesterday when we conceded a bad goal with 5 minutes left on the clock. The heads go down, the fans go quiet, the away fans finally make some noise (almost as much as a tiny number of them did, disgracefully, during the minute’s silence for the war dead). Mowbray brings on 20 year old John Buckley - who I still think of as a nippy prospect for Signol Athletic in the Stockport Metro League under 14s - and I roar out: “what’s the point of that, Mowbray? Are you trying to destroy his confidence?”

But we never leave early. Despite all of what I’ve come to expect, all that is predictable and confirms our deep internal biases, football is beautiful because of what then followed. Rovers did come from behind to win a game by the same fine margins that could have seen it and many others go the wrong way.

You can attach a bigger meta narrative to everything that went on today, but all that it said to me was that against all my expectations, football is joyous because it can surprise us.

And though we might tweak any or all of the little things we do that contribute to a match day, the one thing we never do is leave early. We stay to the end. But not for the fireworks.