Author Archives: Michele Hanson
Stop these show-offs flattening our favourite places
Whether it’s high-speed rail links or apartment blocks, ordinary people’s lives are being ruined in the name of progressYesterday I heard a chilling phrase on the radio. The cost of HS2, the high-speed rail link, is £32bn “at current prices”. Help! Im… Continue reading
Perhaps I should visit St Pauls | Michele Hanson
Rosemary has been, and Fielding said it reminded him of a time when we had hopeYesterday Rosemary staggered to St Paul’s to inspect the goings-on, with her gammy leg and a ghastly head-cold. She should have stayed in bed, but she has been in a&nbs… Continue reading
How dare the government tell us how to behave
Its idea of a ‘Big Society’ is patronising – and look at the way its own members behaveI saw some happy teenagers on telly this morning participating in the National Citizen Service, messing about in boats, abseiling, learning to be pleasant and altr… Continue reading
I’m in two minds over the riots
Half of me wants to whack the rioters with a cricket bat, and the other half blames the world, for being unfairDaughter was toiling away in Hackney when the riots started, so she was made to leave her workplace early. But hardly anyone else was leaving… Continue reading
I can’t get up worked up about the royal wedding, AV or the Olympics
I can’t be bothered to argue with Fielding about the royal wedding, and I asked him about AV but it’s a bit like the Olympic tickets business. It’s into the void with both of themThree huge events going on and I can’t get worked up about any of them: t… Continue reading
Living in fear of the ‘prolonged dwindle’ | Michele Hanson
While many fear a long period of decline, let us not slip into thinking old age just means being a burden to othersI’d never heard of “prolonged dwindling” until it popped up yesterday. It’s how Nan Maitland described the “long period of decline … th… Continue reading
Yes, make Roland Bunce the Next model for a taste of reality | Michele Hanson
The chubby chap from Belfast has my vote if he can send a message to an out-of-control fashion industryAn unconventional beauty looks set to win Next’s “Make Me the Next Model 2011″ competition. He is the very chubby Roland Bunce, 24, from Belfast, a p… Continue reading »