Neil Durkin

They went barmy in Berlin. It was delirium in Deutschland. Ok, so Barack Obama is looking like the world’s “hottest” politician. Or at least the most popular foreign one in Germany. The “JFK in ’63” comparisons are everywhere. This is...

I always think those posters of missing dogs or cats on lampposts are unbearably sad. Someone loves those animals. The owners are heartbroken and desperate. They go to the trouble of putting up posters. They offer rewards. And then...

I think it would be fair to say that the nation is rarely riveted to the Parliament Channel. Aside from the very punchiest Punch and Judy moments of PMQs, it doesn’t really have too many watercooler moments. Or any. But human rights...

Im old enough to remember the first pop video. Or at least the first really popular one. Vienna, Ultravoxs ice-cold classic (This means nothing to me / Ohhhh, Vienna!) might not be quite as a cool as it was in 1981 ok, it hasnt been...

Two things today, neither nice. Rape and racism. Yesterday the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police John Yates (“Yates of the Yard”!) called for all police forces to set up a specialist unit to investigate rape allegations...

Say what you like about the “odd couple” journalistic brothers Peter and Christoper Hitchens – they are “up for it”. Peter, for example, renowned mauler of all things liberal, will always go on the radio to debate, for example, why the...

Phew, that’s that out of the way then! The football. Now it’s just the tennis, the cricket (remainder of), the Olympics, the start of the new football season …. Your non-sport-loving correspondent didn’t watch any football these past...

Just bought a car recently. (I’ve already mentioned my car in an earlier post – apologies bike-lovers!). Anyway, we’re getting rid of the clapped out left-hand drive Italian one (pictured) that we’ve been knocking about in for the last...

You wait ages for one … and then two come together. There’s overnight news that a US appeals court has ruled that an “enemy combatant” at Guantánamo is wrongly held and should be either freed, transferred or brought before a court to...

Last night the BBC lit up the central London sky with a tower of light as a tribute to journalists killed doing their job. Your trusty blog correspondent was in the area (Portland Place) armed with his projector pencil and canny Canon...

Blimey! Yesterday’s high political drama has left me shakin all over. The David Davis bombshell! The Guantánamo court ruling shocker! Well, while the Davis resignation is obviously the really BIG news on the UK media scene, the US...

Total British military deaths reaching 100 since 2001 is dominating the news today – one of those sad milestones that pretty much speak for themselves. In the office we also noticed that an Afghan journalist working for the BBC was...

So, the media’s been awash with 42 days – news, blogs, comment, cartoons, more comment – for oh, about 42 days now. There’s a letter in the Guardian today saying that the almost weird fascination the government has with the magical “42...

“Italians riot against Gypsies in their midst; South Africans riot against Zimbabweans and other immigrants. In troubled times, the foreigner is always hated.” So says Theodore Dalrymple, writing in today’s Times. And I would add: not...

Guess what happened to me last weekend? Give up? Well, I was clamped by private clampers on an allegedly “private” road near my Kwik-Fit garage (just to get a bloody MOT!). Four and half hours later I’m still there trying to resolve...

Ok, first a confession. I don’t watch football matches at all! The last one I saw was the World Cup final in 1998 – France’s (actually very boring) 3-0 win over Brazil. But if I travel back in time to when I was about six (travel back...

Now I’m not a big one for sitting in cafes “working”. You know – Wi-Fi Access Here. Frappuccinos R-Us. Delicious Cinnamon Muffins Only £2.65. All that. But I’m reliably informed that cafes are where all the “creatives” hang out...

This post is not for the squeamish. So, Guantánamo Bay. What else is there to say about it? Well, more and more, as it happens. Last week I was talking to a former Guantánamo prisoner who saw a fellow prisoner beaten with clubs for...

I used to like a Friday night 1970s television programme called “Appointment With Fear”. Looking back, it was probably pure period cheese, but – along with John Pertwee-era “Dr Who” – it did the job of scaring me and my brother. (“Neil...

The ubiquitous adverts say “War. Revolution. Family. Punk rock. All part of growing up”. And the “Punk is not ded” illustration is dead-on smart marketing. So, altogether then, every reason to be suspicious of “Persepolis”. It’s an...