It is strange. What changed? Is there someone new at the top?

Yes, that's the only way we can look at things.

I certainly haven't been aware of much on the racially aggravated rapes of Sikh women in the national media (in fairness, I haven't looked for it there) but kudos to the Birmingham Mail and BBC Midlands Today who really got stuck into this news story and rightly so.

No newspaper, even the right wing ones, would do that. The bloke was arrested at the scene and quickly charged. The law says you are very limited in what you can report. In the US, of course, you can almost report on anything even with a trial on the horizon.

It was the racists on X that provoked my reaction. I don't think the media made the 'he must be an Islamist' allegation.

We are not disagreeing. However, I'm a pragmatist and I have two choices right now - Reeves or Stride. I know whose side I am on.

Limited company. But I am not voting for myself, I vote for those in poverty. I have always done that. Also, I was speaking to a very wealthy business owner last week who said the same, he wants to pay more. That doesn't mean I am not on the side of those small business owners with shops/pubs, etc.

No. I collaborate with designers, photographers, etc. I'm speaking as me, a bloke who thinks we need to give people on the lowest rungs of the ladder a fighting chance. I'm also thinking of those I met in temporary accommodation while on the board of a homelessness relief charity.

Oi, this isn't Twitter, let's have a bit of positivity!

And finally, our man from the BBC headed 'up 'Anley' to do what reporters call a Vox Pop.
Pre-Budget coverage on the BBC News Channel, set up via Howle Communications