I was a student in London in the late 70s. Parts of the East End were virtual no-go areas. It’s completely unrecognisable now, one of the best bits of London if you know your way around.

Just call out this creep for Christ’s sake. If only because he must be widely detested in the UK. It’s not difficult.

Of all the weird and stupid positions Corbyn takes, his snivelling Russian love affair has to be the weirdest. And Sultana seems to have drunk the same Kool-Aid. Along with Corbyn’s odd adviser Seamus Milne, they presumably cling to a romantic view of Soviet Russia from 6th form days. Pathetic.

But Clive James was wrong about everything. For instance, in an ignorant “appraisal” of Miles Davis, he gushingly claimed “he could play anything.” Miles Davis was a genius, but his technical skill was far lower than many mediocre trumpeters. Indeed, it was actually part of his genius.

An offshoot of cosy crime

I’m old and I do a lot of rereading of what I loved when young. Weirdly, hardly anything is quite as good as I used to think - usually somewhat coarser, more obvious, less mysterious. I’ll have to give this more thought.

Boys will be boys.

Jenrick must have been a remarkably tough and fearless 6 or 7 year old in the 80s. As a grown man, well able to look after myself, I can remember being absolutely terrified much of the time at the matches I went to. Savagery barely begins to describe some of it. Elemental, if we’re being kind.

I can’t believe this utter shit from someone who obviously hasn’t a clue what he’s talking about. I’ve attended football matches since I was a kid in the 60s, including horrific scenes of 60s violence, scarcely credible chants and violence at a Rangers - Celtic match in the 70s …etc etc., … clueless

John Carey makes this distinction between books you enjoy (which may not be great) and books you don’t necessarily enjoy but which are clearly greater works of art. Obviously the ideal is to combine the two.

Any 19th century novel:
An old man of 60 walked in.

I’ve had taxi drivers tell me cheap supermarket petrol is without doubt, 100% sure, markedly worse than petrol bought elsewhere.

Anyone who sees the world like this is seriously unhinged. Or at the very least fey.