‘A mess’ - that’s how the British Medical Association described the state of the NHS that Labour inherited after our general election win in July 2024. Of course, many people knew that already. The Conservatives let waiting lists soar to a record level of nearly eight million, with 300,000 people waiting longer than a year for treatment. The number of people waiting over two weeks for a GP appointment also increased by one...

WHEN I had to choose a London hotel to stay in recently I found that the one I picked was slightly further away than another I liked, but it had much better stationery – and that stationery is now sitting on my office desk. I’ve worked in enough hotels over the years to know that there are certain things you are allowed to legally ‘nick’ – ie I wouldn’t try and walk off with...

I’VE been very much enjoying the letters page politics over the last couple of weeks, puncturing holes in the balloons of those who believe a socialist society is the only way forward. ‘A more capitalist society causes inequality of wealth?’ No sh** Sherlock. Maybe that’s because some people work harder to earn more. Not everyone was put on the planet to be a Peter Jones but we all have the right to build up...

PICTURE me as a fresh-faced (well, not that fresh-faced actually as I had a bushy beard that made me look like I was in ZZ Top) youth on my first day at North Staffordshire Polytechnic in 1975. There I was, in my old army greatcoat and my jeans and my trainers with the Stars and Stripes on, trying to look casual and worldly in front of all these people from all over the country...

HAVE you noticed how the significant events in your life remain etched on your memory forever? I’m not talking about something you’ve seen on TV that is replayed over and over. I’m referring to real-life, never-to-be-forgotten, incidents that have not been recorded on camera. This happened to me when Denis Law came to town in February 1964. I wanted to describe it last year when I wrote about Barnsley’s FA Cup tie against Manchester...

AS we all know from the news, child sexual exploitation in this country is beyond rife and the figures are staggering. One in eight children are abused before they are eighteen – yep, you heard that right. Children who are abused are three times more likely to attempt suicide when they grow up. Many never truly escape the horror of what happened to them and it impacts on their mental health, on their prospects,...

As we welcome the new year, it is worth recognising that the end of the festive season can often bring hardship for folk - and supporting people through these difficult times are our local churches. Over the past few months, I've had the privilege of visiting a number of exceptional churches here in Barnsley, including in Grimethorpe, Wilthorpe and the town centre. These visits highlighted to me the incredible work being done for local...

THIS year hasn’t been plain-sailing - the world remains a volatile and unpredictable place, marked by crisis after crisis and conflict continues to rage in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, plunging us into uncharted territory. Meanwhile, at home the path forward has not been without obstacles. However, unlike in previous years, I believe there are reasons for optimism. Slowly but surely, we are finding our way through the darkness, and there is a...

SOMETIMES, in the midst of all the hurly and indeed the burly of these pre-Christmas days, I decide that I’m going to have a reading, writing, contemplating and strolling day. It’s the equivalent of an ‘out of office’ email, I guess, or one of those notes on a shop door that says ‘back in five mins’. I realise, of course, that I’m lucky enough to be able to do this because I’m at...

A FEW months after England’s 1966 World Cup victory, Alan Newsam (Nuds), Rob Rookledge and I, trained regularly at the Junction Gymnasium. It occupied upstairs rooms behind the old Junction Inn, which used to stand in Measborough Dike, where Doncaster Road meets Cemetery Road. It was owned by Charlie Glover, wrestler and father of our History teacher, Brian. As far as we knew it was the only gymnasium in town, and was where all...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! I’ve been singing this to myself for over a week now, and to be quite honest with you it’s beginning to get right on my nerves . I’d like to be all grown up about the white stuff, and say things like ‘I wonder how bad the roads are’ and ‘I hope it doesn’t last for too long’, but the truth is I just can’t. I...

The first budget of the new Labour government included the announcement that we will deliver on our manifesto pledge, and finally deliver justice for the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme. Our community was built on coal and for decades mining sustained tens of thousands of jobs in Barnsley as our community powered a nation. It was a dirty, dangerous job, where men risked their lives and health. Thousands were killed in pit disasters and many...