BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN What we know: On Tuesday afternoon an Airbus A330 operated by Pakistan International Airlines was intercepted by RAF Typhoon fighters over British airspace. Originating in Lahore, the airliner was en route to London Heathrow when it was diverted to Stansted Airport in Essex. It landed without incident at 14:50 and was held away from the airport terminal. Police officers boarded the aircraft … Continue reading Mystery at 30,000 ft
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN I realised my mistake straight away. Rather than add to the Saturday morning congestion of a busy, mixed-use street, I had opted to drive onto the wide, empty car park at the side of an NHS surgery. The moment I crossed the threshold, I saw the camera. The terms and conditions were printed on a small wall-mounted sign: vehicle owners must register … Continue reading How I Beat the Car Park Cowboys
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN Yesterday, after far too long a wait, the fading embers of a long-forgotten love affair burst explosively back into flames. I’ve owned my Peugeot 205 GTI since the nineties. When, on that cold winter’s night back in 2007, I left it parked on the drive, I never meant for it to stay there. But stay there it did. For a variety of … Continue reading A Fine yet Humble Chariot
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN A few years ago I researched a Luftwaffe bomber that was brought down over Cheshire. Unpicking the story was fascinating. I had to delve into RAF archives and intelligence records with ‘SECRET’ stamped in the corner; I was lucky enough to find people still able to remember the event. The tale unfolded gradually, a complex but rewarding process of checking and cross-checking … Continue reading The Blitz Spirit and the Media
BY RALF HEED At last, a campaign discerning pooches everywhere can get behind. These delightful Country Squire Magazine people have recommended a petition asking the Government to treat the theft of dogs – dognapping – as the shameful crime it is. Before I met my human family, I spent some time in a home for hounds who had fallen on hard times. Of course, all of the … Continue reading Heed Ralf
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN The day dawned one of those nasty, dank mornings that thankfully only January can conjure up. 2014 had just given way to the new year but the holidays were already a memory. Shorn of the previous week’s gaiety, the free world was still shaking off its collective hangover. Reality bit hard as everyone knuckled down to get through the worst month of … Continue reading #JeSuisCharlie
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN Well Fake News is certainly making the, erm, news lately, isn’t it? In an extraordinary press conference last week (a conference which, if nothing else, showed that the next four years will certainly not be devoid of amusement), US President Elect Donald Trump didn’t just level the charge at Buzzfeed (I don’t know them either), he also called into question the veracity … Continue reading Inexcusably Inaccurate: BBC News
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN The village of High Lane lies roughly twelve miles to the south and east of Manchester. It sits, to use a tired cliché beloved of estate agents everywhere, at the point where city meets country. Here some 6000 residents make their home at the very edge of the Greater Manchester conurbation. Despite straddling the busy A6, High Lane enjoys an unusual situation … Continue reading Protesting the British Way
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN Here we go again. Another year, another crisis in the NHS. This time the ante has been well and truly upped by none less than the British Red Cross (BRC), which, coincidentally has a brand-new Director of Media. Former Digital Editor at (believe it or not) The Guardian, Polly Curtis has certainly hit the ground running. In a statement released on Friday, … Continue reading NHS: Astonishingly Profligate
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN It’s Christmastime And Geldof’s here to rant and rave At Christmastime He tells us all how we should behave And from their world of plenty They invade our privacy The celebrity bandwagon’s here again Let’s say a prayer Prayer that it’s the last one Last Christmastime That they come to spoil the fun There’s a man on television He’s a … Continue reading Bandaid 32
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN Even now, more than nine years on, I can clearly remember the cold, dark evening of March 1st 2007. I arrived at my father’s care home expecting to find him unwell; Mum had been very concerned when we’d spoken earlier. Nothing, however, prepared me for the sight that greeted me as I knocked on the door and entered his room. Dad was … Continue reading Panorama & Care Home Scandals
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN Twenty years ago a restless youth spent an idyllic spring and summer working throughout Western Brittany. Last week, after far too long a delay, I finally managed to return for an all too brief seven days to what, for me, is the loveliest region in France. It’s clear some things haven’t changed during the last two decades. The warmth of the Breton … Continue reading Countryside Landscape Vandals
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN Ho ho ho everybody, it’s that bloody time of year again. So let’s crank up that karaoke machine and sing along with Slade shall we? Are you ready for the Coca-Cola Truck For pubs with signs that say you need to book Are the supermarkets full of Unnecessary tat Does Black Friday make you behave like a twat So here it comes bloody … Continue reading Bloody Christmas (NSFW)
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN Statement from HM Government in response to the latest entirely predictable outrage: Following last Monday’s horrific attacks in Berlin we have agreed a series of measures to tackle the ongoing terror threat. Immediately after the event a tough-sounding COBRA meeting was convened at which several of the geniuses present suggested airport security was not good enough. As usual, numerous knee-jerk proposals were … Continue reading If Only
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN (In response to Jon Alexander’s The Customer is Always Right article.) A few weeks ago, I had a key cut in a little shop in town. Unfortunately, when I later tried it at home it didn’t work properly. It wasn’t the end of the world; these things happen. The next time I passed the shop I called in and told the proprietor. … Continue reading Customer Service?
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN Well who’d a thunk it? Diesel was supposed to be the Great Green Hope. At least it seemed that way at the turn of the century, when our then Magnificent Leader (currently making a few quid here and there having helped to make the Middle East a nicer kinda place) joined with his conniving cabal of continental cronies to tax everyone out of … Continue reading The Clean Diesel Myth
