Less than two weeks ago, the country performed a lap of honour aboard the band waggon of Olympic champion Jessica Ennis.
This week the wheels fell off the waggon, as we were reminded just how far we have(n't) come with our attitude towards sexism.
Former Celebrity big brother contestant, George Galloway stumbled into controversy again by claiming Julian Assange, accused of rape, is guilty of nothing more than bad sexual etiquette.
It has been said that opinions are like arse holes- everyone has one. This may be true, but we don't need to see or hear every arse hole. That said, i do believe that people elected to act and speak on our behalf are entitled to voice their opinion, whether we agree with it or not. It is more dangerous to censor those opinions and force such ludicrous ideas underground to fester. Britain has become so politically correct, that we are outraged by any view that is not unoffensive.
The arguments surrounding Galloway's comments proved that women are still in some circles considered to be less than equal to us men.
On twitter this week, some of the comments of "support" from men was almost on a par with patting them on the bottom and telling them not to worry their pretty little heads about Mr Galloway.
There was an argument that one of the ladies involved in the accusation, went to his hotel so she got what she asked for.
 If a man went to a hotel room for a drink with another man, because he was interesting, and ended up being raped by the man, would we say he was asking for it? Absolutely not!
Also in the news this week was a 14 year old boy in Manchester, who was raped in a public toilet in broad daylight after being taken from a busy shopping centre. He was no more or less a victim than any female rape victim, yet I doubt a single person said he asked for it.
 The alleged victim of Mr Assange was named in one article, totally disregarding her right to anonymity. There is clear evidence that not protecting victims identity severely reduces the number of victims willing to come forward after being raped. 
Many men it seems, know it is unacceptable to be sexist in public, but still harbour deep seated beliefs that women do not deserve the same rights as men. They feel they should stand up and say that Mr Galloway was wrong and that Assange should be jailed, while actually thinking that  neither of them did or said little wrong.
Some even seem to feel hurt by the idea of equality, claiming that equality is weighed heavily in favour of women.
Positive discrimination will make this worse. Equal rights should be just that equal. If a woman does the same job as a man, she deserves to be paid the same money. If a woman applies for a job and is equally qualified as her male counter part, she should be judged purely on merit.
 If she is raped, she deserves the same empathy and justice that a man receives. If she says no, or even fails to give her consent, it is rape. Mr Galloway said in his defence of Assange, that a man does not need to get permission prior to each insertion. Any reasonable decent human being can tell when sex is consensual. If in doubt, leave it out.. as a clue Mr Galloway and Assange, it is normally required that the recipient be awake or conscious at least.
There was a story in the paper about a cheerleader in America, who was punished for not cheering the man who raped her, while footballers are allowed to refuse hand shakes with opponents that have offended them without fear of recrimination..
You would think, or at least hope, that over thirty years after we had our first and only female prime minister, that as a nation we would at least treat the rights of females equal to those of men.
Sadly, this is not the case.
A recent survey showed that the average wage of men working full time in this country is £531. The average woman only earns £426.
This will not change by people being afraid to discuss it. There needs to be open and honest discussion so that we can put to bed the attitudes that have kept women in their place since the 50's.
We need idiots, bigots and macho spokesmen like George Galloway to highlight these issues. We need the government not to promote women just because they are women, but to legislate so employers guilty of sexism can be punished.
We need laws that protect victims identities so that people are not afraid to speak out. We need laws that punish properly, the people found guilty of such crimes. We need for people to stop claiming mock offence at petty comments made by ignorant people and welcome the fact that men and women are different to each other but none is superior and none has more rights.
 

With the biggest signing of the  summer happening on the eve of the new season, Manchester United fans will have to wait until Monday to see if Robin Van Persie can justify the £24m and help bring the trophy back to the red side of Manchester. United meet an Everton side who have signed no one and sold their best two players on Monday night. With Jack Rodwell going to the other side of Manchester and Tim Cahill leaving for the States, it is hard see any other result than a Manchester United victory.
Champions City face newly promoted Southampton at home on Sunday. Other than Rodwell, City have been remarkably quiet by their standards in the transfer market although the wealth of talent they already have should be able to mount a serious campaign to regain the title. Argentine rebel of last season Carlos Tevez, looks ready for action as he returned from pre-season a stone lighter than last season.
Chelsea also play Sunday as they travel to Wigan. The big talking point of that game will be Victor Moses, a summer target for the Blues. He looks set to start for the Latics in what could be his last game before joining Chelsea for a fee rumoured to be around £10m.
The most interesting Premier League game of opening day promises to be Newcastle and Spurs at the Sports Direct Arena. Both teams looked destined for Champions League football last season, but both ended up this seasons Europa League. With last seasons Tyne side heroes, Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse both doubtful for the curtain raiser, Toon manager Alan Pardew will be wishing he had managed to regain the services of £35million reject Andy Carrol from Liverpool.
New Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas will be hoping hoping for an improvement in his reputation after his ill fated time at Stamford Bridge.
Ambitious QPR will of course be without Joey Barton but could field a host of new signings including Park ji Sung and Junior Hoilett. They face Swansea at Loftus Road as the Swans play their first competitive game since losing highly rated manager Brendan Rodgers to Liverpool. Michael Laudrop takes charge of Swansea for his first managerial game in the Premier league.
Meanwhile Rodgers kicks off his first season as Reds boss as Liverpool travel to Steve Clarke's West Brom at the Hawthornes.

In the Championship, Niel Warnock's Leeds United start at home to newly relegated Wolves, who start life back in the second tier under new manager Stale Solbakken.
Newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday return to the Championship after two seasons in league 1, away at Derby, hoping the good run of form they found at the end of last season continues. Dave Jones' summer recruit Chris Kirkland is due to start at Pride Park.
Birmingham are at home to last seasons League one run away champions Charlton while Steve Bruce starts his reign as Hull manager at home to Gus Poyet's Brighton. Both teams could be favourites for promotion at the end of the season.
Blackburn manager, Steve Keen will be hoping for victory away at Ipswich as he was apparantly told earlier in the week that he will be sacked from the Lancashire side, relegated last season, if they lose their opening few games.
Watford boss Gianfranco Zola should push the others with the Udinese backing his club enjoys.

In League 1, Sheffield United look to overcome two penalty shoot out defeats in the last two games as the welcome Shrewsbury Town to Bramall Lane.
Coventry start life in the third tier for the first time in over 40 years away to Yoevil.
Portsmouth start the day at home to Bournemouth after releasing all of their senior players and fielding a team of teenagers in the league cup defeat last week.

Who will take the honours this season?
I think the Premier League will be a two horse Manchester race, with the signing of Van Persie proving the difference. I expect Ferguson's United to take the title. City should be runners up and i would like to Roberto Di Matteo's Chelsea contending the top spots while i think Liverpool will take a while to adjust to life after King Kenny. With Everton looking vulnerable too, a glum season is in store for Mersey side. Watch out for Fernando Torres to rub salt in the wounds with a good season at Chelsea.
At the other end i think Reading will find the step up a step too far, and i can see a former really big club like Aston Villa fighting for survival again. Many will hope that the unpopular QPR will join them, but i suspect the summer signings and the possibility of the cheque book coming out again in January,will steer them clear of danger.
The top of the Championship should be a good  battle this season with Steve Bruce and Niel Warnock looking to build on their track records for promotion and don't rule out Milan Manderic's Owls to surprise a few and mount a challenge to return to the Premiership.
Birmingham and Charlton will be hard to beat also.
In League 1 I don't see Sheffield United repeating last seasons form, with no money they will struggle this season and i would expect the founders of the football league, Notts County to dominate that division and Coventry looking to bounce back at the first attempt.

My Tips for the season
Premier League Champions.         Manchester United.
Runners up .                                   Manchester City

Whipping boys                               Reading

Top scorer in Premier League-        Fernando Torres


Championship
Champions                                       Hull
Runners up                                       Sheffield Wednesday
Bottom                                              Bristol City

So a fabulous summer of sport is almost over. European championships provided us with a prolonged football season, ( if only as spectators) and then the glorious London Olympics inspired us all to dig out our plimsolls and shell suits and join the gym, again.. But what happens when the band waggon comes to an abrupt end in a few days time?
Will the shine of those gleaming gold medals fade or will the legacy of the games be to actually benefit the rest of the country for generations?
There has been plenty of reporting on the ratio of medals per private school compared to state school. How many comprehensives have a rowing lake? asked free school champion Toby Young this week.
How many comprehensive schools have a sports academy?
It is yet another example of the rich being able to afford the opportunity to succeed.
State school pupils can only dream of the kind of facilities on offer to the better off kids. Not only are they unable to access the same facilities at school but cannot afford to join the clubs either. How many working class families from poorer backgrounds can afford to send little Harvey off to yachting club at the weekend or little Gideon off to a cycling club? Many of them cant even afford a bike let alone a club membership.
London Mayor, Boris Johnson says he wants school children to do PE for two hours every day. Is this the answer? Of course not. Typical Tory patronising, well meant but not really thought out.
Most kids don't even want to do PE once a week. How will they react to being forced to do it  for two hours a day? They will rebel against it and probably write them selves a sick note. It is quite likely the only game they will be playing is truant.
What is needed is inspiration from teachers. Unfortunately, it the governments policy to discourage the best people from joining the teaching profession by raping their pensions and trying to discredit their unions. As a father of two young children i want the very best people to teach them. My wife and I entrust them to the care of school for more hours of the day than I spend with them.
If my children get sick i want to know that the doctors and nurses that treat them are the best available.
 Why shouldn't teachers get well rewarded to do one of the most responsible jobs in the world?
Teachers are not just expected to teach the syllabus these days, in many schools teachers are also responsible for teaching right from wrong, morals,and  sex education. Some parents don't even own a single book. Some of them see it as the job of teachers to enable their children to read, others simply cant afford books. For me the very best teachers are those who can inspire. Sadly even the most inspirational teachers cannot work magic with no help. The government needs to think of ways to facilitate the inspiration, not just legislate for it.
If we want to see equality in sport in this country, we need to see equality in life. We will never achieve this while the rich and powerful dominate and control every aspect of our life. I agree with Dennis Mcshane's suggestion that we need more working class MPs. I'm not sure his idea of how to achieve it is plausible but the idea would be a good start. We also need more working class athletes, gymnasts, cyclists and teachers. Come on Britain, make the most of London 2012

Working class MP- Who are you kidding Mr Macshane?

Labour MP Denis Macshane, this week claimed we need more "working class" members of Parliament, and called for  10% of seats to be made of people on minimum wage.
While this is highly noble of Oxford educated Mr Macshane, is it really feasible? In a nut shell - No.
The opportunities available to working class families are so far behind the middle classes and upper classes that is would be extraordinary for 1% of MP's to come from a minimum wage background..
The majority of the present batch of MP's have degrees in Politics, philosophy and economics. How many people do you suppose are working for minimum wage with those qualifications? Many of our politicians came directly into politics from Oxbridge, without ever having a normal job.
To start with there is the £500 deposit to pay to even stand in the election. This would put many off, considering if they get less than 5% of the vote they lose the deposit. Add to this the cost of a campaign,- campaign manager, literature, travel. An unsuccessful candidate on minimum wage could easily face bankruptcy.
Without the training and schooling in the ways of politics and elections your average working class candidate would be destroyed by their opponents. The only way round this would be for poorer candidates to be sponsored. Big business or governments or even trade unions funding a candidate will inevitably lead to corruption.
The only way to get working class people into parliament is to change the entire system. Bearing in mind the current crop, asking for these changes would be like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas.
While many MP's may claim to support the ideology of Mr Macshane's suggestion, Parliament is the ultimate house of the elite. Are these people really going to give up the position they were born into? No.
The issue is, as i have said before, all the influential professions- journalism, law,  MP are dominated by middle aged middle class white men. This has to change before the voice of working class people will ever be heard.
I was told many years ago by a news paper editor, that no news paper would ever employ any one who did not have  a degree (in absolutely any subject) regardless of ability, unless of course you are a celebrity. Obviously one needs to pass many exams and study for many years to get a job in legal industry and as i said politics is dominated by the Oxbridge classes. Working class people simply are not represented. When you consider the influence these professions have in the country it is even less likely to imagine minimum wage, working class people getting elected.

Its not big and its not clever!

If you haven't got anything nice to say...

It is sadly a sign of the times that i feel i must start with a caveat. So there can be no confusion or misinterpretation, so there is no ambiguity- Racism is cowardly, ignorant, abhorrent and poison. There is no place for it in society, in the work place, in school play grounds or in football.
 I love football. As an 11 year old boy I had the privilege to be chosen as a ball boy for my favourite team Sheffield United. At pitch side, i was close enough to the action to actually hear what the players were saying to each other. I distinctly recall being shocked at hearing winger Colin Morris telling a team mate he was "playing like a fanny".
   Professional footballers are these days, very wealthy, very fortunate men. With the fame and fortune comes a responsibility to their employers- the fans. They are role models, emulated and imitated in the school yard , on local parks and in streets.
 During the Terry versus Ferdinand race trial it was apparent that it has become acceptable for the super stars of the game, the recipients of the great wealth and of our admiration, to treat other each other with utter contempt. Described as banter by both parties the vile language used was a disgrace. The outrage at one player calling another a fu@#ing black c#@t was brought to court in the name of racism.
 Take the word black out of that sentence and  it should lose none of its nastiness or offensiveness. If my 11 year old child was given the honour of being a ball boy at a game now, that is the acceptable language of a former England captain. Thanks, but no thanks.
 The hype and hysteria that surrounded the court case and the numerous enquiries that will follow, will do nothing to help the reputation of the national sport. You may have noticed that the world will be watching this country for the summer as we host the Olympic games. Having just had ex footballer Sol Campbell urge fans not to visit Euro 2012 because the hosts were racist, how many people will decide not to visit London for the same reason.
I am in favour of the right to freedom of speech. I am in favour of the right to express an opinion, but there has to be an acceptable manor in which to enjoy those rights.
I read on twitter that racist comments are worse than fat comments, because fat people have a choice.I heard someone say racism was worse because "of the whole slavery thing". The debate then moved to ugly people, short people, stupid people or ginger people.
 As a short man,  measuring in at a towering 5ft bang on, i have all my life been the butt of size jokes. Friends, colleagues, managers and even strangers have thought it perfectly reasonable for them mention my height. As far as i know, I have never been over looked for a job or a promotion because i am smaller than the majority.
If for decades my ancestors had been raped, murdered, tortured forced from their land, made to use different public amenities or catch different buses, because they were short, would I be more or less outraged at the name calling. I suspect that if my ancestors had endured those horrors then I would have one of two choices. Maybe I would think it a disgrace. Maybe i would want justice. maybe i would try to look at it differently. Maybe if i was paid millions of pounds to play a game I love , I would accept that being called names is part of the gamesmanship.
Racist discrimination is disgusting, unacceptable and wrong. I suspect that racist comments do not necessarily make a person racist.
At a very early age we are all taught that sticks and stones...
I was also taught if you haven't got anything nice to say... So, i suggest the problem is not just a race issue. It is a fundamental breakdown in society and its respect for one another.
It should not be acceptable to call some one a nigger or a paki or a jock. it should not be acceptable to call someone fat or bald or ugly or ginger or short.
 It is the behaviour and attitude of human beings towards other human beings that is the problem.
When i am at work i am representing my employer. Bin men represent their employers while at work. School teachers, Doctors, nurses, post men and bus drivers represent their employers at work and footballers represent their employers the club and the fans. It is time clubs took the toughest action against this intolerable behaviour. Not just racism-  any employer whose employee called someone a fu#@ing c#@t while at work would Football clubs must stamp out this behaviour and regardless of the guilty party being an investment or asset they must be tackled.
The message should not be its OK to call a fellow human being an effing c or fat or ugly as long as you don't mention the colour of their skin. The message has to be that we do not have the right to single out any one for unfounded abuse for any reason.

 Bullying and harassment is in the eye of the victim. By definition, if someone feels they are upset by by actions that single them out from the treatment of others then they are victims of bullying. Racism is bullying. It is the action of ignorant cowardly people.
 The danger is that by highlighting the racist element of bullying in courtrooms while claiming the vile language that goes with it is OK, we lessen the seriousness of all the other discrimination.
Vicarious offence taken by people who are quite comfortable discriminating against disabled people or fat people or ginger people does not help any one.
Band wagons and witch hunts do not help. Positive discrimination and hyper sensitivity and over blown political correctness will fuel the hatred and feed the ignorance.
As a comprehensive school educated man who is shorter than the average, i am more than qualified to say stop racism, stop being disrespectful to fellow mankind -
 Its not big and its not clever.

As soon as i left school and got a job, the first thing i did was join the union - The UCW as it was known then. I joined because I believed in the things it stood for, or rather what i thought it should stand for..
Workers rights, fair pay, equality, and a stance against racism, sexism, ageism, bullying and harassment. Sticking up for the little man against the big machine.
Where did it all go wrong.  The Unions got too big for their boots and Mrs Thatcher, God bless her kicked the Bejesus's out of them and took away most of their powers. Still they believe they are the machine.
When i was a rep i considered it to be my role to advise members of not only their rights, but their responsibilities. I soon learned that many people, my Father included had neither the time nor the inclination to even listen to the union, let alone pay to be a member. They saw the unions as greedy parasites out to fill their own pockets and achieve power for themselves on the back of other peoples misery.
 The good work that trade unions have done speaks for itself. Fair pay - even a minimum wage, workers rights - massive changes to rights for working parents including flexible hours. Some things we now take for granted , would never have happened were it not for trade unions, paid holidays for example.  For me the union was also there to protect the long term future of the employment, even if this sometimes meant looking after the interest of employer first.
As a post man, every Christmas was massive. Extra hours (Christmas pressure it is known as ), meant extra money from the over tie we had to do. It also meant carrying a lot of weight- bearing in mind this was the '80's and texts, emails and the rest wasn't dreamt of. We delivered thousands of  Christmas cards. Our Christmas bonus was a miniature bottle of whiskey and a book of stamps. Neither the staff or the union ever demanded a busy bonus.. We accepted that whilst it was bloody hard work at least we could guarantee we would be in business next Christmas. We saw the " Christmas bonus" as just that, a bonus.
There were other busy times throughout the year. Gas bills, phone bills, electric bills, sometimes all three at once, would come several times a year not to mention giro day on the Manor.. We didn't get any bonus for been busy then, even though the Post Office would have made a profit at the time.
Next month the 2012 Olympic games come to London, and the iconic red buses will be packed for a month, carrying an estimated 800,000 extra passengers.  Instead of seeing this as a once in a lifetime event, that the red bus drivers can cherish and say "i was part of that", they have voted overwhelmingly to strike for extra money. Many families up and down the country have had their lives shredded by the government cuts to benefits, job closures and pay freezes. How many of the 2million unemployed would be ecstatic to drive a big busy red bus full of tourists celebrating for minimum wage or less?
Some I'm sure will argue that TFL (transport for London), the bus operators, are being tight and it is unfair that all other transport drivers- underground drivers, train drivers, dock workers, in London will receive a £500 bonus. They will also no doubt say that the 21000 members who  voted 9-1 in favour of a strike are right to do so.
I tend to agree. However, it is a sign that the union, like the politicians, has lost touch with normal people when they fail to gain sympathy for this injustice because they present it as greed in times of austerity. Now any great leader and tactician knows you have to pick your fights and there are some that are just not worth winning.
The hypocrisy of a union that is so desperate to connect with common people that it offers unemployed membership at hugely discounted rates but takes away their transport for being asked to work a bit harder for a couple of weeks, has I'm afraid the stench of bad judgement.
At a time when the country is feeling the biggest squeeze for more than half a century, when its work force is being told to work for longer for less and to pay more into their pensions to get less in retirement, industrial action on this scale will make us the laughing stock of the watching  world and could do unrepairable damage to the trade union movement.
I would personally rather see a different battle-maybe a general strike, by members of all unions, after the Olympics, to oppose the outrageous suggestion of none fault dismissal and the destruction of the employment rights i thanked the unions for earlier.. Surely that is a more worthy cause.

Since my last post, the news has been dominated by Barclays and Mr Bob Diamond. Barclays bank the great British institution, has for many years courted controversy. For decades students have boycotted the bank because its links supporting aparthied in South Africa and its funding of  the monster Robert Mugabi and the £30 million loan it gave him to help drive 100,000 black workers from their homes.
In 2009 the bank was accused of violating money laundering laws and in the same year was accused of tax avoidance. Earlier this year it was forced to pay back £500 million in tax it had avoided.
In 2008 just as the sub prime mortgage crisis hit, the banks chief executive Bob Diamond was set to pay himself a £14.8M BONUS.
In the last six months of 2011 the financial ombudsman dealt with 11,524 complaints making Barclays the most complained about bank in Britain.
So is it any surprise that the bank and its hierarchy are in the news again for all the wrong reasons?
The start of the week saw Barclays fined £290m for fiddling the LIBOR rate.
Now like me, many people outside the banking system had never heard of LIBOR or what exactly fiddling it meant to us, the little people. What they did know instantly, was that they did not like it and that they were outraged. Outraged by the abuse of power that is clearly way too prevelant today. The banks are to blame for the crisis which has lead to student fees increased to an unbearable level, the crisis which prompted the pension tax, the crisis which has lead the Tory lead Government to cut benefits for disabled people, and slash public services. The banks are to blame for the housing crash which has seen thousands of families finding themselves in negative equity and unable to sell their property.The banks are to blame for world wide financial problems that have forced many families into poverty through pay freezes or pay cuts for those fortunate enough to have jobs.The banks are to blame for many small businesses going under leading to the longest queues at the dole office for generations, while its executives drink expensive champagne to celebrate. It is oh so easy for the Government to blame it all on Labour but the simple fact is that the blame as far as we the people are concerned, falls squarely at the feet of the greedy, selfish, heartless millionaires running the banks.
 They tell us we cant do anything about the banks or all the best people will leave the country. Let them go. Lets start from scratch-things can hardly get much worse.
What is needed is planning for the future- Not tomorrow, not next year, the future. Instead of creating a two tier system in our schools the Government and Mr Gove should be looking at ways to make all our children not just capable of working in these jobs but able to do these jobs in an honest and conscientious manner. The latest greed and gab a quick buck culture is symptomatic of the country. No role models, no morals, no pride, no hope where the rich get richer the powerful get more powerful and the poor get written off.
For decades the top jobs in politics , media, law and finance have gone to middle aged middle class white males who could afford the best education. It is clear now that this does not work. If you are bright enough it should not matter if you are rich enough.
The outrage and tension that lead to rioting last summer and marches in autumn is the same unresolved outrage and disgust we feel towards the unfortunate Mr Diamond. The people of this country are suffering, they hungry and skint . Hungry for respite, hungry for food in their families bellies and hungry for some revenge. We have seen no one pay for the crisis except us. We haven't even had an apology. Sadly, we will not i fear, rest until someone takes responsibility and is punished for the detestation that threatens to destroy the future of this country. It may not be Bob Diamond but someone, somewhere will  feel the full wrath of the public until a solution is found. instead of letting privately educated millionaires who have never had a real job look for answers why not ask us- the real people.