Last night I came home mid way through a news programme on TV just as the presenter said, " young people trusted him,they were betrayed,  he did evil things to young children. He did awful things to the elderly and now he is no longer with us.." My immediate thought was - has Nick Clegg resigned? Alas, they were talking of course about Jimmy Savile. Clegg remains in post.


Last weekend Rio Ferdinand, Anton Ferdinand, Jason Roberts and several other black footballers refused to wear anti racism campaign kick it out shirts. They were angry at the lack of action by the campaign, particularly the F A's  inconsistent punishments handed out to players found guilyt of racism , such as former England captain John Terry and Liverpool's Louis Suarez..
Some players have said the organisation has not done enough to combat racism in the game; but just how much can this tiny organisation do?
The football League quickly responded that it could not afford to fund the campaign.
The Premier league donates about 0.1% of the money it raises from Tv to the campaign.
Kick it out has an annual budget of about £450,000.
  If the premier league wants to stamp racism out of the game, it needs to take drastic action, now. They should put some proper money behind it and put some rules in place. Force clubs to fine players found guilty of racism and give the proceeds of the fine to the campaign. As i have called for previously, clubs should be sacking employees for discrimination or racist abuse just like any other walk of life.
Professional footballers live a very privileged life, the likes of which most of us can only dream of. They are paid massive amounts of money to play a game they love and enjoy all the trappings of fame and hero worship we can throw at them. Rio Ferdinand is rumoured to earn £125,000 each week.
If he wants to make a real difference, not just to football, but the lives of many many black men and women who suffer racism and discrimination daily, he should put his hand in his bulging wallet and help fund it.
Chelsea football club has an annual wage bill of around £172m, Manchester United pay in region of £150m - the wage bill for the premier league is over a billion pounds each year.
Surely, with those obscene amounts of money been given to the starts of the game, they could easily afford to give vast amounts of cash to support the under fire organisation.
In a previous blog, i called for the likes of Clarke Carlisle and the governors of the game to step up to plate and force proper action from clubs and players.  The PFA the FA, FIFA, and all its its top representatives need to acknowledge that there is still a huge issue with racism in the game, and face it head on. Denials and down playing is not working. Expecting a tiny, poorly funded organisation like kick it out to eradicate the problem by educating at grass roots level and leaning slightly on the FA is suicidal for the game.
This country's National game's reputation is in danger of being worse than it was in the 1980's. Players banned for racism, fans jailed for assaulting players on the field, and Revelations about Hillsborough has dragged the football in this country right back to the gutter. It is down to its millionaire participants to rescue it rather than being the victims of it.

Yesterdays unemployment figures were welcomed in parliament by a smug David Cameron shouting across the dispatch box to Labour leader Ed Miliband that he should make himself comfortable because "we are going nowhere". Typical Cameron, gloating over his success while millions are still unemployed and there are more damning cuts yet to come.
As the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the smug just keep getting smugger. Is he and his millionaires cabinet really so out of touch with reality that they believe we are stupid enough to believe him?
While he continues to pursue his idealistic attacks on benefits, workers rights and the elderly, the well who who bankroll his party are looking forward to £40,000 tax breaks next April. In comparison, many people living in poverty on council houses will be preparing to be taxed for having spare bedrooms.
The new bedroom tax will see families with two same sex children under the age of 16,living in a 3 bedroom house, losing 10% of their housing benefits.Families with a boy and a girl under the age of 10 living in a 3 bedroom house  will also be told that they are under crowded. Couples of working age, whose children have left home will lose even more. Which ever way you look at this policy it will only affect the poorest people in society.
Changes later next year will see the introduction of universal credits to replace the present system. This will mean one single payment for all benefits paid into an account of one house holder. Claimants, many of whom may never even have previously had a bank account, let alone had to budget, could suddenly find they have hundreds of pounds in cash. Housing benefit is currently paid direct to councils or housing associations, and yet there is still thousands of pounds of arrears.  These arrears will inevitably increase when tenants are expected to pay the rent them selves. Payday Loan companies will be rubbing their hands together with glee as debt and hardship will undoubtedly increase. The idea according to Ian Duncan Smith, the failed former Tory leader who created the universal credit, is to prepare people for work.
 By that they mean forcing people to take work that is low paid and potentially in poor working conditions if the government press on with plans to virtually scrap workers rights and health and safety regulations.
The increase in employment is thanks mainly to part time poorly paid jobs and will probably be short lived as many of them will have been seasonal temporary jobs created by events such as the London Olympics. While Cameron brags of the lowest unemployment figures in 15months 10% of Yorkshire remain out of work. Further North the figures are worse.
Cameron's project is simply to crush the poor in the North and sacrifice everything to save his beloved London. As he battles to save the banks and businesses in the city, he stands by and watches the rest of the country simply decay. The North east of England has suffered mass unemployment and hardship for years, caused by decisions made down south.
The bankers and high rollers in the capital caused their own downfall through greed and selfishness, while the poor in the rest of the country are expected to foot the bill for bailing them out.
Industry in the North is confined to history as the government harp on and and on about a third runway at Heathrow or high speed rail links to the capital.
Why not invest some of those billions it would cost to protect the city of London and the borough of Westminster in the rest of England.
Why not pump money into building more houses. Not just affordable houses, council houses. Affordable houses are no use to any one if the cannot afford to eat.
 Fix the roads, build houses, regenerate the thousands of communities crippled by years of neglect from governments past and present. Instead of making statements about changes to planning to boost building projects, put the cash up. Mass house building by local authorities funded by central government would put workers back to work, and young people who have never had a chance, the opportunity for apprenticeships and skill learning that will benefit generations to come.
With those building sites would come money been spent in local economies and get people off their back side and restore some dignity and pride to the rest of the country that Cameron, Clegg, Osbourn and co seem so determined to send to damnation.

Last October thousands of people lined the streets to pay tribute to the late Sir Jimmy Savile. Sir Jimmy, considered by many a National treasure, was the former star of pirate radio and the very first host of TVs Top of the pops. Probably best known for making kids' dreams come true on Jim'll fix it, Sir Jimmy was rumoured to have raised £40million for charity and was knighted in 1990.
 Just twelve short months later it seems there were also better kept rumours about Savile throughout his career.
It has emerged that rumours of child abuse followed Savile for decades. Apparently, it was well known in television and radio that the fund raiser liked to keep the company of young girls.
The BBC, the self appointed highest authority in the land, "auntie beeb" as it was known for years, is accused of covering up the rumours to protect its star.
A long list of celebrity journalists and presenters have come forward to say that they knew of the rumours. Some claim to have seen the vile behaviour first hand, some even claim to have been victims.
Janet Street Porter, one of the Best known and influential women journalists of the last 30 years, told BBC question time last week that she heard the rumours years ago. She went on to say she did not push the issue or report Mr Saville because she feared no one would listen.
If the vile accusations aimed at Saville are true, his actions were the despicable atrocities of a disgusting, manipulative predator who abused his position and abused the trust that the people of this country had bestowed upon him.
 I have long been of the opinion that paedophiles are evil, sick nasty bullying animals, but also that they are ill and possibly cannot help themselves when faced with temptation. What some of them manage to do is avoid that temptation and not put themselves in a position where they will be near vulnerable children.
What Jimmy Saville managed to do, is build his life around them and build a reputation so untouchable that he could use his trust to violate the innocent children whom he was supposed to be serving.
What Saville is accused of may never be proven as the accused is no longer able to defend himself.
If the likes of Janet Street Porter and her colleagues had showed some courage, perhaps Sir Jimmy could have been held to account.

It is morally obscene that these people chose to say nothing while Savile was alive in order to further or maintain  their own careers. They had a morale and professional obligation as journalists and as human beings to step in and protect the children that Savile and his seedy circle of depraved friends including twice convicted paedophile Gary Glitter, preyed upon. It is appalling to think that in order to survive in the industry these people simply ignored the shocking and outrageous behaviour of one of TVs best kept dirty secret.
The victims were not only betrayed by the people who assaulted and raped them, but they were betrayed and sacrificed by the people who turned a blind eye. Guilt should not simply lay at the door of Gary Glitter and the dead fund raiser. Those that looked the other way or tolerated the shocking behaviour should feel deeply ashamed for their part in the years of abuse.
Glitter faces arrest again for his connections to the allegations but who else will face charges? Sir Jimmy is in danger of posthumously losing his knighthood. If the stories are true then  he deserved to lose his freedom and his dignity, as he took away the dignity of the children he took advantage of.
The BBC should be investigated thoroughly, and if they are found to have covered up the criminal actions of its employees, they should be fined massively and who ever made the decision to cover up the actions should face prosecution.
Several well known female presenters have claimed they were molested by other well known celebrities, some of whom may still be in positions of respect, trust and privilege. This is simply unacceptable and the people involved need to be rooted out and named and shamed and prosecuted. It is not sufficient to suggest that there was a culture back then that was it OK to do those things. It was not.

In what should have been a quite week in politics, its hard to know where to start this week. At the risk of being predictable I cant help but start with "Gate Gate" or "pleb gate" as it was known. Andrew Mitchell, known un-affectionately within his party as Thrasher, allegedly called two police officers plebs. In what could have been a scene from TV satire The thick of it, were it not so unbelievabley insensative and arrogant, Mr Mitchell called the two PC's plebs and told the officers that they should know their place, that they did not run the country and that they had not heard the last of this. Ironic then that the story is still simmering on over a week later as certain members of all three parties have called for resignation.
To add insult to injury for the police force, amazingly this happened the day after the country was left shocked and disgusted at the cold blooded murder of two female officers.
The bullying deluded self importantance of the Tory whip not only highlighted how out of touch his party is, it proved once again just what terrible judgement Premier David Cameron has when he came out in support of Thrasher, saying that he believed his denial.

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Last weekend Liverpool football club played their first home game since the revelations about the Hillsborough disaster were made public. In a brilliant spectacle of support before the game Patrick Evra and Louis Suarez took part in the tributes and shook hands putting the racism row behind them and the importance of the day before their own squabbles. Fans around the country paid tribute to the 96 men, women and children who lost their lives and supporters inside Anfield held up mosaics with the words "justice" and "truth".  Sir Alex Ferguson called for respect from fans and asked the sick songs and chants that have blighted the game for years be stopped.The respect and behaviour of the United fans was impeccable.  Sadly, once again at the end of the game a few mindless thugs ran to the Manchester fans and made gestures about the Munich disaster.
Why, even in what should have been a day of remembering, a day of support and togetherness echoing the words of the adopted Anfield anthem- you'll never walk alone, do the minority have to bring shame and disgust to the game?.  It is that senseless minority that got English clubs banned from Europe in the 80's. It is that vile bunch that got Liverpool football club the reputation that doubtlessly contributed to the events and actions of the police and media at Hillsborough. Liverpool football club should ban these despicable people from the game. They should name them, shame them and ensure that the appalling aspect of the game is booted out for good.



Staying with football, John Terry was today banned for four games and fined £220,000 (less than two weeks wages) for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.
Terry who was previously cleared of the charges in a court of law, stood down from the England team on the eve of his court appearance. The fine and ban are ludicrously light when compared to the ban Suarez was handed at Liverpool or Joey Bartons 12 game ban for his playground tantrum in the final game of last season.
The FA needs to have a good long look at itself and decide what message they are trying to end out.
For me the whole incident should have been put to bed months ago. Two spoilt millionaire footballers winding each other up playing the game that has given them such privileged lives, could have shaken hands and put it away long ago. Obviously, racism is wholly unacceptable but this debacle of a court case and an FA investigation has done the game more harm than good. Both players should be banned for season and fined massively for bringing the game into disrepute and refs should lay down the law and send players off  when they hear any foul and abusive language . These idiots are role models to millions of kids and act as though they are Hollywood brats. Its time they and racism were kicked in to touch.


There is little duller in politics than Lib Dem part conference week, but these days the tree hugging, sandal wearing bearded hippies have been replaced by actual government ministers. Has this livened the conference up? No
A week of speeches that promise nothing and mean less are just a disguise for jostling for position in the race to replace doomed leader Nick Clegg. Vince Cable the clear favourite to be next party leader, must be rubbing his hands in delight as the highest ratings poll Clegg has managed in two years is in the  pop charts after his sincere apology to students was mocked and chopped into a charity single. To his credit, Mr Clegg did allow his words to be used as long as Sheffield charities benefited from the proceeds. At last the Sheffield MP and deputy PM has done something for his constituents.
Meanwhile leader of the opposition Ed Miliband has been invisible for a couple of weeks only raising his head above the pit to say that churches that want to marry same sex couples should be allowed to do so.

Talking of the church, I thought almost all religions taught love and tolerance. So why is it that gay men and women are still treated as outcasts by most faiths? Religion- like governments, like society has to learn to adapt to changes in culture and attitude or die out. If they are to maintain any credibility they need to address issues of today not live by opinions formed in the dark ages.
I'm not just talking about Christian or Catholic faiths. There are millions of Muslims living in this country and their arrival on this island means we now live in multi cultural, multi belief, multi religion society. They only way these different worlds can get along in such a small place( the world), is by learning to understand, respect and tolerate the views of other humans.
No where in any of the faith books does it say it is acceptable to molest children. Nowhere does it say it acceptable to treat people who are different as though they are insects.No where does it say that it is acceptable to kill and bomb and burn people who we do not share an opinion with. I am not a church goer but i do not need a book to tell me that these things are simply wrong. I don't need to pray or flaunt symbols and badges to force my beliefs on others to know the difference between good and bad.
If Muslims and Catholics and Christians want to be accepted and  wish to live beside each other  then the violent extremists that overshadow the peace loving respectful majority must be eradicated and shown that some behaviours should not be be tolerated.

Finally, after 23 years Liverpool fans have been cleared of all blame in the Hillsborough disaster. The damning report out this week revealed corruption at the top of the police force and highlighted just how despicable the Sun newspaper is and has always been. They printed lie after lie about innocent Liverpool supporters, accusing them of violence, theft, and other obscene behaviour which simply did not happen, on that day.
96 fans died on the 23 April 1989 and it was claimed in this weeks report that some of those may have survived if treated properly on the day. There are calls now for prosecutions.
Sir Irvine Patnick, a high profile Sheffield MP in '89 made comments to the press at the time, claiming that Liverpool fans were behaving badly on the day and that they were urinating on injured fans from above. There are calls now for his knighthood to be removed.
The police officer in charge that day is also now facing the possibility of criminal charges being brought against him.
 It has also been revealed that the safety certificate had expired.
The cover up from police, media and the government in the aftermath of the disaster was appalling. It was absolutely inexcusable and someone must pay for that.

It is important however, to look at the events of that day from the other side. To appreciate the climate at that time, and decide whether the attitude of South Yorkshire Police was appropriate we need to remember what was happening in English football in 1989.
English clubs were serving a ban from European football in 1989.
 We had been banned following a European Cup final between Italian giants Juventus and Liverpool.
On 29th May 1985 39 Juventus fans died and 600 were injured. Before the game Liverpool fans, many of whom allegedly turned up without tickets,smashing there way through a cinder block wall to gain access and rampaged through the Heysel stadium charging opposition fans causing a wall to collapse on them. Fourteen Liverpool fans were found guilty of manslaughter and imprisoned. UEFA banned all English clubs from European competition until 1990-91 season with Liverpool football club serving a further years ban.
Although the ban did not apply to the England national side, there was so much pressure on the government that they considered withdrawing from the world cup of 1990.
In the wake of incidents like this, and increasing hooliganism in domestic football, fences were erected at grounds around the country, to stop violent yobs invading the pitch or trying to reach opposing fans to fight.
While Liverpool fans in this country have campaigned relentlessly for justice, the rest of Europe has been less than sympathetic.
Juventus legend, Alessandro Del Piero chose to play in Australia this season rather than join the Anfield team, a decision his former agent says, is out of respect for the Heysel victims.

With tensions so high even today it is easy to see why Police in 1989, may have thought initially that the disaster was caused by hooligans.
Were it not for the image of the game being so tarnished at that time maybe the attention of clubs like Sheffield Wednesday would have been less focused on preventing violence and improving safety for genuine football supporters.
The very fences erected to prevent deaths were instrumental in the details of that day in 1989.
None of these things excuse the cover up and explain why no one has come forward with truth for 23 years.
 None of these facts excuse the blatant lies published in the Sun newspaper.
There has been disgust at Police officers at the time checking the register to see if the dead had a criminal record. Those actions are more outrageous two decades later but in those dark days for English football it was an avenue that probably had to be investigated. That said, i can find no justification for breath testing the bodies of children to see if they had been drinking.

When looking to crucify someone for the carnage that day, we must take into account events like Heysel that came before.
 
I hope that now Liverpool's supporters have been cleared of any blame on that day at Hillsbrough, that we can draw a line in the sand and they will feel that at last truth prevailed.
I also hope that in the name of justice we don't seek revenge from everyone and anyone who was involved. Some people I'm sure acted with the best of intentions on that day and the days after it. I'm sure that many of the officers that day did save many more lives that could easily have added to the 96 that perished. They should not be tarred with the same brush as the people who deliberately deceived. Journalists who wrote comment at that time may have believed they were writing the genuine truth, They should not be held in the same light as the vile Kelvin Mckenzie who's apology this week was as insincere as they come.
MPs who were briefed by senior ministers but were not there at the ground, probably felt in those days that they were right to criticise fans.
Whoever pays the price ultimately, we need to ensure that this time we don't react to fashion and favour.

Just what is it that makes the Tories hate unions so much? Is it fear or just contempt? At the end of the 80's more than 12 million workers were members of a trade union. Today, there are less than 6million, with a decline of half a million in the last four years. The TUC says this is due to a fall in employment. I suggest it is deeper than that.
Unions have become a dirty word.
 David Cameron uses the accusation of "been in the pockets of the union", as though it is drug dealers money. Membership is synonymous with corruption. Union leaders like Len Mcluskey and Bob Crow are ridiculed and abused. But do they help themselves? No!
The trade unions of the 70's and 80's are extinct. It is no longer acceptable to down tools and drag everyone out at the drop of a hat. People these days expect services to continue regardless of the treatment of staff. People don't accept bad working conditions poor pay and pensions being raped under the disguise of fairness as an excuse to not having buses running.
We have become so pampered and selfish that we begrudge any one workers having better pay. We seek to look out for number one and sod every one else.
This just plays into the hands of business leaders and government and does nothing for workers.
Thatchers Tories stripped the unions of the real power that they formerly enjoyed, and Francis Maude wants to take away the time off allowed to union reps. The rights of workers need defending, The benefits to workers, both members and none members is immeasurable. Earlier this year, a report commissioned by the government suggested that no fault dismissal would help the economy. Its a blatant lie. It would benefit only the bullies and manipulative managers, increase harassment and stress and possibly cost the economy. 
The Mccluskeys and Crows shouting about coordinated strikes not only puts people off joining unions it weakens the threat.
I have written before about why i believe in unions. I have said that good unions would benefit not just workers but business as well. Unions need a makeover, They are in drastic need of reinvention or face extinction.
 Young workers, the few that are lucky enough to be employed, do not understand unions. They take for granted the many rights that the trade unions have fought for for decades such as equality or paid holidays.
The impact of the unions has saved many jobs for example the car builders in the North east. the union was influential in getting an agreement that saved the plant, benefiting not just the staff, and the employer but the whole area.
A good union rep can be a useful tool to managers and businesses, if the reps can be trusted to  not just be a trouble causer.
Reps working in the interest of employers and the employee can save huge amounts of money wasted on litigation and tribunals. I believe it is the responsibility of all elected union representatives to make members aware of their responsibilities as well as their rights.
 I don't want to be part of a union that sacrifices longevity of jobs for an extra couple of hundred pounds for a handful of workers. I want a union that protects jobs whilst maintaining fairness and decency. The only way unions can have any influence of course is by recruiting supporters and increasing membership and that means a more responsible approach is needed.  
Its not just the Tories that are to blame for the demise. 14 years of labour government did nothing to strengthen the role of trade unions. Why do we not  teach trade unionism in school? Historically, the contribution the unions have made to this country is worthy of mention in the curriculum. I'm not talking propaganda, just awareness. Unions should be the link between employer and employee, not the barrier.
The millions of pounds of members money spent funding union bosses salaries could be used more usefully promoting the benefits of unions. Strike action should always be a last resort. There are many ways to demonstrate, all of which should be exhausted before strike action but it is vital that we retain the right to withdraw our labour.
Some eloquent tweeter said today that we need unity not Unite. I disagree.
Unite have recently introduced community membership. This could be a fantastic way to engage people and provide a voice for millions of people who are not currently represented by the media or politicians. As the vast majority of politicians have business interests of their own, or have owned bussinesses before entering politics, is it any wonder that there is a biased against the union?
Rotherham MP Dennis MacShane recently suggested a quota of working class MPs. This is never going to happen due to the cost in both time and money. Joining a responsible union could give the same representation. Union leaders like Len Mccluskey need to stop attacking business and threatening industrial action and come up with ways to fairly protect the rights of workers while ensuring they have work to protect.

As someone who likes sports generally and has on occasion, visited the odd gym, it was easy to be inspired to do a couple of sit ups and cut down on the fags after watching the Olympics.
I imagine gym membership will be well up over the coming months, as the fatties strive to be the next Jess Ennis and middle aged men attempt to be eighteen again.
I must admit, to my shame, as yet i have not watched any of the paralympics. But what inspiration will be taken from the games.
The government are currently assessing the needs and ability to work of people on disability allowance. We are hearing horror stories of people suffering from cancer losing their benefits. But the fact is there are hundreds, maybe thousands of people fit enough to work, who are simply sponging off the tax payers by claiming they cant work because they have a bad back, or asthma for example.
I hope these scroungers are sat on their plush sofas watching their plasmas and seeing the likes of Martine Wright. On July 7th 2005, Martine was in the London tube bombing, after 10 days in a coma she lost both her legs. This week she competed for GB in the women's sitting volleyball team. That is some achievement. Win or lose at the games, she can take pride in the fact that she has not decided to be a victim for the rest of her life and lay around wallowing in self pity or bitterness. She actually described herself this week as lucky.
Jonathan Fox, who has cerebral palsy won a gold medal in swimming at the age of just 21.
Jon Allan Butterworth lost his arm in a rocket attack while serving in Iraq. He is competing in the cycling at the games.
These for me are just some of of the truly inspirational stories of this summer. OK, take nothing away from the private school lot, that won us a shed of load of medals in London, they did remarkably well- but in comparison to the the absolute heroes that are representing their countries at the paralympics it was school sports day.
I just hope that like the government has apparently been inspired to kick start sports in schools by the success of London 2012, the many "disability" claimants are inspired to not languish at home.
Before i'm accused of being heartless,I know many many people, who would dearly love to work, are simply unable to due their disability or illness. Those people deserve to get benefits and have a right to the same quality of life as any able bodied person.
Its the spongers and scroungers that look for an excuse to do nothing because they think they deserve a better quality of life than people who have to work for a living, that i hope are inspired to get a life.
We have become a nation of lazy lay abouts wanting hand outs from the state and it is those leeches that have contributed to the state of the economy which now means people who want to work struggle to find a job. It is the generation of why should i's that have cost the remploy workers their hope of dignity,
So when the honours list comes round and her maj drapes medals on the achievers of this year, I hope that she acknowledges the contributions of the brave and the mutilated, the sick and the unfortunate that have indeed done us proud this summer.