Jack Straw: We must break spiral of decline in bus services
‘THE Single Fare is not the Standard Fare.” Pardon? “The Standard Fare for any journey at any time on any Transdev Lancashire United bus is £20.”
View ArticleJack Straw: Genuinely – well done Burnley for great effort
“You can’t say that. You’ll be lynched if you do, Jack.”
View ArticleJack Straw: The road back to prosperity? We’re on the right lines
I spent a happy morning last Friday with my daughter and her son (our first grandson) going round the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Manchester. Bright though he is, I’m not sure that young...
View ArticleJack Straw: An ethical conundrum over pensions
I t’s a tricky one, I’d say. £68million of Lancashire local authorities’ pension funds invested in tobacco companies; £78million in drinks, and liquor companies, like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Pernod Ricard,...
View ArticleJack Straw: This time enough was enough
I will not be alone in welcoming the decision of Judge Richard Chalkley in the Upper Tribunal of the immigration courts that Mahmoud Jabber, a convicted drug dealer living in Accrington should be...
View ArticleJack Straw: The system has helped to keep the peace
Thirty nations would be nuclear armed by now – that was the prediction in the 1960s.
View ArticleJack Straw: EU is definitely in need of tweaking
Three-quarters of Britain’s electors took part in the 1979 General Election, when Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister.
View ArticleJack Straw: Thank God the plan worked – in the end
The Normandy Landings, the 70th anniversary of which falls tomorrow, will go down in history as one of the most extraordinary military operations.
View ArticleJack Straw: My nerves are in shreds over advice on chicken wash
DO you wash your chicken? I’ve never washed a chicken in my life. Nor did my Mum.
View ArticleJack Straw: Map of North West has Burnley there – but not Blackburn...
‘Pardon. The BBC has removed Blackburn from the weather map, and put Burnley on the map instead?
View ArticleJack Straw: Keep it local in full veil dispute, don’t look to EU judgement
The full veil is a barrier to communication. It is a visible statement of separation and difference. It makes better, more positive relations between individuals and communities more difficult.
View ArticleJack Straw: Gandhi’s statue deserves place next to Mandela and Churchill
How the world changes. Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress was, said Margaret Thatcher, a “typical terrorist organisation”.
View ArticleJack Straw: Don’t believe the jibes about lazy MPs: we’re workaholics
With Parliament stopping for its six-week summer break next week, I guarantee the usual rash of headlines about “Britain’s lazy MPs”.
View ArticleJACK STRAW: We must help defeat the ‘Islamic state’ barbarians
IT’S the strange thing about August. It’s supposed to be a quiet month, when folk take a holiday and get a rest.
View ArticleJACK STRAW: Why try to shrink your country, Mr Salmond?
Shouting at the telly. I know it’s the third sign of madness, but I still do it.
View ArticleJack Straw: They have lost the argument
THE parents of an eight-year-old girl who travelled to America to undergo life-saving treatment for a rare form of cancer say it should be available in the UK.
View ArticleJACK STRAW: Scots could end up with less control
MY close friend, Alistair Darling, leader of the “Better Together” campaign, has been telling anyone who would listen for the past three years that opinion polls on Scottish separation from the UK...
View ArticleJack Straw: Unique way to tackle crime is paying off
Hello, Mr Straw, I’ve met you before,” said a prisoner in Garth Prison, in 2008. “In Brixton Prison, in 1998”.
View ArticleJack Straw: Whirlwind of change since first conference
THIS week’s Labour Party Conference in Manchester was the fortieth I’ve attended. It will be my last as an elected MP.
View ArticleJack Straw: Ransoms not the answer in battle on terrorism
Of all the difficult issues I had to deal with as a Minister, the kidnapping of British citizens abroad was one of the toughest.
View ArticleJack Straw: It is time the international community did not just mouth words
There was an historic vote in the House of Commons on Monday.
View ArticleJack Straw: Workload has risen but our stock has plummeted
THAT’S outrageous” claimed a North-West MP.
View ArticleJack Straw: Close protection officers do a near impossible job
Straight after the 2010 General Election I had to go on a big adventure. Buy a mobile ‘phone.
View ArticleJack Straw: Bringing people back to face justice was right step
IN July 1995 a gas bottle exploded at a Paris Metro station, killing eight and wounding 80.
View ArticleJack Straw: We need to get on track and campaign for extra rail links
THERE is less traffic on the roads today than there was eight years ago.
View ArticleJack Straw: Young people have a greater stake in the future of our country
IN the election for Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner fewer than one in six of adults cast their vote.
View ArticleJack Straw: Mega internet corporations are set for a mighty fall one day
In the Old Testament, Proverbs teaches that ‘Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall’.
View ArticleJack Straw: I’m in little doubt that e-cigarettes are much more for the good...
AH, the fags behind the bike sheds. It was almost a rite of passage when I was a youngster. I didn’t know anyone at school who had not smoked at least a few cigarettes. Many were then hooked – for life.
View ArticleJack Straw: Let's hope Pakistan can fight for a better future
SOMETIMES it is possible to get inside the minds of those who have carried out terrorist acts, and comprehend what the terrorists have aimed to achieve.
View ArticleJack Straw column: Those who twist messages of religions must be exposed as...
WHEN atrocities as terrible as last week’s shootings in Paris occur, the search is on for explanations for how some people can commit such unspeakable crimes, and in the name of a religion: Islam.
View ArticleJack Straw: In the last few months too many sittings have ‘collapsed’
WHEN Betty Boothroyd became the first-ever woman Speaker of the House of Commons in 1992, it was a foolish MP who tried to cross her.
View ArticleJack Straw: The outcome will be achieved by replacing the battery pack
THERE are some extraordinary heroes in East Lancashire, from many walks of life.
View ArticleJack Straw: Islamic Madrassa play a vital role in instilling British values...
ONE of the joys of my thirty-six years as Blackburn’s MP is suddenly discovering some gems which I had not known about before.
View ArticleJack Straw column: Who is your neighbour?
I must have heard hundreds of church sermons over the years.
View ArticleJack Straw column: My loyalty to East Lancashire is as strong as ever
IF you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.
View ArticleJack Straw column: Iran will have signed up to no new obligations
After twelve years of on-off negotiations, there is now a possibility of a ground-breaking deal between the international community and Iran on its nuclear programme.
View ArticleJack Straw column: Plain packaging for cigarettes is logical next step in...
What’s changed most about the House of Commons since I was a new MP for Blackburn in 1979?
View ArticleJack Straw column: Motor insurance hikes due to new ‘industry’ of trade in...
“WHY has my motor insurance gone up so much when I’ve got a perfect driving record, my car is the same, and haven’t moved house?”
View ArticleJack Straw column: Today is my last sitting day as your MP - and I’ve been...
I’M SO glad I was a teenager in the sixties. The music, the fun, (and everything else) have never been surpassed.
View ArticleGala set to celebrate its 50th anniversary
DARWEN Gala will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Saturday, August 15.
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