New Enquirer column goes live

The newly-launched North-West Enquirer has kindly granted me another platform to air my views on national politics, regionalism and other matters in the shape of a weekly column.

My first effort focuses on a question that has surfaced several times on this blog - whether there can be a future for elected regional government in the wake of the North-East referendum defeat in November 2004.

My general take on this is that while it is currently extremely unlikely, the creeping regionalisation of public services such as the police and fire brigades means the issue is eventually likely to recur in some form.

You can read it in full by clicking here.

Mitchell Earl Hodge 1962-2006

I am very grateful for the kind comments on the previous post, but the reason this blog has been shut down for nearly a fortnight is because of the very untimely death of my American brother-in-law, Mitch Hodge, in a road accident near his home in Arizona on Good Friday.

Mitch was a super guy who was always great fun to be with and who I was proud to have as a member of my family. There were several local news reports on the accident that caused his death, but I won't link out to them because none of them came close to doing him justice.

My wife Gill and I flew out to Arizona last weekend to be with the family and attend his memorial service, held in a breathtaking open-air setting in the Verde Valley which he loved, surrounded by panoramic mountain views.

It was a suitable send-off for a man who loved life, loved the outdoors, and had a great gift for friendship. His employers, Creative Technology, have placed this tribute on the homepage of their website.

Time out

Apologies to anyone who's been here in recent days expecting to find the latest up-to-the-minute political analysis....but owing to a family bereavement I'm taking some time out and I will not be updating this blog again for a while. Normal service will be resumed in about 10-14 days I expect.

Till then,

Paul