What should we talk about today?
The world according to Kirkey
If Part One was the warm up lap, this is where the memories start sprinting. Bracknell in the 80s wasn’t just a place — it was a full contact sport. Robberies, dodgy motors, youth clubs, blasting The Specials, and me trying to look competent in a Vauxhall Chevette that handled like a shopping trolley with … Read more
Some towns never really let you go. Bracknell is one of mine. I left it, returned to it, loved in it, worked in it, and lost in it. I went for a stroll around Bracknell then like a budget Forrest Gump I kept on going – well at least for 9 miles. What propelled me … Read more
There’s a particular kind of moral contortionism doing laps on my social media feed — a sort of ideological Pilates where people bend themselves into shapes the human spine was never designed for. Anything, it seems, to avoid confronting the central, unavoidable truth: That Nigel Farage’s rhetoric preceded — and in my view helped inflame … Read more
I asked AI, “what was the chief reason for the UK imploding in terms of its economy, standing in the world and happiness of the people?” The bottom line: a catastrophic, unresolved collapse in productivity and investment after 2008. Everything else — stagnant wages, failing public services, declining global influence, and falling happiness — flows … Read more
I thought I was visiting a tomb; instead, I walked into a three thousand year old argument about mortality and memory. Since childhood, I’ve been enthralled by the legend of King Tutankhamun. And honestly, who isn’t. The boy king who accidentally achieved what every pharaoh desired: immortality. Not the carved in stone kind, but the … Read more
I was a late entrant into the cyber world of social media. Like a reluctant guest at a party who ends up hogging the karaoke machine, once I was in, I was hooked. I became a cheerleader, pom poms aloft, shouting into the digital void. But let’s be clear: my online persona – save one … Read more
When I joined the police in 1982, we were issued a truncheon – a lump of wood so archaic it felt like a relic from the Crimean War. As a tool of personal protection, it was about as useful as an ashtray on a motorcycle. The version handed to my female colleagues was even more … Read more
Just For One Day reminded me how lucky I was to live through the 80s. Bob Geldof may have his critics, but he did two things brilliantly: He mobilised the music industry to supercharge aid for Ethiopia’s most vulnerable. And he glorified my favourite word—though he never actually said, “Give us your fucking money!” It … Read more
An agnostic walks into a church sounds like the commencement of a joke, yet the funny thing is this describes my not so guilty pleasure. I guess initially I was drawn to the architectural splendour of these symbols of faith as my rejection of the central tenet of religion remains steadfast. Yet, one day in … Read more
Having been a cop in a former life, I was schooled in the pursuit of the truth. There was a clean, uncompromising attraction to this quest, and I became skilled in building a prosecution case based on the ethical collection of facts. The truth is spectacular since it efficiently removes the need to lie – … Read more