50 shades of living over the brush . . .

THE FRIDAY THING: AS someone who, over the years, has attended many weddings (some jolly, some happy, some pure comedy, and one that was abandoned when the bridegroom was throttled by the bride’s boyfriend and bit by his not-so-jolly dog in a place that might have spoiled the honeymoon) I can report that most were friendly and gentle family occasions.

The planning, the nerves, the doubts and fears, hopefully the love and sense of permanence that grace the best of weddings make it an entirely enchanting, memorable and optimistic occasion. The news that fewer than half of people in England and Wales are married is a clear sign of these cohabiting times where marriage has become a kind of exchange and mart where partners flit from one relationship to another, one bed to another.

They used to call it living over the brush but I don’t know why, unless it is some obscure sexual reference. Fifty shades of brushes, perhaps.

Sir Paul Coleridge, a High Court judge who founded the Marriage Foundation campaign in support of traditional family life, now describes the scale of family breakdowns as a complete scandal and accuses these bed-hopping spouses of recycling partners instead of trying to fix their marital problems. You can almost hear the aghast outrage in his voice.

Some marriages certainly lack the staying power of brides and bridegrooms of yore who had their rows, skirmishes, differences of opinion and conflict but generally worked to overcome them.

These days any excuse, from burning the toast to leaving smelly socks on the floor seems to be grounds for divorce.



HOW long will it be before the number of people born outside the UK is higher than the number of those of us who were born here? Does it matter?

There are currently 56.1m of us in England and Wales and one in eight of us were born abroad. Immigrants from Poland, India, Pakistan and Nigeria being responsible for a population increase of 7.8 per cent.

Labour’s disastrous immigration policy has a lot to answer for and we find ourselves on the verge of another so-called clampdown on incomers with no more confidence in this one than we had in the last.

The real impact of this influx of folk from foreign parts is not easy to measure and many of those who took understandable advantage of our no-door policy to immigration did so in search of work and better living conditions.

While the number of incomers has increased, the number of available jobs and homes hasn’t kept pace with the uncontrolled level of immigration and will be of little if any benefit to the UK economy.

There is no doubt this mismatch between the number of people coming into the UK and the jobs and homes available has led to considerable resentment in some quarters.

Quite where we go from here is anyone’s guess, but the hope has to be that communities can at least continue living in peace, each getting on with their own lives and not interfering in the lives of their neighbours.

A tall order? We shall find out soon enough.



FINAL WORD: As anyone who knows me would testify, I have never been a fashion guru and the latest (very latest must-have fashion item for men) is hardly likely to change either my mind or my image.

We men are being encouraged to wear leggings or, and I jest not, “meggings” (men’s leggings, very clever I don’t think).

Apparently the likes of Justin Bleber and Russell Brand have taken to wearing these skin-tight tights.

One friend said he would only wear them if he could also wear a cricket box and another wondered where he could put his wallet. If you see anyone in Oldham daft enough to wear meggings, especially in these freeze-everything cold days and nights do let me know.