Why is Dave feeling blue all of a sudden?

THE FRIDAY THING: WHAT has happened to my old sparring partner Dave Hibbert?

I return from two idyllic weeks in the Brecon Beacons where, contrary to the advice of Welsh friends, we did not need a submarine, dinghy or even a rowing boat but enjoyed some magnificent weather, only to find that Dave had written a letter to the Chronicle praising David Cameron.

Yes, THE David Cameron.

Is he unwell? Has Oldham’s one remaining Tory slipped something in his Horlicks? Or has he been inflicted, like so many, by Metro madness, the symptoms of which include driving round in ever-decreasing circles before disappearing up your own exhaust and going home for a lie down.

I put it down to the recent burst of summer sunshine: it can give anyone a touch of Labour red.

Hopefully Dave will be back to full health soon and returning to the attack.

Get well soon, Dave!


Racists will not win here...
WHAT should have come as no surprise to anyone was the demonstration by the usual rag-tag collection of loonies, misfits and far-right nutters turning up in Oldham, not really to protest about the barbaric murder of soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich but to attempt to provoke violent division and reaction in our multi-cultural borough.

That they did not succeed in provoking anything more than sore throats through senseless chanting shows how far Oldham has come since the violence and horrors of 2001.

Racists will never win here.


High street threat
IT is little short of tragic that Alan Hopkinson, who launched a campaign to save Yorkshire Street’s shops, has become a victim of Metrolink work and of the creeping sense that life in town centre shopping areas is under increasing threat.

Most towns and some city centres, too, are undergoing a dramatic upheaval probably started by the first moves of major stores out of town.

Oldham has amazing plans for the future of the town centre that go some way to bringing life back into Yorkshire Street, but the biggest problem could well be the number of take-away food outlets that have been allowed to open, bringing a benefit for the night-time trade, but hardly attractive for would-be daytime shoppers.

Mr Hopkinson’s Open Fire Centre will probably not be the only town centre business to fall over the next few months and filling the gaps will not be easy.