Julian Cole
@juliancole.bsky.social
Journalist, mostly retired but still writing features for the Yorkshire Post. Wrote some crime novels, still at it in an unpublished way. Often to be found at manonledge.co.uk
Mostly I blog in and around politics. This one instead considers a lifetime of trying to play the guitar
manonledge.co.uk/what-a-lifet...
manonledge.co.uk/what-a-lifet...
What a lifetime of trying to play the guitar teaches you…
I HAVE played the guitar for ever, not that you’d know it some stumble finger days. At my boys’ grammar school in the early 1970s, I gave a mini-recital of a study by Matteo Carcassi, an Italian gu…
manonledge.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Mostly I blog in and around politics. This one instead considers a lifetime of trying to play the guitar
manonledge.co.uk/what-a-lifet...
manonledge.co.uk/what-a-lifet...
manonledge.co.uk/never-mind-t...
Here is my latest blog. I publish one most weeks and they’re all up there. Ten years’ worth now
Here is my latest blog. I publish one most weeks and they’re all up there. Ten years’ worth now
Never mind the TV adverts. We’re being dragged back to the 1970s by Farage and co…
I don’t know if Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin has been to Scarborough, but she won’t like what was written in the sand. Pochin is the MP for Runcorn. What Runcorn did to deserve her is a mystery. Only …
manonledge.co.uk
October 29, 2025 at 6:04 PM
manonledge.co.uk/never-mind-t...
Here is my latest blog. I publish one most weeks and they’re all up there. Ten years’ worth now
Here is my latest blog. I publish one most weeks and they’re all up there. Ten years’ worth now
manonledge.co.uk/a-few-though...
Here is my latest blog. Give it a read, you might enjoy it, especially if you are woke
Here is my latest blog. Give it a read, you might enjoy it, especially if you are woke
A few thoughts on Musk, Charlie Kirk and why I finally quit X…
I have finally deactivated my X account. This was the day after Elon Musk attempted to deactivate our democracy. Musk’s sin was greater than mine but having an X account still felt unclean. I shoul…
manonledge.co.uk
September 19, 2025 at 10:27 AM
manonledge.co.uk/a-few-though...
Here is my latest blog. Give it a read, you might enjoy it, especially if you are woke
Here is my latest blog. Give it a read, you might enjoy it, especially if you are woke
www.libdems.org.uk/bbc
While I don’t usually vote LibDem I am more than happy to sign this petition
While I don’t usually vote LibDem I am more than happy to sign this petition
Balance the BBC
The BBC is our national broadcaster, people expect and deserve balanced news coverage.
www.libdems.org.uk
September 9, 2025 at 8:55 AM
www.libdems.org.uk/bbc
While I don’t usually vote LibDem I am more than happy to sign this petition
While I don’t usually vote LibDem I am more than happy to sign this petition
manonledge.co.uk/the-bbc-gets...
To us all has been sent a dollop of corporate dung speak from which there rises an unpleasant smell
To us all has been sent a dollop of corporate dung speak from which there rises an unpleasant smell
The BBC gets back about my complaint… sad to see Rayner go… some caffeinated claptrap about coffee…
As mentioned here last time, I complained to the BBC about “the endless slavish and unquestioning coverage” given to Nigel Farage and Reform UK. Now the BBC has got back to me. Or, rather, to mysel…
manonledge.co.uk
September 6, 2025 at 3:24 PM
manonledge.co.uk/the-bbc-gets...
To us all has been sent a dollop of corporate dung speak from which there rises an unpleasant smell
To us all has been sent a dollop of corporate dung speak from which there rises an unpleasant smell
manonledge.co.uk/nigels-makin...
Here is the latest edition of my blog…including my complaint to the BBC
Here is the latest edition of my blog…including my complaint to the BBC
Nigel’s making plans for Nigel…
What unlikely connection exists between the Taliban and the journalists of Nottinghamshire Live? Well, Reform UK suggested doing a deal with the former but won’t talk to the latter. To set this in …
manonledge.co.uk
August 28, 2025 at 12:18 PM
manonledge.co.uk/nigels-makin...
Here is the latest edition of my blog…including my complaint to the BBC
Here is the latest edition of my blog…including my complaint to the BBC
manonledge.co.uk/from-lawless...
Here is my latest blog. Give it a go, you might even enjoy it. Unless you are Nigel Farage
Here is my latest blog. Give it a go, you might even enjoy it. Unless you are Nigel Farage
From ‘lawless Britain’ to the new Naked Gun film…
Here’s a nubby conundrum. Should my typing fingers address ‘lawless Britain’ – or go straight to the new Naked Gun film? Oh, with a tug of reluctance, let’s start in that Nigel Farage-fabricated la…
manonledge.co.uk
August 12, 2025 at 10:04 AM
manonledge.co.uk/from-lawless...
Here is my latest blog. Give it a go, you might even enjoy it. Unless you are Nigel Farage
Here is my latest blog. Give it a go, you might even enjoy it. Unless you are Nigel Farage
manonledge.co.uk/yes-here-it-...
Here is my latest blog. It’s all in that headline really
Here is my latest blog. It’s all in that headline really
Yes, here it is… another essay on why you shouldn’t vote for Reform
There is a file I keep for blog ideas. At present it’s swollen like an appendix fit to burst, but mostly that’s down to Nigel Farage. Many of the bits and pieces put into the ‘blog stuff’ folder ar…
manonledge.co.uk
July 25, 2025 at 8:38 AM
manonledge.co.uk/yes-here-it-...
Here is my latest blog. It’s all in that headline really
Here is my latest blog. It’s all in that headline really
manonledge.co.uk/ai-worries-s...
Here is the latest edition of my this and that blog. Give it a go if you have a mo
Here is the latest edition of my this and that blog. Give it a go if you have a mo
AI worries… sticking up for our MP… and tired legs versus teeny legs…
Here are pieces of flotsam found in the stagnant pool of my mind. You can’t move nowadays without tripping over two vowels yoked together in the name of progress. No prizes for guessing those lette…
manonledge.co.uk
July 17, 2025 at 6:04 PM
manonledge.co.uk/ai-worries-s...
Here is the latest edition of my this and that blog. Give it a go if you have a mo
Here is the latest edition of my this and that blog. Give it a go if you have a mo
manonledge.co.uk/new-parties-...
A few thoughts on new parties from Musk and Corbyn. Plus a fragrant footnote
A few thoughts on new parties from Musk and Corbyn. Plus a fragrant footnote
New parties from Musk and Corbyn, and the trashy scent of Trump…
WHAT links Jeremy Corbyn and Elon Musk? Both have announced they are establishing a new political party, that’s what. Musk, former Trump buddy and backer turned fury-spitting frenemy, is setting up…
manonledge.co.uk
July 6, 2025 at 7:50 PM
manonledge.co.uk/new-parties-...
A few thoughts on new parties from Musk and Corbyn. Plus a fragrant footnote
A few thoughts on new parties from Musk and Corbyn. Plus a fragrant footnote
manonledge.co.uk/a-year-of-st...
A few thoughts on a year of Labour and how the BBC reports so-called U-turns
A few thoughts on a year of Labour and how the BBC reports so-called U-turns
A year of Starmer and are these really U-turns?…
U-turns seem to be having a moment, especially if you are the political editor of the BBC. That’s Chris Mason, by the way, that over-eager weasel with a scrap of something bloody caught in his teet…
manonledge.co.uk
June 28, 2025 at 7:31 AM
manonledge.co.uk/a-year-of-st...
A few thoughts on a year of Labour and how the BBC reports so-called U-turns
A few thoughts on a year of Labour and how the BBC reports so-called U-turns
manonledge.co.uk/yet-again-th...
Why is the BBC so keen on cosying up to Nigel Farage? My latest blog
Why is the BBC so keen on cosying up to Nigel Farage? My latest blog
Yet again, the BBC displays an unhealthy obsession with Nigel Farage…
What is it with the BBC and Reform UK? Those of us who habitually stick up for the BBC are having a hard time of it right now. It seems all news headlines must by decree mention that Nigel Farage’s…
manonledge.co.uk
June 10, 2025 at 8:14 PM
manonledge.co.uk/yet-again-th...
Why is the BBC so keen on cosying up to Nigel Farage? My latest blog
Why is the BBC so keen on cosying up to Nigel Farage? My latest blog
manonledge.co.uk/and-thats-ho...
The years ago I sat down to write a blog after being made redundant…
The years ago I sat down to write a blog after being made redundant…
And that’s how you end up writing a blog for ten years…
Today it is ten years since I shuffled onto this ledge. Perhaps I should have a word with my slighter younger self. Are you sure you want to spend a whole decade writing a blog read by a handful of…
manonledge.co.uk
May 31, 2025 at 2:50 PM
manonledge.co.uk/and-thats-ho...
The years ago I sat down to write a blog after being made redundant…
The years ago I sat down to write a blog after being made redundant…
Here’s the latest edition of my blog about this and that. In this one promising not to write about Trump is harder than it seems
Apologies for my lapse back into Trump-world…
A while ago I imposed a Trump veto on myself. Trouble is, that man is hard to ignore. He’s in the room with me now, doing that weird dance like a puppet with poor joints. That’s the juncture betwee…
manonledge.co.uk
April 14, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Here’s the latest edition of my blog about this and that. In this one promising not to write about Trump is harder than it seems
manonledge.co.uk/what-a-gig-a...
I had no idea the fans would be so ardent, and so physical, so completely into the Hold Steady. Theirs is a raucous ecstasy, leaping about, flinging their arms, jumping like pneumatic drills, and shouting the lyrics back at Craig Finn
I had no idea the fans would be so ardent, and so physical, so completely into the Hold Steady. Theirs is a raucous ecstasy, leaping about, flinging their arms, jumping like pneumatic drills, and shouting the lyrics back at Craig Finn
What a gig…and I’m glad by son was there to hold me steady in the surge
We’ve always talked about going to the annual Hold Steady gig at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, without doing anything about it. But now we are here. I got my eldest boy into this American band y…
manonledge.co.uk
March 10, 2025 at 8:07 PM
manonledge.co.uk/what-a-gig-a...
I had no idea the fans would be so ardent, and so physical, so completely into the Hold Steady. Theirs is a raucous ecstasy, leaping about, flinging their arms, jumping like pneumatic drills, and shouting the lyrics back at Craig Finn
I had no idea the fans would be so ardent, and so physical, so completely into the Hold Steady. Theirs is a raucous ecstasy, leaping about, flinging their arms, jumping like pneumatic drills, and shouting the lyrics back at Craig Finn