Kes is deservedly a lauded picture and cemented Ken Loach’s reputation as a film maker with plenty to say about social issues in Great Britain and the scene with Brian Glover as the demented PE teacher is as iconic as you can get in cinematic terms.

George Orwell’s description of Dickens displaying a “generous anger” in his work sprung to my mind whilst reading Barry Hines classic life in a day tale of a misfit teenager’s attempts to navigate his way through a dysfunctional Yorkshire working class upbringing due to the writers descriptions of the housing and relationships on display. There is no overt judgmentalising, even the boys Mother’s morals are not commented upon, and you get the drift that they are decent people trying their best. 

Billy Casper is one of English Literature’s greatest creations and he is the conduit through which Hines introduces the reader to the reality of our class system, and the endemic way in which the top pushes down to subjugate those at the bottom.

The sub prime crisis is a perfect example of this. The Keynesian economic model requires demand to stimulate the dash for “growth” . This, ideally should result from a high wage and a high skill economy where there is a distribution of wealth based on both usefulness as well as pragmatic support for those who can’t help themselves. Fairness I think it was once known as.

But that doesn’t suit capitalism, so instead we have been witness to a mind boggling explosion of wealth at the upper end and a gradual erosion of wages just below the average salary, but in order to keep the demand going debt has been the way that the top end control and exploit those at the bottom, done through the pretence of aspiration. This ends up with a family who once would have resided in social housing being carolled into taking out an eye watering mortgage for a mock Tudor place (with massive kick backs for the brokers and Banks). Then two years in the lender can quite legally re arrange the terms adding in one recent case £200 a month onto the bill, the family fall behind, get kicked out but the lenders never lose due to the fact that property prices are still going up.

So what we’ve ended up with now is a large rump of the population mired in horrendous debt, surviving on low wages whilst being fed a diet of unrealistic aspiration from the media. “Debt? Who gives a shit? Consolidate it all in one place and then go on holiday to the Caribbean whilst they fit the kitchen of your dreams! You deserve it!” They don’t mention the arrangement fees, or the compound interest which can be re “negotiated” at anytime. 

The answer to all of this lies in the education system and I thank my lucky stars that I went to school at the best time as, due to the Post 1945 settlement education was free to all at whatever level provided that you could cut the mustard academically. Thus the professions became open to us Marist lads in a way that would not be possible today as Middle Class manipulation of the system sees our kids into the best State schools where there are now massive gaps between establishments that never existed to the same extent twenty five years ago.

Billy’s mundane existence is enlivened by his acquisition of a kestrel whom he trains to perfection, impressing his English teacher no end.

I remember vividly trying to “teach” a bunch of lads about some aspect of the curriculum in Year 11, but as they were destined all to leave school with virtually no qualifications I soon wondered what they were really interested in. I asked them to do a show and tell. One lad brought in his boxing gloves and spent 50 minutes explaining how and why he loved his chosen sport. They were enraptured and the lad was proud. All this stuff works better when people talk to each other. Now it’s more and more of a syringe approach where the pupil has education done to them. 

The best bit of the book isn’t actually in the film and it features Billy writing about his ideal day. Heart breaking in the context of his life in this wonderful book.

When I saw that Sam Ricketts had signed for Bolton my initial reaction was; “Good. I’ll drive him there myself!” Harsh, but the Welshman has been a blessed liability in defence.

Then I got to thinking.

Why, if  Bolton are going to be in there around us scraping for survival are we selling them a player whom they think will improve their squad? Hell, it’s the pragmatic reason that Ricky Sbragia refused Phil Brown’s overtures for Paul McShane last season. “I’m not playing him, but you can’t have in either!”. The Mackams survived with an advantage over us.

From Ricketts’ point of view I imagine that with only a year left on his Walton Street deal and the prospect of being relegated, the boy decided it would be more advantageous to seek an new club whilst still an international Premier League player rather than scrabbling around for a contract having been part of a relegated squad.

As soon as Frazier Campbell (rightly from his point of view) snubbed City where he has been a raging success, for Sunderland the writing was on the wall for Phil Brown’s attempts to lure top quality to the football Club, and we have been spurned by a succession of strikers, most of whom were overpriced an underwhelming anyway. The latest is 2 goals in 32 games Fulham forward Bobby Zamora who was rated at an eye watering £5 million.

At least, I thought we haven’t been in for the last port of desperate call; Mark Viduka. Then I turned the page in my newspaper….

There is a simple reason why we can’t sign anyone decent and it’s name is Phil Brown.

During the heady late Summer days of last September whilst we basked un the glory of third place Brown was seen as a bit of a lark, bringing his work a day artisans into the top flight and poking the likes of Arsene Wenger in the eye. “A breath of fresh air” and all that pony.

Then there came the Boxing Day debacle at Eastlands and the scales fell from the eyes in the footy world as Brown was outed as, actually a bit of a Pratt who was out of his depth tactically, and crucially from an HR perspective he seemed unable to be consistent with the players going from being one of the lads to boggle eyed ranting and raving. No one wants a boss like that.

Money is no object. City are loaded and have zero debt but all that will count for naught if we can’t get people to come and play for us. I am in no way calling for the Manager’s head, but he must show humility and prove to us that he had learnt from his mistakes.

When I saw Sven had gone to Notts. County as Director of Football I couldn’t help but wonder if Paul Duffen hadn’t missed a trick there. His contacts book alone would have been worth it.

I am not given, usually to undue pessimism but I fear that we will be relegated with 26 points having recorded five wins as the bitter truth is that without quality players in all areas you are stuffed in this League. But, just one big signing and a couple of wins could turn matters around within a couple of weeks and then who knows what could be possible.

We are at the watershed.

Cricket produces all kinds of daft superstitions. In my distinctly average career it was left pad on first, not putting my gloves on until I was ready to actually face, and most annoyingly for my partner (Steve Grima) I always had to take the first ball when opening the batting .

Pertinent to today’s bone fide miracle at Sofia Gardens in Cardiff is that you don’t change seats during a vital partnership, so by 6.40 I was absolutely bursting for a Jimmy Riddle, but fortunately an other Jimmy (Anderson) was busy, along with Monty Panesar saving this First Ashes Test for England.

What a last session. 2005 and all that when the two old enemies produced four unbelievable finishes in a row which tested the nerves of England fans to the full out maximum. When Collingwood finally succumbed after a magnificent knock of 74 obdurate runs and Monty Panesar arrived at the crease England were dead and buried, but a stunning rearguard action from Jimmy Anderson and the Northants spinner, allied to extremely poor bowling when the pressure was on from the tourists saw England home.

Where to now?

Firstly the selectors should resist the urge for change. The pitch did nothing to help any of the bowlers. It was the scourge of the modern game. Flat, slow and low a la the Caribbean and the Sub Continent with no reverse on offer and a sluggish outfield so the bowlers were in queer street from the start of this game.

We under performed in the first innings and had it not been for Swann’s cameo on Thursday 350 would have seen Australia in total control. Make no mistake it’s the top five who got us into this mess, but as usual the press will be calling for the bowlers to be changed. Broad in particular must feel the shadow of Harmison or  Onions over his shoulder, but he will come good as Lords may over more for bowler of his height.

I am in favour of two spinners for variety, but if one is to be sacrificed it must be Swann. Don’t be fooled by the runs he offers. If you need your number nine to get significant runs, then the top order need to take a long look at themselves. Monty is the better bowler. That’s all you need to know.

One real worry is that Ponting seems to have out foxed Strauss at every turn, and most of days two and three saw us lose control in the field with seemingly no significant sign of a plan at any stage, especially against Marcus North.

We must look on this as a massive let off, and not waste the chance that a bit of luck, and no little sweat and tears from the three last day heroes has given us.

Watching Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performing at Glastonbury thanks to the wonderful coverage on the BBC, reminded me of just how great the music is and why he is referred to universally as “The Boss”.

Springsteen epitomises everything that is great about the United States of America and it fills me with optimism that the election of Barack Obama can see these values of fairness, tolerance, celebration of all that is good and a sense that anything is possible finally represented by a leader who shares such a vision. Perhaps Jimmy Carter was a tad naive in his view of humanity, but I always felt that he kind of got it about America’s privileged position in the world and the need to mend fences and build bridges and Springsteen brilliantly articulates this in the title track of this, his greatest record, Born in the USA.

The reason Bruce Springsteen carries on producing great records and a brilliant live show is because he has never lost touch with his audience, their hopes, their fears, their emotions and what it means to be an American across the turn of the century. He is never pompous and although he is no innovator  his songs are universal and touch you in a special way. My Hometown’s lyrics always come to me when riding the bus to town with my lad and pointing out various land marks from my own childhood in Hull and the memories that come from them.

Glory Days always gets me thinking of the sheer privilege it was to go to University in Northern Ireland, to live, love and work with some of the best people you could hope to meet. A brilliant legacy that set me up for life. We played this record to death in Stuarts Gardens where eight of shared next door houses for a year. Truly wonderful times.

I own all the great man’s records and for me it’s a toss up between Born in the USA and the haunting Nebraska as Springsteen’s best but the sheer joie de vivre that is present in the former record with Dancing in the Dark and No Surrender complementing the political statements of the title track, Cover Me (Vietnam) and Down Bound Train (unemployment) that mean that Born in the USA from start to finish is an absolute tour de force from a man who strides as a colossus across US popular culture.

We saw his show in 1992 and it was possibly one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen due to the connection between stage and audience which was in no way contrived in a way that makes me look back at U2 concerts with cringing embarrassment.

20. REM. Automatic For the People (1992).

19. Simple Minds. New Gold Dream (1982)

18. Levellers. Levelling the Land (1991)

17. Muse. Black Holes and Revelations (2006).

16. Stereophonics. Language, Sex, Violence, Other. (2005).

15. Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Ragged Glory (1990)

14. George Michael. Listen Without Prejudice (1990).

13. Oasis. (What’s the Story?) Morning Glory (1995).

12. Bob Dylan. Blood on the Tracks (1975).

11. Echo and the  Bunnymen. Ocean Rain (1984).

10. Johnny Cash. The Man Comes Around (2002)

9. The The Mind Bomb (1989)

8. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band   Born in the USA (1984)

Ever since I have been reading newspapers the Business and Finance sections have remained a mystery to me. They seem to be written in some kind of code I don’t understand so I leave the analysis of what’s being said to others far more qualified than me to comment on such matters.

And that’s the attitude that has allowed the monumental crisis that swept across the world last year to happen. No body, least of all Gordon Brown or Alastair Darling dared to say; “Hold on a minute, what’s going on here? Why are High Street Banks, which are the bed rock of our economy betting billions of pounds on bundles of debt made up of dodgy US mortgages, UK credit card debt, and various other iffy loans? Not only is it immoral but what happens if there is even the slightest problem?”

Instead Brown was lauding the Banking sector to the high heavens and claiming that de regulation and abolishing the pesky rules that prevented ordinary Banks from becoming involved in the investment circus and insurance was the reason why he had “abolished boom and bust”.

Mason’s book is a forensic examination of how we in the UK came within hours of going bust in October 2008 with all the resulting social consequences that would flow from such a catastrophe. He explains things clearly with straightforward analogies so even a simpleton like me can follow it. A Simpsons episode involving Krusty is invoked  to explain the way in which the sub prime market was organised, and once the penny dropped I was just boiling with sheer incredulity that such folly had reached pandemic proportions, and to stir my ire even further Mason describes how, once the US sub prime market when belly up, these heartless, greedy scumbags caused mayhem amongst the world’s poorest and most vulnerable by deliberately and systematically driving commodities prices up so that they could continue to trouser eye watering amounts of dosh.

The conclusions are depressing. The trillions of dollars wasted during this period of total insanity mean that any recovery will be slow, painful and last a bloody long time, but at the end of the day when in 2005 the G8 had the chance to end World Poverty they baulked and the reason the jibed then is because the nature of how the boom was created, on the backs of the poor and vulnerable meant they were never, Tony Blair excepted, going to help those who made the extreme wealth created possible. Low wages, high productivity and life run by credit made the boom. Raise them out of poverty and profits fall. Can’t have that can we?

Capitalism is the least worst system. Because of human nature pure Socialism will always end up like the USSR so what’s the alternative?

I would like to think that this crisis might make Governments around the world realise that the opportunity to reform the system (better regulation, having the tax payer represented on the boards, bringing an ethical dimension of finance) is here. But in fact now the Banks realise that Government will never let them fail, the potential for un fettered madness in the future is actually more, not less likely.

Mason is no ideologue. He just relates the facts and lets you draw your own conclusions like all the best journalists should.