HomeBlogs & ViewsBirmingham Mail ColumnistsMaureen Messent

Don't blow it again, Wills...

WELL, I did tell you that William would get back with the captivating Kate, didn't I? Read

Go to the bottom of the class

THE most boring characters in our islands are the malcontents who beat paths to the High Court in the course of their battles with schools which lay down dress and jewellery codes of wear. Read

This poor child deserves better

A GIRL aged 10 has that beautiful, almost transparent skin that is childhood's fleeting bloom. Read

A tale of two premiers

MARGARET Thatcher, now far into her dotage, was mobbed by ex-servicemen who'd fought in the Falklands War. Read

Refreshing taste of good old music hall schmaltz

NEVER underestimate our weakness for the banal and the kitsch. Read

Sheer hypocrisy of Rushdie gong protest

I LAUGHED aloud at Pakistan's protests at the knighthood awarded to author Salman Rushdie. Read

Vigilante injustice

THIS week has thrown up the definitive reason why the addresses of paedophiles must never be released to the public. Read

A lesson in humility

THAT Channel 4 programme that DIDN'T quite show close-up pictures of Diana in her last moments would have passed virtually unnoticed if Princes William and Harry hadn't made a pig's ear over it. Read

Earners can afford surgery fees

SHOCK! HORROR! Some doctors are to ask patients to pay up to £20 for evening, and possibly early-morning, visits to surgeries. Read

Estate was ruined by residents

I'M INTRIGUED by that litany of complaints at unacceptable conditions on a Shard End council estate, revealed in this newspaper this week. Read

Jailing child porn surfers is too harsh

THE sad results of legal over-reaction are played out daily in our courts when men are prosecuted for watching internet child pornography. Read

Family on the make

ANOTHER Middleton girl has arrived on the social scene since the luscious Kate and Prince William called it a day. Read

Gurkha ban shame

EIGHTY-four-year-old Gurkha Tul Bahadur Pun won the VC for Britain when he single-handedly wiped out a Japanese gun enclave in Burma during the last war. Read

Hain's wrong to rap new powers

REASSURING and happy procession passes my gate each weekday morning. Read

Hostel protest is just criminal

HOW tedious are those Kitts Green residents protesting at the opening of a probation centre in their area to supervise convicted criminals in east Birmingham and Solihull. Read

There's no room for hysteria in Maddie case

WE see Madeleine McCann's picture everywhere. We crumble inside as we view for the umpteenth time her trusting little face and straight hair. Read

As one mother forgives, another vows vengeance

TWO heart-broken mothers, roughly the same age and both struggling to live with the aftermath of violent and needless deaths, gave master classes in revenge and forgiveness this week. Read

Better class of occupant for No 10

WITH Blair's departure will come the end of Britain's sneer at Cherie. Read

Criminals on display

THERE'S little admirable about America, but hats off to the comparatively new idea they have over there for shaming felons. Read

How to treat an unwelcome Gest

DAVID Gest, that winking, leering, ogling, mincing and grandstanding preacher whose greatest claim to fame was marrying Liza Minelli, got his come-uppance this week. Read