North-south divide among silver surfers

There is a “concerning” north-south divide in the number of over-65s in England, so-called silver surfers, who use the internet, a charity has said.

Age UK said Surrey's older people were more than twice as likely to have web access as those in Tyne and Wear.

The charity also said poorer people, those living alone and those in relatively poor health were least likely to access internet services.

So older people who are poor or are in poor health are least likely to use the internet, really I’d never have guessed that I’d have thought getting high-speed fibre optic broadband would be top on their list of priorities.

Jokes aside that is one of the main reasons that older people in the north are less likely to be online, the initial cost of a computer and the connection and runnings costs on top of that. 

Or maybe the older people of the north simply don’t want a computer or don’t need to have an internet connection has anyone ever thought of that.

I don’t see why there seems to be this national obsession that everyone everywhere should be connected seemingly at all times, and god forbid if anyone isn’t online.

I’ve grown up with the internet and use it pretty much every day, but I completely understand that there are people out there who can’t see the point of it or who can’t be bothered to sift through the vast amounts of crap, this blog included, to get the information they want and prefer to use other means to do so.      

Why should those people have it rammed down their throats that they need to be online, if they don’t want to that’s their choice.

Shouldn’t the focus be more on ending the divide in wealth among older people in different parts of Britain rather than telling them don’t worry about that all you need is Facebook.  

Barclays ‘worst bank for honesty’

Barclays is the worst bank for honesty and customer service, according to an ethical scorecard launched today to guide those looking to switch their current accounts.

The bank picked up just four out of 100 points in campaign group Move Your Money's ratings, with the five biggest banks among the poorest performers in the 70 that were assessed.

The other high street giants, RBS, HSBC, Lloyds and Citibank, were also graded 'red' for having less than 25 points.

I’m not surprised in the slightest by the fact that all the lowest scorers were the big high street banks, particularly in Barclays case as this comes on the same day as it has announced it will refund 300,000 loan customers because of mistakes it made on their paperwork.

However, it does amaze me that such a big corporation can get away with providing such a dreadful service, I can’t think of any other industry where one of the market leaders in Britain would receive a rating of four out of 100 for any service they provided, yet it seems the banks can get away with it.

You wouldn’t stay in a hotel that scored four out of 100, you wouldn’t eat in a restaurant, buy a car or shop in a supermarket that scored so low so why on earth would you entrust your finances to a bank that scores four out of 100.  

Just proves that the biggest banks have this country by the balls and there’s nothing we can do about it. 

Crystal Palace chief calls for red cards for divers

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has called for players who dive to be shown straight red cards.

Manchester United’s Ashley Young was booked for tumbling over after a challenge by Palace's Kagisho Dikgacoi in United’s 2-0 win on Saturday.

Dikgacoi was dismissed when the pair clashed again later in the first half.

While everybody would like to see diving eradicated from the game I think a red card for everyone who dives isn’t the way to go, because that introduces a whole new problem how can you definitively tell in all cases whether someone dived.

You have those situations where a player goes down after minimal contact, but there was contact nonetheless, when they could have easily stayed on their feet, so technically isn’t that a dive as well?

I also think a straight red for a dive is a bit too harsh, I think a different way of approaching it is to keep it at a yellow card for a dive, but if the same player is booked for a clear dive on two separate occasions in two separate matches then they should receive a one match ban.

However, if a player is booked twice for two clear dives in a match then they should obviously be sent off, but instead of facing the standard one match ban, that should be increased to two matches, this harsher punishment would hopefully make players less inclined to go down after being breathed on, and more inclined to stay on their feet.   

The FA could also do more by properly retrospectively punishing players, not just for dives, take Schneiderlin’s tackle yesterday the ref somehow didn’t see it so therefore he will get away with it rather than facing the straight red and three game ban his two-footed, dangerous tackle deserved.  

Benefit cheats could face 10 years in jail

Benefit cheats are to face increased prison sentences of up to 10 years, under new guidelines set out by the director of public prosecutions.

Keir Starmer QC said it was time for a "tough stance" on benefit and tax credit fraud, as he issued the guidance for prosecutors in England and Wales.

He said the £1.9bn annual cost of the crime to the nation should always be at the "forefront of lawyers" minds.

This, in principle, makes sense introducing harsher sentences for benefit fraud will hopefully act as some form of deterrent, but for those who will continue to try and con the system the logic starts to unravel.

If someone commits benefit fraud they’re cheating the taxpayer out of money, but if those people were locked up for 10 years they would be costing the taxpayer even more money.

Instead of focusing on tougher prison sentences, shouldn’t the government concentrate on bringing the benefit cap down further so that you can’t claim more money in benefits than you can for working a full time job?

Also this £1.9bn annual cost of benefit fraud would pale into insignificance if all the government employed lawyers instead focused on closing all the legal loopholes used by big corporations to avoid paying who knows how many billions in tax.  

Offenders ‘not properly risk-assessed’ before release

Some of the most dangerous prisoners in England and Wales are not being properly risk-assessed before they are freed, a report has found.

Probation and prison inspectors said two-thirds of the plans they examined to manage the release of those serving life sentences were inadequate.

They were “shocked” by the “lack of clarity” and “confusion” over the assessments.

Right this story is unnerving for two reasons:

1. Someone somewhere thinks it’s a good idea for the most dangerous criminals, murders, rapists and violent repeat offenders, to be released and integrated back into society.

2. Those due for release weren’t being properly risk assessed.

I would imagine that if you need to be thoroughly assessed as to whether you should be released, chances are you probably shouldn’t be released.

The only problem is now that the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that life can’t mean life anymore, so the only thing the government can do is try and make it so as this system runs as smoothly as possible and then hope that those released under it don’t re-offend.

You might say what about the rehabilitation side, but chances are those that are murders, rapists and repeat violent offenders have very little chance of being properly rehabilitated and successfully re-integrated back into society.  

Football: Average ticket prices fall

Average ticket prices across English football's top four divisions have fallen by up to 2.4%, the BBC Sport Price of Football study has found.

It showed prices in four main categories have reduced for 2013-14.

The annual study - the biggest in British football - includes the prices of 164 clubs in the top 10 divisions.

This is good news in that prices have come down slightly, but it is such an insignificant amount when you look at just how much ticket prices have gone up in the last five years.

It’s also frustrating to see that the Premier League saw a 4.3% rise in the cheapest tickets, despite the fact that a new bumper TV deal saw an extra £600m pumped into the top flight.

What more do Premier League clubs want, they're getting more and more money every year just for being in it, not to mention the huge bonuses paid to those who finish in the European places, it’s just crazy that despite all this they feel they need to put ticket prices up.

As an Arsenal fan I must say I’m more than a little embarrassed as we are the worst offenders, we have the highest season ticket of all and I think even our cheapest one is in the top five highest, not good.

Ticket prices should certainly be added to the list of things Greg Dyke needs to sort out during his term at the helm of the FA, and he should definitely consider capping the amount clubs can charge because how can they justify raising ticket prices when they are making more and more each year? It has to stop.  

Roy Hodgson defends England performance in Ukraine

Roy Hodgson was satisfied with England's result and performance as they took a significant step towards next summer's World Cup with a goalless draw against Ukraine in Kiev.

Hodgson's side stay top of Group H and will qualify for Brazil if they win their final two Wembley qualifiers against Montenegro and Poland.

After a game low on quality, and played in front of 70,000 fans, the England boss said: “Before the game, the feeling among a lot of people was that a draw would be a good result.”

He added: “I’m surprised to hear what I thought was a good performance and result might be being seen as an underwhelming performance.”

Like Roy Hodgson I too am surprised, I’m surprised that he thought that was a good performance, if he believes that to be true then I’d hate to see a bad one, if we produce that kind of performance against Poland and Montenegro next month we can kiss the plane tickets to Brazil goodbye. 

As usual we flatter to deceive, we looked comfortable against low quality opposition, Moldova, but when it comes to playing a half-decent side we revert to being a team who can’t string three paces together and who look like 11 strangers playing together for the first time, it’s simply not good enough.

It is quite unnerving that we just can’t seem to beat a team who are challenging us for a World Cup place, that’s four games against Ukraine, Poland and Montenegro, and that’s four underwhelming performances and four draws, and if that happens in the next two games then we aren’t going to Brazil.

When Hodgson was given the job I was a little surprised but he had a good record so I gave him the benefit of the doubt, however, he’s been in the job about 18 months and England have the exact same problems they had when he first took over, and his tactics are far too negative, last night just a bit more adventure could have won us that game but from the outset it was clear Hodgson was happy to settle for a draw.

It was also clear watching last night that the FA should have appointed Harry Redknapp, at least if he was in charge England would play decent football and you’d actually look forward to watching them.  

If Hodgson wants to manage England at a World Cup then next month he must be more willing to pick a team that’s attack minded and that will actually go out there and try to dictate the play, not one that just sits back and is comfortable waiting for the ref to blow his whistle.

Assuming everyone is fit England should field this team for the final two qualifiers:

GK - Hart

RB - Johnson

CB - Jagielka

CB - Cahill   

LB - Baines

CM - Gerrard (c)  

CM - Carrick

RW - Walcott

SS - Rooney

LW - Young

ST - Sturridge

I hope we do qualify and go to Brazil next year but after last night’s performance I’m not holding my breath. 

Barack Obama calls of Syria action vote

US President Barack Obama has postponed a Congress vote on military action in Syria, vowing to pursue diplomacy to remove the regime's chemical weapons.

Damascus has admitted for the first time that it has chemical weapons, and has agreed to abide by a Russian plan to hand over its arsenal.

Wow another western leader with egg on his face over his handling of the situation in Syria, the other obviously being David Cameron, who now looks even more stupid because after losing a Commons vote on military action he spent the entire G20 summit essentially lobbying for military action.

Instead its Russia’s diplomatic solution that has won the day here, could this set a precedent for future crises in countries like Syria with Russia taking the lead and the US, U.K. and other western powers taking a back seat?  

It’s hard to say at this stage but if the Russian plan proves to be a success it could happen. 

Rafael Nadal wins US Open

Rafael Nadal beat world number one Novak Djokovic in a pulsating four-set final to claim his second US Open title in New York.

The Spaniard, 27, held on magnificently in the third set to go on and win a gripping contest 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-1 in three hours and 21 minutes.

One incredible 54-shot rally - the longest in the tournament by 20 shots - summed up a battle that thrilled the 23,000 spectators in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

I have to start off by congratulating Nadal for the manner in which he has comeback this year, when he won all those clay court tournaments at the start of the year it wasn’t that surprising and it was the same when he won the French Open, but after he lost at Wimbledon and appeared injured again you did fear that he could only compete on clay, but his run on the hard courts has been amazing, culminating in last night’s win.

The first and fourth sets were quite comfortable for Nadal, but the battles in the second and third were unbelievable, in particular that 54 shot rally, only Nadal and Djokovic seem to be able to produce that kind of tennis consistently when they go head to head, they really do bring out the best in each other.

Something that has been floated around quite a lot is whether Rafa is the greatest player of all-time, or GOAT if you prefer, and I’m of the opinion that he is because he’s adapted his game and beaten Federer and Djokovic, in grand slams, on their preferred surfaces where as they haven’t come close to beating Nadal at the French.

Nadal has a much better head to head against all his rivals, he leads Djokovic 22-15, 21-10 against Federer and 13-5 against Murray, added to all his grand slams he’s won the most master series 1000 titles, 26, he’s won Olympic Gold and the Davis Cup, the only Nadal hasn’t won is the World Tour finals and as they’ll be played on a hard court you wouldn’t bet against him winning that as well.

Another question was can he catch Rogers record of 17, again I think he can, providing he stays injury free of course, I think he’ll win at least 10 French Open titles, that would take him to at least 15 and if he keeps up his hard court form then he could easily win the US and Australian Opens again.

While that’s all conjecture, one thing is certain it’s great to see the best in the world playing at their best on the biggest stage, any sports fan will tell you there’s nothing better than watching that.      

Sepp Blatter: World Cup in Qatar maybe a “mistake”

FIFA may have made a “mistake” in awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, according to president Sepp Blatter.

Summer temperatures can reach 50C in the Middle Eastern country.

Asked by insideworldfootball.com awarding Qatar the tournament, the 77-year-old said: “It may well be that we made a mistake at the time.”

No, no, no, no, no it’s not the case that FIFA ‘may’ have made a mistake in awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, it’s more a case of they definitely made a colossal error and only now are they beginning to realise the size of the cock up they’ve made.

Qatar hosting the World Cup, whether it is in June or January simply isn’t going to work, it’s the equivalent of the IOC choosing Britain to host the Winter Olympics.

FIFA’s executive committee will meet next month to vote on whether to switch the tournament to the winter, which Blatter wants, so that’s that done the 2022 World Cup will be in played in January/February, effectively ruining all the European leagues for that season.

It’s obvious that Qatar should never have been chosen to host the World Cup, but now they have it’s even more obvious what should be done, take it off them and award to a country that doesn’t have to build everything from scratch and that can host it in the summer like it has been for the 80 years.