Newspapers

Maybe my nephew is right and printed newspapers are on their last legs. And that's why they are now printing the most absolute, embarrassing nonsense on their front pages.

You've seen the front page of the Daily Mail this week, which accused three high court judges - three middle-aged whiter than white men - of being the enemy of the people. Three guys - women don't
figure here - probably all middle class, from the right kind of public school and having attended one of the ancient universities. (And I don't mean St Andrews or Glasgow). One of the guys is accused of being in favour of  Europe and one is outed as an openly gay ex-fencing champion. I'd have said all of this makes the guys PLT (people like them), a wee play on Margaret Thatcher's phrase PLU. (Mrs T always thought she was one of them, but it didn't take them long to dump her when she no longer pleased them).

The 'openly gay' insult came off the front page pretty fast when someone realised being gay was no longer a crime and, in fact, was pretty well okay with most of us these days.

Newspapers never used to be quite as bad as this in the UK. In the 60s, my father read the Mirror and sometimes the Manchester Guardian. On Sundays in our house, there was a torrent of newspapers: the Sunday Post. the News of the World and Sunday Mail, the Observer and sometimes the Sunday Times. But the daily paper changed when my father got promoted.

He was a shipyard worker all his days. When he heard that Alexander Stephen was going to merge with Yarrows and that they would be taking on naval contracts, he had a rush of enthusiasm. He was known for this. At various times, he got excited about shoe-making, joinery and gardening, to name but a few of his hobbies.

I have to say that's a characteristic of my family even today. I've been there myself, with rug-making and cross-stitch, so when a member of my family gets excited about music, for example, I think: Let's just wait. It may well come to nothing.

So my father went off to the 'Tech', now known as Strathclyde University. The local branch of the Engineering Union sponsored him and he completed several courses in maths, design and naval architecture. (He was a bright guy - should have gone to one of Glasgow's fee-paying schools in the early 30s but his granny couldn't afford the uniform or the bus fares). On the strength of that, he got a promotion. Moving up from 'the tools' to 'the staff' was, I think, quite unusual in the 60s. He wasn't in work clothes any more but in a suit. And he changed his newspaper. He started buying the Daily Express.

I asked why. There were quite a few people (men) in his office, he said. They took their lunch break together in the canteen. They each bought a different paper, read it and then swapped it. They discussed what they read.

I asked if he agreed with the Daily Express's opinions. He and my grandfather had often expressed opinions about Beaverbrook and his like. Let's just say they were not fans. He doubted if any of his colleagues sympathised with Beaverbrook Newspapers. But, he said, you have to know what the enemy is saying.

That's a policy I'm happy to follow. I watch Sky News Review several times a week. Not that I believe much of what I hear but I want to know what the opposition are saying. I have long ago tagged some people are outright liars: Christina Patterson, Andrew Pierce, Carole Malone and Toby Young are just a few.

And I acknowledge that my early training as a newspaper reader by my family has stood me in good stead.