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A report asserts that UK front pages are still male-dominated and sexist but feminist impatience is a manifestation of success Share 4 inShare0 Email Richard Desmond, owner of Express Newspapers. The WiJ report suggests that the Express's employment of more women writers might explain its high female readership. Photograph: Tom Stoddart/Getty Images/Hulton Archive In recent days I've been fighting a rearguard action against a disaffected Guardian reader in the north of England who keeps telling me he's going to end 35 years of loyal reading. Since he's been complaining that this "man-hating" paper now has "zero interest in male readers" (except for football), he obviously didn't enjoy Amelia Hill's front-page report on Monday, the one whose headline asserts: "Front pages still male-dominated and sexist". Look on the bright side, I say. At least Matey is still reading because he emailed me before dawn to complain about Am

Much can happen in two years to affect the outcome, but Salmond seems to have locked into a global tide of separatism Share 76 inShare1 Email Alex Salmond claims an independent Scotland would be the sixth richest country in the world – but by what calculations? Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA With the polls reporting that Scots are currently two-to-one against breaking up their 300-year-old union with England, the part-time unionist papers in London are already taunting Alex Salmond that he is engaged in "mission impossible" in seeking to win the referendum he agreed with David Cameron. Don't you believe it; that is foolish, complacent talk. No one can safely predict the outcome of the ballot the first minister plans to hold in the autumn of 2014 – around the time of the 700th anniversary of Scotland's famous (rare) military victory over the English at Bannockburn. In turbulent times like these too much can happen in the next two years to swing the result e

This week, the Scottish National party faces a key vote on whether to join the pro-nuclear Nato alliance but says Ian Davis, of the Nato Watch thinktank, it can still afford to wait and think more deeply about Scotland's military needs Share 10 inShare0 Email The SNP has opposed Nato emphatically for decades, rejecting its reliance on nuclear weapons. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images The Scottish independence debate is off and running, and officially too after Alex Salmond and David Cameron signed a deal on Monday giving the Scottish parliament new powers to hold an independence referendum. But is the debate on Nato membership at the upcoming Scottish National party conference later this week an unnecessary fly in the independence ointment or a necessary purging of demons within the nationalist cause? The SNP has opposed Nato emphatically for decades, rejecting its reliance on nuclear weapons. But as it faces the historic chance to win independence, Salmond and hi

Adam Lambert splits , Singer and former American Idol contestant Adam Lambert has split from his long-term boyfriend, Finnish reality TV star Sauli Koskinen. On Friday, Lambert told South Florida Gay News: ”It’s been kind of on its way out in the last couple of months.” The pair had been in a relationship since 2010. Despite some turbulent times, including a fight in 2011 which lead to both being arrested outside a gay bar in Helsinki, Lambert said they would continue to have a close friendship after the breakup. “Sauli and I remain really good friends, and I know it’s a cliché thing to say. But it’s totally true,” he said. “I just gave him a coffee and bagel earlier today. He’s a great person and we’ve had an amazing couple of years together. Things have just run their course.” On 29 March GLAAD, the LGBT media advocacy organisation, announced that Lambert would be honoured with an award at its 24th annual Media Awards in May. Lambert recently said he didn’t care about what Paris H

Less than a year ago, York & District Trade Union Council branch was faced with closure. Now its members are rejuvenated, working with York Stop the Cuts, Youth Fight For Jobs and Save the NHS campaigns to support Saturday's march, sending trains and buses from the city to London on the day. In the last of her four posts on the TUC march, Ann Czernik talks to some of them. Share 22 inShare1 Email The Remploy protest has been one of several which have brought groups together in York - and across northern England. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian Brian Clark, UCATT representative and vice president of York & District Trade Union Council is cheerful: The York & District TUC is back with a vengeance. We've had 15 000 leaflets printed for Saturday. We're putting on rail and coach travel from York. No mean feat for an organisation that was looking at closure earlier in the year. It's full steam ahead. Unions and grassroots organisations in York

Last October, Iain Dalton, Yorkshire regional organiser of Youth Fight For Jobs and a member of the union USDAW was part of a team of young people who recreated the Jarrow March to highlight the impact of youth unemployment. For the third of her posts on Saturday's TUC march, Ann Czernik caught up with him at Harrogate College on the campaign trail. Share 35 inShare1 Email Real jobs are the key to economic revival, say protesters heading for London on Saturday. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA Youth Fight for Jobs was launched in 2009 in response to rising levels of youth unemployment. It was backed by eight major unions - Unite, PCS, RMT, CWU, UCU, FBU, Bectu and TSSA - and Yorkshire & Humber TUC in its campaign for investment into jobs for young people. Youth unemployment had been creeping up slowly for years but until the recreated Jarrow March, the figures were absorbed into the monthly unemployment figures. For many years, the country almost accepted that it would be dif

In the second of her posts on Saturday's TUC march in London, Ann Czernik talks to Brian Golding of the GMB union about modern trade unionism in the north and why the government needs to realise that the pie and pint days are over. The regions' trade union staff are well trained professional negotiators who want to keep their members in sustainable, well paid jobs. Share 15 inShare1 Email Hard negotiations have led to a settlement for Kit Kat workers at Nestlé with points accepted by both management and unions. Photograph: Chris North/PA Wire Brian Golding is the GMB convener for Nestlé York and also represents the GMB on the company's European council for information and consultation which brings management and trade unionists from all over Europe together discuss issues affecting the company and its workers. He believes that 'As working class people, we're all in it together.' He's also secretary of York and District Trade Union Council and repres

Yankees tickets sex line , Yankee crazy fans are  looking for tickets may have to end up “scoring” off the field. A toll-free phone number once used by the Bronx Bombers now belongs to a sex hot line where a sultry female voice guides callers through prompts. A Google search for “Yankees box office phone number” yields an old Yankees.com Web page with 800-913-9793, now a sex line. “Welcome to America’s hottest talk line,” the recording says. “Guys, hot ladies are waiting to talk to you. Press 2 to connect free now.” The chat line connects “18 and over” callers for sexy chats, anonymous hook-ups and dates. Ladies use the service for free, and men get a five-minute trial at no cost. Callers are asked to leave a recorded greeting with specifics about “what makes you desirable” and to “call whenever you’re in the mood.” Users can then enter a PIN code to connect with the people behind the greetings for phone sex and casual encounters. The Yankees’ official site listed the number under

Early this coming Saturday, 20 October, thousands of northerners will head for London on chartered trains to join the TUC's March for A Future. In the first of four Guardian Northerner posts, Ann Czernik talks to Bill Adams, regional secretary for Yorkshire and the Humber TUC, about changes needed for a sustainable northern future Share 32 inShare2 Email The last time trade union protesters were on the streets of London in force, in November. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images I go straight into the subject and in answer to my first question , Bill Adams smiles and says: I'm marching to think about a new future for my kids, and their kids He's thought carefully about what it means to him to march on Saturday and he sums it up like this: The government's attitude to reducing the deficit is completely flawed - what they are doing is making things worse. We need to look at how we finance things in this country, our tax system, benefits and welfare. We need a new

The home secretary's decision not to extradite the Crouch End Asperger's sufferer has caused others to raise questions Share 36 inShare3 Email Gary McKinnon will not be extradited to the US following a decision by Theresa May. Photograph: Rex Features On balance I was glad that Theresa May decided that Pentagon computer hacker, Gary McKinnon, will not be extradited to the United States to face charges that could have seen him sent to prison for up to 70 years. But you can't please everyone. The US government is cross, so is former Labour home secretary, Alan Johnson. As for the friends of recently deported terror suspects such as Barbar Ahmad, and of allegedly dodgy British businessmen, they are accusing May of double standards. Who's right? Mostly May, I think. McKinnon seems to be a pretty inoffensive computer nerd who from 1995 to 2002 fooled around with the US defence network – and damaged a lot of kit in the process – out of innocent curiosity, looking fo

Successful pilot this week means that street philosophers, ranters and persuaders will have the public's ear next year. And a hunt through shrubberies may find the a lost old 'speakers' stone' Share 8 inShare0 Email The 'scientists' soap box' on London's South Bank last year. Now Bradford's muscling in. Photograph: Anna Gordon for the Guardian The city of Bradford has a great political tradition and no shortage of contentious issues, so all looks very promising for its latest democratic initiative. A group of local people and organisations are reviving the old Speaker's Corner which was every bit as lively and thought-provoking as the one in London until the Second World War. Bradfordians, like everyone else, sometimes have a habit of grumbling and grousing without actually doing anything about their grievance. A short and – ideally – well-heckled session in the bracing Pennine air should be antidote to that. Past great campaigners ea

Andrew Mitchell saga is giving Ed Miliband an opportunity to play to Labour's basest instincts, but social mobility is a complex issue and this bear-baiting could backfire Share 4 inShare0 Email Andrew Mitchell: wealthy former public schoolboy, and baited bear. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Simon Hoggart is one of my oldest friends, so I try not to say "Simon is right" more than is strictly necessary. But he's 100% right in his parliamentary sketch today when he likens Ed Miliband's assault on the Tory chief whip, Andrew Mitchell, to bear-baiting, which was made illegal in this country in 1835. It's a month since I last protested that Mitchell had behaved badly in abusing an obstructive police officer who had refused to open Downing Street's security gates for the great man's bike. But I also argued that he'd apologised and it was now time to move on. It was obvious even then that the police are in an industrial dispute with

As he visits Leeds today, Stephen Twigg, Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby and shadow education secretary writes exclusively for the Guardian Northerner. He argues that "fantastic" things are happening in northern schools despite, not because of, the Government's policies. Share 29 inShare0 Email Stephen Twigg addressing Labour's conference in Manchester this month. Photograph: PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images As someone who has been an MP in London and now represents a seat in Liverpool, I have something of a perspective on the differences between North and South. One of the privileges of my job is the chance to visit towns and cities in the North. Although places like Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle have long had a rich seam of culture, creativity and commerce, in the last fifteen years there has been an incredible renaissance in these urban centres. You see it not just in the physical regeneration, but in the confidence and ambition of people, desp

It's not that public ownership is always the right answer. The trick is the mix, and effective regulation and accountability Share 8 inShare0 Email David Cameron at PMQs this week. Photograph: PA "The great thing about America," a British ex-pat friend once explained, "is that it shows so clearly the limits of what the free market can do." That was 20 years ago. Nowadays we could say the same about Britain and the boundaries between private and public services. The UK private sector has had another bad week, but some people are so much happier beating themselves up over rampant privatisation – real or imaginary – that they don't want to notice. Where do I start ? The NHS? Education? Railways? Now that's a good one. In the Commons yesterday I watched Patrick McLoughlin, the new transport secretary, and his team struggling to explain why the west coast franchise fiasco shouldn't result in the line returning to public ownership – as the east

UK designers are on a roll, but their nurturing grounds on the UK's high streets are going down like ninepins. Paul Turner-Mitchell wants action on business rates and credit insurance Share 34 inShare12 Email The British Red Cross charity shop off Kings Road, Chelsea. Fashion indies are not flourishing, even in this most famous of UK boutique streets. Photograph: Rex Features The view from the top of the British fashion food chain has never looked more commanding. From the moment Kate Middleton stepped out of a vintage Rolls Royce Phantom last year in an exquisite Sarah Burton ivory satin and lace wedding dress to the closing ceremony celebration of our nation's top designers at this summer's London Olympics, British fashion has been riding the crest of a giddy export wave. But while the likes of Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood, Victoria Beckham and Christopher Kane are enjoying global acclaim as part of a sector that's worth £20.9billion to the UK econom