http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/comment/leader/ Durham Times /comment/leader/ en-gb Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:11:13 +0000 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:11:13 +0000 http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/comment/leader/rssterms/ M6 nvincent@newsquest.co.uk (Nigel Vincent) webmaster@digitalmedia.newsquest.co.uk (Tim Joy) http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/resources/images/916963/?type=rsslogo http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/comment/leader/ http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/comment/leader/5072097.Underdog___s_day/?ref=rss THE Citizens have played out their great drama on the back and front pages this season. Durham City’s desperate time in the Unibond Premier Division has attracted headlines for all the wrong reasons, even meriting a mention on the BBC’s Football Focus as the nation’s most unsuccessful team. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:00:08 +0000 fc14585b3a60fe936c3da3b51f22c40f http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/comment/leader/5058836.Coalfield_cash/?ref=rss MEASURING progress in economic regeneration is notoriously difficult, as we have found this week. According to the Commons Public Accounts Committee, efforts to regenerate the country’s former pit areas have failed and no more money should be spent without a fresh approach. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:22:23 +0000 a3aa3f360784651cd5c9ec904b2f269f http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/comment/leader/5044650.Sign_language/?ref=rss INAPPROPRIATE signage can be a blight on our finer townscapes and rural areas. The problem is recognised in many planning policies, most of which have controls on signs, particularly in urban conservation areas, national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty. Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:25:49 +0000 395be2098e03de16a5b0221d8c27678e http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/comment/leader/5031464.The_show_goes_on/?ref=rss THE disappointment felt by those behind the bid to bring the UK City of Culture title to Durham in 2013 is acute. It is fair to say that confidence was very high after the bid made it to the first not-soshortlist of 14. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:07:08 +0000 61cddcb4e9dcaec67c1bc73ee7307e98 http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/comment/leader/5018754.Slow_to_change/?ref=rss WE predicted here some months ago that the squeeze on the public sector was the greatest economic threat to the region and Durham in particular. While there may be some signs of life in the private sector, the Government’s massive debt means that whoever is in power come May, the public expenditure cuts will have to be substantial. Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:50:57 +0000 404a6978d55c53121d9e34d37792e552 http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/comment/leader/5005381.Voice_for_the_North/?ref=rss SIGNS that the Conservatives may be changing their attitudes towards the regional economic development agencies are welcome in more ways than one. Apart from demonstrating the party is not in an ideological straitjacket about how regional development should be best achieved, the change of heart indicated by the Shadow Business Secretary, Kenneth Clarke, suggests that the importance of One North East to the region has been understood. Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:56:48 +0000 f34704b072213c3f9acb3e7286b90fdc http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/comment/leader/4985296.The_BNP_question/?ref=rss MOST people in this county, perhaps a substantial majority, abhor everything the British National Party stands for. Despite the efforts it has made to appear a mainstream political movement, it remains on the fringe of democratic debate, peddling its bizarre mix of Toytown economic theory, Little Englander foreign policies and barely-disguised racial hatred. Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:21:42 +0000 338dc6ee5681ab5ddabb5c6479dc1ca7 http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/comment/leader/4880781.Have_a_heart/?ref=rss IT IS the end of January and no doubt one or two of those new year resolutions may be at risk of being broken. It is a tough time in many respects, but we ask readers to make one additional resolution and back our Heart of Durham Appeal in some way, however small. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:11:00 +0000 4e5ceb5ed75062946a84db09b018d991 http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/comment/leader/4866606.Be_sure_to_listen/?ref=rss IGNORING the views of 6,000 petitioners, and another 4,000 who expressed a view online, takes some doing in a city the size of Durham, but that is what the Government has done in its decision over the Market Place statues. Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:13:40 +0000 41c5dd85943333c6d3a5aa62ce11bafa http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/comment/leader/4853953.Battling_on/?ref=rss THE problems faced by gritting lorries this week brought home the hazardous nature of the tasks faced by many public servants during the bad weather. Luckily, nobody was hurt when four gritters slid off the black ice-covered highways on Wednesday morning. But it was an indication of the difficulties faced, even as the weather improved, by those charged with keeping roads open, hospitals running and patients collected, meals delivered and providing all the services we take for granted at other times of the year. Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:45:48 +0000 8b54942251b2626b013967f4f439874e