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          Inequality and development: from global to local

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          A sustainable policy for Tyneside taxis

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          Alleged National Audit Office review of Teesworks

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          Child poverty: enough is enough

          Boys with kite in Kabul

          One year since the fall of Afghanistan

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          Hardwick Festival is down with the kids

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          One year since the fall of Afghanistan

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          The North East could host Eurovision in 2023

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          Master Chef of Great Britain

          Master Chef of Great Britain at Lumley

          Prezzo

          Discovering the new summer menu at Prezzo

          Chef and son

          MasterChef’s’ Posh Street Food chef’s own summer of entertainment

          Scottish highlands

          The beauty of the Scottish Highlands

          Kleo Tabuku

          Top chef to open Newcastle restaurant, Lovage

          Pop up park

          Pop up to the park in Sunderland

          The Blackbird Inn, Ponteland

          The Blackbird Inn flies high with its new summer menu

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              A sign with the "not equal" symbol is held in a crowd

              Inequality and development: from global to local

              South Tyneside's only black electric taxi

              A sustainable policy for Tyneside taxis

              Ben Houchen by Scott Hunter

              Alleged National Audit Office review of Teesworks

              Child poverty protestor

              Child poverty: enough is enough

              Tyne Bridge

              Newcastle shortlisted for Eurovision 2023

              Wildfire at Witherwack

              “Busier than Bonfire Night” as wildfire rages for over 20 hours

              Fishing protest

              Dead crustaceans on North East coast: the next chapter

              NUFC foodbank

              Howay the lads and lasses: the new football foodbank season ‘22/23

              Trending Tags

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                Titanic coming out of Southampton

                The 110th anniversary of the Titanic’s departure

                There is an England

                There is an England

                Prime Minister Boris Johnson signs the Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union"

                The parody of disinformation: Boris Johnson on Ukraine and Brexit

                Boris Johnson’s comments on Ukraine and Brexit are an insult

                TV Agency staff jumping in the air

                The TV Agency celebrates 10th anniversary with global success

                North East of County Dublin

                North East of England and North East of County Dublin: Compare and contrast

                North Sea oil rig

                Copping out of COP: Ukraine, fossil fuels and nuclear fusion

                Placard with Boris Johnson as a clown

                Dictators, media and mobility: erosion of identity, sustenance and safety

                close up on a child's eye

                Racism and misogyny where there should have been safeguarding and security

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              I describe myself as a retired teacher. But I’ve also done work as actor; book-keeper; building labourer and others!

              Jim WalkerbyJim Walker
              15-05-2021 10:23
              in Brexit, Co. Durham, Education, Environment, European News, Health, North East, Northumberland, Politics, Region, Teesside, Tyneside, UK, Wearside
              Man sitting on bench

              'Looking back' Photo from pixabay

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              Audio version of this article.

              As I write this, I’m coming up to my 86th birthday. I look back on my varied life and hope that it’s had something of worth in it.

              • From two marriages, I’ve had six children. Of the four who survive, the oldest is a lawyer; the next was a local government officer and is now a gardener; then comes a civil servant; and the youngest is a teacher.
              • I’ve taught children and adults from 3 to 53 in:
                • nursery
                • reception
                • primary schools
                • middle schools
                • secondary schools (Uganda and Britain; boarding and day)
                • a technical college, a college of education and a college of higher education
                • a polytechnic
                • three universities (Tanzania and Britain), from undergraduate to PhD.
              • I’ve been a member of the army, the navy and the airforce.
              • In my travels, I’ve been in 52 countries.
              • I describe myself as a retired teacher. But I’ve also done work as actor; book-keeper; building labourer; ice-cream seller; interpreter; long-distance bus-driver; newsreader; paint salesman; pharmaceutical rep; proof-reader; property manager; and ski rep.

              I spend my time now doing voluntary work for a charity, which is really satisfying. I have owned only two houses in my life; my present one for the last 43 years and hope to live here until I die.

              Looking back

              As I look back upon my life, I look at the hope that we had in 1945 for peace in a fairer world. Yes, we are no longer an imperial power and we have a national health service. But (and it’s a terrifyingly big “but”) that health service is gradually being nibbled away by greedy money-grubbers.

              In addition we are trashing our home planet; our government has shamelessly broken international treaties; the gap between the powerful and the oppressed has increased since the Tories took power in 2010; our education service has been refashioned as an anarchic mess based on ignorant arid notions of how children learn; we have left the largest single market in the world; and we are governed by the lying, cheating, self-serving bunch of mates who are responsible for the mess we find ourselves in. I feel that I need to apologise to younger people who are going to have to deal with this after I am dead: sorry – I should have done more.

              Tags: Culture
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