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A wry take on life around the UK.
Brian Groom is the FT’s UK business and employment editor. He has previously held a number of senior posts at the FT, including political editor and Europe edition editor, and is a former editor of Scotland on Sunday. - -
Do we still love Royal Mail?
In spite of the residual affection for it, attitudes to Royal Mail and its future seem confused, writes Brian Groom. According to one poll, two-thirds of people oppose the current strikes. Yet in another, twice as many sympathised with the workers as with the management
When Yorkshire boycotts Yorkshire
It is with sadness I report an unseemly spat between Leeds and Sheffield over the former’s plan to build a £78m entertainment arena, writes Brian Groom
Royal Mail faces prolonged agony
Industrial militancy tends to be suppressed by recessions but as the postal workers – who are threatening to strike – show, there are always exceptions to the rule, writes Brian Groom
Can the north love the Tories?
David Cameron’s toughest challenge on the road to Downing Street will be to close the north-south political divide, writes Brian Groom
The private sector’s public dilemma
Business is torn between wanting the public finances brought back into balance and not wanting to halt the flow of government orders, says Brian Groom
Suffering Brum and a tale of two women
Recovery may be close but there is little comfort for the West Midlands. Its unemployment rate is 10.5 per cent, the highest in the UK, up 4.2 points in a year. But Brian Groom says there has been a distraction in the contrasting stories of two women
A congress or just a Scouse reunion?
There is an irony in the TUC returning to Liverpool just when the city is putting its industrial past behind it and reinventing itself as a retail centre, writes Brian Groom
Norfolk opts for a change of normality
The regularly mocked rural county is setting out to break outdated stereotypes and convince investors it is a vibrant technology centre, says Brian Groom
Even Banksy fears he is too popular
The elusive graffiti artist’s ‘Banksy v Bristol Museum’ exhibition, which has just closed, is estimated by the city council to have boosted Bristol’s economy by £10m, says Brian Groom
