The negative of Bowie's possibly having slept with children is counterweighted by the positives.

Yeah, that was how Jimmy Savile tried to justify it to himself. He didn't raise all those millions of pounds for charity out of the goodness of his heart.

Have you read Yukio Mishima?

I've obviously heard of him, being a 'Manics Fan' an' all, but no, i've never read any of his books. I undoubtedly would have when I was 17/18 if I could've gotten hold of one, pretending I was understanding and enjoying it the whole time.

But I don't really read non-fiction in general these days.

The last book I read was 'In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile'. It's by a journalist called Dan Davies, who spent years interviewing Savile during the last years of his life. It's also comprehensively researched in terms of outlining Savile's earlier days as a miner, dance hall manager, club owner, disc jockey and then T.V. personality.

Basically, his child abusing ways were an open secret among his friends, colleagues, associates, employees and the press for decades. But his wealth, status, charidee work and links to certain Establishment figures protected him.

There was even a couple of instances in the late 70s/early 80s, when he was at the height of fame, where local dignitaries had wanted him to come and attend their fund raising soiree. And he agreed, on condition they provided him with a tent to sleep in on some common or another, and an adjacent tent with 6 teenage 'dolly birds' in it. And the f*ckers did it for him, with the mayor even sending his own daughter.

Indeed, if you read some of the interviews he gave back in the 70s and 80s, you can see with the benefit of hindsight that he as good as admitted to it all on several occasions.

He would then talk about how he was making amends - especially in the eyes of God - through helping others. But i'm not sure that's how it really works.

And i'm currently reading 'Speak for Britain: A New History of the Labour Party' by Martin Pugh.

What i've taken from it so far is this:

1. Jeremy Corbyn is blatantly using Keir Hardie as an inspiration and role model.

2. That the Labour Party/movement has always had right wing, jingoistic elements in it - what Pugh calls Tory socialists - and the current civil war is only the latest in a long line.