There seems something not entirely healthy in the fascination of the press with the story of the teenage runaways from Stonyhurst. It is the sort of thing that used to provide Sunday morning enjoyment to readers of the News of the World. Since the closure of that grubby organ, its grubbiness has been shared out among the press like the late Jack Woolley’s fortune among the characters of The Archers.I think we can still manage to examine the coverage of the poor lambs while preserving a resolutely high-minded attitude, but before we try, we’d better take a glance at Tony Blair, who, to judge by a piece he wrote for The Observer on Sunday, is becoming to geopolitics a figure reminiscent of Kahlil Gibran (the author of The Prophet, 1923, readings from which still punctuate many a
30 January 2014, The Tablet
‘The Stonyhurst youngsters featured all over the press. Their story had everything’
Christopher Howse’s Presswatch
Get Instant Access
Continue Reading
Register for free to read this article in full
Subscribe for unlimited access
From just £30 quarterly
Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
The full weekly edition in print and digital including our 179 years archive.
PDF version to view on iPad, iPhone or computer.
Already a subscriber? Login