Express & Star

Peter Rhodes on absent fathers, BBC stars and Peter Kay's well-kept secret

Confidentiality is still possible after all.

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Back in action - Peter Kay

YOU may think we live in a world where the all-prying internet lays bare all our deepest secrets. Is nothing confidential any more? And then you think of Peter Kay, currently launching the third and final series of Car Share. In December last year Kay suddenly announced: "Due to unforeseen family circumstances, I deeply regret that I am having to cancel all of my upcoming work projects." And from that day to this no-one has discovered what the unforeseen family circumstances were. Not a leak, not a peep. Extraordinary.

AS the death toll rises on London's streets, the commonest cry is "Where are you?" David Lammy, the black MP for Tottenham, was understandably emotional as he yelled: "Why is there a political vacuum? Where is the Prime Minister? Where is the Home Secretary? Where is Sadiq Khan?" A street demo took up the cry for the guilty missing: "Where are the police, where are the pastors?" And yet no-one shouted the most crucial question of all. Where are the fathers?

TIME after time, academic studies of gang culture in black communities highlight the huge numbers of absent fathers. Some neighbourhoods are dubbed "men deserts" because most households are run by a woman and young black boys have no role models in the home. David Lammy knows all about it; his own father walked out on the family and fled to America. Why are politicians so reluctant to mention this issue? Probably because they are instantly howled down and accused of attacking, undermining and disrespecting single mothers. But as Lammy wrote in the Daily Telegraph six years ago: "Many single mothers do a heroic job looking after their families... but it becomes twice as hard to set boundaries with half the number of parents." And while more cops, more pastors and more interest from politicians might help London's agony, it is hard to see any end to the carnage when so many dads are missing and no-one is setting any boundaries.

LIKE so many BBC stars, Radio 4's Sarah Montague agreed to be paid as a company, not a normal staff employee. Now she is not only complaining about being paid less than some male colleagues, which made her feel "a sap," but says the underpayment will "last my lifetime" because she did not qualify for a BBC pension. Hang on. The whole point of being paid as a company is that you pay much less income tax. If you do not invest some of the extra money from your wage packet in a private pension fund, and possibly private medicine then, sorry, but you really are a sap.

I WROTE a few days ago about my Saturday job as a 15-year-old mechanic's mate. Jim the mechanic taught me a lesson which has stood me in good stead. It is this: if you dismantle something and then reassemble it, there will always be a few bits left over. I hope this brings some comfort to those of you who, as spring arrives, have been trying to fix the lawnmower.