The mood at the New Statesman is sombre following the revelation that Ken Barlow has cancelled his subscription to the magazine. Ken is a compassionate, literate pillar of postwar society; he has worked as a newspaper editor, teacher, taxi driver, male escort and supermarket trolley collector. He is the only character still left from the original dramatis personae of Coronation Street, Britain’s sparkiest (and, at 49 years and counting, longest-running) TV soap. The country has followed Ken (played by William Roache) through every upheaval – he’s been married four times, widowed twice (his first wife was electrocuted by her hairdryer) and cuckolded spectacularly by his current spouse, Deirdre, in the classic 1983 Ken/Deirdre/Mike Baldwin love triangle. The times may have changed, but it is reassuring that Ken’s disappointed smile and appalling dress sense have not.

That is why his estrangement from the NS is so out of character. Was it something we said? Fair enough, the Alastair Campbell issue was controversial, but that’s no reason to flounce off in a huff.

In fact, Ken still loves the magazine.

His reason for cancelling his subscription, he told his local newsagent, was that he was clearing his desk in preparation for eloping with his mistress on a barge. In the end, he didn’t go – which we trust means he will quickly return to the fold. Certainly our subscriptions manager Stephen Brasher was eagerly waiting to hear from Ken as we went to press. After all, as the only character tending the flame of intellectual debate on the Street (unless there are hidden depths to his waspish mother-in-law, Blanche), Ken cannot live by the Weatherfield Gazette alone.

As he must realise, intelligent argument is no luxury, and political engagement not something that can be downsized in times of woe.

So let’s talk about this, Ken. Cheating on your devoted wife is one thing, but you don’t want to go and do something stupid.

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