If so the test may ultimately be whether the public has more of a taste for Morgan the man

If so, the test may ultimately be whether the public has more of a taste for Morgan the man than Morgan the editor.. With an eye to his increasing TV appearances, some predict he will jump before he is pushed. Clifford can even see him doing a Chris Evans, and forming his own TV company. Although its war stance improved the paper’s standing among fellow journalists, the circulation still refuses to rise back above the symbolic two-million mark, having dropped nearly 9 per cent over the past year. Also hanging over Morgan is the rumbling controversy of the “City Slickers affair”, the share-tipping scandal that saw two of his most trusted reporters resign. His links to that are still being investigated by the Department of Trade and Industry.Sly Bailey, chief executive of Trinity Mirror, the paper’s owners, also has him in her sights.

When she was appointed earlier this year, she publicly spoke out in favour of “seriously good popular journalism rather than just serious news”. Piers has been a resounding success.”Speculation about Morgan’s future at the Mirror persist. When a vacancy for a new political editor came up at the Mirror a few years ago, he was so appalled that none of his reporters applied for it that he launched into a tirade lambasting his staff for their lack of ambition.Kelvin MacKenzie, head of Talksport and Morgan’s former boss at The Sun, sums him up thus: “Editing tabloids is like running football clubs – many try, few succeed. “He says hello to people – that’s his style,” says one of Morgan’s staff writers. “If you see him in the pub near the offices he will buy you a pint.”He also respects signs of healthy confidence in others. He devoted splash after splash to the grim consequences of the military onslaught.Though colleagues insist the editor’s anti-war stand is genuine, there is much that is establishment about Morgan the man – not least an ingrained regard for the Forces that comes from having both a brother and brother-in-law who are Army officers. But Morgan’s stance certainly raised his standing in the eyes of his staff.

They not only admired his decision, but also the inclusive way in which he led them during the conflict. Every journalist, from the lowliest editorial assistant to the most senior correspondent, was invited to the war briefings – engendering a camaraderie that is all too rare in the cut-throat world of Fleet Street. His meteoric rise – from Sun showbiz columnist to becoming, at 28, Britain’s youngest ever tabloid editor, when he took over the News of the World – has been tempered by some awareness of his own good fortune.Morgan, now 38, recently said he felt “humble” when “ordinary people in ordinary streets doing ordinary jobs” send in cheques equivalent to “half their weekly supermarket bill” to Mirror appeals. He describes his current political views as “New Labourish” – a claim borne out by worthy, Blairish initiatives such as the paper’s annual Pride of Britain Awards for “ordinary people” who show extraordinary courage in the face of adversity.His staff certainly think highly of him. One Mirror journalist speaks of the “inspirational” war briefings he gave around the time of the outbreak of hostilities in Iraq, in which he predicted his decision to oppose the conflict signalled a “crowning moment” for the paper. Wouldn’t it be dreadful if in 2012 we hosted the Olympics and obesity levels had quadrupled and we had no talented youngsters? Unfortunately, many children no longer know how to play. What we should be saying is, ‘How can we find ways to help people enjoy sport, make it more fashionable, more aesthetic and give them a wider vision of life?’”It is also time we understood that some boys like to dance and some girls love to play cricket and football, and that as far as girls are concerned, playing sport is not freakish.

We know that participation in sport is declining and obesity is increasing. I am still playing competitive hockey and squash, and I’m very decrepit They call me granny. But we have to remember that we are not all beautiful-looking creatures, so shouldn’t be totally projecting that sport is all about glamour We have to find the right balance. Some of the things that young girls had to wear were ridiculous. For young women going into puberty, whose body shape is changing, to have to put funny little skirts on and go out in the cold and get hit around the shins with a hockey stick, it can hardly be enjoyable.”The Sue Campbells of this world will always want to sweat.