Archive
Biter bit
news.sky.com/story/pool-of-support-for-mays-brexit-deal-even-shallower-than-first-thought-11564956
I had some hope that, the Prime Minister having done the deal, the National mood would change and would become one of ‘let’s just get it over with.’
But when Michael Fallon comes riding into battle with his lance aimed at her, she really is skewered. Of course this is the same Fallon she threw under the bus a year ago on the basis of a historic and unproven accusation by the sisterhood when a more reasoned response might have been to let him apologise to anyone he might or might not have offended and carry on in a job he was doing very well.
You got that one wrong, Theresa.
Crisis?
Having had builders in recently, and knowing that they are pretty much the same everywhere, I am concerned that Ken Bruce’s Popmaster quiz may be having a significantly adverse effect on the national economy.
Obscene
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46289499
Utterly immoral.
Contradiction?
The DUP is pro-Brexit, yes? So why is it digging its heels and blocking our departure?
Challenge
news.sky.com/story/briton-matthew-hedges-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-in-uae-for-spying-11559410
A life sentence after a five minute hearing with no legal representation? That can’t be allowed to stand. What is our Foreign Secretary (What’s his name?) going to do about it?
If Mr Hedges is what he says, an innocent, if naive academic researching for a thesis, HMG must go in hard. Grounding all UAE airlines would be a good start. Freezing all Emirates bank accounts and assets might come next.
If on the other hand, Mr Hedges is what the UAE says, what will we do? Own up, or throw him under the bus?
Close shave?
Been in that restaurant and in that lift. Fortunately we got down at normal speed.
Vox populi
A few days ago I laid the blame for the current Brexit shambles fairly and squarely at the door of the Prime Minister. I still believe that it belongs there. She has hamstrung two Cabinet level negotiators by effectively setting up her own Brexit department within Downing Street and making Ministers subordinate to her pet civil servant. That’s not how government should work. A Prime Minister is an executive chairman, not a managing director with full authority.
But in that post I stopped short of saying that Theresa should be replaced. Just as the cowardly Cameron should have stayed on post referendum to clean up his mess, she must stay on to clean up hers. If that means listening to Arlene Foster, so be it. If it means accepting the collective view of the majority of her colleagues, so be it. If she can’t do either, she should resign. However, the second last thing the country needs is a long drawn-out Tory leadership election. The last thing it needs is a General Election that might put Corbyn in Downing Street. The ‘no confidence’ letters are not helpful, and they should be pulled at once.
So what is the next step? The so-called People’s Vote? No! Call it what you like but if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, a duck it is. It’s a referendum under another name and we’ve had enough of those.
I have another suggestion. It’s pretty radical and it won’t find a seconder, but it would be a much quicker way of achieving the same outcome as a referendum. Why don’t the Party leaders, May, Corbyn, Sturgeon, Cable and Foster agree to put the matter before Parliament with all members having a free vote?
Escape hatch
Just because it’s Tony Blair, that doesn’t make it a bad idea.
Recollection
Danny Willett winning again reminds me of his notorious brother, and the following gem.
National Club Golfer columnist Pete Willett on the team dynamics of the Ryder Cup. Oh, and his love for the Team USA crowd.
— Read on www.nationalclubgolfer.com/news/pete-willett-i-aint-partisan-hes-my-brother/
Noses off
Your song
The John Lewis Christmas ad is always anticipated, but this year they’ve pulled out all the stops.
Theresa in Mordor
I don’t Twit any more but I saw this one on Eddie Pepperell’s feed:
‘It’s clear to me that there’s only one person who can now deliver Brexit; Frodo Baggins.‘
Nice one son.
The darkness
I voted to leave the EU, because I believe it has outgrown itself. But I didn’t vote for the current shambles, the blame for which lies fairly and squarely with Theresa May. She should have gone the day after her defeat in the entirely unnecessary General Election that she called without the support of her party, but she didn’t. Instead she clung on dragging the nation down with her obstinacy and splitting it in two. The only reason she’s still barricaded in her bunker in Downing Street is that nobody in her party fancies clearing up the mess she’s made.
Half empty
I enjoy watching golf on telly far more than I ever did playing the silly game. But that enjoyment dims when Mark Roe is in the box. The man is a critic, not a commentator, expecting players to reach a standard that he never did himself, and slating them when they do not. He needs to listen and learn from the likes of Ewan Murray, Dougie Donnelly and Andrew Cotter.
Rock of Ages
Spike Thomson, aka Scott Wilson, is back on the radio!
Crazy
When I’m working, my top pick for background music, and Bob’s, is often my contemporary, Sir Van Morrison. His newest work, ‘You’re Driving me Crazy’, a collaboration with a fat bloke name of Joey Francesco, arrived today. It’s being played once, and that’s all, because it’s too damn good. There’s background, and then there’s distraction. File under jazz.
LOL
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46133262
If only it was that easy.
Between the lines
Two daily newspaper titles buck downward trend in sales – BBC News
— Read on www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-scotland-43271178
There is some hard truth buried in the piece above. For example the two titles ‘bucking the trend’ only did so by heavy subscription discounting or by including free issues in the count.
For those who buy newspapers for information and education, the future looks bleak. The tabloids ceased to be newspapers some time ago, and the Daily Mail is a horrible right wing organ in a sub class of its own. They’ll stagger on but the quality newspapers, as we used to call them, seem doomed to a spiral of decline until none are left, other than the Courier and P&J if you’re lucky enough to live in Dundee or Aberdeen.
Fireworks
Remember, remember the Fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot . . .
It’s a tenuous link but maybe, hopefully, it will come to be memorable. This is the day that I begin work on Skinner 31. Treason is unlikely too feature, and I doubt that there will be gunpowder either, but for sure there will be plot.
Title? I have one in mind but its too early to say.
Quintin Jardine's blog 