OTT?

It was surely a little bizarre watching the reception for the Wales football team on their return from Euro 2016.  OK so the Principality are proud of them - I get that - and they did "punch well above their weight" in the competition, but let's keep our feet on the ground - they were losing semi-finalists.  Well done boys, and all that, but to behave as though they had won the World Cup frankly made them and their fans look rather ridiculous.  And as an Englishman, I feel I need to make the point - England 2,Wales 1.  Bitter and twisted - who, moi??  No, just realistic.  Perhaps we're more used to "nearly but not quite" performances, and know how to deal with them appropriately.

Who should choose?

Not really having had any interest in the process until now, I was surprised to find that the eventual decision as to who should be leader of the Conservative Party (and therefore Prime Minister) rests with the members of that Party.  Because surely, this is just the situation which has caused all the problems for the Labour Party? And where is the logic?  As I see it, the general public choose, by way of the ballot box, who is the largest party in parliament and therefore form the government, and then it should be for the members of that party (i.e. their MPs) to choose who should be their leader. Otherwise you could end up - like the Labour Party have (twice now) - with the ridiculous situation where the leader of the party is not the choice of the majority of the MPs.  Bit like the captain of a football team being chosen by the fans, irrespective of what the manager or the players want.

Ouch!

Seems the Government are considering a raft of measures to make life easier (and safer) for the older driver.  Mini roundabouts instead of T-junctions, and entry roads onto motorways which become lanes and require no filtering-in have been suggested.  All very laudable and as one of said older drivers, I am fully in favour, but if there's one thing they could do to improve my driving experience, it would be to get rid of these damned speed bumps which do my back no good at all - and I suspect do my car's suspension no good as well.  Round where I live they seem to be breeding, with more and more of them every time I venture out.  Originally, speed bumps were relatively gentle, but these latest one are brutal and no matter how slowly I go, my poor back protests - so if you want to give consideration to the older driver, get rid of them!

Wise after the event?

I am glad that the Chilcot report has made the point that, when we decided to invade Iraq, that country and its leader, Saddam Hussain, presented no imminent threat against this country, because I remember thinking precisely that at the time.  Saddam was a brutal dictator, but under his dictatorship, Iraq was, for the region, a relatively stable, secular state, and the old adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" sprang to mind.  Perhaps what was more exercising the minds of our and the US government was not so much that Saddam was perceived as a threat, but that his sons, one of whom presumably would have taken over from him eventually, were both psychopaths (Uday particularly) and would most definitely have been a threat.  Maybe the logic was "better to act now while we can, than have to act later when things may not be so much in our favour".  I'm sure there will be more to be said about the Chilcot report in the days to come.

Parting is such sweet sorrow...

So, what is this Article 50 and how does it work?  Prior to the Lisbon Treaty of 2009 there was no "official" way of withdrawing from the EU.  This was seen as a potential problem so at Lisbon they introduced Article 50 which set out the procedure for a member country to leave the Union.  On paper it's all very straightforward - the country wanting to leave gives notice under Article 50 and then has two years to sort out the practicalities.  At the end of that time they are out.  There is provision for the two-year period to be extended, but it requires the agreement of all the other member countries.  But the crucial point is that the leaving country is in control of the starting gun - in the present situation it is up to us when - if ever - we give notice under Article 50.  We can't be forced to do so by the other EU countries, however much they may wish us to get on with it.  And as mentioned in a previous post, the referendum result has no legal force and does not oblige the Government to  act on it.  So we have a situation where the Government can stick Article 50 behind its ear as it were, and decide when, if ever, to activate it.  Advantage us for the time being, I think.

What - again?

So Nigel Farage has resigned as leader of UKIP - but remind me, didn't he do this once before, and the party refused to accept his resignation?  He did say something like "This time I mean it" but we shall have to wait and see.  Presumably he continues as an MEP - and don't you love the way other MEPs refer to him as "Faridge"?  To be fair, he must feel his raison d'être has disappeared with the referendum result and maybe he really does fancy a change, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if, sooner or later, he reinvents himself and reappears on our screens.

What do I do?

Well - here's a quandary!  Wales are in the semi-finals of Euro 2016.  I've spoken before of the "healthy hatred" that exists between the various parts of the United Kingdom when it comes to sports.  I'm sure I've mentioned that the most popular T-shirt in Scotland is one which says "I support Scotland and any team which England are playing".  It's usually football (soccer) where Scotland are concerned and rugby (union) in the case of Wales, but now we have Wales in the soccer arena.  So I would normally be looking to root for the "other team" against Wales - but it's Portugal for God's sake!  Ronaldo!!  A man whom I deeply despise as the nasty, arrogant narcissistic individual he is.  You see my problem?  I'm thinking of shutting myself away and ignoring the whole thing.

R.I.P.

Caroline Aherne.  Her humour was not really to my taste, but there is no doubt she was a clever, clever lady and has been taken from us far too soon.

Many a true word...

So Judi Dench has had a tattoo at the age of 81 - well, good for her!  The tattoo says "carpe diem" which as we all know means "seize the day" - or does it?  The expression comes from the Odes of Horace and the poet is making the point that none of us can know how much time we have left on this earth and that therefore we should "carpe diem".  But the verb carpere actually means to pluck, to gather, as for fruit and therefore what Horace meant was more to "enjoy the day, make the most of the day" for, as he went on to say, you can't rely on tomorrow - you can't even rely on there being a tomorrow.  

Oh 'eck!!

I was going to post something about the fact that both the Conservative Party and Labour are currently leaderless and "who's minding the shop?" sort of thing.  But the problem is that things are in such a chaotic state of flux, that whatever I say has a fair chance of being overtaken by events before you read it.  Indeed, as I am writing this, the news has broken that Boris Johnson has said he will not stand for leader of the Conservative Party, which makes much of what I was going to say moot.  So this is a bit of a non-post, I'm afraid.  Very much a case of - watch this space.....