Duty calls

Theresa May is clearly not a people person - neither am I.  I wouldn't have fancied going down to that tower block just to be harangued and abused and bombarded with questions to which they knew I hadn't got the answers - because nobody had. But if I were Prime Minister (perish the thought!) I think I would have come to the conclusion that it was my responsibility to clench my buttocks, grit my teeth and do it anyway. So while I have every sympathy for Theresa May, the person, I think Theresa May, the Prime Minister did not behave well.

On your marks...

They're off!  Brexit negotiations are now officially underway.  It is already being suggested that two years is an unrealistic time-table and we should be talking about an extension - maybe even an open-ended arrangement.  Don't know about you, but I can see this taking forever, and eventually fading away into nothingness.  Brexit means brexit?  That might end up as the inscription on the tombstone.

Incompatible??

Speaking of shame (see yesterday) does anybody else feel uncomfortable with the fact that Tim Farron has felt the need to resign as leader of the Liberal Democrats because he has found it impossible to reconcile that position with his Christian values? Don't know whether the problem is more to do with LibDem principles or Christianity, but when a supposedly "liberal" party can't cope with a religion ostensibly based on "peace and love" there's got to be something wrong somewhere.  

Two tribes

The tragic fire at Grenfell House in London has brought out the best and worst in people.  The heroic actions of the emergency services and the selfless actions of those who have donated food and clothing - which maybe they can ill afford - are examples of the best.  Unfortunately, the way certain people have sought to use the disaster for political or personal ends represents the worst.  So I am at one and the same time very proud and extremely ashamed.

Vell, vell, vell.

You may have seen this story that the reason the Queen's Speech is said to be delayed is partly because it is written on vellum, and the ink needs 48-72 hours before it is properly dried.  But why vellum? Indeed, what exactly is vellum?  Well second question first - vellum is dried calf-skin and has been used for official records for over 1000 years.  Why?  Well of course it well predates paper, but over time has proved much more hard-wearing and long-lasting than this later writing material. Mind you, you would think that in this day and age, digital is the way to go.  Problem is that the advances in technology can often overtake your efforts (see 6/7/07). There was apparently a project in the '80s to create a database of children's' thoughts and experiences, but it was all recorded and stored on laserdisks, which were seen as state-of-the-art at the time, but now are an obsolete technology which cannot be easily read.  So vellum rules - OK?

Prescience?

Not long after we were married, my wife and I went to visit a friend of hers who had just taken up residence in a flat high up in a tower block - then a fairly new concept. I recall my wife asking her friend what she thought about it.  "Beautiful views" I remember her saying "but I do worry about what would happen if the building caught fire".

Ha ha

"If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed.  If you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed." - Mark Twain.

My enemy's enemy...

So, who are the DUP and should we be worried at the idea of them having any say in mainland politics? Well, they're the Democratic Unionist Party founded by the Reverend Ian Paisley in 1971 and they can be described as standing somewhere to the right of Genghis Khan.  They are opposed to Irish nationalism, abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriage and climate-change, among other things.  In other words, unpleasant people with unpleasant views.  But should we be worried?  Our position on all those matters except the possible reunification of Ireland is settled in law and therefore not open for discussion.  The extent to which the DUP's views affect life in Northern Ireland is a matter for Northern Ireland and their voters. No. there's no reason for us to be concerned - although some of us may feel like holding our noses and keeping them at arms length.

Do the maths!

I'm already a little tired of the claims and counterclaims being made following the general election results.  Yes, Labour did much, much better than expected, but the fact is they still lost.  Corbyn is apparently seriously talking about voting down the Queen's Speech - but he can't,  Assuming the DUP at best abstain, and given that Sinn Fein don't take any part in parliamentary business, even if (big, big "if") he could persuade all the other parties to vote with him he could still only muster 315 votes as against 318 for the government (328 if the DUP vote with them)  I think he's getting carried away!

Remember??

It is clear that the under-25s (including perhaps my own grandchildren) mostly voted Labour last Thursday. Can I suggest that this was maybe because you have to be knocking 60 to have any memory of a real Labour government?  OK you may have some recollection of the Blair years, but, as any die-hard Labour supporter will tell you, that was not a true Labour government.  You need to go back to the Wilson/Callaghan years for that.  So when Corbyn and his lot were laying out their sweetie stall they may have got the youngsters excited. but us oldies have "been there, done that and got the (overpriced and threadbare) T-shirt"