In an ironic twist to Blair’s upbeat and positive arrival in office, Sir Keir’s signature tune appears to be ‘things can only get worser!’ and his post-election speeches have started to cast dark shadows over potential plans and ambitions.
T’other day I was round at a pal’s for an end-of-summer BBQ and the fun and festivities were continually interrupted by a great cacophony of squawking and shrieking from the surrounding trees, the noise of the resident ring-necked parakeets.
If, like many, you’re suffering from withdrawal symptoms of Olympian proportions, fear not as I am here to bring great news: I hereby formally claim, for King & country, that the modern Olympics are all ours, they’re British, and I assuredly place the Union Jack in the firm rump of all competing athletes.
Our housing crisis has been decades, if not generations, in the making and it’s widely accepted that new houses and large-scale infrastructure projects are critical for future economic growth and prosperity but how did we get to this point and can Labour build any better?
I didn’t realise that up until the mid 60s, the ballot paper in general elections displayed only the candidates’ names, not their party affiliation. The idea behind this was that it actively encouraged voters to find out more about their prospective honourable parliamentary member and that you would then genuinely place your X for whoever you thought would best represent you in the corridors of power.
If the latest polls are to be believed, the Labour Party looks set to return to government with a record number of 425 seats, a whopping majority of over 300 and unlimited power determined by 39% of the electorate. They won’t.
Not yet three weeks into the general election campaign and we’ve heard all manner of promise, pledge, assurance, commitment and guarantee. Claim has been met with counterclaim and we’ve been told falsehoods, fibs, myths, porkies and mis-speaks. Lies have been repeated with damn lies and verified by statistics.
Driverless cars have popped into conversation twice of late. First when a pal of mine bought a Ford Mustang Mach-E, the first car where drivers are legally allowed to take their hands off the steering wheel on the motorway, and secondly when Wayve, a UK AI company founded in a garage (where else!), scooped over $1bn in funding.
I’ve never watched the Great British Sewing Bee. Furthermore, I’ll never watch the Great British Sewing Bee. To anyone who knows me, or has seen me out and about, this will come as no great surprise. However, as it transpires I do have something in common with one of its presenters, Patrick Grant.
In a recent interview actor Matthew Broderick conceded that to many, myself included, he will always be Ferris Bueller. Having just binged-out on the Netflix series, Painkiller, I’d like to say to Ferri…er, Matthew, not to sweat it too much as there are far worse characters to be permanently associated with than the movie’s eternal teenage optimist, a chancer with chutzpa.