Over the last couple of weeks we’ve heard much discussion of ‘El Nino’, a weather pattern with worldwide effects and which dates back thousands of years, returning with a vengeance but what is it exactly?

Our television screens have recently been filled with the annual scene of expectant teenagers joyfully receiving their exam results and deciding how to embark on life’s rich tapestry of experiences. Good on the lot of ‘em and I sincerely wish them every happiness and success.

I appreciate that in the grand scheme of things the outcome of Thursday’s Clacton-on-Sea by-election matters not a jot but I can’t deny that I’ve loved every twist-and-turn of the last couple of weeks.

I’ve never been to Glastonbury. I’m never going to Glastonbury. I have been to Reading Festival. In fact, Donnington Monsters of Rock and I used to have a bit of an on/off thing for several years. Yes, it’s festival time again.

Several weeks ago I openly ruminated that if Andy Burnham was the answer, exactly what was the question? Now, upon his coronation day we finally have some answers. Sorta. Kinda.

T’other week I went to the pictures to see Spielberg’s latest blockbuster, Disclosure Day. Notwithstanding the fact that I found the movie thoroughly unconvincing, underwhelming and strangely miscast, the thing I most remember about the whole experience is that several ‘viewers’ appeared to spend more time looking at their phone’s small-screen than the large silver screen!

With England’s splendid continuation in the World Cup ensured, it’s highly likely that there’s going to be a proliferation of both the Union and St George’s flags across the nation. All well and good, mostly, but, at the risk of being a bit of a party-pooping-killjoy, with their recent association with ‘Operation Raise The Colours’ I have to admit to feeling somewhat concerned by the right-wing political movements that seek to weaponise them.

It’s hard to think of a more momentous by-election than the one taking place in Makerfield later this week. If the ex-Manchester mayor wins, it will trigger a Labour leadership contest that is likely to see the replacement of Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.

I don’t know if it’s because of the fact that it’s set in three very different countries or that the majority of matches appear to start well after my bedtime? Perhaps it’s that The Donald is going to place himself at the epicentre of everything, hand-in-corrupt-hand with the obsequious Gianni Infantino?

With its slogan ‘Software That Dominates’ and extensive use of military jargon instead of more standard office-speak, the US tech firm Palantir is fast becoming one of the most notorious corporations in the western world. But is it really a supervillain or merely a scapegoat and how worrying are its inroads into British systems?