The One Show
I have followed the One Show loyally and faithfully from the very beginning to now, I’m afraid, the end.
Christine has lost her innocence and joined the celebrity merry-go-round. Adrian has been done down in an offensive way by the BBC management and is moving on to bigger and better things.
It was great while it lasted but now it is becoming a parody of itself.
It is over.
Dermot’s X Factor Interviews
He's Got It!
Dermot O’Leary’s interviews with David Cameron and Nick Clegg, tonight on BBC3, were incisive and inspiring in a way that none of the other debates or interviews have been.
Perhaps precisely because they were aimed at a 16-24 year old audience, these were forward looking, exciting programmes. Look to your laurels, Paxman, Dimbleby, et al.
I think Dermot will tear Gordon Brown to pieces next week.
Ryanair Plumbs New Depths
I see that the deeply unpleasant and sleazy Michael O’Leary is refusing to comply with the EU law that requires him to provide his passengers with accommodation and food when they’re delayed.
I’ve never travelled in one of his cattle trucks but based on my one and only experience of Easyjet, which is supposed to be about the same, then I’d rather walk or stay at home.
Not Fit For Purpose
In normal circumstances I’d be supporting anyone who wanted to defy the EU but in O’Leary’s case I’ll make an exception.
Obnoxious, ignorant, self-important, oafish – no, they don’t quite sum him up. I tell you what, blatant and clear intent to defy the law that governs his business makes him unfit to hold an operator’s licence.
He should be banned from running an airline.
The Dunkirk Spirit
Gotta Get Home To Vote!
I can see it now. Gordon as beachmaster in his tin hat. Long lines of stranded tourists and businessmen queuing out into the surf to be rescued by our plucky boys and ferried home to Blighty. Look, there’s Alistair falling over in the waves again and I can see Peter is serving tea and bully beef sarnies to anyone who’ll listen to him for a couple of minutes.
Our Fearless Leader
Ed Balls is smiling broadly as he builds sandcastles with some of the kids and his missus, Yvette, is trying out her French with some of the locals. Alan Johnson is refusing to listen to any of his advisors as he loads more and more Labour voters into overcrowded rowing boats.
Don't Panic! Me And The Missus Are Here
The two Milliband brothers are checking who can get a place and who can’t, “Labour voters this way. Women, children and Tories wait your turn!”
Another glorious defeat plucked from the jaws of victory.
“We’ll fight them on the beaches, on the landing grounds, at airports up and down the country. I knew we could rely on Iceland to come to our rescue. If the volcano won’t come to Gordon, then Gordon will go to the volcano. No more boom and bust. Vote Labour or die!
Don’t panic! Don’t panic”
Labour Voters This Way!
What If The Volcano Doesn’t Stop?
It might start by ruining the holidays of the wealthy. Then it might be inconvenient for business if executives can’t get to their high powered meetings. The supply of out of season fruit and vegetables from Kenya would disappear.
The eruption might not stop for days, weeks, even months or years. It might get worse. See here for what happened 227 years ago when a volcano in Iceland erupted and be afraid, be very afraid!
The Day After Yesterday
That would shock us all out of our comfortable little lives wouldn’t it? We wouldn’t all be so concerned about the Leaders TV debate then would we?
Some might say we are overdue, maybe even deserve a catastrophe on Planet Earth.
Who knows?
This could be the start of it.
There Are Lies, Damned Lies And Then There’s Gordon Brown
How he has the bare faced cheek to claim that he’s been saying “for months” that the banks should have been more tightly regulated!! The man has been incredible for some time but even for him this latest, astonishing volte face is truly astounding.
The Big Fibber
Our Prime Minister is nothing short of a liar. When he appears tonight on the first ever great TV debate let us hope that his true colours are revealed. Messrs Cameron and Clegg have the opportunity to drive home the coffin nails into Gordon Brown’s premiership. Let them strike hard and true. The country needs relief from this shabby little man, his putrid ideas and his shameful politics.
Amy Williams
She was spectacular winning her gold medal at the Winter Olympics. She was equally mesmerising last night on “Question Of Sport”.
I realise that “our Amy” has one elusive, temporary quality which we can only enjoy for a little longer. She doesn’t yet know just how gorgeous she really is!
The Age Of The End Of Religion
For Easter…
…all things considered, religion is responsible for more evil in the world than it is good.
Islam demonstrates its evil effect every day. It revels in its own use of “shock and awe” to terrorise us every day.
The Catholic Church disgraces itself, more every day. It seeks to excuse its own deep sin as “petty gossip” on its own most holy day.
In Palestine, the Jewish nation has become a Nazi state in the most horrific episode of hypocrisy every day. Day after day.
Science and freedom of thought is the only belief that makes sense. Faith in outdated dogma and superstition is selfish and destructive.
Religion is dead. Mankind lives.
A Real Insight Into The Police
The conduct of the police has been in the news again this week for all the wrong reasons. First there was the disgracegful, outrageous and deeply corrupt acquittal of the thug policeman, Sgt Delroy Smellie, who beat up Nicola Fisher at the G20 protest. See the story here. There’s also the CPS’ deplorable failure to bring to trial the police officer who was responsible for the death of Ian Tomlinson, also at the G20 protest. See here.
Evenin' All
In the course of writing about these events and reading other blogs I came across Inspector Gadget. This is a blog by a policeman for policemen (and women). I’m not quite clear whether the author is a serving police inspector or not. If he’s still in the job I’m not sure that it’s entirely proper for him to be writing as he is but I’m still considering my verdict on that.
Inspector Gadget does offer an extraordinary insight into the attitudes of serving police officers. There are hundreds of comments demonstrating intelligence, passion, anger, professionalism and, in a few cases, crass stupidity and irresponsibility. I’m reassured that there are many police officers who see that the acquittal of Smellie and the delay in prosecuting the murder of Ian Tomlinson causes enormous damage to the police. I am very deeply disturbed though by the attitudes that far too many of Inspector Gadget’s contributors demonstrate.
Put Up With It. It's Your Job.
It is quite clear that many officers are psychologically unsuited to the job and are not “fit and proper” people to be given the authority and responsibility of a police constable. Judging by some of the contributors who claim to be trained in “split second decision making” and the control of violent disorder, I’d say that some of them are bordering on psychopathic. They shouldn’t be allowed on the streets at all, let alone in a police uniform.
I think Inspector Gadget should be much more widely read, certainly within the Home Office and by those (I wish I knew who they are) who have control over the strategic direction of policing and police recruitment. There are attitudes demonstrated that suggest to me we should be opening a whole new wing at Brixton or, more probably, Broadmoor, for psychopathic, violent ex-police officers.
Obviously this won’t make me popular with some people and, as I don’t hide my identity, maybe I should be expecting a knock on the door in the middle of the night, but I cannot stand by and let attitudes such as these prevail.
You’re not entitled to complain about being shouted at, abused, sworn at, threatened (within limits) or protestors not obeying your “orders”. This is all part of the job.
Your standard of behaviour must be far, far higher than the protestors. If you cannot control your temper, even in the face of extreme provocation, you shouldn’t be in the job.
I am a strong supporter of the police. The necessary concomitant of that is that any officer who steps out of line or goes over the top must be punished severely, more severely than if they were a member of the general public.
Anyone who cannot see the wrong perpetrated by Smellie against Fisher and by Officer X against Tomlinson is not fit to be a police officer.
Israel Must Be Brought To Heel
The Devil's Work
You can no longer use the excuse that your actions are a reaction to the persecution of your own people. You have become, in every sense, just as bad as the Nazis. Your arrogance, your brutality and criminality outweigh any moral latitude that you might once have been allowed. You are a pariah state, evil institutionalised.
As you parade pretty, blonde apologists before TV cameras, so the world watches the children of Gaza die at your hands.
This is no longer a debate or a worthwhile discussion. History will judge you as tyrants. You must be stopped.
Peter Reynolds 