Slowing Down

Yesterday I timed myself walking to the shops. It took me just over 19 minutes to walk from my house to the Market Hall, and I'd have struggled to do it at all had I not had my shopping trolley to lean on. When I was househunting in 2014 I could manage a sligtly longer walk in 9 minutes. Visitors should not expect me to provide a conducted tour of the town!

Quadruply Jabbed

Last Friday I joined the ranks of those who have been innoculated against covid-19 four times.

I'm not sure why anyone should be interested to learn that, but it is a snippett of news I can post here, thus reassuring anyone doubting my continued existence that I am still alive and moderately alert.

Solving the Irish Problem

When I first heard of the proposal to create a customs barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain it struck me as too ridiculus to contemplate. At that stage the Irish problem could have been dealt with very easily. Tbe British Government could have said that negotiating terms for Britain's departure from the EU was proving unexpectedly difficult, and as the referendum was only advisory so that its recommendations were not binding, the Government had changed its mind and Britain would stay in the EU after all.

However it is now too late for that. The government has agreed to accept the so called 'Protocol'. In a recent election in Northern Ireland, a majority of those elected are prepared to accept the Protocal, so we should all just wince and accept it too.

The remaining problem is the government of Northern Ireland. The province needs a new constitution in which it is not possible for a minority to immobilise the Assembly. I suggest that the speaker be elected by a simple majority of assembly members. The first and second ministers should be elected by assembly members using the single transferable vote. The person first elected would be first minister, and whoever was elected second would be second minister. The first and second ministers would then take it in turns to nominate other ministers. A party boycotting the election would simply not be represented in the Government

Old Favourites

As a child three gastronimic treats I specially enjoyed were fish and chips from the fish and chip shop - the only take away food available in the early to mid 1940s, Heinz baked beans, and Heinz tomato Soup. I still enjoy baked beans on toast occasionally, usually for breakfast these days, but a recent sample of fish and chips was very disappointing. The fish was edible but the chips were soggy and greasy. As I usually avoid fried food it was my first fish and chip meal for about a decade, and it may be my last. A few days ago I tried tomato soup, for the first time for at least 30 years. I found it edible, but not at all exciting. So old favourites now score about 1.5/3

Misconduct in the Mother of Parliaments

A member of Parliament has applied for the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds after admitting to using his mobile phone to view what shocked colleagues have called 'pornography'.

At first I thought he should have been paying attention to the wise words spoken by his fellow members and should not have been viewing anything on his mobile phone, but I now learn that he was whiling away time while waiting to vote in a division. The supposed offence is therefore not failing to attend to parliamentary duties, but viewing material that some fellow MPs find disagreeable. I see no reason to object to his choice of distraction and so no reason for him to leave the Commons.

Those who complained were all women. Were they annoyed that he chose to look at pictures of other women instead of looking at them?