A rather twee piece in the Torygraph that suggested Shabana Mahood was somehow considered a bit of a doll. If proof were needed of her new status as a political siren, the Torygraph suggested that Michael Gove had scanned hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pictures of her. The article was all delivered much like a giggling vicar’s wife at a tea party where Madeira was served with the seed cake. Frankly, I would prefer that some of these commentators actually focused on the news rather than trying to generate clickbait.
The actual news was that, following a consultation, Mahmood had announced her final decision on what her overhaul of immigration rules, and particularly the Leave-To-Remain aspects, would be. Elements of her original proposals have been revised (a polite word for watered-down to the point of soggy), following a backlash from some Labour MPs, led by the always-available three-house Angela. She immediately took to a soapbox in Parliament Square to receive the plaudits and remind the UNISON-led crowd that she too had been a carer. There is no arguing with that, but not for the decade she claims, but for some three years, during which time she also acted as a Unison-rep. The details of Mahmood’s thin soup are almost an irrelevance, as the backlog in EVERY Home Office department for actually enforcing any policy is so enormous that no one can give an honest answer of where immigration is at, just an estimate to suit the narrative. That narrative featured many references during Mahmood’s studio rounds to the consultation, which asked 18% of British citizens for their views and 73% of visa holders. Balanced and Fair.
Thanks to AI, the aspirations of a semi-literate SpAd sector, and the sheer ineptitude that comes whenever ideology takes precedence over common sense, 90% of ordinary people in the UK run the risk of losing many long-held rights and freedoms. This might also include suddenly facing the threat of imprisonment and the confiscation of their children because of badly drafted trans laws. Several broadsheets carried warnings today about government drafts that have, for example, no age limit, raising the prospect of children falling foul of the law for simply asking their former classmate John why he thought she was Jane. Parents could be arrested for trying to tell their children it was unlikely they really wanted to be a cat. When respected constitutional and legal authorities write articles that use words like ‘ideological’, ‘authoritarian’, ‘unworkable’ and ‘unsuitable’, we should take them seriously.
Just occasionally I wish the Americans would disappear and stop giving us the benefit of their opinions on anything from line dancing to Cold Fusion. The people at Harvard University have discovered, and I might be paraphrasing here, that a bad night’s sleep is no good for the ticker! There was quite a lot of dressing up around it, but there were few scientific revelations that a skim read of the headlines didn’t reveal.
Sleeping in at the weekend is bad for heart! Study links inconsistent sleep schedules to higher risk of heart disease. Sleep in total darkness to maintain heart health, researchers say. How late nights harm our hearts is revealed. Why Your Weekend Sleep Habits Might Actually Be Dangerous. The Sleep Pattern Linked To Heart Issues As We Age. How changing your bedtime by just 30 minutes could impact your health. Weekend sleep-in after staying up late linked to serious health risks.
Have you got the drift? Scientists have worked out it is best to go to sleep in the dark! Going to bed late and doing it often can cause problems. Try to go to bed at the same time every night for the same length of time!
In case Dr Harvard needs the additional benefit of my own peer-group review, I might just add that I agree with their findings. My own in-depth research, conducted over almost 20 years before I had an immaturity bypass, clearly showed that going out until 4:00 am three nights a week, whilst drinking a bottle of mescal a day, is not a benefit in terms of sleep patterns. In my defence, I did recognise this negative behaviour for a short period, when I attempted to stay healthy by only drinking cactus juice before 6:00 pm, before moving onto Bourbon, until bedtime.
Ultimately, I recognised that neither was doing me any good, so I stopped running restaurants, moved into PR and horseracing, and drank gin!
I find myself increasingly thinking that we need a body such as The Star Chamber under the Tudors, as opposed to the tyrannical beast it became under the Stuarts. Its original purpose was mainly to ensure that powerful people could not escape justice by intimidating juries, corrupting officials or exploiting their social position. Under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, it provided remedies against precisely such abuses. Too often these days we read stories that make us think, “How the hell did that happen?” and, in your heart of hearts, you know a brown envelope has changed hands. Corruption is becoming endemic in the UK, some of it venal and petty, and some of it is the sort of unfair advantage given to someone undeserving in return for a favour. But some of it is very real and very costly and damaging to the country. I have a couple of planning officers, at least three councillors, and an MP I would like to have a long late-night chat with, which all run the risk of confirming the medics at Harvard!
Finally, we’re already back to the nonsense of In/Out EU tosh… today. Amongst the dribble, soon to become a torrent, was this excitement from HMG today:
“The EU’s ban on the sale or provision of single-serving sachets or containers of ketchup, mayonnaise, sugar, salt, oil and vinegar will apply in Northern Ireland under the Winsor [sic] framework but will not apply in the rest of the UK under EU-reset. A consultation regarding UK alignment is being planned.”
I’m torn… I loathe the little blighters, and there is no more guaranteed way to incur a dry-cleaning bill costing the same as a Hong Kong suit than to try and tear open a mustard sachet with fat fingers. BUT, I don’t want any of 27 unelected EU officials deciding what I spill down my front or any of 2000 others in the corridors of the EU Bunker telling my elected government what to do.