Some tough questions to answer

Click on the image above to watch Sky News presenter Niall Paterson ask some tough questions to poor Robert Jenrick who is the unfortunate minister left holding the government to account.

I have to say that I’m not a great fan of the blame game, it’s more important to me that politicians recognise what lessons they have learned from this awful pandemic so that the same mistakes will never, ever be made again when the next one comes along.

You may not be surprised to read that I’m not a huge fan of this government but I do give credit to them for the furlough scheme and to the NHS in getting the vaccine program roll out moving so quickly. I would question some of the judgement calls made by our government during this pandemic and some ministers have been extremely poor in getting their messages across. 

I could mention the dreadfully belated response the government took in responding to the explosion of Covid that swamped our care homes early on, the shambolic world beating track and trace app that became a laughing stock, Dominic Cummings who broke all the rules and managed to come up with such a lame excuse that nobody (except his boss) thought was acceptable or 'Operation Moonshot' that disappeared into outer space never to be seen or heard of again. Nope, you won't hear me mention any of those moments of madness during the coronavirus crisis.

However to be fair and balanced it’s also probably true to say that no matter which political party was in power at the time of this pandemic it was inevitable that mistakes in dealing with it would have been made. 

It’s time for politicians to accept and acknowledge that mistakes were made in their decision making, albeit under extremely difficult circumstances in a worldwide pandemic. There’s no shame in admitting those mistakes, anyone with common sense can see it’s been an almost impossible job trying to manage the country in these unprecedented times.  

Over 100,000 lives lost in the UK due to Covid is such heartrendingly sad news. It is not the time for recrimination, for now it is more important that lessons have been learned from the way this pandemic has been managed so that we can prevent such a dreadful loss of life in the future.

It's Alright Now

It's alright now, we've got a little bit of Free on the turntable today. I had forgotten how nice it was to turn over a piece of vinyl halfway through the set 🎸

SMiLE your way through lockdown

SMiLE, it’s vinyl day in the Seagull's nest. There’s nothing quite like a bit of Beach Boys music to help get you through a lockdown.

Today is a good day

Today is a good day. The deluded narcissist has finally left the building and the grown ups have moved in. I wonder if there’s room in that helicopter for his enormous ego?

Priti please, just answer the questions

The Priti Patel coronavirus press briefing today was a lesson in how not to answer questions by repeatedly ignoring them and saying the same thing time after time after time. Every question was met with the same carefully worded, scripted response. Aimed at getting the message across the briefing was dull, boring and failed to engage her audience at all. Priti Patel’s stern personality and lack of warmth made her completely the wrong person to host this briefing to give out the governments most important message.

I get the crucial ‘stay at home’ message Priti and I understand why you have to get the point across to those who don’t but please, please answer the journalists questions. It’s a pointless exercise to have a press briefing if you don’t properly answer questions that the press throw at you. 

If our politicians want the great British public to get the important messages in these challenging times then they need to answer questions directly with clarity, transparency and honesty. Unfortunately these are not traits that come easily to most politicians, no matter which side of the house they are on. 

The great British public doesn’t want bluster or repetitious statements from politicians who fail to address the questions put to them. 

That’s the end of Tuesdays rant, time for a cuppa.

Is this really the way to make America great again?

The world saw disgraceful and shocking scenes of violence yesterday as mobs of Trump supporters stormed the White House, the citadel of American democracy. Their leader, the President of the United States, refused to condemn their actions telling them instead that he 'loved them' and calling them ‘special people’. Havoc and chaos reigned as these thugs showed such remarkable disrespect and disregard to the democratic process. Perhaps we should all be shocked but not surprised as these scenes were stoked by mad conspiracy theories, rants and lies from a deranged and outgoing president. 

Strategic and planning failures by White House security chiefs allowed these violent events to happen, perhaps a deliberate act by Trump to encourage the use of mob force to stand behind his false and unproven claims of a ‘stolen election’. Gun wielding and ignorant thugs (not the brightest tools in the box it has to be said) listened to Trump as he implored them to march on the US capital and ‘fight like hell’. And so these morons followed like sheep and did exactly what he told them to do. 

Trump supporters, anarchists and white supremacists took to the streets and blindly followed their leader’s instructions, taking their guns and pipe bombs with them resulting in four dead. It was mob rule.

Imagine what the reaction would be if it were a group of Black Lives Matter protesters who stormed the White House yesterday. Would the security arrangements have been the same? I suspect President Trump would have not hesitated to quickly use the national guard to forcibly protect US democracy resulting in many more dead, and he would have called the protest an insurrection and threat to democracy.

Donald Trump lost a legitimate election, there's no convincing or hard evidence that shows us otherwise. Not only did he lose but he actually lost by what he would define as a landslide. The president needs to be a big boy now, grow a pair, stop crying, accept defeat gracefully and move on. But we all know that isn't going to happen don't we? Trump has now left himself isolated, his behaviour in the days leading up to this event with his bullying phone call to an election official in Georgia probably led to the republican parties losing control of the senate as well.

Is this the way to make America great again? America needs a President who shows decency and will respect the office, who will respect the democratic process and who has the respect of those around him. Not a rude, ill mannered, ill informed narcissistic bully who has an ego the size of the White House.Too many of his aides were grovelling yes men, either through fear of him or because they chose to crawl up a ladder of ambition. 

In the words of President Elect Joe Biden, speaking as protesters stormed the capitol "The words of a President matter, no matter how good or bad that President is. At their best the words of a President can inspire, at their worst they can incite". How true. 

Unbelievable scenes at the White House, Washington on 6th January, 2021

It's no tragedy that the music is stayin' alive

‘How Can You Mend A Broken Heart’ is an excellent documentary film telling the story of the Bee Gees. The brothers Gibb were certainly prolific songwriters with over 1,000 songs to their name. However, there is so much more to them than the disco oriented Saturday Night Fever soundtrack that sold by the shedload. 

In this documentary we see and hear some stunningly wonderful songs that surround the telling of the life story of a band who were to become world famous. Their iconic brand and image may have been slightly off key at times but their music certainly wasn’t. Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb wrote and recorded some of the most memorable songs of the pop music era.

Changing and reinventing themselves and their musical style over four decades, this film highlights and demonstrates what superb songwriters and musicians they were. As the band of brothers moved out of the 70’s and into the 80’s it become rather unfashionable to admit that you were a Bee Gees fan, I’m proud to say that I always was and always will be.

Sadly Andy, Maurice and then Robin Gibb all tragically passed away well before their time leaving older brother Barry alone and devastated. There are some truly touching and heart wrenching moments as he ponders and talks about losing his three brothers. A musician who yearns for the company of his younger siblings to join him on stage once more but knows it can never be. They may no longer be with us but their music lives on.

Barry Gibb is thankfully still writing and performing. Listen to the beautiful new recording of an old Gibb brothers song 'Butterfly' that he sings with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings as the film fades out, it's truly beautiful.

The Bee Gees musical talent and quality shines through in this film and it was a hugely enjoyable watch for me. Listen, it’s still okay to have a guilty secret and you are allowed to raise your arms, do some John Travolta moves and sing your heart out if you want to. Just watch the Glastonbury crowd do exactly that during the closing credits right at the very end of the film. Wonderful!

It's currently showing on Sky Documentaries and well worth viewing.

Coronavirus Support Bubbles

For those of you wondering about coronavirus support bubbles for older or vulnerable people living on their own this Christmas then follow the Age UK link below.

Anyone who lives alone can form a support bubble with another household or another person living on their own. However, having formed their bubble they are not allowed to form or enter any other support bubbles at the same time. 

A support bubble is not limited to just Christmas Day, it lasts for as long as you want it to and works in any government tier at any time. 

Support bubbles are effectively treated as one household and those in the bubble must follow the tier rules for the area in which they live. At the time of writing West Sussex is currently in government tier 4 but standby for a probable full national lockdown after Christmas.

If a person you know is living alone, this Christmas or anytime, then a support bubble can be a great help in the struggle against loneliness and isolation. The link below will help clarify the rules relating to coronavirus support bubbles.

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/coronavirus/coronavirus-guidance/support-bubbles/

There’s also more government info here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/making-a-support-bubble-with-another-household