Penny Mordaunt knew how bad the state of government finances were when she debated Angela Rayner

In June last year, a debate took place which included Penny Mordaunt making a claim about how much Labour would have to raise taxes. Angela Rayner disputed the figures, but there was a difference between the two.  The party who was in government at the time knew the state of the economy, even though they hid it from Labour.  The Conservatives claim ignorance now, but the debate shows that they knew the truth before the election.

The video above is an interesting take on how the Tories have ruined things over the 14 years in government, but as you can see from some of the photos that they have used, they have included a bit too much creative licence and have got a few things wrong as well. 

In summary, I think that the Conservatives broke the economy and I also think that they hid what Labour would have to face once in power.

Not in Clacton

We have not been in Clacton.  

My wife has had her cousin come from abroad with his wife and two children.  We both like him, having looked after him when he was at university and we genuinely got on with him then, and still do now.  What is nice, is that the children all get on, even though ours are teenagers and his have yet to reach that milestone.  His wife is lovely and I spent time on walks with her and our dog Leia.  On one of the walks, which my daughter came along with, my daughter noted that the signs implied that we were in Clacton, which my wife was adamant that we were not in!

To be fair, if we walked far enough, we would have been in it, and my cousin got an idea of what it was like when he and my wife and got a takeaway from the outskirts of Clacton.

Anyway, now time to rest and relax.

Diane Abbott and racism

Diane Abbott has faced terrible abuse based on her gender and her race.  She does not deserve to be subject to racist or misogynist hatred, no one does.  However, she is someone who is prone to repeated gaffes. 

One such one is where she refuses to accept that during the time that Jeremy Corbyn was in charge, too many of his supporters ignored his words on Kinder Gentler Politics.  Emily Maitlis explained that she was subjected to vitriol because of her job as a Jewish female journalist. Diane Abbott dismissed her experience of this saying that she did not recognise the toxic atmosphere that may experienced.  Considering the issues that she has created for herself when it comes to her comments on racism, I am surprised that she decided to ignore the abuse others face.

  

I will admit, I do not like her.  I respect what she has achieved, I respect her apologies for her repeated gaffes on racism.  But she keeps making them and for that, I do not respect her. 

We was robbed

If anyone had told me we would have a point in this game before it, I would have settled for it.  But I ended up disappointed. Last night, we returned to our local pub quiz where we did not even finish in the top three. Afterwards at home, I watched the highlights of the Arsenal game on iPlayer. I put my headphones on in bed, but disturbed my wife with swearing once we went a goal down, then with the cheering for our two goals.  And then lots of bad language as we went down to ten men and then failed to win after SEVEN minutes of time added on.

At work, Larry, who as much as I appreciate him, is a miserable sod with Arsenal, was in a cheerful mood, while I had a scowl instead. We were so close to the much needed three points. Not getting them gives the Team That Rhymes with City the advantage over us.

Keir Starmer, Sue Gray and the perception of corruption

Sue Gray is in the news because she is earning more than the Prime Minister.  It is strange how this story leaked when the main issue I am concerned about are the gifts that the Prime Minister has been given.  

I actually trust Keir Starmer.  Well, mostly.  I know he lied about the party not lurching to the right when it came to the Labour Leadership campaign (which is why he was not my first or even second choice to be Labour leader), and concerns about donations were raised when it came to the Labour Leadership campaign.  But this issue of donations and gifts, does not look right, even if they were innocently given. 

I hope that the leak of the wages of Sue Gray was not a way of (successfully) getting the media to focus on her and not him.  

Snakes on a plane

This is a bad, yet an average film. It does not have the best plot and the direction in places is wanting. I watched it because I had read a lot about it, but I have to say it would not have been that big a deal if I had missed it.  When it comes to films, one way of judging them is if I would have been happy to pay to see it. I would have been annoyed if I had paid to watch it in the cinema. If you have not watched it, don’t bother, unless there is nothing else to do.

On a much better note, I went for a walk with my wife in Brightlingsea today. It has been a while since we have been there and it was lovely to return.

Playing the scum

When I tried to find people at work to discuss this, I honestly had not watched the highlights. I felt that based on the highlights, we were lucky. However, I am not an expert in football and many who watched the game said that Arsenal were the better team.  Of the three colleagues at work who support the opposition, I only got to wind up one, the other two mysteriously were no where to be found! 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

The children and I watched this today. My son has not watched the first, my daughter had watched it many years ago, and I reminded myself of the plot by watching a trailer and looking at Wikipedia. This was not as good as the first film. I like how it had several threads in the film, but it did not explore them that well. If you hated the first film, you will not like this, but not all who liked the first film will probably like this. 

For the observant here, the GIF is from the first film, but includes an important character in the second. Well, two of them. I am glad I watched it, but I doubt I would watch it again. The original is much better. 

Bereavement

First of all, the film, then an update on real life.

I liked a lot of the film. It had decent acting, and most of the time was out together well.  Some of the death scenes were filmed well, but sadly, some were not and should have been produced better. I loved the sense of despair that the victims had and the depiction of how evil the murderer was with victims sometimes hearing what has happened to the one who has been captured earlier. It could have been produced better and I would have been annoyed if I was one of those who watched it in the cinema.  

When it comes to real life, I will be changing my car and arranged this today. Afterwards we went to see a friend at her home who was not well and ended up getting her to go to hospital. Turned out this was the right thing to do as she is now admitted and is having intravenous antibiotics.  It was a bit scary as she looked so unwell and while my son went to a cat cafe, we took Leia and my daughter for a late lunch and calmed ourselves down. Anyway, fingers crossed for Lynn, we hope she gets better. 

The US presidential debate and gender

I know that loads of people have discussed this. I do not think that it will make much difference to the outcome.  I think that Harris will win the popular vote and that Trump will win the Electoral College.  But while many have focused on the comments about immigrants eating pet dogs, I thought that this was the best and most insane quote from the debate...

I am surprised that this did not get more attention!  But it turns out that it is true, in part. 

I was sad that Starmer did not answer questions

It was sad to see Starmer not answer questions in PMQ’s today and instead evade them. Yes, it is easier to be the leader of the opposition, a fact Starmer forgot last week.

What was more interesting was Nigel Farage defending the rights of those who have been jailed around the time of the Farage Riots for Social Media posts.  People were jailed for the same over the riots of 2011, conviction's which were upheld when appealed. I am not sure if Nigel Farage will call for those convictions to be overturned. 

Winter fuel support cuts and the wealthy

I have to disagree with the government on their plans to make winter fuel support cuts.  In my job, I come across too many elderly people who are vulnerable. While there is some support available for those facing cuts, I do not know if many will claim the additional support, or apply for winter fuel support.  Too many of the elderly that I see in my job have issues with being able to fill in forms, or are not aware that they can.  Many have undiagnosed dementia, too many are isolated and some are not aware that they will be affected by changes.  Having a universal payment will mean that some who are rich will get it when they do not deserve it, but the changes will mean that too many who need it, will go without.

On my way into work today, I was listening to someone who talked about funding it by taxing the 1% more. The problem is that she called, like many do, a wealth tax. Such a term smacks of punishing aspiration. I would prefer a higher bar, maybe the top 0.5% and calling it a tax on the super rich.  

It will be interesting to see how Labour MP’s vote on this. The rebellion over benefits for people with more than two children was punished.  If I was a Labour MP, I am not sure that an abstention would be enough and I would be tempted to rebel over this.  I know hard choices have to be made thanks to the legacy of the Tories. I am sure that this is a choice that should not have been made, 

Munich – The Edge of War

This film was about the journey rather than the destination. After all, we know what happened. I would rate this as an average film. It was well directed and acted, there were no plot holes that I can recall. But the story did not really engage me. What I did learn from it was the desire for peace in a time where people remembered the appalling cost in human life from The Great War.  I doubt I would watch it again, and if it was on TV when channel hopping, I doubt I would leave it on. But it is a decent film. Just not for me. 

Minions: The Rise of Gru

Of the Despicable Me films that I have watched, this was the most disappointing. It is not terrible, I did enjoy it. But I am glad that I watched it on streaming rather than watching it in the cinema.  It is still petty and funny, but ultimately it serves as a children’s film. The original was a film adults would love as well, even so with the others. This is not as good for adults as the others have been.  

Saying that, the first film would always be hard to follow, and it is rare to find a sequel better than the first film.

As for how we are as a family, we have spent the day relaxing, mainly because my wife and I feel awful.  I suspect we picked up a big yesterday. We had visited my mother first of all, then went to my wife’s parents as one of her cousins is staying there. We genuinely love him, he had been studying in the UK many years ago, left to work in Australia and now lives in Sri Lanka. He came with his wife and two children and we spent time with them catching up.  It was truly great to see them again. 

Blink Twice

Blink Twice is an awesome film.  Before I talk about it, the family. My son is still COVID free. My daughter, wife and I are getting better. And I am now testing negative. We are not back to normal, but I was able to go for a decent walk this morning.

Now to the film.  If you are to watch it, don’t read on and don’t watch the trailer. It has been compared to Get Out. This is as good as, or is better than it. It comes with a trigger warning at the beginning of the film. It needs it and people buying tickets to it should be warned that it has some disturbing content.  The beginning starts well, the film intends to become dull and boring, and then it becomes interesting. This will appeal to many and overall is one of the better films I have watched in the cinema this year.