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.