Should Londoners have to live with more or less pollution?

First of all, we won the pub quiz.  We enter for fun and never think that we are going to win, but have done well when the questions have been very hard.  They were very hard this week and this is the first time we have won the quiz at the Fat Cat!  That meant £28 between the six of us.

Second, the issue of Nigel Farage being a grifter came up.  The description was more colourful than I had used, but he was the answer to the question about someone with "xenophobic, chauvinistic and racist views" though I admit that the question appeared to show some bias against Farage

Next, my son is preparing for a week without his sister.  I have reminded him that his chores will need to be done, and that he is going to have to ensure that he looks after Leia properly.  My daughter is to travel to France for a week tomorrow. She has packed ready for it and we have given her some money for this, but to be fair, have given him money, which he is already making plans to spend!

But, the title of this refers to ULEZ. I was talking with our friend Nick at the quiz, about the recent election results and the direction that Labour have taken before and since then.  Basically, Sadiq Khan has brought in ULEZ to help the people of London. Starmer appears to have stabbed him in the back over this and I strongly disagree with him over this.  A leader leads by example. If you do not back loyalty, you cannot expect loyalty. In addition to this, Labour needs to show some backbone and come out fighting. Admit that ULEZ is going to lose votes, but say that the health of those in London is more important and that if you want no action to be taken on pollution, vote Conservative. 

ULEZ has some effect on climate, but the main reason for reducing emissions is to reduce pollution. Be honest, have a simple and easy message for people to remember and keep repeating it.  If you want no action to be taken on pollution, vote Conservative.

The Hippopotamus

Loved it. My wife recommended this, though she was not able to recall the plot of the book when we did. It is an interesting take on a whodunnit especially as you do not know what is being investigated at first. It has great scenery, but, like many films set in the UK, it shows the posh side of the nation. Also, I suspect that the book would have been better as some of the characters did not seem to have time to be developed, I may be wrong as there are books about which could be improved as well. I am glad that I watched it and this is a film that I might be tempted to watch again. 

As for the rest of today, I spent it annoying the kids, but we did visit my mother and my parents-in-law. They loved seeing our children, but all felt we should have spent longer with them.

Both children are now on their summer holidays. They watched Barbie yesterday but had mixed experiences. My daughter went with some friends which included some boys she does not consider friends and felt that they made the film experience one which was not as good as she liked. My son loved it and when asked about it being sexist stated that it was not. I guess my wife and I will watch it on the small screen, but we may be tempted to watch it in cinema as it appears to be a more enlightened take on Barbie.

How the Ultra Low Emission Zone and the Uxbridge by-election should strengthen Labour

There is a big argument in Labour that it is not being radical enough. An example of Labour not being radical is the decision not to scrap the two-child benefit cap. I have to say that I disagree with this decision but I do understand that Labour will have to make hard choices.

Many want Labour to have more left wing policies, but as much as I want Labour to be more left wing, it has to be elected to undo a lot of the damage that the Conservatives have inflicted upon our nation since 2010. 

Many see that the difference between the victory of Labour in Selby and its loss in Uxbridge (by less than 500 votes) is the ULEZ policy. I know that this is going to cause hardship for many, but I am with Sadiq Khan that action needs to be taken.

The thing is that elections are won by getting people to switch votes.  Boris Johnson did that in 2019 when he got almost four in ten UNITE members to vote Conservative. In Uxbridge, the ‘radical’ policy was rejected by too many voters. 

I want a radical Labour government that will bring about real change and results. I will settle for a less radical Labour government which is electable. Those who are not happy with Starmer for not being left wing enough need to decide if they would prefer him or Sunak to be Prime Minister after the next General Election. 

When is it right for a business to discriminate

In PMQ's the issue of if Farage should be discriminated against came up.  It has transpired that the bank he was with decided not to allow him to bank with them because they felt that he had a different view to him.  That would be acceptable, if they did this all the time, but they do not.

An internal report, prepared for the Coutts risk committee, had described Farage as a “disingenuous grifter” who promotes “xenophobic, chauvinistic and racist views” and while Farage had described the dossier as a “prejudiced, nasty document” the report is right.

The issue that I am concerned about, is if it is right to deny Farage the right to bank, what about other people and also other organisations?  Would it be right to deny banking services to Just Stop Oil, an organisation I agree with (in part)?

I have no issues with a bank trying to be ethical, so long as it tries more often than Coutts has in this situation.  Well, I do have issues, but I would accept them more if the policy was one that is open and transparent.  Nigel Farage has just as much right to have a bank account as Gerry Adams does and a bank changing rules to discriminate against him is just as wrong as it would be for a bank to discriminate against Just Stop Oil.

Robots

One review for this film says "There are no real laugh-out-loud moments, no emotionally moving denouement, just a bland but good-natured outing you can safely forget the moment it’s over." I have to disagree, but I suspect my wife would agree with the review. I guess we came at this from two different perspectives. I had watched some terrible films, she had not. So this was an improvement for me. 

This is not an emotionally taxing film, and as a man, I had some laugh out loud moments. It may be that this is a film better suited for men rather than women, but I do agree that this is not that memorable a film. Unlike the previous two films I had watched, it had a decent, if predictable plot, laughs and it was put together properly. I liked the characters, even the ones who are not likeable, and that is an important part of a film.

I doubt that I will ever watch this film again but I did enjoy it. I would not recommend going out of your way to watch it, but if it is on and you are looking for something to watch, pick it. There are lots of films about which are worse, 

Fifty Shades Darker

Intrigued? Don’t be. I do not know why I watched this film considering that the previous one was so bad.  I guess if you like fairy tales with a bit of bondage, this is a film to watch.  The acting was okay, the sets were good as was the scenery.  The plot was poor, but this is not a film targeted at me.  This is an adult fairy tale film for women.

Christian Grey is the prince, Anastasia Steele the princess. I would comment on the troll, but that would give away parts of a meagre plot.

The last one skirted a line between grooming and seduction.  I guess this one is more about if it is right to buy your bride. 

Call Girl of Cthulhu

Every now and then you come across a film which makes you appreciate others. This is one of them. I can forgive terrible special effects, I cannot forgive bad acting and atrocious direction. The plot of this film was best described as below average. I guess the high ratings that it had when I saw it were from those who made the film, or die hard Cthulhu fans. Watching this was a waste of time and I hope others do not waste time watching it.