Sir Gavin Williamson

While many were outraged at the way Gavin Williamson had acted towards a Conservative whip, I was not too bothered with this, especially with the way Conservative whips acted in the last big vote of the Liz Truss Premiership. I should actually refer to allegations as no improper behaviour was proven on a later investigation.

I did think he should resign over the allegations over how he treated civil servants, and he did.  Watching The Thick Of It with my daughter, again for me, I get the impression that bullying is, or was common in the past, and many of us remember how Priti Patel got away with allegations of bullying herself. I myself had engaged in bullying behaviour when I worked in our local hospital about twenty years ago, behaviour which I now accept was wrong. Well some of it. However I do not recall telling someone to jump out of a window, or to slit their throat and while I did promise to hit someone, that was when they refused to listen to me when I had explained why I had done something and instead decided to berate me without accepting what I did was right.

PMQs was interesting with a question about people who received a fix penalty notice due to Partygate being made Lords.  Starmer won again, his first question being about bullying and while Sunak gave a nice response, he did not answer the first question. Sunak was honest stating that he regretted the appointment of Williamson into his role, but then was silly saying his government is in favour of accountability while sitting next to Suella Braverman! Sunak did not answer the third question about thanking Williamson for his service.  The next question about the Windfall tax which Labour had called for (though Labour wanted a better one) was not answered, Starmer answering it for him in the preamble to he fifth question on how the Windfall tax should be changed. The final question mentioned how the Conservatives crashed the economy in its build up, but was wasted as it asked what chance the Prime Minister had of running the country. Sunak answered referring to Jeremy Corbyn who would have been a much better Prime Minister than any of the three we have had in this Parliament.

I was to go to bed before watching the SNP’s Ian Blackford answer his questions. Normally he asks the best questions of the session, he fell far short today.

Qatar2022 vs Russia2018

I was listening to the radio at lunch today and the issue of Qatar hosting the World Cup and its human rights record came up. I do think that it is right to raise these issues, and while some were mentioned four years ago when Russia hosted the World Cup, I do not remember this level of outrage back then.  

In 2018, Russia had an appalling human rights record.  Political opponents were being killed (as is still happening now), it had assassinated people abroad and of course invaded Ukraine four years before along with destroying MH17.  LGBTQ rights in Russia are also oppressed.

Personally, I am not going to boycott the World Cup, just as many did not boycott the 2018 World Cup, the Winter Olympics in Russia, the main Olympics in China or the more recent Winter Olympics.

It is right to raise issues of human rights, but I hope that this level of outrage will be present for any future sporting events held in nations like China in the future. 

Terminator: Dark Fate

This was a return to Terminator films being good again.  Obviously the best film in the series is either the original, or Terminator 2. This comes third and is a vast improvement on the other sequels.  To be fair, this franchise has not been ruined in the way that the Alien films have been so things could be worse.

On more positive news, we are top of the league again. It is unusual for Match of the Day to show the league leaders far down the running order, but there were more exciting games yesterday. I honestly had expected to lose and was hoping for a draw. Facing Aubameyang against us, I felt that he would score, but he did not and I hope his poor form continues.

See How They Run

First of all, allegations that I was found asleep on the floor last night were unfounded. One member of he family was a bit worse for wear though as a result of alcohol, that obviously not being me. We collected Leia and had breakfast at The Red Dog before returning home. Fortunately today was a day where we did not do much but recharged our batteries. We all started to watch See How They Run at the suggestion of my son, but my wife had to leave to rest as she felt unwell and my son frustratingly left later as well.

Overall, it was an enjoyable film, though I do want to watch The Mousetrap, well part of me does. My daughter enjoyed it as well, though it appears that I was the only one who did not use the internet to find out who the murderer was! 

I was wrong though, the American did not do it, 

Enola Holmes 2

Yesterday we watched Enola Holmes 2. When I say we, I mean all of us other then my son who is watching a new series which is available now and so opted not to watch this. Leia watched most of it before watching his series.

I have to say, I prefer this film to the original, and it is not often I prefer a sequel. Yes, some of it was a bit too unbelievable but over all it was a good film with a bit of history thrown in as well. I imagine that there will be many who will object to the diversity shown in the film who will be willing to accept the other parts of the film which were not as realistic as it could have been as well.

It had a decent plot, good acting and was directed well. If you liked the original, the odds are that you will like this more.

As for today, we have been at a wedding of two good friends. It was lovely to watch them tie the knot and we all wish them the best for the years to come. It was also great to meet their family, some of whom we have met before, others we met for the first time, though one person we met was convinced they had met one of us before.

I have tried to nap as we are to go to the dance later tonight, but the fireworks are keeping me up. Am looking forwards to strutting my stuff on the dance floor! 

Ian Blackford beats Keir Starmer in PMQ’s

Starmer did well in PMQ’s yesterday but Ian Blackford did better. However the Conservatives have to stick by Cruella despite the latest revelations about her refusal to follow the rules on sending communications as she comes across as being strong on immigration. By immigration, I mean those crossing the channel to seek asylum. The media are supporting the narrative that we are being swamped rather than looking, as Starmer has raised, why it is taking so long to process asylum applications. 

Last night

I think that the kids liked Halloween. My son considers it to be his favourite holiday (though to me it is not a holiday) and my daughter had a friend round who loves it.  My wife and I had tried to watch Fear Street 1994 with them on the weekend, but they were not too interested and left.

Last night, it rained and rained.  Our dog woke me up barking, which means that she normally wants to go to the toilet.  I got out of bed, went downstairs and opened the door at 0130 only for her to decide that she did not need to go to the toilet as it was raining!  The same happened at 0200 and also at 0400, by which time it had stopped raining, so she decided that she was able to attend to her call of nature.  

I would just like to point out that the children said that they would do this before they got her...