April Fools

April Fools came and went. None of us played a trick on the other. I did get to watch the highlights of the Arsenal game. I would have preferred a win, but not losing was almost as important. Watching Match of the Day, I see that we have the harder end of season, which means that we are the least likely to take the title. But all the teams have to be played in the league which is why winning it is so hard. I did not think at the beginning of the season that we would be so close to taking the title which, for now, appears to be heading to Merseyside.

Earlier on the bank holiday weekend we had been to see my Mum, the parents of my wife and came 5th in the local pub quiz (we are getting worse). It has been relaxing and I hope that my batteries are sufficiently recharged now as Tuesday is going to be very busy. I also spoke to one of my brothers, have not spoken to him in a while. The other is in South Africa at the moment travelling the nation with his other half, who is from there. 

Poor Things

We watched this yesterday. It was intended to be a family film, but none of us had watched a trailer. Needless to say, not all of us appreciated the film and only two of us watched the whole film. Just for the record, it is not a family film. 

Normally I am not too fond of American art-house films, I prefer European ones.  While I have not watched one in a while, I got a taste of what I have missed when I watched Drops of God. This was an interesting story, well told in its manner. Do I think that it was amazing? No. Would I watch it again? No. And I not have wanted to pay to watch this in the cinema. It was great to watch it at home though and it was nice to watch a different type of film. 

Saltburn

I finally watched the film that many have been talking about. My daughter had watched it before and my son left after a scene in the bath. If you want to watch it, do not read any more.

I enjoyed it. The beginning more than the end though. Watching it means that I doubt that my children will ever watch The Talented Mr Ripley. The beginning brought back memories of how I felt I had imposter syndrome at university and also how I was lucky not to mix too much with people I was never going to gel with. However I also have great memories of my time at Uni. 

I doubt that I would watch this again, but I do want to watch The Talented Mr Ripley again now.  

Owen Jones & Keir Starmer

Last week, Owen Jones divorced Labour.  There was a lot of comment about it at the time, but I understand where he is coming from.  Labour have not been the best at communicating their message, not just with the way that Israel are committing war crimes in Gaza, but in other ways as well.

Today, I have listened to Ed Milliband being quizzed on Labour U-turns.  And it got me thinking.  I think that a better way for Labour to appeal to the electorate is to be honest about these policy shifts.  When asked about the reversal on the Green Energy Pledge, an honest answer would be to say that Labour would want to meet the pledge, but does not think that it can so are to make a promise it knows it can keep.  He could have been clearer on the pledge on tuition fees.  

And when it comes to Gaza, I think that Labour should be honest.  I supported Israeli military action until the scale of civilian lives lost became apparent.  Labour should have the courage to say the same. 

So while I do not like everything Labour is doing, I will probably still Vote Labour. Keir Starmer was not my first choice as leader for Labour as he had promised a lot to the left wing of the party.  My choice when it came to who should be party leader was Lisa Nandy, someone who is much better at communication that Starmer.  The alternative is more years of Conservative misrule.  Labour are going to have to improve how they communicate things as otherwise, they will be quickly voted out of power.         

Bristol and back

Am knackered.  Today my daughter went to an open day at Bristol University.  We drove down at five in the morning and got here early, but in time to get some good seats for the first lecture.  My wife and a friend had driven off to a spa while my daughter and I attended this.  My son was left behind in Colchester with Leia and spent his time walking her and meeting friends.

Bristol is a lovely city and if she makes a decision to study here, despite recent concerns about student welfare, it looks a lovely place to study.  One down side was the first lecture which was a tick-box on what not to do, notably talk to the laptop, or the board, make no eye contact with the audience and mumble.  However the rest of the day was much better.  The down side was that my daughter was too tired to make the last meeting which was one where she would have got to see potential lecturers and talk to them directly.  

What was a shock though was learning that my daughter no longer is a big fan of Taylor Swift!  Not sure if my son is responsible for that one though... 

Could Farage Returning Destroy the Tories?

It is hard to tell what Nigel Farage wants in the world.  Once upon a time, despite disagreeing with his political views, I liked and respected him, but back then, he used to tell the truth.  

Since then, he has decided to bending the truth and spreading alternative facts on matters.  I am not sure if he wants to return to Reform UK, the party he is sort of in charge of, despite Richard Tice being its leader and main funder.  Or he might want to join the Conservatives and become leader after the next General Election.  

In a way, I feel sorry for the Tories, who are trying to work out if they need to woo or shun him.  Either way, I feel that he has caused enough damage with Brexit and that more power to him would harm our great nation.

Workers rights

On Twitter the other day, I mentioned the importance of unions.  It is something that I have discussed before on here.  Basically, I am of the view that unions support workers and if you are against unions, you are in essence against workers rights.

I suspect that there will be those who disagree with my interpretation of this view, but the case of P&O sacking workers to rehire labour at a lower cost, in my view, proves the need for decent workers rights. 

I am in a union, and in my job, I have seen the difference in how those in a union are treated better than those not in a union.