Margaret Hamilton

The 10 day period of enforced bereavement has culminated in a day of the most British of Britishness. It was a historic moment, the type our media like to hype to the maximum of our endurance. They tried hard to include things from the nations but sometimes the irony of their choices seemed to be beyond them. To me it all seemed rather rushed, every day another service or ceremony. Announcing a public holiday was probably done with great intention, to allow those who wanted to line the streets or watch TV all day, the liberty to do so. In the real world though itRead More →

The two Prime Minister candidates are doing the Scottish tour as I write this on Tuesday 16th August. They have headed further north than they would usually consider doing as their hard traditional vote is there and presumably to keep in with their MPs. According to political commentators the Tory membership are loving what the candidates are saying, particularly Liz Truss. They see her as someone who can take on our First Minister. There seems to be an underlying thought that it is going to be possible for the Conservative and Unionist party to take over control in Scotland. They are unable to do it throughRead More →

Last weekend saw the great English school holiday getaway start. Obviously many did not forward plan, simply did exactly what they did pre covid restrictions. Result – hour and hours of queuing to get away.  People seemed not to understand the reason. Obviously, the phrase ‘we want to get our passports stamped’ did not set alarms ringing when used during the Brexit campaign.  When I was 19, my fiancé was a travel agent who got discount on holidays. I had my passport stamped in Tunisia and another year in Greece. Once the mortgage came along foreign travel was no longer affordable. On the Tunisian holiday weRead More →

So, eventually enough Conservative MPs get concerned enough about PM’s behaviour and the effect it will have on their ability to get re-elected. The PM is asked to step down. Eventually he reluctantly says he’ll step aside when new conservative leader is elected. Story gets out that he and Carrie want massive wedding party at Chequers. Presumably because they only had a modest event after the wedding? The people of the country not happy. Within days it’s announced the event will not take place. The process to elect the next conservative party leader, and PM, is announced. There will be debates between the candidates onRead More →

Boris is home from his trip where he tried his best to look like a world leader. To be fair, someone had obviously made an attempt to tidy him up a bit, however it’s a bit like putting me in high heels and feminine dress. It’s just not comfy.  No sooner is he home and the main topic of discussion is what and when did he know about complaints regarding Mr Pincher. Let’s be honest, he was close to the guy, he knew. Had probably witnessed occasions in the past. The massive difference between my world and the PM’s world is expectation. When my sistersRead More →

Well, I survived the long weekend of very little tv and wall to wall monarchy wonderfulness. The BBC and mainstream media did their best to scunner us with wall-to-wall unionism.  The other half checked out the tv schedule for the bank holiday weekend (when did it start Thursday and end Sunday? Just for Lizzie then?) Apparently a lot of the films available to view on tv are all about how wonderful Britain is. I finally broke a week past Monday and commented on a post mentioning Elizabeth the second. I pointed out that she is our first Queen Elizabeth as their first was only of England.Read More →

This past weekend commentators, journalists, politicians and many others were left gobsmacked and scratching their heads. We had really hoped we had moved on from the sort of comments in the Sunday Mail. Of course, it could all have been made up by a misogynistic journalist in an attempt at humour. In truth though, we all know someone who could have made those comments. When I first started working, young women were often seen as fair game for comments and even unwanted physical contact. Over the years the unions, the politicians and employment bosses have all made pretty speeches about equality. In workplace treatment, pay,Read More →

I find myself in a very uncomfortable place. While I am prepared to believe that the people of Russia are being fed Mr Putin’s version of what is happening, I am concerned that we may not be getting the full facts either. Our mainstream media has a track record of feeding us what our government want us to know. Not being a linguist I have to rely on the reporters wording of the translation. It has been known in the past for only partial translation to be reported, which can alter the impression of what is going on.I feel heart sorry for the ordinary peopleRead More →

This week we had International Women’s Day. It was therefore very saddening to see not one, but two articles in the National about how increasingly difficult it is to encourage women to put themselves forward for election to public life. We have so many minorities lobbying for equal rights, yet women still have boundaries they can’t get past. It must be, that in a family unit, someone takes the responsibility for the home and the children. It is after all, a job in its own right. Many men do take on much (or all) of this role but in the majority, it falls to theRead More →