Marmite

As reported by some colleagues at the Open University, “The Welsh Labour government (reluctantly but with cross-party support) has committed to legislating to bar elected politicians from the Senedd if they refuse to apologise after having been found to have lied, even if the lie was committed outside the chamber.” Should this be the case in Westminster? On the one hand, off with the Labour politicians’ collective heads, I say. The gallows is too good for them. Lammy claimed the Chagos islanders had been consulted on his surrender to a Chinese ally – Lie. Reeves said the Tories had left her with a £22bn black hole – Lie. Starmer said he was a man of integrity – Oh, don’t make me laugh. And on and on and on, non-stop throughout Starmergeddon’s first 100+ days (Jeez – it feels like a lifetime). Another reason for such legislation is to mirror what the corporate world is subject to. For example, executives can’t lie about the financial state of the business. Further, employees who lie can

Recently I was back at Cambridge for another excuse to eat, drink and be merry. Despite not being an over-achiever academically (although I am an over-achiever in the understatement department), I’ve always felt at home at College, rubbing shoulders and kissy-kissing with the higher achievers and more monied. This particular occasion tested my comfort zone in other ways but it remained unbreached, dear friends (with apologies to William and Harry – that’s Shakespeare and The Fifth).