He used the vacuum left by the government and the aid of his media friends to defend his position and not accept any personal responsibility for his actions. He accused the report as using a ‘low bar’ to prove bullying and he ‘was cleared’ on all but two episodes.
However, I think the bar is set high in these things as the collection of evidence is difficult. Once the tight circle of evidence is shown the the other less easy to demonstrate events are more likely.
I think it is like drink- driving. Prosecutions are relatively uncommon. If you are found guilty there is a known relationship with alcohol misuse and other undetected episodes of drink-driving are likely.
Friday to Sunday to meet up with EQ- away from her home city of Glasgow. We flew as in recent times train travel is just not reliable. There are the current strikes but before that the unreliability of the service and impossibility of booking anything but close to the day of travel.
EQ produced a good programme. Friday involved the mash restaurant followed by a pub with live music and a selection of whiskies. The tasting turned out to be expensive.
Walks and shops on Saturday and then Scotland v England on the tv in the pub- and a good win for the locals.
A lovely weekend overall that included Saturday evening game of cards-cool.
Last weekend was in effect a long time in the planning.
Friday evening was spent in Lille to see Grand Corp Malade, the tickets having been bought one year before and the idea gestating long before that.
We took the Eurostar to Lille which for most of the passengers was the Disney Land express- as only two other people or so got off at Lille. The others on the train were families of different ages and compositions commonly dressed as Mickey or Minnie.
I was surprised by the number of police and soldiers before we went in and by the number of older people in the audience. I was expecting mostly young people- I was wrong.
The crowd loved him and it was a great evening.
On Saturday we moved onto Paris. We saw the ballet at the Opera House-Palais Garnier- Mayerling. This is a relatively modern ballet. It tells the story of the prince who is next in line in the Austro Hungarian empire prior to WW1. He is a nasty piece of work, unfaithful, drug addict and general abuser of people. He dies in a suicide pact. The dancing is more sexual than is typical.
Sunday was electo-jazz- never heard of it before at a cool venue- old railway station.
There were three musician of whom Théo Ceccaldi was the star and lead. A s,all venue, free entry paid for by beer etc and a whip around at the end. Great quality and skill. Great experience.
A bit of more trad jazz on Monday evening- not bad.
But an unexpected experience at the church if St. Eustache on Tuesday morning when we found, by chance, the organist practicing on the second largest organ i France. Wonderful noise!
The UK and other parts of Europe are currently experiencing extreme heat.
There are forest fires in Spain and Portugal. On the Atlantic coast of France too, including around ‘John Barley’s house”.
Currently it is 36C and due to be 38C later.
It is certainly too much to bear out of doors and I am not looking forward to the trip to the allotment to do the necessary watering.
This is at the same time as the protracted Tory leadership contest- as they slowly whittle down the contestants to the last two. Currently there are 5- and they have hardly discussed the climate crisis. They have concentrated on attacking each other-not Brexit enough- magic money trees and being a socialist. Wild.
Only yesterday did they, all five, begrudgingly say, they would keep to the net zero target. But with what sort of commitment in reality?
I saw the chair of the self styled ‘net zero scrutiny group’ interviewed yesterday- Tory MPs modelled on the ERG and similar members . Enough to make your blood boil- essentially climate change deniers. ” USA had a heat wave in the 1930s”, ‘ it is hot now but all will be back to normal in a few days”.
‘what the tiny group of Conservative MPs in the Net Zero Scrutiny Group are trying to make us do, in the latest salvo of their eccentric opposition to sound science. Led by Steve Baker and Craig Mackinlay and some of their faithful cheerleaders in the rightwing press, they are demanding the prime minister abandons the green levies that help finance Britain’s drive to net zero, out of apparent concern over soaring energy bills.‘
They couch their arguments as too expensive to act, not necessary, economic self- destruction with inflated numbers used. No acknowledgement of cost of not acting, eg- national trains cancelled today and people staying away from work. What about when there is a shortage of food, water, cities are a nightmare to live in.?
Johnson resigned as party leader yesterday after so much pressure. I think 59 ministers resigned in total from Tuesday- A record. He tried to tough it out.
In the end his speech outside the door of number 10 was typical- no mention of his many wrongdoings and basic corrupt actions and lying but of the ‘herd’ turning against him. In essence, not his fault and others have made the wrong decision.
He is trying to hand on until the autumn as PM- ridiculous. But he wants to hold onto power and the trappings of power.
He will go but the satisfaction will be short lived. The next one along will be in a similar mould.
It was the last game of the season which was far more important for Leeds United than Brentford. We lost. It was not a good game really. Brentford finished with 9 men- substitution for injury when 3 already done. Then Canos managed to get himself sent off for a stupid tackle after been booked for taking his short off during his goal celebration.
There was an end of term feeling as it was the chance for the team to show appreciation to the fans after a successful season.
Brentford sign Christian Eriksen on deal until end of the season
Midfielder has not played since suffering cardiac arrest in June
He was released by Inter as rules barred him from Serie A games
Christian Eriksen in action for Denmark against Finland at Euro 2020, before his cardiac arrest
Christian Eriksen has made an emotional return to football with Brentford after the trauma of the Euro 2020 finals last summer when, in his words, he “died for five minutes” on the pitch. The Denmark midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest during his team’s opening game of the tournament against Finland in Copenhagen on 12 June and received life-saving treatment from medics
Eriksen has been motivated by the dream of returning to the highest level and playing for Denmark at the World Cup finals in Qatar at the end of the year. He has taken another step towards it by signing for Brentford until the end of the season. If things go well, he could be offered a deal for the following season.
