That was our first Winter election since 1923. The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us Vanity of Vanities, There is nothing new under the sun. It turned out that there were indeed some never before events, such as Tory MPs being elected in Blyth Valley, Sedgefield, Workington, Doncaster,Bishop Auckland and many other places in the so-called red wall.
What was not new was the intensive inquest into the election result, labours worst defeat since 1935, and the refusal of the leader to accept responsibility. There was the clearest evidence of traditional voters refusing to entrust JC and his acolytes with the keys of number 10; but Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell remained proud of the manifesto and said the result was all down to Brexit, media bias, stupid voters and an establishment conspiracy, and that the Corbyn Plan is still the right recipe for the country.
Fortunately our democratic system enables the electorate to have their say and even break the voting habits of a lifetime.
Looking back on 2019 it was illuminating to see what were the highlights of Google searches:
1. What is Area 51?
2. What is the backstop?
3. What is D-Day?
4 .What is Finns Law?
5. What is a super over?
The top searches about celebrities were:
1. Caitlyn Jenner
2. James Charles
3. Prince Andrew
4. Tommy Fury
5. Boris Johnson
Some other popular searches were: How to eat pineapple How to tame a fox in Minecraft How to floss dance How to pronounce Psalm (incidentally, for the ill-informed, this is the name of the fourth child of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West).
What does all this tell us about society? Best not to think about it. Age might have something to do with it and our education system.
I was persuaded to be one of the turns at the Sintons Christmas lunch at St James Park. In the event I was the only act, so they had to make do with my Wild Rover and House of the Rising Sun as well as a hurriedly composed Ode. Of course my agent has been bombarded with bookings for gigs around the circuit.
One benefit of the Winter election was that Christmas intervened and the political pundits were squeezed off the screens to make way for Christmas specials, old movies, partying and celebration (and the Queens Christmas message Jeremy). The new year should be an opportunity for more hope and less uncertainty and I am not only talking of Newcastle United. Sterling is on the rise, there is a Boris Bounce, companies are willing to invest and many people have cancelled plans to leave the country. Boris must now Get Brexit Done, negotiate with new aficionados in Brussels, as well as with the US, China and the world, and also demonstrate that it is the Tories who are for the many and not the few.
Will there be a less hostile atmosphere in Parliament with a new Speaker? We do still have the joy of the elections of new leaders of Labour and the Liberal (not so) Democrats as well as the Sturgeon campaign for a Scottish referendum.
There may be some assistances for us to deal with those extra pounds added by our Christmas excesses. Loughborough University researchers are suggesting extra labels on foodstuffs in addition to the traffic lights, lists of ingredients, countries of origin, additives and colouring. The new labels should tell us how much exercise a person would need in order to burn off the calories in a product. For example it would take four hours to walk off the calories in a pizza or 22 minutes to run off a modest chocolate bar.
With more people sitting on the sofa ordering their fast food to be brought to their door by JUST EAT, Deliveroo or Uber, the prospects of unread labels encouraging healthy eating are slim. Maybe get Greta to write a book about it? Thinking back, that Christmas dinner might need me to take on the equivalent of the Great North Run.
I was delighted to be invited to speak at the Teesside Exclusive Luncheon Club at Wynyard Hall. I was asked to talk on some highlights of my 50 year career in the law. Thank you Linda and Mike. Splendid lunch and company. I thoroughly recommend booking one of the lunches at Jesmond Dene House or Wynyard Hall, or better still to join the club. Dont worry – I have already spoken at both. Happy New Year to you al
Home / Business / COMMENT with Barry Speker
Comment With barry Speker
That was our first Winter election since 1923. The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us Vanity of Vanities, There is nothing new under the sun. It turned out that there were indeed some never before events, such as Tory MPs being elected in Blyth Valley, Sedgefield, Workington, Doncaster,Bishop Auckland and many other places in the so-called red wall.
What was not new was the intensive inquest into the election result, labours worst defeat since 1935, and the refusal of the leader to accept responsibility. There was the clearest evidence of traditional voters refusing to entrust JC and his acolytes with the keys of number 10; but Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell remained proud of the manifesto and said the result was all down to Brexit, media bias, stupid voters and an establishment conspiracy, and that the Corbyn Plan is still the right recipe for the country.
Fortunately our democratic system enables the electorate to have their say and even break the voting habits of a lifetime.
Looking back on 2019 it was illuminating to see what were the highlights of Google searches:
1. What is Area 51?
2. What is the backstop?
3. What is D-Day?
4 .What is Finns Law?
5. What is a super over?
The top searches about celebrities were:
1. Caitlyn Jenner
2. James Charles
3. Prince Andrew
4. Tommy Fury
5. Boris Johnson
Some other popular searches were: How to eat pineapple How to tame a fox in Minecraft How to floss dance How to pronounce Psalm (incidentally, for the ill-informed, this is the name of the fourth child of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West).
What does all this tell us about society? Best not to think about it. Age might have something to do with it and our education system.
I was persuaded to be one of the turns at the Sintons Christmas lunch at St James Park. In the event I was the only act, so they had to make do with my Wild Rover and House of the Rising Sun as well as a hurriedly composed Ode. Of course my agent has been bombarded with bookings for gigs around the circuit.
One benefit of the Winter election was that Christmas intervened and the political pundits were squeezed off the screens to make way for Christmas specials, old movies, partying and celebration (and the Queens Christmas message Jeremy). The new year should be an opportunity for more hope and less uncertainty and I am not only talking of Newcastle United. Sterling is on the rise, there is a Boris Bounce, companies are willing to invest and many people have cancelled plans to leave the country. Boris must now Get Brexit Done, negotiate with new aficionados in Brussels, as well as with the US, China and the world, and also demonstrate that it is the Tories who are for the many and not the few.
Will there be a less hostile atmosphere in Parliament with a new Speaker? We do still have the joy of the elections of new leaders of Labour and the Liberal (not so) Democrats as well as the Sturgeon campaign for a Scottish referendum.
There may be some assistances for us to deal with those extra pounds added by our Christmas excesses. Loughborough University researchers are suggesting extra labels on foodstuffs in addition to the traffic lights, lists of ingredients, countries of origin, additives and colouring. The new labels should tell us how much exercise a person would need in order to burn off the calories in a product. For example it would take four hours to walk off the calories in a pizza or 22 minutes to run off a modest chocolate bar.
With more people sitting on the sofa ordering their fast food to be brought to their door by JUST EAT, Deliveroo or Uber, the prospects of unread labels encouraging healthy eating are slim. Maybe get Greta to write a book about it? Thinking back, that Christmas dinner might need me to take on the equivalent of the Great North Run.
I was delighted to be invited to speak at the Teesside Exclusive Luncheon Club at Wynyard Hall. I was asked to talk on some highlights of my 50 year career in the law. Thank you Linda and Mike. Splendid lunch and company. I thoroughly recommend booking one of the lunches at Jesmond Dene House or Wynyard Hall, or better still to join the club. Dont worry – I have already spoken at both. Happy New Year to you al
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