I just realised it’s Wednesday already; I think I lost a day somewhere. Careless of me.
Today has been unusual in that I’ve paid a bit more attention to the news than normal. But not too much. I recoiled somewhat from some of what I found, starting with a response from Heathrow Airport to the removal of one part of the blockage en route to a third runway. A spokesperson said:
“This is the right result for the country, which will allow Global Britain to become a reality. Only by expanding the UK’s hub airport can we connect all of Britain to all of the growing markets of the world, helping to create hundreds of thousands of jobs.”
There’s some buzzword bingo going on there, but I can’t help but feel they’re playing last year’s game. Partly that’s because the aspirations outlined there so vapidly–Global Britain, UK’s hub airport and connect all of Britain to the growing markets of the world are being sabotaged by Brexit. Partly it’s because it’s just empty sloganeering (and in what sense is British trade and tourism not already global?) I could also add that it it isn’t clear that the ‘hub and spoke’ airport model is sustainable and, in any event, lots of us outside London will go a long way to avoid Heathrow if we can. When I used to fly to the US, in the absence of direct flights, I would always go through Dublin, failing which Amsterdam or, if necessary Paris CDG. I invariably took the train to London unless I had a compelling reason not to.
Next up, I saw the shameful news that UNICEF is supporting the feeding of hungry children in Southwark. Global Britain, indeed.
By the time I saw Edwina Currie’s tweet I was ready to do something else.
Idiot. Try it, you might enjoy it. https://t.co/sjjnAuYivN
— Edwina Currie (@Edwina_Currie) December 16, 2020
I wrote a 1970 music post and tinkered with the work in progress, going through my notes and sorting out what I was going to write next.
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The rules and regulations for the forthcoming Christmas have been heavily criticised for playing fast and loose with a virus that continues to spread. The response has been to leave the rules unchanged while heavily hinting that we should ignore them and be more circumspect in our behaviours (as, I think, most people had already figured out for themselves). It’s a farce.
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Music: In honour of Edwina’s tweet, and the general reaction to it on Twitter, I was going to post Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger performing The Long Peg and Awl, but it isn’t easily available unless you have the original LP, which I do (with booklet). Instead, here’s Jean Redpath singing Robert Burns.
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