Alive & Twitching

I am acting under a Lasting Power of Attorney for an aunt who is suffering from dementia and no longer has the mental capacity to handle her own affairs. This is time-consuming and can, on occasions, be stressful, particularly when having to endure the approach taken by various organisations in their interpretation of the Data Protection Act and money-laundering regulations. Let me give three recent examples. read more »

I read a piece in The Times recently that referred to a study, carried out in the UK last year, which revealed that the average Briton considers that old age begins at 58. I think I must have missed this in the press at the time as I feel reasonably confident that, if I had read it, I would have remembered it. At least I hope I would have done … but let’s not go there. read more »

 I posted a blog on 24^th February last year entitled The Broken Society. It is apparent from the disgraceful events of the past week that things are certainly no better than they were then. read more »

I am not an ardent royalist although I do consider our form of constitutional monarchy to be preferable to a presidential system of government. Moreover, whilst I find certain members of the Royal family  rather irritating, I believe that the Queen and several others work very hard for the benefit of the country as a whole and are considerable assets. On an occasion such as the wedding, the Royal Family serve as a focal point for the nation and clearly generate much interest from overseas. read more »

Last night I watched I Am Slave, a drama on Channel 4 about slavery in Britain today. read more »

I was saddened to read in The Times yesterday that  David Rathband, the policeman who was shot in the face by Raoul Moat, has been advised by doctors that he has been blinded in both eyes. At the end of the article it was mentioned that more than 21,000 people had joined a Facebook tribute page called RIP Raoul Moat You Legend, many of them praising Moat for shooting a policeman. That really shocked me. read more »

So England are out of the World Cup. read more »

Last Sunday, 16th May, The Mail on Sunday published an article based on a secret recording of a private conversation between Lord Triesman, the then Chairman of the Football Association and the leader of England’s bid for the 2018 World Cup, and a woman named Melissa Jacobs who had previously worked for him and who may or may not have been his former mistress. read more »