Yesterday, for the first time this year I got on my bike and cycled to Uppermill. It was rather foggy when I looked out and had to make the decision: to cycle or not to cycle. But I decided it was time. 2023 was beginning to whizz past! It wasn’t just foggy but also rather drizzly when I finally got outdoors but by then it was too late. I was committed. And it was okay. I didn’t get too wet. The Donkey Line wasn’t too muddy. And the market was reasonably well attended. All good.
Later I heard on the news that there was what could have been an important meeting to do with the much vaunted “levelling up”. The Convention of the North took place in Manchester, with mayors from Greater Manchester, Liverpool city region, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and the North of Tyne getting together to try to sort things out. The “levelling up” secretary, Michael Gove, was there but he didn’t seem to do much, apart from give a keynote speech. I’ve never really seen the point of keynote speeches unless they are followed up with some action.
The northern mayors wanted to lobby Gove to get the government to strip Transpennine Express of its rail contract, after the operator cancelled up to 46% of its services in recent days. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham managed to speak to him for about two minutes, according to reports, but none of the other mayors get a word in at all. So what exactly was the point of his being there?
Was it another case of a Tory minister swanning around looking as though he was going to get something done but really just swanning around. I hope he didn’t travel by private jet, at least!
Here’s a link to a report about a young woman chess player from Iran who has been refusing to wear the hijab when she plays in tournaments in Europe. Has protest come into the world of chess?
Some twenty odd years or so ago I worked in a sixth form college with quite a high proportion of moslem students. In conversation with my tutor group one day a group of girls told me that there were days when they chose to wear the headscarf and others when it seemed less important to them. It seemed like quite a healthy attitude to me. After all, religion should be a personal decision, not something imposed by the government.
That’s my view anyway.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment