It was snowing when I got up this morning, thin sleety stuff but definitely snowing and sticking in the gardens. By the time my daughter dropped the little fellow of at around 8.00am it was snowing harder. It kept that up until lunchtime, when the little chap and I went out ‘to look at the snow”. This largely meant that he would pick up handfuls of snow to throw at me with cries of “Gotcha!” We built a snowman, about 8 inches high, on the wall. We must have spent about an hour making footprints and examining snow and ice before he eventually gave in and we went back inside for hot chocolate and potato cakes.
By the time my daughter came round with Granddaughter Number Four there was evidence of some kind of thaw but then it began to snow again. At around 6.15 she left with the children and with Phil, who has a lift to chess club every Thursday. We were astounded to find that the road, which had been clear all day, probably because Snowby One Konobe, the gritter, had been around over night, was now covered in a thin layer of snow. There may be trouble tomorrow.
Now, here’s more about Gary Lineker from news online on Wednesday:
In response to the ensuing criticism, Lineker tweeted: “Great to see the freedom of speech champions out in force this morning demanding silence from those with whom they disagree.”
He added “I have never known such love and support in my life than I’m getting this morning (England World Cup goals aside, possibly). I want to thank each and every one of you. It means a lot. I’ll continue to try and speak up for those poor souls that have no voice. Cheers all.”
Among those supporting Lineker were the Labour peer and ex-MP for Battersea, Lord Dubs, who tweeted: “I applaud @Gary Lineker for his compassion and support for vulnerable people, particularly refugees. thank you, Gary”.
Former Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis tweeted: “Curious that @Gary Lineker was free to raise questions about Qatar’s human rights record - with the blessing of the BBC - over the World Cup , but cannot raise questions of human rights in this country if it involves criticism of government policy …”
However, Tory politicians widely condemned Lineker’s latest comments and urged the BBC to take action.
The immigration minister Robert Jenrick told Times Radio: “My children are the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors and I think those sorts of words should not be thrown around lightly.
“Gary Lineker is paid for by the British taxpayer and it is disappointing that he is so far out of step with the British public.
“They see people dying, literally, in the English Channel at the behest of some of the most evil criminal gangs we see in the world today, and they want the government to take action. That’s exactly what we intend to do.”
The deputy chair of the Conservative party Lee Anderson wrote on Facebook: “This is just another example of how out of touch these overpaid stars are with the voting public.
“Instead of lecturing, Mr Lineker should stick to reading out the football scores and flogging crisps.”
Well, he certainly stirred things up!
However, I suspect many people are more agitated about how to pay their rent/mortgage, their utilities bills, their food bills than about other stuff.
Here’s an ironic comment post: “If you’re wondering why we have a shortage of fruit & veg in UK, it stopped in the first safe country it came to.”
And here’s a little something to take our minds off serious stuff. People are angry, upset, even heartbroken (!) because they couldn’t get tickets to Eurovision in Liverpool. Tickets went on sale on Monday, or maybe Tuesday, and sold out in about 40 minutes. One tearful, disappointed would-be ticket buyer declared: “I don’t know which is worse, the heartbreak or the anger.” She was deadly serious!
BBC Radio 4’s PM programme devoted quite some time to talking about it, playing recordings of messages sent in by disappointed listeners. You could not make it up.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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