Another Monday comes around. It’s cooler and cloudier than it has been. Maybe there’s going to be rain after all. The milkman was complaining - well, not really complaining, just saying that his farm needs rain. So it goes.
It seems that Gary Lineker and the BBC are finally to part company. He was supposed to be delaying his departure until after the 2026 World Cup, which he was going to host for the BBC. But now he’s leaving almost immediately. I read that 10,000 people signed a petition calling for his dismissal because of alleged anti-semitism. Did all those people follow him on social media to be aware of things he may or may not have said and done? Goodness!
I’ve always liked Gary Lineker, not that I am particularly a football fan. Quite early in his career I was impressed that he learnt to speak when he played for Barcelona. (I think it’s because I’m something of a linguistic snob!) It’s not as if he expressed opinions on Match of the Day that were to do with anything other than football, but still he managed to put some people’s backs up. Anyway, now he’ll be able to express whatever opinions he likes. He won’t be short of money. No doubt he’ll find something to occupy his time.
Mind you, much as I like him, I don’t know that he deserves the £1.4 million salary that the BBC is said to pay him. Maybe he earns it more than shareholders in utility companies earn their payments but still … does anyone really merit such a big salary?
Here’s a link to an article about cuts to public health services, in this case psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy or talking therapy, which seems to be all about getting people to talk about their problems and so improve their wellbeing and mental healthy.
I was interested to read in the article that the Health and Social Care Act of 2012 states that it is the Secretary of State for Health’s duty to “continue the promotion of a comprehensive health service designed to secure improvement […] in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental illness”. No doubt cuts to services will help his fulfil that duty.
Thinking about laws, I read recently that even now in 2025 abortion is not actually legal for most of the UK. Women who have met certain conditions are exempt from prosecution but women, some of them just very young girls, are still being investigated and prosecuted for having abortions in England. Here is a link to an article by Stella Creasy on that subject. And here’s a link to an article about MPs backing an amendment to decriminalise abortion.
On the subject of the situation of women, we’ve finally caught up with the transmission of the latest series of The Handmaid’s Tale. We now find ourselves having to wait until next weekend to be able to watch the next episode. The series has caught up with the modern age, the people have mobile phones and so on but we have travelled back in time to an era when you had to wait patiently for the next episode of your series to be broadcast. Such is life!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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