A couple of days ago I began to ponder what London’s next big project could be. For the last twenty-five years or so, London has almost constantly had some kind of colossal project on: first there was the Millennium Dome, then the Olympics, and most recently Crossrail. There have been other projects, obviously, but those three got the most attention. Well, the Dome has been up and running for over twenty years; the Olympics were ten years ago, and the Lizzie-line is about to open; so what’s next?

And then the blindingly obvious hit me: before London does anything else, before it starts work on yet another crazy, sickeningly expensive scheme, it should first make sure all it’s existing tube stations and lines are wheelchair accessible. While newer lines like the Jubilee Line and DLR aren’t that bad, there are huge swathes of central London I still have never been to because the tube isn’t step free. I know they are working on it, for instance as part of the Northern Line renovation; but the process seems painstakingly slow. As a twenty-first century social, cultural and economic powerhouse, making a public transport system accessible by all should be London’s top priority.

The last twenty four hours or so have really served to remind me how much of a home London now is for me. First of all, sitting at home on my computer last night, I heard my doorbell ring. I had just got in from my daily trundle, and was answering emails and preparing for a quiet evening. I got up to answer the door, only to see my two old friends Mitchel and John. They were apparently in the area and had thought that would call in on me to see how I was. Because of the pandemic, it must have been over two years since I had last seen them. Well, the rest of the evening was spent taking, eating and drinking. It really was wonderful to see them. Mitch and I were both amazed at the fact that it has now been eight years since we went to see Monty Python Live; and John was just as bemused to note that it’s now three years since we returned from India. Time really does fly in the metropolis.

Then today, I was out on my trundle, heading across blackheath towards Greenwich . I had stopped to read an information board when a lady suddenly ran up to me. It turned out she was the very same person I had met and got chatting to on a bus about two weeks ago. A sculptor called Margaret Higginson, she had recognised me and had decided to say Hi. It made me feel suddenly very at home in the city, as if the metropolis isn’t so vast after all. Yet such things seem to be happening more and more these days: people recognising me in the street, or inviting me to have a coffee with them in a park. London really is a very welcoming, friendly place, once you get to know it.

I was getting slightly worked up over the Beergate farce, but this Phil Moorhouse vlog has given me pause for thought. The rightwing rags which now seem to dominate our print media seemed to be pouncing on Kier Starmer for having a beer with colleagues during lockdown, and calling him a hypocrite for criticising Boris Johnson over the parties he had in the Downing Street garden. Yet, as Moorhouse points out, that may turn out to be a colossal own goal on the part of the Tory press: they may want Starmer to resign, but the second he does, questions will start to be asked about why Johnson did not do the same. After all, a simple take-away with colleagues does not compare to the flagrant breaches of lockdown laws clearly committed by Johnson. As Moorhouse sees it, the Tory Press have handed Labour the high ground: they can now address the relatively minor misdemeanour they allegedly comittee, making Johnson and co. look pathetic in the process. That’s why the Tories are now trying to avoid talking about the issue. I really hope Moorhouse is right, and the obnoxious mudslinging of the right wing rags bites them on the arse.

I came across some news recently which could turn into something very, very interesting indeed. Disney is currently working on a film whose central character is a communication user with Cerebral Palsy. Called Out Of My Mind, it will be an adaptation of a book by Sharon M. Draper and directed by Amber Sealey. Details are rather sketchy as yet, but the girl Disney has cast to play the central role is herself an AAC user with CP: the film is apparently going to focus on her as she struggles to get a decent education at a mainstream school. That, of course, is something many, many young people with disabilities have been through, so it will be fascinating to see how Disney handle it. I daresay this film has the potential to be quite revolutionary. Mind you, by the same token it could suck donkeyballs. Only time will tell.

This, frankly, is a statement of the obvious. To be honest I don’t want to get into this ‘beergate’ farce for fear of getting myself too worked up. The tabloid press have cooked it up out of nothing whatsoever, and it has reached a point where the police are investigating. The way in which these rags have attacked and victimised Starmer, in an effort to divert heat away from Johnson, is utterly sickening. We shouldn’t have this rancid, blatantly biassed dross polluting our public political discourse.

I don’t feel I can say much today. What can I say, apart from that I am very encouraged by the election results. Of course I posted my vote off a week or so ago, and it now looks like the Tories have been given the slap in the face they deserve. Whether these results will translate into a shift at the next general election naturally remains to be seen; but it really was pitiful to watch all those smarmy tories on tv this morning trying to defend Johnson and tell us that things weren’t as bad for them as they looked. Surely this is a sign that the whole country has had enough of the Tories – London certainly has – and the sooner those p’tahks are booted from office, the better.

I saw this BBC report yesterday evening and, truth be told, it broke my heart. Ukrainian kids with severe disabilities are being abandoned in institutions, more or less being left to die. With everyone fleeing the country due to the war, no-one is staying to care for them. It is truly, truly chilling. As it says in the report, under the right circumstances these young people could thrive as well as any, but they’re now being left to fester. I’m afraid this is yet another often overlooked consequence of Russia’s barbarity. My response to this report hasn’t changed from when I saw it last night though: these young people should be evacuated to the UK or another country with adequate support systems immediately.

Today we learned that Crossrail/The Elisabeth Line will at last open later this month on the 24th, so I’d like to take this opportunity to put forward a bit of a theory, or more like a hunch. This year, of course, marks the interception of quite a few special occasions: not only will Crossrail open, but it is also the Platinum Jubilee and the tenth anniversary of the London 2012 Olympics. All of that sounds to me like a reasonable excuse for quite a good pissup at least. But how could this occasion be marked? Might it be used as the opportunity to announce the next actor to play a certain character we all get excited about? After all, events this summer are bound to take on a somewhat patriotic dimension: if I was producing a certain long running film franchise synonymous with the UK and even linked to royalty, I would see it as foolish not to capitalise.

Just a hunch, but we’ll have to wait and see.

I genuinely can’t believe that Johnson is so far up his own arse that he thinks he’s Churchill. Just how pretentious and arrogant can anyone get? He’s obviously desperately trying to appear statesmanly and bolster support ahead of the local elections, where it looks like he’ll be trounced.

Today, I’m informed, is Eid, the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but I don’t think it would really be appropriate for me to wish anyone Eid Mubarak. It’s not that I have anything against Islam in particular, and I certainly feel muslims have as much right to live in the UK as anyone else. It’s just that, as a committed atheist who has written so much about religion being such an oppressive, regressive force, it would be rather hypocritical to say those thoughts apply to some religions and not others. I deliberately did not wish anyone happy Christmas or Easter this year, my feelings about religion have grown so strong; it would be wrong for me to suddenly say ‘Eid Mubarak’, just because I want to appear tolerant and multicultural. At the same time I don’t want to seem intolerant or discriminatory, or say that I don’t hope our Muslim friends and neighbours enjoy the day. Of course everyone has every right to celebrate any religious festival they wish, as long as I have a right to call it an outdated, repressive, ultimately divisive form of social control.

It may have been one of the first things I came across this morning, but I just want to flag this up. It’s a Variety article about the struggle Barbara Broccoli now faces to recast James Bond. This is something I’ve been pondering quite a bit recently: how on earth are they going to replace Daniel Craig? Craig made such an impact on the franchise I think it’s a bigger ask than ever before. As the article says, the Bond franchise is arguably cinema’s greatest, longest lived phenomenon; culturally it is enormous. Even before Craig, it was unlike any other media franchise, but his five films took it to a new level. Craig added a gritty realism and depth to Bond unlike anything we had seen before. Frankly, I don’t see how he can be followed: whoever is cast, they will be starting from square one, trying to inhabit a character with greater cultural prominence than any other. The pressure to live up to their predecessors will be enormous. Part of me thinks it can’t be done and that they should leave the franchise there, but as Broccoli says that clearly isn’t an option. Either way I think it will be quite some time before we find out who will play 007 next.

I think this quite shocking news is worth flagging up. Disabled people and the families of disabled people will be hardest hit by soaring energy prices. “Families with disabled children who rely on specialist medical equipment say they are facing impossible choices as energy bills in the UK soar…Almost 2,000 families [of 5500 who took part in the bbc survey] said they feared their child’s condition would get worse as a result of rising prices.” By and large, apart from my powerchair and communication aid charger, I don’t use much more energy than average; yet there are thousands of people whose conditions mean they need a constant supply of energy, often just to stay alive. They will be hardest hit by these price rises, caused in large part by Brexit, but mostly by a Tory government which does not care about such people.

Thinking about Putin and Russia, you really have to wonder, just how warped and unstable does someone need to be to order your army to invade a sovereign country, completely unprovoked, and then try to argue that it is the rest of the world who are acting aggressively when we try to help that country defend itself? Not that I know any more about Putin than anyone else, but I really must say, the more I hear about him the less stable he seems. He is behaving like a dictator of old, clearly being needlessly aggressive yet portraying himself as the victim. He’s obviously mentally unwell but what worries me is that he’s now very very powerful. While his threats against the West might not amount to much, and Putin obviously thinks Russia holds much more sway over the world than it does, I think we should be very worried about what he’ll do next as his plans to dominate Eastern Europe become more and more strained and he becomes more and more desperate for some kind of victory. More to the point, though, is the question of what we can do to stop him.

I just had a very nice afternoon, although I must remember that my nose is by no means an adequate navigation tool. At about eleven this morning, Dom messaged me to ask if I wanted to meet him in Forster Memorial Park. Of course I said yes, but never having been there before I had to check where it was on Google Maps. It didn’t look too far away, so putting my coat on I set off. It looked roughly in the direction of Lewisham and Catford, and I told myself that I could always ask for directions if I got lost.

Unfortunately, predictably, that turned out to be far too optimistic: I got lost two or three times, and it took about two hours for me to get there. When I found him, Dom was almost asleep on a park bench, and I really must credit him for waiting so long for me. Yet as usual it was great to see my old friend: can you believe we have now known each other for eleven years, since my early days living with Lyn in Charlton? When Dom pointed that out earlier, time seemed to have flown.

We then spent quite a wonderful afternoon together. With Dom on his bike, he lead me to Beckenham Place Park, a huge, beautiful park built on the grounds of an old country house. There we first found a place selling lunch, which I think we both needed by then, before taking a stroll round the park. The gardens were just starting to bloom, and there was a lovely little lake. I could have spent hours exploring, but by then it was starting to get late. We left the park on the other side we had entered it, and, ironically enough, found a bus stop from where I could get a bus to Blackheath, from where I could get a bus directly home. I was home within an hour, going via the shops, without getting lost once.

Mind you, something happened on the bus which I think I ought to record. On the way, I began to hear raised voices coming from the upper deck. I thought little of it at first, but the voices got louder and louder. A few stops on, my fellow passengers were beginning to murmur: something serious was happening up there. Then, all of a sudden, two men came down the stairs, shouting at one another. It was a full scale fight. Fortunately, one man leapt out of the open door, still hurling abuse. The whole thing was over within seconds, but nonetheless it really shook me up: nothing like that had happened before. Being sat in the wheelchair space by the stairs, I could have been in harms way. It was only a small, fleeting incident, but it just goes to show what can happen in London, even on days like today.

You may have noticed that, from time to time, I post other people’s tweets on here. People sometimes make comments on Twitter that I want to echo on my blog. I try not to do that too often, but I think it isn’t an unreasonable form of blog entry. However, I need to say that I am not a big Twitter user. I use my blog to express my thoughts, experiences and opinions, and use good old Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family. Twitter has never really appealed to me, and I find it’s short form too restrictive. The fact that it has now been bought by the world’s richest wanker only adds to that conviction. It may be the world’s most widely used social media platform, but no doubt Elon Musk will now want to turn Twitter into a soapbox for his right wing friends like Donald Trump. He has already said he wants to deregulate the platform, but surely that means letting reactionary douchebags say whatever they like to the detriment of everyone else. Thus people like Musk claim to be champions of free speech, but are in fact precisely the opposite: Musk is obviously intent on turning Twitter into a perverse, reactionary, hate-filled squawk box by giving Trump and his ilk free reign to spew whatever bile they like, in turn drowning out more rational, sensible and balanced voices. It’s yet another front in the ongoing culture war, although for my part, having been blogging here quite happily for the last nineteen years, I think I’ll just keep out of it.

I think that we can all be quite relieved at the news of the outcome of the French election. Of course, I don’t follow French politics that closely, so I can’t say much about it, but I think all pro-European, educated liberal people are breathing a collective sigh of relief this morning. I’ve heard it said that the choice between Macron and Le Pen was like the choice between cholera and the plague, but at least we aren’t waking up to a far right, ultra nationalist becoming President of one of Europe’s major economies. If Le Pen had become leader of France, it would have been a disaster, not just for France but the whole of Europe: she would no doubt have sought to take France out of the EU – Frexit – which would probably have eventually lead to the collapse of the European Union altogether. It would have been 2016 all over again. At least that danger has now been averted, and we can perhaps hope that this news marks the turn of the tide back to some kind of sanity.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries is now trying to claim she has a form of Dyslexia after being caught mixing up words. What utter bullshit. Dorries, like all tories is a moronic charlatan who, rather than admit she’s as thick as thick can be, is now claiming to have a neurological condition. What is being described in this article is nothing to do with dyslexia, but boils down to a limited linguistic ability; precisely the opposite of the knowledgable, world wise image of their selves the Tories want to present. This is quite a perverse, extreme example of what I call Cultural Intrusion. She cannot abide being shown to be anything other than the ultra-articulate master of the Symbolic she sees herself as, so she claims to have a disability. Frankly, the fact that someone so privileged and powerful would claim to be a member of a group her party has persecuted so wantonly in an effort to gain sympathy, rather than admit the obvious truth that she isn’t as clever as she wants everyone to think, is utterly depraved.

Huge fan of Sir David that I am, I’m slightly embarrassed that this wonderful news from yesterday slipped under my radar. “Sir David Attenborough has been named a Champion of the Earth by the UN’s Environment Programme. The prestigious award recognises the 95-year-old’s commitment to telling stories about the natural world and climate change.” Attenborough must have contributed more to our collective understanding of the natural world than anyone else, so I think this award is certainly well deserved. The article goes on to say that his more recent documentaries have also highlighted the impact of global warming, so his work has been vital in the fight against climate change. If anyone deserves to be named a Champion of the Earth, surely it’s Sir David Attenborough.

I think we have reached the point where I better not watch anything to do with politics any more. Whenever a Tory politician appears on tv, I instantly feel an uncontrollable, burning rage so intense it scares me. Watching the lunchtime news earlier, I had to turn it off: the sight of Johnson and his cronies taking us all for fools was simply too much. Everyone knows that Johnson broke the law and should resign, but rather than admit it, he behaves as if power is his to do with as he pleases and his opinions outrank everyone else’s. I loathe those Tory charlatans with every fibre of my being, but what makes it worse is knowing that I can’t really do anything to call them to account. I can only watch as they lie their entitled, arrogant heads off. That’s what make me so furious, so I better just stop watching.

I just got back from my first proper lunch out in absolutely ages, and it was a very good one indeed. A couple of days ago, on the family Skype call, my parents suggested meeting them for lunch today up in Stratford. Fan of the Olympic park that I am, I thought it was a great idea: we could meet up, have a nice walk together, and generally catch up.

By and large, then, that is what we did. I met my parents, plus my aunt Toula, on the Olympic park, having a coffee before enjoying a delicious lunch at a Greek restaurant. I didn’t think it would really be noteworthy here, but I just realised that it was the first meal mum fed me in a long time. At home, of course, I feed myself using my neater Eater; and if that falls short Serkan often feeds me. Yet, between living apart, the pandemic and everything else, I don’t think my mum had fed me a meal like that in years.

When I was growing up, of course, mum helped me eat every meal, especially when I was really young. She thus knows how to do it. These days though, living on my own, I don’t share many meals with my parents. The strange, noteworthy thing is, mum still feeds me better than anyone else, even after all this time apart. She still has a technique or rhythm which somehow makes eating really really easy; easier even than using my neater eater. This afternoon, eating some outstanding greek food, I felt like my ten year old self again, lovingly being fed by his mum as he listened to his parents talk. It’s probably something which is impossible to explain to anyone who has never experienced it, but which boils down to the unbreakable connection between a mother and the son she brought up. It had been far too long since that had last happened, and I resolved to make it happen again soon.

If you have ever wondered just how far up their own arse it’s possible for anyone to go, this could answer your question. I don’t want to name the person for fear of giving them the attention they so obviously desire, but a certain former tabloid newspaper editor has likened himself to Nelson Mandela for the way he has been supposedly silenced for expressing his views. Just how pretentious can anyone get? Mandela spent years in jail in his fight against apartheid; yet here we have a straight, white, male tabloid hack who has never experienced a second of persecution or discrimination in his life, melodramatically likening himself to the great South African freedom fighter simply because he was fired from presenting a TV program for spouting right wing drivel. He was being deliberately obnoxious and confrontational in an effort to stand out and establish himself on the right, and he got what he deserved. That such a scumbag would now compare himself to a hero of peace, democracy and equality such as Nelson Mandela is sickeningly crass and utterly, utterly contemptible.

I must admit I was quite pissed off when I saw the headlines this morning. Justin Welby, the man calling himself the Archbishop of Canterbury, has spoken out against the Tory plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda. While I don’t disagree with Welby per se, I have profound problems with this man trying to usurp current politics for his own anachronistic, regressive ends. Of course what the Tories are planning to do is utterly wrong, and I don’t think many thinking people would disagree with me; but by spouting such bollocks as ”the plan is opposite to the nature of God”, Welby is trying to use the issue to reinforce the outdated dogma he and preachers like him rely upon for their sociopolitical authority. This has nothing to do with God or any fantastical beings, yet this man, who nobody voted for, thinks he has a right to comment on it simply because he claims authority from God. If everyone stopped believing in the group of Roman myths he derives his authority from, Welby and preachers like him would be ignored like every other nutter spouting baseless, irrational rubbish on the streets. Why, then, are his views being reported in the news, as though he is a democratically elected politician? I have profound problems with him trying to use this very troubling issue as a means of reinforcing his own authority.

As far as I am concerned, it is now officially summer. Bright, sunny day that it is, Serkan suggested that I see if there was any cricket being played today. I kind of assumed that it was too early in the year, but I googled it and to my happy surprise I saw that there was a match on at Blackheath Cricket Club. Upon seeing that I eagerly set off over there – it had been far, far too long since I watched any live cricket – and I’m now happy to report that I spent a wonderful few hours watching my first cricket match of the year. Mind you, the team playing wasn’t the team I usually watch (the Mighty Eights, who I first came across in Charlton Park and got to know over the years) but I was told that they’re playing tomorrow, so guess where I’m going after my Sunday Lunch.

I’m not sure who wrote this or where it came from, but I have to say I agree with it passionately. I’m proud to be a Leftie.

Say that you’re the Prime Minister. Say that, a few days ago, you were found to have broken the law while in office, the only PM ever to do so, but you still don’t want to resign. What do you do? Why, suddenly announce a new policy on asylum seekers, in which people desperately trying to come to the UK will first be deported to Rwanda. That way, you’ll get everyone talking about something other than your lawbreaking: the right-wing morons who think you’re the best thing since sliced bread will naturally love it as it plays into their inherent xenophobia. The left-wing intellectuals who see through you will of course be revolted by it, describing it as “cruel”, “nasty” and “chilling”, but you don’t have to worry about them as they can then be dismissed as bleeding heart liberals by your support base. Thus this plan allows you to play into and ferment the widening cultural schism in society, throwing fresh red meat to your support base while horrifying your detractors. Above all, it hands you the reins of political discourse, moving the subject on from the fact you broke the law.

Given yesterday’s news, it is now my genuine position that the British Conservative Party ought to be disbanded. I know that may sound a bit extreme or even mad, but here we have a group of people, governing the country, who obviously think that they are above the law and that political power is their birthright. The Tory party was founded about two hundred years ago in order to ensure that wealth, privilege and power is conserved in the hands of the rich few; it’s raisin d’etre has always been the maintenance of class inequality and the suppression of those who the tories see as lesser or inferior. Their very goal is to prevent the type of social equality most of us now strive for: Their advocacy of free market capitalism is merely a device to perpetuate social stratification and class division, in that it leaves the rich free to exploit the poor, the advantaged to exploit the disadvantaged. A low tax, low regulation economy simply removes the barriers and regulations which prevent those with wealth exploiting those without it, while depriving the welfare state of the means to support those not born into privilege. Conservatism is therefore a manifestly oppressive, repressive social force set upon the perpetuation of the dominance of the rich over the poor and few over the many.

Surely any modern, progressive society should strive to outgrow such outdated forces. Last night we heard news that the man calling himself our Prime Minister knowingly broke the law while in office; laws which he and his government set down in order to ensure people’s safety. Yet these people clearly think that they are above the law and that the rules don’t apply to them, simply because of who they are. Any head of government with any honour would have resigned, but due to attitudes which go to the heart of conservatism itself, Johnson arrogantly still thinks he is fit to remain in office. Thus the problem is not just Johnson, but the entire Tory ‘born to rule’ mindset: a mindset which has seen them wreck the welfare state and impose an exit from the EU which they know will hold the country back for decades, yet have continued with purely for the sake of their party.

Yet any group of people who thinks political power is their birthright simply because of who they are or the family they were born into, manifestly isn’t in any democratic society. Therefore given the damage they have done and are doing to the country, as well as their misplaced, anachronistic attitudes to ideas such as a social equality and welfare, I genuinely believe the Conservative Party ought to be disbanded. We surely need a better, more qualified group of people running the country than a bunch of elitist, spoiled snobs.

Out on my trundle today, I began to reflect to myself that the deeper I fall in love with London, the more I miss the person who introduced me to it. I still miss Lyn, and probably always will. It was only after she invited me to move in with her, twelve years ago, that I began to really get to know this epic, sprawling metropolis. I have grown to love it’s cultures and people; it’s skyscrapers and parks, paths and mighty river. Its history and its surge into a brilliant future. Had I never met Lyn, I would not be here now, and I would never have fallen in love with this vibrant, amazing city.

Yet the fact remains that I had tastes of London before 2010: growing up, during my childhood and adolescence, my parents used to bring my brothers and I down to the city to visit my grandparents at their comfortable family house up in Harlesden. The capital has always been part of my life, more than, say, Liverpool, Birmingham or even Manchester. I have always had a relationship with London, although it was only through Lyn that that relationship became one of such intoxicated fascination.

My grandparents too are no longer with us now, though, leaving me more or less alone in the city. Of course I miss my grandparents just as I miss Lyn, and all three are deeply linked to this city for me. It’s true that the more I get to know London the more I love it, yet the deeper I miss the incredible people through whom I got to know it. I suppose London is now a different place for me: no longer the comfortable family house of weekends with my grandparents; nor the London of Lyn’s bungalow in Charlton – the London of coffee in Charlton park, music and concerts and getting up late. This is now a different London, a third London – my own London. And while it may always remind me of the people who brought me here, it also reminds me to go out and explore it, relishing the vibrant, intoxicating, wonderful life the city offers, just as they did.

I must confess that I don’t keep as close an eye on French politics as perhaps I should, given that France is one of our nearest neighbours. I thus don’t feel qualified to say much about the election there. I would point out, though, that if Marine Le Pen is elected, things might become interesting (but not in a good way) in two years time. Putting my Olympics geek hat on, in 2024 Paris at last hosts the games: can you imagine how appalling things could become if by then, France is being run by a far right bitch who, among other horrifying things, wants to ban women from wearing the head scarf? No doubt Le Pen would demand to impose her authoritarian mark on proceedings, but what message might that send out, and could the IOC tolerate it? After all, the Olympics and Paralympics are about global unity and acceptance: ideals which fascists like Le Pen manifestly oppose. Of Course, I’m not writing this to try to make light of what will be a very serious decision for our French neighbours in two weeks’ time, but simply to point out a consequence of that decision they might not necessarily have considered. After all, I’m sure that neither they nor the International Olympic Committee would want Paris 2024 to become Berlin 1936.

What kind of utterly pathetic politician would try to distract attention away from his failing, corrupt chancellor by flying across a continent into an active war zone so he can look like a hard man posing in front of tanks for the press? Well, that’s the kind of Prime Minister the UK currently has. Even if we leave aside the fact that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could never have happened without Brexit, to see Johnson try to appear so masculine and statesmanlike – possibly even Churchillian – beside Zelensky, when we all know that he’s nothing but a weedy little coward desperate to distract people away from the catastrophic failures of his government, really is pathetic. I really hope people see Johnson for what he is: for him to fly all that way, putting himself and others in danger by entering an active war zone, a place where he can be of no use whatsoever, so he can project an image of himself which is the very antithesis of the egotistical cowardly charlatan the world knows him to be, really is contemptible.

I think this is the best thing I’ll be able to flag up on here today. “Pink Floyd have reunited to record their first new material in 28 years, a protest song against the Ukraine war.” Having just listened to it, it really is a powerful piece of music, based on an Ukrainian folk song. While such gestures could be just dismissed as tokenism, neither here nor there when people are getting killed, I think it is vital that we show our opposition to what Russia is doing in Ukraine however we can. Every day now, we are seeing reports of more and more appalling violence. For Pink Floyd to release this song is a great act, and I really hope we see more like it.

I would just like to note that Lost Voice Guy, Lee Ridley, was on the Beeb’s post breakfast morning show this morning, telling everyone how his communication aid now has a Newcastle accent. It had been generated for him by sampling the voices of local men. Being from that area, it obviously meant a lot to him; Ridley explained how he didn’t like sounding too posh, and that he could now use local Geordie phrases. He had a point, of course. It reminded me of one of my very first university interviews: I was using an old-style Lightwriter at the time, and my future film Lecturer, Alan, asked me why I had an American accent. If you think about it, a lad born and brought up in cheshire talking like an American is quite strange. I suppose this is thus an issue all communication aid users face: either we are told we sound like an American or, worse still, accused of sounding like Stephen Hawking. (while Hawking is one of my heroes, it is a pretty silly stereotype you must admit). I’m glad to hear that one of the most widely known VOCA users has found his own solution, and has been given a chance to speak like the man he feels himself to be.

I fear that this applies just as much to Russia under Putin as it does to the UK under Boris Johnson

My excitement about the upcoming seasons of Picard just grows and grows. In January I was blown away when I read that the great Whoopi Goldberg would be returning as Guinan, but I think that has now been eclipsed. I just came across some news which may well compete with that of Picard’s return in the first place, the reunion of Monty Python in 2014 or the announcement that James Bond would hook up with the queen in 2012, in terms of epic awesomeness. The entire cast of Star Trek the Next Generation is going to reunite for Season Three of Picard. As a TNG fan, I am over the moon. Those guys haven’t been on screen together since Star Trek Nemesis in 2002, so to see them back, together as a group, reprising roles I once loved so much, will be incredible. According to the article, producers want to give the TNG cast the send off they never really got – let’s face it, Nemesis was a bit of a flop – so I can’t wait to see them all back in character one final time.

You may remember, back in 2012, I appeared alongside Lyn in a Channel Four documentary about the British Paraorchestra. Of course, it was Lyn who was in the orchestra, and I just played a supporting role; yet that remains one of my greatest, fondest memories. The documentary itself was made by What Larks productions, commissioned by Channel Four to be aired just before the Paralympic closing ceremony. It thus gave viewers some background to the orchestra and why they were playing. If you ask me it was a great move, and the type of program Channel Four has a reputation for.

I have written on here before about how much I like the BBC and how much I admire it’s programmes, particularly things like the documentaries of Sir David Attenborough and Micheal Palin. That admiration must extend to Channel four too. Of course, the programmes C4 airs are rather different and less conventional, but no less interesting. So to hear that the company’s future is now at stake and that the Tories are considering privatising it, has me very concerned indeed. As the Beeb article I link to states, all that will happen if C4 is placed into private hands is that it will start producing more and more derivative, commercial pap. Sooner or later it will begin to axe it’s more cutting-edge, boundary-challenging output in favour of more tame, mainstream things, in order to appeal to wider, tamer audiences; and in the end British culture will lose something important.

Yet that may be why the Tories are doing this. They see broadcasters like Channel Four as a threat: it isn’t afraid to speak its mind, and its evening news bulletin is renowned for getting to the heart of the political matter. Indeed, its Dispatches documentary series has a reputation for exposing the social injustices caused by Tory benefit cuts. This may be an entirely political, retaliatory move on the part of the Tories; and all the more reason why we must fight to keep Channel Four as it is.

I realise that I shouldn’t just keep posting links to Youtube videos on here, but for anyone concerned with UK politics and the emerging catastrophe which is Brexit, I think this is worth listening to. It’s an analysis of an audio interview of Jacob Rees-Mogg broadcast on LBC, in which the Tory Toff tries to explain the tariffs and limits now imposed on the UK fishing industry as a direct result of Brexit as merely the EU trying to punish us for withdrawing from the block. Excuse me, but how stupid does the double-barrelled wankstain think we are? As the commentator behind the video points out, this was always going to be a consequence of Brexit: our fishing industry is now limited by the same rules the EU imposes on any non member, and the UK no longer had any say whatsoever in how those rules are set. Of course, Remain campaigners were saying this would happen from the very beginning – it’s bloody obvious – but what makes this video worth your attention is the degree to which Rees-Mogg tries to squirm and convince us to blame the nasty people in Brussels rather than the lying charlatans who took us out of the European Union for their own benefit. It’s as pathetic as it is sickening, and it pisses me off that we have liars like this running the country.

Just when I was starting to wonder what to blog about today, I came across this and burst out laughing. I don’t know who made it, but it took me a few moments to realise it was a fake…unless, of course, Kim Jon Un likes Monty Python.

Dear mums with prams,
My friends in DAN didn’t put their lives in danger, handcuffing their selves to busses and blockading streets in central London so you could park your baby in the wheelchair space on busses and refuse to move it. That space was very hard fought for indeed. For many years wheelchair users like myself were prevented from using public transport, and without the Direct Action Network we would still be unable to do so. As the signs on the busses themselves state, you can occupy the space only if it isn’t needed by a wheelchair user. It is thus called a wheelchair space for a reason, and for you to occupy it with your pram, as if it was created for prams, refusing to move, strikes me as the height of entitlement and arrogance.
Yours
An angry cripple

I went up to the Westfield Centre in Stratford again this afternoon. I’m aware that I head there rather too often, but today I wanted to go somewhere where my cap wouldn’t keep flying off. I’ve mentioned here before how gobsmacked I am at the regeneration of Stratford, yet to be fair it’s happening all over London: brand new buildings are going up all over the place, and the city is about to get a glittering, new, multi-billion pound tube line. To me, though, that raises an obvious question: are other parts of the country getting the same amount of investment?

To that end, I just tapped ‘Stoke On Trent regeneration’ into Google and came across this BBC article. Stoke has – or used to have – a reputation for being a bit of a run down, neglected city. According to the article though, “Plans to turn a former industrial site into homes, bars and cafes in a £60m scheme have been approved. Construction work on the Goods Yard project in Stoke-on-Trent, near the railway station, could start this year, the city council said….The scheme has received £16m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund.” Say what you will about the Tories and their ‘levelling up’ bullshit, surely this is great news. As much as I adore London, I come originally from Cheshire and I still care about other, smaller places in the UK. I’m also aware of the giant imbalance in investment there has been between the capital and places which aren’t in the south-east. If this really is a sign that things are changing, it will be good to see places like Stoke come into their own after so much neglect.