14th September
There was actually a mention of Truss in the papers this morning. She has sacked a Treasury civil service mandarin. As part of a campaign against ongoing Chinese influence in British government? Nope. He didn’t agree with Trussonomics (Word spelling suggested I use Treeconomics, possibly a reference to the PMs performance on camera) which seems to mean ‘borrow shed loads of money now and don’t pay back in this generation, leave someone else to pick up the can’. But then again, that’s probably a good definition of politics in general.
Wall to wall funeral preparations continue.
I learned that the hearse taking the (empty?) coffin to Buckingham Palace had been specially designed by ‘the royals’, including HM The Queen (prior to passing obviously). That it included special lighting so the coffin could be seen by the crowds. Does that mean it now goes into storage until HM The King follows his mother? Or maybe it will form part of a royal exhibition?
Centre Parcs reversed its decision to kick out guests on the Monday of the funeral. Quite surprisingly paying guests had objected.
And the decision to prosecute ‘republican protests’ continues to take up column inches. Murdo Fraser, Scottish Conservative MSP (the name was familiar, but only in the sense that I thought ‘who’), was of the opinion that it was not good manners to shout abuse at a funeral. That depends. There are some funerals I have been to where I, and others, could easily have hurled abuse, but ended up only thinking it.
I have not seen Angela for days, and had thought about knocking on her door to see if she was dead. When I was out walking the dog last night you could see the faint glow of the tv screen through the living room curtains. I suspect she is a closet monarchist and has been hooked on events since ‘the death’.
There was a report on the estate Facebook page saying that two women had been seen walking through the estate with a horse, talking to children. Should they be reported to the police? Are they predators? I kid you not.
There was a small group of dog walkers standing at the corner as the ice cream van pulled in and parked up further down the road. A few minutes later – I didn’t see that part – a car drove in off the main road and parked behind the van. As the driver got out one of the walkers shouted, ‘Mate, it’s a 20 mile per hour limit.’ Reply, ‘I was doin 20.’ Response, ‘No you fucking weren’t.’ Reply, ‘Fuck of, a wis.’ No passing police man or woman available to arrest anyone for breach of the peace. Just one further example of royal (or not in this case) privilege.
I was talking to another walker later when I took the dog out. I suggested Covid had made us all a bit mad. She had a point when she said, ‘I think Covid and lockdown made the nice people nicer, and the shitty people even shittier.’ Her mother was due to go into hospital on Monday but that has now been cancelled due to the royal funeral. The lesson being, don’t rely on the NHS at weekends, during the holiday period or when a royal dies. I do hope Angela is still alive.
One Pagers 