tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-325692922024-03-01T14:12:19.103-08:00This Royal Throne of KingsThe ramblings of an ageing Englishman...This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.comBlogger192125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-2956533681024225362012-11-06T03:31:00.001-08:002012-11-07T04:04:07.755-08:00Police and Crime Commissioners... It has been a long time. I put this blog into suspended animation over twelve months ago and apart from a couple of test 'posts', neither of which were worthy of the name, I have maintained my silence...<br />
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But, without going in to the reasons for putting it up on bricks, many of which, including the main one, have ceased to subsist and so, I thought it might be time to give vent to an occasional new post and possibly re-publish some of those I deleted during earlier editing processes, all of which I saved to alternative storage against the time when I could consider dusting them off and putting them out again.<br />
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Explanations aside, the issue which brought me back to my keyboard is the forthcoming elections for the newly introduced Police and Crime Commissioner positions, due to take place on 15th November.<br />
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In fact, it's a little narrower than that, because I don't propose to touch on the prospect of a turnout so low in the elections that it will effectively remove any legitimacy from their mandate, or the fact that most of those elected, if a prospective turnout between 15 and 18% can be called that, will be either failed hacks from the main three parties, or 'wannabes' jumping on this particular bandwagon. Nor do I propose to address the woefully poor level of publicity this supposedly 'flagship' policy has been given by our increasingly unravelling government of none of the talents, or the almost universal opposition of the police in general and especially that of its leadership, to the entire concept, or Ian Blair's recent exhortation to abstain from voting to deny the process legitimacy.<br />
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No. I want to discuss the only piece of campaign literature to drop through my letter box as at today's date, which is on behalf of the Conservative Party candidate for the position of Lancashire's PCC, Tim Ashton.<br />
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First of all, I should make it very clear that I have never met or spoken to Mr Ashton, so I have no personal axe to grind with him, or any of the other candidates, of which there are three; unsurprisingly representing Labour, the Lib Dems and lastly UKIP.<br />
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The document describes Mr Ashton as a 'local businessman' and 'local resident'; local, that is if you live in Lytham St Annes, but not so much so if you live in Skelmersdale or Barnoldswick; but that's a side issue.<br />
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In his leaflet, Mr Ashton suggests that he will 'get tough on crime'; nothing to disagree with there, but really pretty general, ephemeral stuff, I think you'll agree. however, in order to effect this change, he has issued a ten-point plan, the second of which is to, and I quote: "Protect frontline (sic) policing and retain the number of Police & Community Support Officers (PCSOs)." All very laudable, and particularly so, when viewed in the light of the fact that as a direct result of government policy, a government led by the party Mr Ashton represents, of course, there are now five hundred fewer police officers in Lancashire than there were at the time of the last general election; that represents a decrease of one-seventh of the force's former strength. Will he be able to 'protect' the numbers of police officers currently patrolling the streets of Lancashire in the face of government demand for further cuts in the budget, above and beyond the 20% already imposed by Whitehall? Given that over 80% of police expenditure goes on salaries, I can't see any way in which he will be able to deliver on this promise, and I rather suspect that in his heart of hearts, he knows just that.<br />
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He goes on in point three to pledge that he will get more police out onto the streets by cutting the red tape which currently sees them deskbound. As I understand it, much of the 'red-tape' the police are forced to contend with is national in origin and government driven; for instance, he will not be able to unilaterally withdraw Lancashire officers from the hugely bureaucratic file submission system, beloved of Whitehall statisticians and CPS lawyers alike, and to pretend that he can is disingenuous at best and nigh-on dishonest at its worst.<br />
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His fourth point pledges to put 'more resources' into tackling organised drug dealers and organised crime in general throughout the county. Again, a laudable aim, but is it realistic given the drastic reduction in police numbers I highlight above? To illustrate my point, let us take a hypothetical number of police officers available for distribution to the various different areas which they are required to fill.<br />
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I'm sure Mr Ashton has read beyond the ridiculous headlines much beloved of the Daily Mail which scream about only 13%, or thereabouts, of police officers being deployable at any one time; because there is a reason for that. twenty-four hour policing requires shift work, so that, in its very simplest terms, on any given day, one team of officers will cover an early shift, one a late shift, the third a night shift and the fourth will be on a rest day, which despite appearances to the contrary from some sections of the media (yes, the Mail again), they are still allowed. So, that 13% has to be multiplied by four, giving a total of 52% of staff committed to front-line, response policing, to which he is committed under the second point of his ten-point plan.<br />
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So far, so good; we - or rather he - now has 48 officers left to deploy into neighbourhood teams, general criminal investigation, and road policing roles before he can really consider allocating 'resources' to specialist criminal investigation positions, such as drug, murder, or serious crime squads, unless he wants to leave one of the former groups understaffed and under resourced to such an extent that it is more likely to fail in its purpose.<br />
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Not as easy to put thoughts into practice when confronted with the current realities, is it, Mr Ashton?<br />
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Point five is always a favourite and will have Mrs May's heart trembling with joy: to cut out 'waste'. Because, I'm sure the Chief constable has been engaging in a campaign of extravagance and squander throughout his tenure, spending public money like a drunken sailor on shore leave, completely unnoticed by the regular HMIC inspections, so good luck with identifying what you believe to be 'waste', because it will be someone else's vital service.<br />
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Skipping point six, in which he pledges 'zero tolerance against all crime and to bring more offenders to justice' - because of course, the prisons are actually bursting at the seams due to police legerdemain, he goes on at point seven to pledge that he will, and I quote again: "Toughen up community sentences so there is no more 'softly softly when it comes to punishment." Now this would be funny if it wasn't so risibly inaccurate. The nature of punishments is not, repeat not, within the purview of the future PCCs, just as it is not within that of the Chief Constable or was not within that of the Police Authorities which are about to be scrapped; those matters are clearly within the competence of the Ministry of Justice and ultimately the courts. As such, neither Mr Ashton, or any of the other forty PCCs about to be elected, will have any power to change these sentences in any way and to pretend otherwise is, I'm afraid to say, simply misleading.<br />
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Skipping over point eight, in which he encourages the greater use of technology to cut crime and catch criminals - I'd be a wee bit disappointed if they weren't doing that already, given the existence and use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act - he moves on at point nine to suggest a greater focus on road safety at proven accident blackspots. Ye Gods; does he think that since the introduction of motorised transport, the police have yet to grasp that fundamental concept?<br />
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So all in all - and to be charitable - some well-intentioned (if occasionally simplistic, ill-informed and naive) ideas; but ones which simply do not stand up to a great deal of scrutiny. <br />
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Mr Ashton is in for a rough ride if he is elected on the basis of this manifesto and is held to it, because he will not be able to deliver on his promises, but at least he has had the decency to ensure that I can actually read what his plans are, unlike the other three candidates, so he is to be congratulated for that, if not much else.<br />
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Just one other thing, though. <br />
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On page three of the leaflet, there is what must be a library picture of two male police officers. Bearing in mind that Mr Ashton seeks election as the PCC for Lancashire, do you think it might have been an idea for him to ensure that the officers concerned (if indeed they are officers and not actors posing as such) were to wear Lancashire style helmets, instead of the coxcomb style utilised by Merseyside and Greater Manchester Police, amongst others?This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-26438419728578003132012-05-23T12:47:00.002-07:002012-05-23T12:47:55.796-07:00A further test...A test I never envisaged trying; and a giant leap for an ageing technophobe...This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-33165041913132692282012-04-28T09:52:00.001-07:002012-04-28T09:52:42.237-07:00Testing, testing...Testing, testing...This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-32723696045579360422011-08-25T12:55:00.000-07:002011-08-25T13:12:01.778-07:00Intermission...Regular visitors may have already realised this, but for those who haven't, this blog is going into suspended animation for the foreseeable future. I will probably be back after a good long break, but for now, thank you to all my visitors and comment-makers and farewell...
<br />This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-17216651730870520212011-06-18T14:39:00.000-07:002011-06-18T14:56:14.899-07:00Kevin Myers on form again...Reading through Kevin Myers' (my favourite columnist, for the uninitiated) articles published in the Irish Independent during my recent sojourn in Asia Minor, I came upon <a href="http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/kevin-myers-what-we-want-in-the-park-is-a-little-less-mary-and-rather-more-hairy-2675759.html">this one </a>in which he discusses his views as to the gender of the next president of the republic of Ireland.<br /><br />In a sense, as a dispassionate English observer, the subject matter of the article is irrelevant; it's the sublime use of the English language which made me laugh out loud; especially the short paragraph about O'Leary and the lifejacket...<br /><br />Anyway, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did; and I was sober when I read it.<br /><br />Unlike now, I have to cheerfully confess...This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-18045073789709727262011-06-09T12:32:00.000-07:002011-06-09T12:36:44.372-07:00hurray, hurray, it's a holi holiday...It's that time of year again when the Throne is packing up its troubles and heading for sunnier climes.<br /><br />And as the last three days have been spent traipsing round shop after interminable shop after the mem sahib, both me and my exhausted wallet could do with the rest!<br /><br />See you in ten days or so...This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-19553109615352082372011-05-22T11:13:00.000-07:002011-05-22T13:09:18.882-07:00Football's Survival Sunday: how did I do...Regular readers will know that I am something of a football fan. They will also be aware that at the beginning of each of the last three Premier League seasons, I have put my amateur punditry skills to the test by predicting which teams would finish where.<br /><br />This season, though, rather than predict the position in which each club would finish, I decided to deal with the ones that really matter, groups which I called, rather inventively I thought, The Winners and The Losers.<br /><br />And starting with my predicted winners, I tipped Chelsea for the title (d'oh!) and the rest of the top four to be United, City and Arsenal, in no particular order. So I got the Champions wrong, but correctly called the four teams who would qualify for the Champions League. But before anyone says it for me, let me be the first to concede that a blind man on a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">galloping</span> horse could have seen that, so no kudos to the Throne there, then.<br /><br />Moving slightly further down the pecking order, but remaining with 'the winners', I saw Spurs, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Everton</span> and Liverpool filling the next three spots.I got those right as well, and whilst some might suggest that they were another 'gimme', I would remind them that for a significant period of the early part of the season, Liverpool were languishing in the lower reaches of the league, whilst <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Everton's</span> season started slowly and built to an excellent crescendo.<br /><br />Turning to The Losers, I have to admit that I was significantly wide of the mark in predicting that Blackpool, Wolves and West <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Brom</span> would take the drop. Yes, the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Seasiders</span> - <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">everybody's</span> second favourite team - eventually succumbed to their <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">inability</span> to defend, but both of the others survived, despite experiencing real wobbles and in Wolves' case, spending months in the bottom three. But as Mick McCarthy and his <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">Wigan</span> counterpart Roberto Martinez would doubtless observe, it doesn't matter how much of the season you spend in the bottom three as long as you're not in it after the final game.<br /><br />So congratulations to the survivors and apologies to supporters of those clubs I wrongly tipped for the drop.<br /><br />And whilst I'm wearing the hair shirt, allow me to open myself to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">further</span> ridicule by reminding you of another of my predictions, suggesting that if any team was capable of breaking into the top seven, it was Birmingham City, who actually ended up being relegated!<br /><br />So there we are; a bit of a curate's egg really - called the top seven exactly right, but got most of the losers wrong and one of them - <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Birmingham</span> - very badly so.<br /><br />Still, it won't stop me breaking out the crystal again next August... Bet you can hardly wait!<br /><br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">Ps</span>. I see that Chelsea (or should that be <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">Abramovich</span>) have sacked Carlo <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">Ancelotti</span> after two seasons in charge at The Bridge. Well, he only won The Double in his first season, didn't he; what else could he expect from a grateful owner other than the sack.<br /><br />And unless the Russian is prepared to dig very deep again this summer (and I don't see that happening), I see Chelsea's star waning somewhat, as their top stars, Terry, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">Lampard</span> and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">Drogba</span> all begin to age simultaneously, whilst Petr <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cech</span> is a shadow of the keeper he was before his skull fracture. If I was <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">Abramovich</span>, I'd be phoning <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-error">Arsene</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-error">Wenger</span> to seek his advice in developing a coping strategy for season after season of high expectation and ultimate, crushing failure.This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-73197483607574985952011-05-17T10:30:00.000-07:002011-05-17T10:39:45.169-07:00More from Kevin Myers...A return to form <a href="http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/kevin-myers-before-one-is-entitled-to-have-a-strong-opinion-on-historical-matters-one-must-at-least-learn-them-2648381.html">here</a> for one of my favourite columnists, Kevin Myers of the Irish Independent, who prods both the English (specifically) and the Irish with similarly pointed sticks as a consequence our what he perceives to be our ahistoric attitudes to our pasts.<br /><br />Spot on in my view; but what do you think?This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-56758564105641658792011-05-13T10:17:00.001-07:002011-05-13T10:34:18.136-07:00A new beginning...In the ten days or so which have passed since I last posted, my faithful Toshiba laptop - which served me very well for over seven years - finally gave up the ghost and stopped working completely, hence (partially) the recent hiatus.<br /><br />Anyway, so catastrophic was the collapse of my old machine, that I was left with no alternative other than to 'mend it with a new one' as my grandfather used to say.<br /><br />So, this offering is the first with my new Acer number; it will not be the last, as I feel a post coming on later this weekend vis-a-vis the putative referendum on Scottish independence...<br /><br />As Gary Glitter once said (before he was unmasked and jailed as a serial paedophile) it's good to be back.This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-46524426345814014202011-05-03T14:02:00.000-07:002011-05-03T14:17:15.871-07:00It's not fair, waaaah, waaaah!So the 'campaign group' <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8489285/Royal-wedding-BBC-under-attack-from-anti-monarchists.html">Republic </a>is to complain that the BBC's coverage of the Royal Wedding was completely impartial; in other words, their point of view was ignored.<br /><br /><br />So far, so good.<br /><br /><br />And if I was the Director General of the Corporation, I would dismiss their complaint out of hand and without further investigation and advise them to write to the Grauniad, so that its shrinking readership can fulminate with them in faux outrage.<br /><br /><br />As Jilted John sang in the seventies; "Yeah, yeah; it's not fair, yeah yeah..."<br /><br /><br />You lost. Again. You will <em>always </em>lose. Get over it you sour, one dimensional - I'll say it again - LOSERS and stop behaving like Violet-Elizabeth Bott when you don't get your own way.<br /><br /><br />Oh, and watch that the door doesn't hit your backside on the way out. Or not, I couldn't care less about you.This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-48680319058711396902011-05-02T11:26:00.000-07:002011-05-02T11:39:30.324-07:00A good time was had by all...I hope you all had an excellent extended Bank Holiday weekend; I know I did: lots to eat, more to drink (especially on Friday) and wall-to-wall sunshine - marvellous.<br /><br /><br />And I was right in my gut feeling about the Queen bestowing a Dukedom on Prince William on the morning of his marriage; and further, that it would be the Dukedom of Cambridge.<br /><br /><br />Shame I'm not a gambling man; I could have made a few shillings there!This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-31244731625823424712011-04-23T11:26:00.000-07:002011-04-23T11:51:29.823-07:00Happy St George's DayI suspect that everyone who visits this site today will know precisely what day it is, and as such, allow me to remind you of Cecil Rhodes' famous injunction to one of his countrymen:<br /><br /><br /><em>"Remember that you are an Englishman, and have consequently won first prize in the lottery of life."</em><br /><em></em><br /><br />Or perhaps this one from the late (and great) former Master of the Rolls, Lord Denning, who was born a draper's son in Hampshire:<br /><br /><br /><em>"There are many things in life more worthwhile than money. One is to be brought up in this our England which is still the envy of less happy lands."</em><br /><br /><br />Indeed. And as it now "beer o'clock", to quote Detective Chief Inspector Gene Hunt, may I wish a very happy St George's Day to Englishmen and Englishwomen everywhere.This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-1798309318103153562011-04-21T12:58:00.000-07:002011-04-21T13:46:01.681-07:00Thoughts on the Royal Wedding...Well, not strictly speaking on the wedding itself, for which I wish Prince William and Kate all the very best, but on the participants themselves; and being old-fashioned, it's ladies first, so I'll start with Kate, or as we must learn to call her: Catherine.<br /><br /><br />In saying what I'm about to say, I will no doubt be damned to eternal hell-fire by the Diana worshippers who still cling to their view of William's mother as a saint in human form, whose beauty is unsurpassed in the history of human pulchritude, but I think that Kate (sorry, Catherine!) knocks her into a cocked-hat in the beauty stakes; her looks are of a totally different order of magnitude to the late Princess of Wales, even if Diana was a very attractive woman<br /><br /><br />But that aside, I have to say that I've been a little alarmed at Kate's recent impersonation of the incredible shrinking woman. For a girl who was always slender, her recent weight loss - and it must be in the order of a stone - has meant that the bones in her chest are clearly visible, whilst her legs are now simply thin.<br /><br /><br />And yes, I know she'll be nervous at the prospect of her wedding - which bride (or groom) isn't - but unlike most brides, she will have the eyes of as many as two billion people on her when she takes her vows; a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">prospect</span> sufficiently terrifying, I suspect to quell the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">fiercest</span> of appetites. But please, Kate (sorry again!) once the wedding is done and dusted, have a few good meals and get your weight back up to normal; you'll look even better for it.<br /><br /><br />Turning to William, the same Diana worshippers who can't (or won't) let her go and can't forgive Prince Charles for 'betraying' her, are clamouring for the succession to leap a generation and see William crowned our next king, rather than his father.<br /><br /><br />Forgetting for a minute that the rules governing succession to the Throne mean that Charles will become king the second his mother breathes her last (and long may that day be off), irrespective of the wishes of what could be called the anti-Caroline faction, what of William's wishes; have any of them given that a moment's consideration?<br /><br /><br />I suspect that being bumped up the queue to next-in-line would horrify William, a young man who clearly wants to live as ordinary a life for as long as possible given his extraordinary inheritance. Would the Diana worshippers really want to foist the responsibility of monarchy on his shoulders before he was either ready or prepared for the responsibility?<br /><br /><br />Really?<br /><br /><br />Because if they do in the teeth of the evidence that the prospect would horrify William, then they do their idol's eldest son, and by extension her memory, a grave disservice indeed. And let's also remember the relationship William and Harry have with their father. Both of them clearly love him dearly (and he them) irrespective of the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">circumstances</span> of the break up of his marriage to their mother and there is no way on God's good clean earth that William would agree to act in a manner which would deprive Charles of the birthright he has planned for for over sixty years: he simply wouldn't do it, and nor should he either.<br /><br /><br />Anyway, moving on, I have a feeling that the Queen will make William a duke on the morning of his wedding, in order that Kate will have a proper royal title, rather than the leaden 'HRH Princess William of Wales', which doesn't exactly do the job, I'm afraid.<br /><br /><br />No, I suspect that the newly married Catherine will become HRH the Duchess of Cambridge when she says 'I do'; don't ask me why I think Cambridge, rather than Sussex or Albany; I just have a gut feeling about it.<br /><br /><br />Anyway, let me close by wishing them both well again and by presuming to advise Catherine to have more than her fair share of the wedding cake...This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-3834668691462014202011-04-14T11:04:00.000-07:002011-04-14T12:00:35.067-07:00A little Lancashire banter...I have to say that <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/8448493/Freddie-Flintoff-caught-by-Twitter-slips.html">this intra-Lancashire banter </a>between Freddie Flintoff and Jimmy Anderson made me laugh; I'd never realised Fred was so witty. I particularly enjoyed: "the town mobile phone is working overtime with all extra thumbs to the pump" before suggesting the Burnley "town crier" was being kept busy by reading all his tweets to illiterate townsfolk. Corkers! Just one point, though; Prince William didn't go to to Preston on his recent visit to Lancashire; he and Kate went to a suitably soggy Darwen (the sun had been cracking the flags the day before)and then to Blackburn, which as all football fans will know will have annoyed people from Burnley far more than being compared to the Dingles, or described as more generously endowed in the finger department than the norm! <strong>Update</strong> Looks like the paragraphing's still knackered...This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-61708744894099980562011-04-14T10:23:00.000-07:002011-04-14T10:47:28.819-07:00Football and alleged anti-Semitism...As I mentioned in my reply to the comment from 'Outed' on the post below this, I have suffered something of a problem internet access-wise, as a result of my trusty seven-year-old laptop going <em>kapowee </em>about ten days ago. So catastrophic was its collapse, that not even the TPS (technically proficient son) could repair it and hence my recent keyboard-silence. Anyway, tenuous link re-established (crosses fingers), I couldn't let <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8450760/Anti-Semitic-abuse-rife-among-football-fans.html">this article </a>in today's Daily Telegraph go by without comment. Regular visitors to the Throne will recall that I am a football fan; indeed, I have been attending matches at my favourite team's ground for nearly forty years (good grief, <em>forty</em> years!) and in all that time, I cannot remember ever hearing any specifically anti-Semitic chanting or abuse. Don't get me wrong though; in those four decades, I have heard the most appalling racist abuse at grounds the length an breadth of the country - not for the last fifteen years or more though, I'm glad to say - and similarly offensive chanting aimed at goading supporters of Manchester United by reminding them in verse of the Munich air disaster and supporters of any Welsh club, north or south, it mattered not, by references to the Aberfan disaster. All breathtakingly appalling. However, as God is my witness, the only football fans I have ever heard using the expression 'Yid' or any of its derivatives, are supporters of Tottenham Hotspur themselves; so I suspect that David Baddiel would be well advised to focus the early part of his campaign on encouraging Spurs fans to stop using the expression about themselves before training his guns on others who use it about them.This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-72959823609007292982011-04-01T06:52:00.000-07:002011-04-01T06:57:39.939-07:00A little light relief...Shamelessly nicked from a site called <a href="http://worldwearydetective.blogspot.com/2011/03/well-it-made-me-laugh.html">World Weary Detective</a>. Apparently they made him laugh; me too! Read them carefully...This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-78135228450677139452011-02-20T03:04:00.000-08:002011-02-20T03:14:57.273-08:00Large bacon sandwich, please...Regular visitors to the Throne may recall that I entertain a healthy scepticism as regards the opinion of certain ‘scientists’, as they always seem to be described, as to what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for our health.<br /><br />That scepticism has been significantly reinforced this weekend by the publication of two wholly contradictory reports (<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1358523/Red-meat-good-After-warnings-Sunday-roast-linked-heart-disease.html">here</a> and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8335986/Eat-less-red-meat-Government-scientists-warn.html#">here</a>) as to the possible health risks – or otherwise - of eating too much red meat.<br /><br />Why on earth should we entertain the opinions of the merchants of doom, who claim that eating more than one bacon sandwich a week will result in colorectal cancer, if heart disease doesn’t kill us first? Weren’t they saying the same things about the cholesterol content of eggs a decade ago, (don’t eat more than two a week or you’ll have a heart attack!) only to see that ill-founded scare story comprehensively repudiated?<br /><br />And what about the campaign to get people to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day? I actually do so because I happen to like them, but other countries recommend eating far more – the Japanese for instance recommend the consumption of quantities in the teens; so who’s scientists are correct, if any?<br /><br />We’re also told, at interminable length, that drinking more than a thimble full of alcohol a week will leave us with livers resembling a use teabag, whilst simultaneously urging us all – but especially middle class, middle aged wine drinkers, for some reason - to sign the pledge or face a slow, painful death. At the risk of repeating myself for a third time, the much-vaunted numbers of ‘Units’ of alcohol we are ‘allowed’ to drink each day or week (without supposedly catastrophic consequences for our health) were the result of completely unscientific, finger-in-the-air guesswork by people who should (and probably did) know better.<br /><br />Moving on, I am not and never have been a smoker; in fact, I have never held a lit cigarette to my lips, let alone suck on one. But whilst acknowledging that smoking cigarettes is very likely to damage the health of the person doing it, I utterly reject the hysterical nonsense surrounding the issue of second-hand smoking and even more ludicrously, third hand smoking: I simply don’t believe it.<br /><br />I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as a ‘bad’ food, only bad diets and in closing, can anyone tell me why, if we are eating and drinking ourselves towards ill-health and an early, painful death, we are now living longer than we have done in the history of mankind?This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-63807122809177566802011-02-18T14:12:00.000-08:002011-07-19T13:40:10.050-07:00Ian O'Doherty rips into Irish 'junkies'...Irrespective of the fact that I've helped myself to about a gallon of Mr Fosters finest amber throat charmer, (with more to come) I found myself nodding vigorously in agreement with Ian O'Doherty's <a href="http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/ian-odoherty/ian-odoherty-sterilising-junkies-may-seem-harsh-but-it-does-make-sense-2546255.html">observations</a> about 'junkies' in today's Irish Independent.<br /><br />Shocking? Possibly; but not as shocking as allowing more innocents to be debauched by their parents, surely?<br /><br />Anyone disagree?This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-81722323280480002122011-02-17T13:13:00.000-08:002011-02-17T13:30:36.986-08:00From bad to worse...I don't know which aspect of <a href="http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/rossendale/8857389.Mum__15__attacked_by_girl_gang_in_Whitworth/">this case </a>depresses me more; the fact that a <em>fifteen</em>-year-old mother was attacked in a busy, well lit Lancashire street by a gang of at least six other girls, or that at the time of the attack, the victim was pushing her 14 month-old child in its pram.<br /><br />Because on any reading of the victim's situation, she must have given birth aged fourteen and given the human gestation period, it is entirely possible - indeed probable - that her child was conceived when she was only <em>thirteen years old.</em><br /><em></em><br />As a nation, we are surely going to Hell in a handcart; God help us.This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-23208410377191401432011-02-10T09:28:00.000-08:002011-02-10T09:38:26.432-08:00There goes domino number four...By which, of course, I mean that <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/8315893/Jim-Devine-guilty-of-expenses-fraud.html">former MP Jim Devine </a>has become the fourth parliamentarian to be convicted following the expenses scandal exposed during the final few months of the last parliament.<br /><br />He may consider himself fortunate if he doesn't follow his former colleagues David Chaytor and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/8316646/Former-Labour-MP-Eric-Illsley-jailed-over-expenses-scandal.html">Eric Illsley </a>through the prison gates when he returns to court to be sentenced.<br /><br />And still the pulses run quicker in the Morley and Haddingfield houses...This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-7782601228122349532011-01-28T10:46:00.000-08:002011-01-28T10:56:04.035-08:00Ian O'Doherty and intolerant 'liberals'...It's been a while since I posted a link to an opinion piece from the Irish Independent, so allow me to rectify that omission forthwith.<br /><br />But unlike my more regular links to the writings of Kevin Myers, <a href="http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/ian-odoherty/ian-odoherty-gray-gate-is-not-all-black-and-white-2514922.html">this piece</a>, in which he exposes the illiberal bankruptcy of the self-important pedlars of 'the orthodoxy' - ring any bells - comes from one of his colleagues, the frequently amusing and always readable Ian O'Doherty.<br /><br />You won't be surprised to read that I think he's got it absolutely spot on; but what do you think?This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-86477357193301524912011-01-25T10:49:00.000-08:002011-01-25T11:28:18.813-08:00Lord Taylor convicted: the third domino falls...Given the nature of the evidence which emerged during the trial of Lord Taylor of Warwick, I am not at all surprised to see him <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/8281426/Lord-Taylor-found-guilty-of-fiddling-his-parliamentary-expenses.html">convicted of six counts of false accounting </a>in relation to what are now unarguably bogus expenses claims.<br /><br />Indeed, given his extraordinary admissions (remember, Lord Taylor is a fully qualified barrister who specialised in the <em>criminal</em> law) that he claimed a total of £11,000 in lieu of a salary which members of the upper house are not entitled to, because 'that's what everyone was doing, so I thought it was all right', the only aspect of his conviction which raises my eyebrows is that he was only convicted on a majority of eleven to one.<br /><br />I fear the noble lord would now be well advised to buy himself a new toothbrush before he returns to court to be sentenced, as a custodial sentence may now be all but inevitable. At this rate, Kenneth Clarke may have to consider building a new prison simply to hold convicted parliamentarians.<br /><br />He could call it H(MPs) Graft.<br /><br />And still the pulses run quicker in the Morley, Devine and Haddingfield homesteads...This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-56249111945032468432011-01-22T11:06:00.000-08:002011-01-22T11:26:00.283-08:00A wintry wonderland...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzHJZZGae1vGro74mc-XoB0wAgLGxKlJHzQhdYwmcKkRZ0dkgIlbSJVEKFGR-hAuZF_GuLwsbSTVfbLGGuyfz6QIkv4BcXrBGc2tTh9EQ8pLfboI-MobJt-dvD173rECvBrV5HdA/s1600/Marles+Wood.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565089032696884610" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzHJZZGae1vGro74mc-XoB0wAgLGxKlJHzQhdYwmcKkRZ0dkgIlbSJVEKFGR-hAuZF_GuLwsbSTVfbLGGuyfz6QIkv4BcXrBGc2tTh9EQ8pLfboI-MobJt-dvD173rECvBrV5HdA/s400/Marles+Wood.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><p>I took this photograph earlier today, whilst out for a walk in the Lancashire countryside with Mrs RToK and our canine companion.</p><p>Whether the shot actually conveys the true beauty of the scene, I'll leave up to you; but the dusting of hoar frost on the branches of the trees and bushes at either side of the path was truly a sight to behold.</p><p>And for those of you wondering exactly where I came across this scene, it was on the footpath leading down into Marles Wood at Dinckley in the Ribble Valley. For regular or semi-regular visitors, this location is about half a mile away from the one I refer to in <a href="http://thisroyalthroneofkings.blogspot.com/2010/04/guess-location-anyone.html">this post </a>from April 2010. </p><p> </p>This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-44502528266240207692011-01-16T11:54:00.000-08:002011-01-16T12:15:53.860-08:00Ex-PC Mark Kennedy courts the press...Whatever your views about the rights and wrongs of using 'undercover' police officers to infiltrate environmentalist groups bent on 'direct action' (and for what it's worth I would be very disappointed in them if they weren't), you may agree with me when I observe that for a man supposedly living 'in fear of his life' after he was exposed as such an officer, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1347478/Mark-Kennedy-Undercover-policeman-tells-story-8-years-eco-warriors.html">Mark Kennedy </a>has hardly acted as he might have been expected to if his fear was genuine.<br /><br />On what do I base that assertion?<br /><br />Well call me old-fashioned, but agreeing to have your photograph taken (after transforming your appearance back to what most people would refer to as 'normal') and printed in a national Sunday newspaper is hardly the action of a man fearful of an imminent lethal attack, is it?<br /><br />Either that, or he's an imbecile.<br /><br />And by the way; has anyone else noticed his rather startling resemblance to the late <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/people/marty_feldman_person_page.shtml">Marty <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Feldman</span>?</a>This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32569292.post-90728578828957494122011-01-14T03:46:00.000-08:002011-01-14T03:51:18.853-08:00Humour...Just to lighten the tone, here is a post I shamelessly nicked from a site called 'Area Trace, No Search':<br /><br /> .uıɐƃɐ ʎɐqǝ ɯoɹɟ pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ɐ ƃuıʎnq ɹǝʌǝu ɯɐ ı<br /><br />Well it amused me!This Royal Throne of Kingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01847832884947135086noreply@blogger.com0