Iceberg

 

Burnham Bounce or Farage Failure?

 Whether it is because of the recent reports of Farage's cooked dealings and undeclared donations, or the farce he has created in the Clacton byelection (where, as many have said, he is fighting a bin, and seems worried), or whether Andy Burmham has managed to connect in a real way during his first few days as PM, it does seem that the latest opinion polls show Reform's support going into reverse.  And Labour's increasing.

For more on this, see the Guardian from a few days ago.

Urinal

We forgot to post about one of the more enjoyable things we have seen this year - Churchill's Urinal at the King's Head theatre in Islington.

It starred comedian Rosie Holt, whom we remember from her clever and funny short videos during the pandemic,  playing a put upon Tory MP trying to justify the behaviour of Boris Johnson's inept government. 

In this new show, she plays the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer (not Rachel Reeves), who discovers that the bathroom at no 11 downing street contains an ancient urinal installed for Chruchill.

She is desperate to get rid of it, but it is listed.  What to do?

Full of wit and physical comedy, with a lot of audience reaction, we laughed enormously. Holt was ably supported by Michael Lambourne (playing the urinal - which, yes, talks).

If it comes on again, we highly recommend it.  The script is tight, funny and viciously political (apparently the comedian Stewart Lee assisted with it), and the production well organised and structured.

Our small only reservation was the theatre itself - which is no longer in the back of a pub, but in a new, purpose-built building, and three floors underground.  Not for those with claustrophobia!

Authentic

 A couple of months ago, we also went to see The Authenticator at the National Theatre (Dorfman stage).

This had echoes of some of the themes of Arcadia - such as: How can you discover the truth abou the past, and indeed what does that mean?  How are History and the personal intertwined? And what uses do we make of what we discover?

But it was a very different play as well, focusing on black history, and slavery and the legacies of colonialism.  A tight three-hander, with Sylvestre le Touzel, Rakie Ayla and Cherrelle Skeete.

This was very good, and much supported by a clever production and surprising, adaptable set.

A Novel...

 

Instructions to Journalists

 

New Research Finding!

 

Solace?

 In today's Guardian...

Budget Day

 Political commentary has been full of budget speculation for the last few weeks.  Many people seem to have pointed out that Brexit has made everything worse. 

Today is budget day, and doubtless there will be a reaction, whatever is announced.  That will take a while.

But what will people talk about then?

Labour Conference

 Very pleasing, sensible things being said.
Starmer calling out Frage's racist policies.

Lammy good on Justice.  Coooper and Mahmud excellent.

Titchy

 So, it appears the Far Right are overjoyed that the demo organised by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (also known as Tiny Tommeee) attracted 100,000 people - or thereabouts.  
Now not all of them were violent racists.  Not all of them were thugs.  But a certain number were.
And there were people who had just become 'concerned' apparently - after reading a lot of far right rhetoric, in the press and social media.

So it seems worth noting that this wasn't a huge event.  In October 2019, the anti-Brexit march attracted between ten and twenty time that number (depending on estimates).  And none of the Remainers attacked the police.

So we know who the real patriots are, and they weren't those marching last weekend.

Reform and Vaccines Redux

 Further to our previous post on ReformUK (who we keep wanting to call REFUK) and Vaccines, this piece from the Guardian today:

The General Medical Council is examining comments by a controversial doctor who used a speech at Reform UK’s conference to link Covid vaccines to cancer in the royal family, amid mounting condemnation of him by senior medics.

The regulator, which is charged with upholding professional standards in UK medicine, is also progressing with an investigation into Aseem Malhotra, currently an adviser to Donald Trump’s health secretary, Robert F Kennedy, over a previous claim. It may consider whether to stop or limit his ability to work as a doctor in the UK in the interests of protecting the public.

There have been warnings from medical bodies that his “pseudo-science” remarks could undermine trust in doctors.

Keir Starmer used prime minister’s questions on Wednesday to hit out at Reform UK and Malhotra, saying: “The man who wrote Reform’s health policy has made shocking and baseless claims that vaccines are linked to cancer and that has been endorsed by Reform.

“These dangerous conspiracies cost lives and it shows that Reform can’t be trusted with our NHS.”

While not a surprise, the idea of giving such an extreme conspiracy theorist a platform at the Reform conference is another proof, were one to be needed that they aren't fit to run a bath.

It will be contrails next.  Just watch.

Reform and Vaccines

 According to the Guardian newspaper, "Half of Reform voters have 'little or no' confidence in the Covid vaccine'.  If that is true, it is somewhat astonishing.  (And to be fair, that was a few months ago, and the number of Reform voters has increased, recently.
Now, we at the Trees don't actually believe that nearly half of Reform voters are as thick as mince, tempting as that may be.
Rather, they have been gaslit by social media posts, often on X and FaceBook.  
But how did this happen?  Of course there are nefarious people building the popular Far Right who love to deploy these myths.  
But perhaps also, scientists have become over-complacent and stopped explaining things as well and as often as they should, the results proving efficacy have been somewhat inaccessible to the lay reader, and there has been a lack of Government investment combating the lies of the Far Right.
Where are the people organising a response on the conspiracy sites like X?
We need to respond to Farage, Putin, Trump and Tufton Street with the truth.
Every time.

Twenty Years Ago

Twenty years ago today, I was in my office at the British Museum, which looked out over Russell Square. I have a vague memory of a large bang being heard – but if anything, I assumed it was just one of the many noises you get around central London.

Then, about twenty or so minutes later, one of my team came up to see me – they said that a colleague had just arrived in some shock. He said he’d just seen a bus explode. That must have been the bomb in Tavistock Square, although we didn’t know that at the time. And I believe we may have heard it go off, unknowingly.

In fact we weren’t sure what he’d seen. I made suggestions to help get him looked after, and said he could consider going home and resting.

The traffic began to ease off, outside, and we began to hear sirens. The story circulated that there were problems on the tube lines (power failures).

About an hour or so in, one of the Security team arrived to tell everyone to move away from the windows. Yes, there had been a bomb, and a follow-up attack could shatter the glass dangerously.

By now, apart from distant sirens, it was unsettlingly quiet outside. And our mobile phones had stopped working. The rumour started that the emergency services had commandeered the network, although it might have just been overload.

Around lunchtime, I was called across the estate to a senior managers’ meeting. Yes, there had been a number of bombs, and and many casualties. There was a need to keep people inside while the emergency services worked. Then, mid-afternoon, we would all be needed to help the visitors leave and give them directions. This was mid-summer, and there were 15-18,000 visitors on site, many from overseas. We needed to help them understand how to get home, or to their hotels, in the absence of any public transport.

(During the briefing, I finally received a call from my son at school (they had sensibly let the children use their mobiles) – so I could tell him I was OK, and he could pass the message on to the rest of the family).

Once the Museum was empty, we left, too. I remember walking with others through an eerily quiet city. Finally managing to grab a bus home near Elephant and Castle.

The Mayor, Ken Livingstone, was on the news. He was in Singapore – the day before, he had been celebrating London winning the right to host the 2012 Olympics. He looked tired, but he gave the best speech of his life.

I want to say one thing specifically to the world today. This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty and the powerful. It was not aimed at Presidents or Prime Ministers. It was aimed at ordinary, working-class Londoners, black and white, Muslim and Christian, Hindu and Jew, young and old. It was an indiscriminate attempt to slaughter, irrespective of any considerations for age, for class, for religion, or whatever...

Londoners will not be divided by this cowardly attack. They will stand together in solidarity alongside those who have been injured and those who have been bereaved and that is why I'm proud to be the mayor of that city.

Yet there was an increase in racist attacks over the following days.

The next day, I think it was, I was on the bus to work, and the atmosphere was very jittery. Years later, I had a letter published in the Guardian about how the marvellous Betty Boothroyd stood up then, and helped everyone stay calm. (This was written a few days after the Manchester Arena bombing).

A week later, several other attacks were attempted, and failed, more by chance than effective security.

Shows...

 We at the Trees have been to a lot of shows recently - or it seems more than normal.

So here is a list of some of them

Groundhog Day (Tim Minchin's version) at the Old Vic.  We did like the film, but felt the musical was better in a number of ways.

English Kings, Killing Foreigners. A reworking and reconsideration of Shakespeare's Henry V from a queer colonial perspective.  At the friendly Camden People's Theatre.

Tom Lehrer is Teaching Math and Doesn't Want to Talk to You.  Upstairs at the Gatehouse, in Highgate Village.  Essentially a Tom Lehrer jukebox musical, and all the better for it.  Of course, given how gifted Lehrer was, they needed a pianist and a singer.  And there were a few cuts to the songs. Hey ho.  It was still brilliant fun.  The audience were mouthing along with joy.

The Pirates of Penzance at the ENO.  Done straight, pretty much, but great fun.

Dr Strangelove, with Steve Coogan.  Not a bad go at the classic film. 

Guys and Dolls at the Bridge.  A great show. Really fun.

Die Fledermaus at the Greenwich theatre.  Good, if not perfect.

Nye At the National.  Absolutely wonderful and uplifting.  Everyone should see this to understand where the NHS came from.

Dear England at the National.  Another piece looking at the state of England.  Worth seeing, but we argue it isn't really about the football!

Massed Capital Marches on London

 

Fry on AI

 This Substack article by Stephen Fry is rather good...

AI: A Means to an End or a Means to Our End?

A Radical Teatowel

 

Dear UK Government...

 

Anti-Fascist Chener

The display window in Chener books is currently wonderful.

I wonder what prompted it?