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Friday, January 31, 2020


It`s quite a week.  A lot going on.  And a lot of it is `annoying.`  Things like the Television Awards thingy the other evening when `awards` were dished out to mediocrities such as David Walliams, Ant and Dec and, astonishingly, Mrs, Brown`s Boys getting the comedy of the year award.  It really comes to something when an Irishman dressed up as an Irish granny has to rely on foul and abusive language in a desperate attempt to disguise the reality that he (or she) ain`t really funny.

And I guess there`s some mixed feelings about things political, which I will leave alone what with the Brexit thing and all that, and also other annoyances such as Greta Thunberg having the commercial nous to register her name and all her works as a trademark and being faced with Naga Munchetty when I turn on the TV in the morning.  

So it`s been quite difficult to find any grains of wheat in this great big pile of chaff but I think I have found a couple.  The first is the extraordinary and most welcome revolution being introduced by the new Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle. 

Following the way in which his predecessor brought the game into disrepute it is refreshing to see that the new Speaker has announced that he is introducing a new procedure which will allow the Clerk of the House to notify MPs if he disagrees with any decision made by the Speaker.  Friend Bercow generated controversy by reportedly overruling advice from the Clerk and allowing a vote on an amendment which was opposed by Brexiteers.  It is equally refreshing that the new Speaker has announced that under his watch any form of bullying within the House will not be tolerated and that he wants the House to be a village where everyone is treated with respect.

Now back in November I had (yet another) rant at the BBC about their plan to withdraw the red button text service in order to cut costs and to annoy the elderly and disabled - here`s what I said then - https://snoppersays.blogspot.com/2019/11/blog-post.html.  Now following the predictable outrage and petitions to Downing Street the BBC has apparently had second thoughts and the BBC director general Tony Hall has said he would examine the concerns that the withdrawal of the service would `leave many people, who are already vulnerable, further isolated from society` and make a fresh decision in the spring.

Signs that the sunny uplands are in sight after all?


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