Only an MP, a supposed representative of the people, could publicly show the contempt in which she holds the average voter.  Emily Thornberry, Shadow Attorney General until she tweeted, had never seen a house draped with Cross of Saint George flags. She should get out more seems the obvious comment, but that might mean coming into contact with working class folk, so maybe not then.   We note she has only resigned as a shadow minister.  The lower salary as an MP must still be sufficiently attractive for her to hang on and keep taking from the public purse. The election is only a few months away so we can only hope memories of this tweet don’t dim.  Sadly, she seems a typical member of the so-called elite, many of whom inhabit parliament.  I’m sure she knows what is best for us ordinary mortals, though she has no concept of the lives we lead.  We’re beginning to think we need protection from this ilk.  To try to repair the damage, Ed Miliband has come out fighting, insisting Labour is the party of working people.  We’re not sure how he knows what a working person is since he’s never been one!

    Jeremy Vine, the cyclists Jeremy Clarkson it appears, has been clocked at over three times the speed limit in Hyde Park.  A similar level of excess in your car could easily result in a ban, but cyclists don’t need a licence.  Perhaps it’s time for a change, visible number plates for bikes, licences for their users. City centre CCTV records numerous incidences of cyclists on pavements, cycling through red lights, etc. but with no way of identifying the rider, they do so unscathed.  It’s not unusual to see eight or ten lycra terrorists riding two abreast, line astern, around our Hampshire villages.  Getting past them is equivalent to overtaking an eight-wheel truck, impossible for long stretches.  And woe betide if you try to squeeze past.  I’m thinking about keeping a picture of my father in the car. I can hold it against the passenger window as proof of parenthood when I pass the cycling equivalent of a rioting mob, essential to offset the abuse that pours forth.  It’s apparent that consideration is all one way if you ride a bike.  Surely it’s time to legislate to have visible ID on bikes so we have a level playing field.   

    A legendary great white shark, 11m long, and seen off Stewart Island is almost certainly female according to Clinton Duffy, New Zealand shark expert.  He added that they have evidence that male sharks risk their lives if they pick the wrong girl with whom to trifle.  François Hollande should have studied sharks!  Not satisfied with destroying his reputation in France, (650,000 books sold to date) Valérie Trierweiller has had her book translated into English and spent the weekend being interviewed by the media, including television, in the UK. Yesterday France, tomorrow the entire EU springs to mind.  At this rate she’ll make enough money to buy The Élysée Palace and evict Hollande before the voters do.  The Great whites could probably learn a thing or two from Valérie.

    Ladybird publishers have decided to drop gender specific children’s books after discussions with campaigners.  How on earth do these minor details become issues for discussion?  We can only assume that another fringe pressure group has nothing important on which to focus.  It seems that public toilets remain out of step, still defined in a gender specific terms.  Perhaps a pressure group will set their sights on equality, after all a toilet is a toilet.  Ladies would quickly get used to lowering seats that had been left in the upright position and a hanging door sign, blank on one side, the message ‘I’d give it a minute’ on the other, should resolve the other issue.  Come on you pressure groups let’s have equality in all things. 

    We’ve heard a lot about Black Friday and Cyber Monday this week.  Both days named after manic purchasing of Christmas presents on line.  They lead to a syndrome called Panic Wednesday in the middle of January as credit card bills arrive in the post.  Old gits are fortunate in the sense that we don’t buy many presents, certainly not for each other.  What the hell can you buy for mates in their seventies that they haven’t already got?  Most of us have clothes older than our grandchildren.  Mind you, I was tempted this week.  My wife received a mailshot offering tablets that will give her a longer lasting erection.  On that basis, I might send her for my next prostate examination!