16 June 2019

Enter Boris Johnson?

Unless Boris Johnson manages to do something completely stupid in the next few weeks, he will almost certainly be the next Conservative leader and Prime Minister.

How long this man is going to remain in the job is much harder to determine. The Government's majority is 5. There is certainly not a majority for any No Deal Brexit.

The EU is not going to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement, certainly not without the Irish agreeing to look at the issue of the backstop. Personally, I'd require an Irish border poll as the condition of any end to the backstop; it's high time we had one. So, Boris will be banging his head against a proverbial wall.

Hopefully, Parliament can stop a No Deal, but they'd need to get their act fully together, ideally before the summer recess because time will be limited after it...

And if Boris decides to prorogue Parliament to make a No Deal, he will basically be acting like a dictator... and the Queen needs to stop him.

03 June 2019

Paul Darrow 1941-2019

Big Finish have confirmed that Paul Darrow, best known for playing Avon in Blake's 7, has died. His role as the cynical computer hacker (although the term didn't exist back then) in the show was truly memorable and you never knew just what side he was on; his character was involved in one of the greatest cliffhangers in TV history. Avon also aimed for the head long before Mal Reynolds.

In his later career, he played quite a few judges with his truly marvellous voice... and also provided the voice pack I use in Elite Dangerous.

Rest in Peace.