Al Carns aged 46.

 Al Carns, MP is increasingly seen as a potential candidate for becoming prime minister. I listen to his interview on the Daily T podcast today and was greatly impressed by his forthright opinions, expressed with clarity and authority. He is the MP for Selly Oak in Birmingham. He resigned last week, because the prime minister and chancellor - were not prepared to spend what is necessary to keep us safe. He had a successful career in the military and spent 24 years in the Royal Marines and also in Special Forces and reached the rank of colonel, before leaving and becoming an MP in July 2024. He was awarded a MC and was mentioned in despatches. He must be taken seriously as a possible prime minister in waiting. If he decides to run in next few weeks, he will be a formidable opponent, especially for Andy Burnham. 

Shooting yourself in the foot .

 As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Brexit vote on the 23 June - it’s time to take stock of the national balance sheet. Despite the dire warnings of the Treasury and other economic pundits, we decided to - shoot ourselves in the foot. According to The Guardian today we are seriously worse off as a nation and this is particularly true if you are in a low skilled working class job. The immediate effect was a collective shock psychologically, but now we can see the impact on the economy longer term. The GDP of the national economy is smaller, than it would otherwise have been had we remained in the EU. Moreover inward investment into the country is far less, than it otherwise would have been. Some experts have suggested - that we are roughly between 6 to 8 per cent worse off. So when we complain that there isn’t enough money for the NHS or defence - remember we decided to shoot ourselves in the foot 10 years ago and we are therefore living with the consequences of this disastrous decision. So a collective - mea culpa is necessary. Unfortunately people like Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Nigel Farage and others - haven’t been held to account for this Brexit nonsense. They of course aren’t worse off. 

Trooping the Colour.

 This annual pageant celebrates the official birthday of the sovereign. The event is held in the capital, with troops in Horse Guards in the grounds of the Old Admiralty building on Whitehall. Some 1500 Grenadier Guards will be - Trooping the Colour this year. My mother use to get a ticket each year to sit in the stands surrounding the event. She always enjoyed the atmosphere and celebration. When I was a policeman, on a couple of occasions I would be on duty on The Mall. Today thankfully it isn’t raining and is warm and sunny. 

David Hockney has died aged 88.

 I read with great sadness on the BBC website that the British artist Sir David Hockey, has died aged 88. He was part of an exclusive club, an Order of Merit (OM), a Companion of Honour  (CH) and Royal Academician (RA). His art in later life was - joyous and very colourful. I saw his major exhibition at the Royal Academy back in 2012 in the main galleries. He had taken up using a laptop and iPod to do his art.  He was one of the most popular and creative artists - since Picasso. Another light has gone out. There will be a major exhibition of his work at Tate Modern, later this year. 

Running out of road and time.

 A week today we will have the results of the Makerfield by-election, where Andy Burnham, is hoping to win. Should he do so with a comfortable majority, then the - starting gun will be fired for the leadership of the Labour Party and thereby the premiership of the country. Who else would join the race? Possibly Wes Streeting, the recently resigned health and social care secretary - will no doubt have a go. With the resignations of John Healey, the defence secretary and Al Carns, the minister of state, the prime minister is further bereft of support inside his own cabinet. He definitely won’t survive into the autumn and the party conference season. Starmer is running out of road and time for his beleaguered leadership. 

The defence secretary John Healey resigns.

 Due to the woeful leadership of Keir Starmer, John Healey the defence secretary - felt it necessary to resign. He has served the nation in the premierships of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Keir Starmer. The very fact that this highly respected politician and defence secretary, had to leave his post at this critical time internationally is a - mark of how useless the prime minister is. In his resignation letter to the prime minister, he is at pains to suggest that the defence budget is insufficient for the task of defending the country. He claims that the Treasury was ‘unwilling to provide the money and the prime minister was unable’ to insist that they did.This is the death bell for Starmer - as he is accused of not protecting his country from countries like Russia. There is no greater accusation than being a traitor. Next week we have the Makerfield by-election, that will probably bring Burnham into parliament and consequently a challenge to Starmer. 

Kick off tonight.

 After all the - huffing and puffing we are finally at the point of kick off. The first game is between  Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City. Both Canada and the United States, will put on their own opening over the weekend. I cannot see us being the ultimate winner of the tournament in a few weeks time. When we did win back in July 1966 - I was working at the National Theatre in the summer season at the Queen’s Theatre in Soho. The atmosphere was electric and combustible, with fans spilling onto the streets across Soho, with a sense of excitement and exhilaration. I recently watched a new in colour documentary about that final, back in 1966 and as I didn’t watch the original game, this was my first opportunity to do so. Overall I was impressed by our spirited performance. At full time the score was 2/2, se we went into extra time against West Germany. At the final whistle after extra time the score was 4/2 to England and Geoff Hurst, scored twice in extra time to complete his now famous hat trick, which gave us our only World Cup. In my opinion the final will be between France and Spain, with Spain the eventual winner of the tournament on the 19 July in New York.