John Beverley

I did night school in the seventies. Three hours after work.

Neil & Edna Denny, parents of Sandy on the cover. A favourite album.

I worked in the HQ building of the Water Authorities Association in the late 1980s as privatisation was happening. It was the first time I ever saw a solid gold Rolex as the fat cats gathered to share the spoils. The very antithesis of the public service culture that was cynically dismantled.

I bought this when it came out. It was the cheapest double album in the shop. It wasn’t until I got it home that I learned it only had three sides of music. What a swizz. Great music though.

Leeds has thousands of Chinese students. Many of the Chinese restaurants have upped their game in response. And it is pretty authentic, from the basic ingredients, to the coooking and waiting staff. Maybe you won’t find snake on the menu as I once did in HK, but most other stuff is pretty good.

He was a big fan on the Three Degrees, if memory serves.

“Wrong sort of middle class”. Exactly this.

A flow diagram poking fun at those who use the phrase “reach out”.

Not really.

Keir Starmer is under unprecedented attack from right-wing media missing the chaos and excitement that a succession of idiot prime ministers once brought to their lives. Starmer is steadily improving the lives of a majority of the UK populace and is more popular than you suggest.

Small Prophets review – Mackenzie Crook’s magical new comedy is pure, pure pleasure Wonder lies below the surface of this truly fantastic sitcom from the creator of Detectorists. It’s an impossible marvel of TV making

Excellent review in this English newspaper except for the irritating americanism, Rube Goldberg rather than the more culturally appropriate Heath Robinson.

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Tell me you mean vintage, not antique otherwise most of my LPs will turn to dust.

Mr & Mrs Scraggs gave him a great name. Wonder if there were siblings?

The big story is centre-right joining centre-left to very effectively keep Ventura out. Welcome because the Portuguese presidency is not a token role, the President has real influence and Ventura would have been both toxic and polarising.

I only recently realised that perfectly creamy porridge can be made with just water, salt and a knob of butter at the very end, because the oats contain heaps of “oatmilk”. Duh.

Every American needs to watch this:

It’s not maths. It’s Brexit wot did it. EU is blameless in this debate.

German & Belgian items. No wonder we grew up as internationalists.

£15 per month. It’s a bloody bargain. I would gladly pay more. BBC is intrinsic to my idea of Britishness.

Or the drummer wasn’t up to keeping the beat so a session player did the actual drumming and they gave the drummer a tambourine to keep him busy?

Only in my head.

Upside down filled with mix of breadcrumbs butter cheese touch of garlic baked and served hot.

US is no longer a serious country.

Romania is building it, Portugal is paying for it. Not built just yet. But well done to all involved.

Portugal builds Europe's first dedicated drone carrier, D João II Portugal's new drone carrier, D João II, will challenge traditional aircraft carriers, offering high flexibility and lower costs. Built by Damen for €132 million, it can switch mission profiles within a week.

Portugal builds Europe's first dedicated drone carrier, D João II

Still recall walking to school with Led Zeppelin II under my arm to play in Sixth Form Common Room at lunchtime.

Stay safe.

That'll bring an exciting, never before seen, new dynamic to UK politics then . . . . .

Made me laugh.

But you just know it’ll get an Oscar, probably a made up one, but the Academy will not dare refuse.