Why did the Just Stop Oil protestor cross the road? Because the angry motorist was dragging her by her stupid purple hair. And talking about protests, someone threw an egg at the King, presumably as part of a “Just Stop Royals” protest. Charles later said he wouldn’t have minded if they’d at least been free range or organic.

Also inflation remains in the news, and I think the biggest giveaway is that the economists and newsreaders are talking about the price of an average “basket of goods” whereas anyone my age remembers the good old days when you could go to the shop and afford to buy an entire trolley’s worth of goods

Perhaps the more interesting story though was from the US this week after a mid-term election was far less exciting than expected. The democrats had expected a terrible outcome that would best be illustrated by means of some photographs of Ukraine or a meteor hitting the dinosaurs although there was no mass revolution at the ballot box. In all honesty that was not a terribly surprising outcome, given that both Roe v Wade was the only argument being made in many races and that doesn’t leave a lot of space for swing voters that may have cared more about the economy. Most US elections are almost entirely decided from the get go with only a tiny percentage of voters actually changing their position on things such as abortion, or whether they are pro or anti Trump. It’s reminiscent of the Scottish elections where the simple presence of the SNP means that most of the votes are already decided long before Alex Salmond has had a chance to be arrested for something. For President Joe Biden, the result is of course considered a huge win although it’s potentially apocalyptic for his party heading into 2024. Biden is an elderly man who at a recent press conference was unaware that his son died from cancer several years ago, who became lost in the white house garden and who is generally seen by most in his own party as a electoral liability akin to the time that Charlie Kennedy was put up in a hotel next to a branch of Majestic Wine. Many democrats had secretly hoped for bad losses that would finally force Biden to agree to stand down in 2 years in favour of someone younger or more eloquent or at least someone who could remember people’s names. Yet now he seems determined to run for a 2nd term, mostly likely going up against Ron DeSantis, the Governor of Florida who straddles a coalition of both Trump voters, as well as minority voters. As Hilary Clinton would call them, a basket of deplorables, but a basket nonetheless makes up at least 50% of the electorate.