vivweb01blog

  Devotees of the BBC’s Radio 4 ‘Dead Ringers’ Friday Night comedy offering will already be familiar with the phrase “Oh what a lammy”.... The DR team’s most recent series has treated us to hilarious weekly lampoons of our unfortunately rather ‘gaffe-prone’ foreign secretary, thereby doing much to lift the country’s morale at a time of much turbulence and uncertainty on the international and home fronts. If there’s one thing the dear old Beeb has done right in recent months, it’s commission another series of this radio ‘gem’, for which they should rightly accept the credit that’s due… on the other hand, failure to renew or cancellation (heaven forbid!) of this series is simply not an option if they wish to retain the licence fee beyond 2027. Programme planners be warned.... The series is A must for any comedy fan - if you haven’t already sampled the delights, it's available on BBC Sounds now…..just follow the link. But I digress....here's the serious bit.... The ter...

  A midst all the discussion about the perils of global warming, there has been no mention recently of when we might expect the start of the next Ice-Age.... This was a topic that hit the headlines some years ago and was all the rage for a year or two before fading into obscurity. It is probably no coincidence that this media fade-out coincided with the increased coverage in the media about global warming and its wider implications for our future well-being. But should we be so quick to dismiss the posibility of  a much cooler future ? There is now no doubt that our climate is warming – and doing so quite rapidly. There is also little doubt that our large-scale release of greenhouse gases since the dawn of the industrial era in the early 1800s will have contributed significantly to this process. However, despite the views of some environmentalists, our planet's atmosphere is a chaotic and unpredictable beast, and the jury is still out on whether ‘man-made’ climate warmi...

  I have to admit, my first reaction when I saw this news item was “…Oh no, not another lammy …”. It’s perfectly true that road accident statistics, along with small boat crossings, taxes, and other such undesirable phenomena, have been on the up since Labour took power in 2024, but what seems to have escaped the policy makers’ collective notice is that the bulk of RTAs are caused by inexperienced drivers, and notably those under 21.  Insurance companies have long realised this as hard fact, and, as would be expected, their charging structures reflect the  risk, with sky high annual premiums into the thousands now being charged for the under 21s, with the traditional sharp downward transition in cost after age 25 is reached still in force. It’s also true that a small number of thoughtless elderly drivers do neglect their legal (and moral !) obligation to self-declare to DVLA any change in their circumstances which could affect their driving skills…of which a deter...

  On present evidence, and despite a welcome shower or two in late July, I think we just might….. Those of us old enough to remember the excesses of the 1970s will recall one of the most notable of its meteorological ones - the ‘great drought’ of ’76. Contrary to popular belief, this was even more extensive and prolonged than the current one, with both a dry autumn and winter in 1975 and a dry spring in 1976 contributing.   In June 1976 there was actually a period of two whole weeks where maximum temperatures in southern England never fell below 32oC, and we haven't seen anything that prolonged this year - yet. The prolonged nature of the 1976 heatwave, and the following dry, hot period which continued until early August, resulted in severe consequences for crops and domestic  water supplies, with taps in some areas actually running dry. This culminated in the Drought Act being rushed through parliament on 5 th August. This legislation   included more draconian...