THE WRONG CHOICE

One of my favourite summer tipples is Dubonnet and tonic on ice, although I admit I have not drunk it recently. I had a yen to refresh myself with this drink as the sun at last burst through and assumed my local Sainsburys could supply me with a bottle, as it has aisle upon aisle of booze. I asked a girl where I might find it – to be met with total incomprehension. She called the drink specialist and he too had never heard of Dubonnet! I felt as if I were some kind of creaky anachronism. Apparently, Waitrose has it and no doubt others, but I had to content myself meanwhile with a cooling Bordeaux rosé - no great hardship. 

Our good neighbours had a similar experience with sherry – not available in any form at the bistro they were patronizing, which boasts a well-stocked bar! It must be a generational thing – sherry and Dubonnet being unfashionable drinks, even through both are delectable and were once ubiquitous. Yet I did notice that Sainsburys were well stocked with saveloys, those mainstays of Dickensian London, much loved by “Boots” Sam and his portly coachman father Tony Weller, clearly enjoying a revival.

Dubonnet, a drink favoured by the late Queen Mother, HM the Queen and me

 

Other choices have gone agley – I apologise unreservedly to my kind readers for my false prophecies on Eurovision. I tipped the French transvestite Bilal Hassani to win with Roi but he failed to enthuse the camp hordes and instead the laurels went to a bland Dutch effort called Arcade by Duncan Laurence. Nor did the UK effort garner nul points but it was still bottom with 11 points, revised down from 16 on the night after some euro-blunder. I do hope the UK contestant Michael Rice does not have to return immediately to his native Hartlepool, a rather dismal spot these days.

How Ya Goin’ to keep ‘em down on the farm

After they see Tel Aviv…?

Worse, I suppose, is Scunthorpe, an industrial hell, perhaps soon to lose its British Steel furnaces, though her doughty citizens are trying to keep their chins up and their livelihoods going. Sadly, the end of the line is looming and the choices are narrowing hourly.

I wrote above about euro-blunders and one is being perpetuated as I write. We had elections yesterday for the European Parliament, (to be counted on Sunday in line with the rest of the EU), never contemplated when Brexit was supported by the referendum, as Brexit Day was supposed to be 29 March, but May’s incompetent gang missed the deadline. The infuriated electorate will of course give Nigel Farage a landslide; only Farage has stuck to the necessity and desirability of Brexit, hard or soft, ever since 23 June 2016. The voters appreciate him and he will speak for a large percentage of them when he loudly rattles the bars of his cage in Brussels. His endorsement will be a valuable asset to anyone standing in a future UK general election. He is indeed the People’s Choice.

Theresa May's sad but inevitable resignation

            

Today’s big event was the long-anticipated news that Theresa will be standing down on Friday 7 June as Tory Party Leader, but remains as a caretaker Prime Minister until the Tories choose a successor. I cannot lament the departure of Theresa as she has been a notably unresponsive Premier who has mishandled Brexit; I do not doubt her devotion to creating unity nor her patriotism. She was simply the Wrong Choice – at heart a Remainer, a timid and conventional thinker with no rapport with ordinary people.

May our new Prime Minister be a true believer in the Brexit cause and a determined champion of the interests of this nation!

SMD

24.05.19

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2019