Really pleased when I read the Strictly Come Dancing headline “Strictly, she’s back – Arlene returns to judging panel”. She was their best judge, and as lovely a person Alesha Dixon is, she doesn’t have the knowledge to be a judge, as evident by her lack of technical feedback during the show.
But pleasure turned to sorrow when I read the article, which went on to say Arlene would be judging on a tour of the show, not the TV programme. Boo.
The second ‘return’ relates to something rather more annoying. On the Today programme on radio 4 this morning, Michael Gove, Conservative education spokesperson, was using phrases such as “when we’re in government”, “in a future Tory government”, during the interview.
I know he’d explain away these phrases by saying they’re not there yet; the people have to decide; and so on. But the tone he was using gave the impression it was a done deal, and that narks me big time.
Opinion polls have been telling us for ages that the next government is likely to be a Conservative one, so I understand why Tories are thinking themselves into government. But a bit of humility wouldn’t go amiss, especially when it really isn’t a done deal.
