Comment from Boris Johnson following his column about flying the England flag:
I inadvertently condemned Salford City Council for enforcing a ban on flying the England flag when this is in fact not the case. The council is not only flying the England flag throughout the duration of the competition, but also inviting residents to submit photos of their flags to a dedicated photo gallery on the council website.
Was that a “sorry”?
Let (s)he who is without faux pas cast the first nasturtium.
We’ve all been there Boris old fellow! (Not Salfod obviously, although I have been to Salford myself but perhaps some of the others haven’t)
(Off topic)- Hazel Blears, the chair of the Labour Party, tells us that she once chased a mugger across a field, shouting: “Stop, thief! I’m a Member of Parliament.”
I think I know why the robber increased his speed.
It wasn’t the first two words that scared him, it was the last three.
La Bach:
Have you ever seen Dreary Bleary in real life close up?
I have , and I was not in the least surprised that she was given the job as New Labour’s “Chair”.( She is , after all,but one of an identical suite).
I rather suspect she was trying to attract a mugger, rather than frighten one off.
(giggle)
**giggle, giggle**
You are all so funny!!!
Good to have Mac back and in good form
I’m really, really tempted to send in a photo of MY flag. I know you guys can’t invade, cuz all your troops are in Iraq, or preventing the toffs from foxhunting.
Could Salford – and every other council – please do us a real favour and ban red bloody nose day.
No, no, no! It’s a much-needed outlet for silliness; if not for Red Nose Day, every interaction in the UK could descend at any moment into Pythonesque surreality. While it wouldn’t bother ME a bit (you should see where I live) some people would find it very annoying to go in to renew their driver’s license and be confronted with the Mr. Creosote sketch.
There are parts of Salford, which , if I stand on a chair, perched on the wardrobe, in a certain part of one of my bedrooms , I can vaguely see, at least the general area of at least one venue of a red nose day, every day. These red noses are generally more permanent than the silly tomato aping rubber appendages sold to cover ones hooter.
Forget Lenny Henry’s annual efforts, these alternative red nose day festivals, generally accompanied by the odd ambulance and a bevy of policemen, are a sight to behold, and the local Peeler’s store becomes temporarily stocked to overflowing.
Salford is a City of surprising and even crass contrasts, but it is well well worth a visit.
You people sell strippers in stores??? You’re even more surreal than I thought.
Vancouver is surreal Raincoaster? Maybes it’s the Mary Poppins style lamposts and cobbled pavements that do it to you Canadians?
I have just had my own ‘Salford experience’. In a moment of wild abandon I bought a Guardian yesterday (only 25p from the student union but no return allowed) and I settled down to chortle at Polly Toynbee. B****r me vicar! Apart from her recommendation to see the Jerry Springer Opera, which I won’t beacuse I don’t like musicals except the Sound of Music, she actully presented a reasonably balanced case about religious intolerance – i.e. intolerance by folk because their religion deems it necessary. I would still argue that the extremist tail of radical Islam is ‘higher’ and extends further than that of radical Christianity by an order of magnitude but she does seem to defend the right of folk to publish cartoons about the Dear Old Prophet if others want to portray Jesus in a nappy.
So fair play to Polly! More of a liberal, in the best sense of the word than I thought.
I expect she’ll be back to normal next week and I can return to my comfort zone.
Don’t worry about it Boris. Saying sorry makes you look human. A feat in itself, I must say.
Dave wants to remove the HRA act according to the press.
Just think how human he’s going to look the morning after yet another General Election drubbing!
A bit of a numptie, don’t you think?
Gary
I had a nice experience today, of discovering a band of rappers. They sing great songs about God (not an uncommon thing), BUT one of the members is Christian, and the other two are muslim. Leaving aside the excellent lyrics, this symbol of tolerance and cooperation was one that I enjoyed a great deal! If you’d like to check them out they’re called “Outlandish”, and hail from Denmark.
They sound good Jack T – where did you discover them?
(Off topic)- Peter Mandelson is cosying up to David Cameron… telling the Tory leader he wants to work with him!
Euro Commissioner Mandy has written to Cameron congratulating him and pleading to meet him! Mandelson assured the Tory chief he is not only working for Tony Blair in Brussels. And with his term of office ending in 2009, he needs all the political friends he can get as Gordon Brown won’t keep him on.
But Mandy’s letter to Cameron has infuriated Labour MPs. One of them, Ian Davidson, said: “It sounds like a job application form.”
Steven L, Vancouver is extremely surreal. It’s partly to do with the fact that heroin is five bucks a dose here, partly to do with the fact that no one has been charged with simple possession of pot in seven years, and a great deal to do with the fact that it’s full of Canadians. Canadians, Hunter S. Thompson once stated, are the only people crazy enough to frighten even him. We may look mild-mannered, but it’s in the same way as guys whose neighbors are later quoted saying, “He was a quiet fella, always kept to himself. We never expected nuthin’ like this from him.”
No, no, no! It’s a much-needed outlet for silliness [Raincoaster on Red Nose Day].
Well that’s one way of looking at it. Another way is to look at an entry on ratemyteachers dot co dot uk (can’t say it properly because this software intercepts web addresses), a controversial site where pupils post comments about Sir and Miss.
One says (TXT speak expanded): “Mr xxxxxx is total shit because he wouldn’t let us dress up on red nose day. He’s like the whole school, total shit.”
Give ’em an inch and a red nose…
Now that Michael Owen has been shipped home injured from Germany, and England now seems to have only two strikers (of the footballing variety) on the field, it occurs to me that Sven could do no better than to draft Boris into the depleted England squad.
He is, after all, a proven striker – if not always of the ball. I’m sure that, brought on in the last few minutes, he could be counted on to bulldoze through the opposition, goalie included, leaving a clear shot on goal for Beckham or Rooney.
In fact, he might even score himself, and afterwards perform a balletic cartwheel before tearing his shirt off – which I’m sure raincoaster, jaq, and other ladies would absolutely adore.
On reflection, England does have a third striker, who has yet to make an appearance. Who is this Mystery Striker? Might Boris have already been picked for England by the canny Swede?
If so, in the game against Portugal on Saturday, with England 2-0 down, the Mystery Striker would finally make his appearance, and Boris would be seen warming up (none too) vigorously on the touchline, doing all those various silly things footballers do, before being introduced in the 87th minute.
With the packed Portuguese defence up against their goal, Boris would go charging in, flattening Figo, bowling over Pereira, head-butting Simao, and scything down Maniche. These players would all be stretchered off, and Boris would be shown a yellow card.
Then, in the 88th minute, Boris would charge in again and knock over Vale, topple Postigo and Gomes, and send Meira and Caneira flying. Another five Portuguese players would be stretchered off. Given a second yellow card, which converts into a red card, Boris would then be sent off. He would leave the field shaking his head vigorously and raising his eyes to heaven in the approved manner of the sent off, after barely a minute on the field.
With Portugal reduced from eleven men to two men in short order, there is a fairly good chance that England might score 3 goals in the few remaining minutes.
Afterwards, Boris would apologize before the assembled world press: “I thought I was playing rugby. …against the Jerries. …at Gallipoli.”
Go back to sleep, idlex.
Jack T
Always pleased to hear of genuine tolerance within diversity. But what would CS Lewis make of the rapping?
Best wishes
Jack R
Talking of football. Well-placed football source; sitting five rows behind Gorden Brown at Tuesday night’s match in Cologne, reports back on the Chancellor’s reaction to the game.
Brown managed to lumber to his feet and clap briefly when Joe Cole scored England’s opener but didn’t get back from his half-time drinks in time to see Sweden’s equaliser. He was, however, smiling when he arrived at his seat shortly afterwards. He didn’t appear to celebrate England’s second goal with any enthusiasm at all. And he claimed to be a football fan…
Idlex :Although I fail Tebbitt’s litmus test,( for ANY team ), the following has to be said:
The mystery striker !! A certain union leader / spokesman , or wharever,for the golden boys and girls of the Civil Service.
Own words yesterday on TV,
“We will take whatever action necessary to uphold our position”.
Forget his name , I only know it wasn’t Scargill.
Oh goody, a legitimate reason to put a link to the Narnia Rap Roundup on my blog, also to the Chicago Narnia Rap, and the Iraq Narnia Rap.
Also to “look you geeks, you can watch the world cup for free without even turning away from the computer” on my blog.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled Borisblog.
Sounds like Rush Limbaugh to me. But he needs Viagra.
(Off topic) – Sir Paul McCartney released the following statement:
“Separating from Heather has been terrible. She is an incredible woman. No one will ever fill her shoe.”
Now now Raincoaster
You’ll get Boris in trouble with the Vancouver Tourist Board saying things like that!
Au contraire, babe, they spend a fair bit of moolah encouraging people to come and enjoy the “open climate” and they are NOT talking about the patios.