Mark Andrews on Saturday: Return of the British brawling calendar and bring in the big guns to tackle graffiti
Nice to see that our sporting calendar is returning to normal, with Scousers celebrating their title win by starting fires, Leeds fans marking promotion by jumping on cars, and the resumption of that Great British summer sport of drunks brawling outside bars in Magaluf.
It is reported that the authorities in the Spanish resort have been so shocked by the scenes since British holidaymakers returned following the lockdown, they are thinking of introducing a limit of three drinks per customer. Good luck with enforcing that.
I suspect the response from the Great British holidaymaker will be something along the lines of: "Three pints of brandy, Pedro. And eight large kebabs."
* * *
Donald Trump has come for some stick after saying he sent armed guards to quell protests in some of America's more liberal cities to stop federal buildings being daubed with graffiti.
This justification inevitably caused much mirth among Britain's elite commentators, suggesting it was a pretty feeble reason for using strong-arm tactics against the wishes of the cities' elected mayors.
But my first reaction was 'if only we could do that here'.
I hate graffiti. It bothers me more than most crimes because of the sheer pointlessness of it. It benefits nobody, save perhaps the aerosol paint industry, and makes all our towns and cities that little bit grimier. Why do people do this? Do they have no pride in where they live?
Maybe the machine guns are overkill, but it would be really nice if as many resources were poured in to tackling the menace of graffiti as seem to be available for dealing with off-colour jokes, name-calling and offensive Twitter posts. Defacing public places still seems to be viewed by the great and the good as some kind of youthful high jinks best dealt with by, at most, a spot of community service.
Legend has it that Queen Victoria would close the curtains when travelling by train between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. Imagine how she would react today, with all the horrible daubings that plague the entire route.
* * *
Hands up, who's heard of Parveen Begum? Me neither, until this week.
The 28-year-old from Telford has just been awarded a place in the prestigious Forbes list of Europe's top 30 young industrial entrepreneurs, after co-founding a business manufacturing car ports which recharge electric cars using solar power. Not just for domestic properties, but for large commercial sites such as car parks.
Like many young people, Parveen cares greatly about the environment, but instead of blaming others, she got on with doing something useful. After a couple of years learning the ropes at electric car giant Tesla, she started her business four years ago at the age of 24.
Compare her efforts to the Extinction Rebellion mob, whose main contribution to the environmental debate has been gluing themselves to various modes of public transport.
And doesn't it speak volumes of today's narcissistic, social-media driven world, that while everyone knows about Katie Price, Kim Kardashian, and yes, Greta Thunberg, nobody has heard of Parveen Begum?
