Newsletter 24-30 April 2023

Podcasts of the week

A surprise phone call from a proud mum. (Unedited clip, but the most downloaded TudoRama podcast this week)

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1945222/episodes/12704996

Hollywood comes to Wrexham. A Celtic Blockbuster

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1945222/episodes/12729903

News Headlines

Monday 24 April
Armed forces evacuate U.K. embassy staff from Sudan. Brith ex pats advised to ‘shelter in place’ and register on the Foreign Office website.
The Coronation has renewed debate on the continued viability of the Monarchy.
Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman dies. The soon-to-be Queen Camilla makes public her regret.

Tuesday 25 April
Morning headlines call for more rapid response for the rescue of British citizens in Sudan.
Headlines shared with news of the death of Len Goodman.
In America the departure of top Shock Jock Tucker Carlson from Fox News sends Fox shares tumbling to add to last week’s financial losses of $800 million to Dominion Voting Machine Systems over its false claims of election rigging.

Wednesday 26 April
Evacuation of British citizens from Sudan begins.
The Govt legislation on immigration passes the House of Commons. Even if in place, it requires special consideration by the Home Secretary before being able to deal with young refugees from most of the world, including Sudan

Thursday 26 April
Coronation stories are increasingly appearing in the press and their electronic offspring. Leader in waiting of the N Ireland, Sinn Féin’s vice-president, Michelle O’Neill, is to attend the coronation of King Charles, marking another step away from the party’s strict Irish republican heritage.
Prince Harry’s legal dispute with press continues with unwelcome accusations of the now King Charles as having paid the press substantial amounts of hush money over stories involving Harry’s mum Princess Diana, who was Charles’s wife.

Friday 28 April
The uneasy ceasefire in Sudan is extended. The rescue of British Passport holders continues. Sudanese passport holders including doctors working in the NHS are as yet not able to return to the country.
The report by Adam Heppingstall has reached the PM. In hours, Richard Sharp resigns as chairman of the BBC.

Saturday 29 April
Strikes start and end in dizzying succession among nurses, transport workers, ambulance drivers, teachers … (might have missed some).
The Express focuses on the big stories. Baby tries to snatch Kate’s handbag. Lineker continues his dangerous attack on our British values.

Sunday 30 April
Rescue flights from Sudan to England ends as new ceasefire breaks down.
Nurses strike action begins. Govt utters dire warnings but negotiations remain on hold.
A man who ran the London Marathon with a fridge on his back has the feat accepted by the Guinness Book of Records.
People watching the Coronation will be invited to join a “chorus of millions” to swear allegiance to the King and his heirs.

Headline of the week

BBC MUST ACT TO SILENCE LINEKER (Daily Express)

TudoRama teaser

Pizza meals hit the headlines a few years ago with a story involving a member of the Royal Family.
Why was a pizza in the news again this week?

Twitter Wit and Wisdom

@NewsBiscuit
Opposition demands Dominic Raab un-resigns so that Rishi Sunak can sack him

@CurtisHouck
Here were the final moments of @TuckerCarlson Tonight – #Tucker’s final guest was the pizza deliveryman who tripped up a suspected car thief. The driver – Tyler Morrell – brought a bunch of pizzas, so the two sat and ate them while mocking the thief.

@GaryLineker
The BBC chairman should not be selected by the government of the day. Not now, not ever.

@TheEconomist
Many might feel relieved at the prospect of a prime minister who writes the sort of book that offers “detailed analysis of the Human Rights Act 1998”. But these books are not what you would call rollicking.

@thegreenheron
Woodpeckers have very cool tongues.

Answer to Tudorama teaser

As explained on Twitter, the story was the removal of top commentator Tucker Carlson of Fox News:
@CurtisHouck
Here were the final moments of TuckerCarlson Tonight show. – His final guest was the pizza deliveryman who tripped up a suspected car thief. The driver – Tyler Morrell – brought a bunch of pizzas, so the two sat and ate them while mocking the thief, Carlson unaware he would not be returning to the show.
(Bonus point if you remembered the pizza parlour alibi offered by Prince Andrew in his BBC interview. TR)

Books

‘Horrid Henry’ by Francesca Simon
Sells itself to demanding young readers 8+. Now out in multi-story formats
SG

Shadow Play by Joseph O’Conner

Excellent and beautifully written. It tells the story of Bram Stoker when he worked at the Garrett Theatre for Henry Irving. Ellen Terry is another character with passing appearances of Yeats and Wilde.
CG

Blind Spot, by Paula Hawkins
Follow-up by best-selling author of The Girl on the Train
Recommended by the @readingagency

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TudoRama update April 17-23 2023

Podcast of the week

An interview with Dr Murray Clark, author and authority on trust-based leadership. We discuss his work in the context of the resignation of Dominic Raab.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1945222/episodes/12699925

Blogpost of the week

https://leaderswedeserve.wordpress.com/2023/04/21/dilemmas-of-leadership-what-rishi-sunak-must-learn-from-elon-musk-in-dealing-with-the-dominic-raab-resignation/

News Headlines

Monday 17 April
Fighting in Sudan intensifies around the Capital Khartoum and the country’s international airport. The conflict is between rival groupings within the military which seized power in 2021.
‘Protestors killed my horse’, owner of Hill Sixteen says after the fatality during the Grand National. Echoes of the Junior Doctors’ protest action?
More national news. Govt announces plans for a Teaching Maths initiative. ‘The single thing we have nearest to a silver bullet’. Will a Maths Czar be far behind?

Tuesday 18 April
Germany is not immune from a wave of strikes. A so-called mega-strike of over 150,000 transit workers was called yesterday, seeking pay rises matching the 10% inflation rise.
A no-show for the launch of Elon Musk’s mega-spaceship from Texas.
Treasurer of Scottish National Party arrested on suspicion of funding irregularities.

Wednesday 19 April
Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News agrees an out of court settlement of $800 million with Dominion Voting Machine Systems over its false claims of election rigging. Will belief in Trump’s ‘big steal’ weaken among his core supporters?
A Russian judge has rejected an appeal by the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich against the decision to hold him in detention before his trial.
National news. Inflation stubbornly refuses to drop below 10%. ‘Food for thought’ says BBC’s chatmaster Nicky Campbell.

Thursday 20 April
Another of the Kennedy clan launches a presidential campaign for the Democratic nomination. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a California-based environmental lawyer offers a popularist alternative to Biden, including opposition to the COVID vaccine.
Multiple deaths in a Yemen school after a stampede of schoolchildren at charity distribution event.
National news. The Prime Minister receives the Tolley report on alleged bullying by his deputy PM Dominic Raab.

Friday 21 April
One story dominates the national news. In a day of fast-changing events, Dominic Raab resigns while the PM considers his reaction to the report. Raab’s resignation is backed-up an article he writes for the telegraph. He states that the report is flawed but he reluctantly resigns out of a sense of duty. He believes a dangerous precedent has been made by ‘setting the bar too low’. He claims a anti-Govt activists are hindering the Govt’s attempts to implement policy.

Saturday 22 April
Press interest in the resignation of Dominic Raab continues. The Prime Minister’s silence continues.
Death announced of Australian comedian Barry Humphries, age 89, creator of the memorable Dame Edna Everage.

TudoRama teaser

Which is Australia’s biggest city by population?
Canberra
Melbourne
Sydney

Twitter Wit and Wisdom

@MichaelRosenYes
Shhh, he said,
don’t let anyone know,
but the damage in me
means I’m not afraid
of anything else.
You can throw anything at me
rocks, acid, rage,
drive over me if you like,
it just won’t matter
because it won’t matter as much
as the damage.
The damage looks after me.
Shhh.

@RebeccaH2030
Whale Shark has learned how to steal food from fishing nets.
@GuidingU2Good
That’s a funny way of saying they learned how to survive after getting their food stolen.

@RealDonaldTrump
The jailbird Michael “Longhead” Cohen is a cereal liar … [correctly reported. Perhaps DT meant serial killer. TR]

@NewsBuscuit
Famous dentist honoured with plaque

@MartinRemains
You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can’t control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.
Marcus Aurelius
@Tudortweet
Nice one. Can you thank your friend Mr Aurelius for his wise words?

Answer to Tudorama teaser

Melbourne, (after recent boundary changes).The latest government figures, from June 2021, put Melbourne’s population at 4,875,400, 18,700 more than Sydney’s.

Books

The Ten Percent Thief, by Lavanya Lakshminarayan. A sci-fi look at a future world of enclosed cities, selected as a book of the month by the Guardian Weekly.

Romantic Comedy, by Curtis Sirrenfeld
Enjoyable and humorous tale of a scriptwriter whose fantasy seems to be coming true when a pop idol arrives as a guest on her show.
SG

Burial Rites, by Hannah Kent
Icelandic crime novel. Highly recommended. Just arrived and meeting my expectations.
TR

‘Horrid Henry’ by Francesca Simon
Sells itself to demanding young readers 8+. Now out in multi-story formats
SG

National Alert
On Sunday 23 April there will be a test of an emergency alert service across the United Kingdom at 3.00pm on mobile phones.
Don’t panic but stay alert. Instruction to turn it off available.

National Test of the UK Emergency Alerts service: Sunday 23rd April at 3pm

Dilemmas of Leadership. What Rishi Sunak must learn from Elon Musk in dealing with the Dominic Raab resignation.

Rishi Sunak faces a serious leadership problem dealing with the report of the bullying accusations made about his deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab. This leaves the Prime Minister facing the classic leadership dilemma of facing two unpalatable options of sacking Raab or supporting him. He will find a valuable lesson to the response by Elon Musk to his space flight yesterday which ended in a spectacular explosion, yet was claimed as a triumph by Musk and his team at Mission Control.

The dilemma

Sacking him results in a reshuffle and questions about his previous leadership decisions. Leaving him in place will also bring criticisms of ignoring the claims of the civil servants, and still having to deal with them. As a tweet put it

The Tories are drowning in their own sleaze and corruption. If Sunak sacks Raab it’ll be the end of Sunak. If Sunak doesn’t sack Raab he won’t survive the public outcry and it’ll be the end of Sunak. Classic example of being caught between a rock and a hard place. Tories in free fall

The process for dealing with the complaints is itself being described as a hasty muddle because of a delay in appointing an ethics advisor. The previous senior civil servant resigned for actions of the previous PM but one, Boris Johnson, who had become embroiled in Partygate and more specifically dealing with a rather similar loyalty versus misbehaviour problem.
Absence of an ethics advisor, Sunak opted for a report that offered no conclusions, leaving him with the growing political crisis. As the day went on, accusations grew by the opposition that the PM was dithering. The day ended with the story building up momentum.

21 April: Friday morning

Overnight the story shared the headlines with the spectacular end to the launch of Elon Musk’s rocket. The papers present a disaster, with vivid fiery images . ‘Elon Musk: we have a problem’ one said. Except, that sounded like Musk’s words. They weren’t. He asserted the opposite.
The simple ‘blunder by Elon’ picture presented is contradicted by the jubilation of the scientists at Mission Control, not only at launch, but throughout the brief flight including the awesome explosion.

The informed evidence is that the trial was precisely that. A test to destruction, a mighty costly but necessary experiment. Musk reportedly went out of his way to congratulate his team for their efforts. A near-flawless image management.
There was one typically idiosyncratic remark which also made it into the headlines. A member of his team announced that ‘Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation.

10 am

Dominic Raab resigns. His states that the report is flawed but he reluctantly resigns out of a sense of duty. He believes a dangerous precedent has been made by ‘setting the bar too low’.
Sunak avoids the either/or decision. But the political price now includes the implied criticisms of his leadership in Raab’s resignation letter.

11.00pm

The nation waits for the PM to speak. Presumably he is having to revise his statement in light of the poison-pen letter from his onetime friend and loyal supporter he has just received.
Interviewer outside Parliament with someone to her side holding up a placard saying Repent, Believe Jesus died for you.

11.30pm
Dominic Raab continues his last-round gallant attack with an opinion piece in the Telegraph which either defies Einstein’s theory of relativity, or was written earlier. It expands on his resignation.
This precedent sets the playbook for a small number of officials to target ministers, who negotiate robustly on behalf of the country, pursue bold reforms and persevere in holding civil servants to account. If that is now the threshold for bullying in government, it is the people of this country who will pay the price.

Rishi stays silent

But the news is building up. The forty-page report has been made public. Rishi stays silent. But finds time to write an empathic letter of comfort to Dominic Raab accepting his resignation, and hoping for his continued support from the back benches.

The information arriving is reaching overload levels. Will the Prime Minister deal with a rapid unscheduled disassembly of his cabinet? Will he be able to claim it success for his pledge to bring back integrity and stability to his Premiership?

We will simply have to wait and see.

To be continued

Newsletter 10-17 April 2023

Newsletter 10-17 April

Free e-print
My article, Creativities: the what, how, who, where and why of the creative process, has now been published in Action Learning: Research and Practice, Volume 20 Issue 1. I get 50 free online copies ‘to share with my networks’. As a valued subscriber to Leaders we deserve, please order one via tandfonline.com.

https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/MMHPEWWIMBCNT6IQXJQG/full?target=10.1080/14767333.2023.2171532

Podcast of the week

‘I did it my way’. I analyse the BBC interview with Elon Musk. The podcast is the most downloaded this year.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1945222/12643186

News Headlines

Monday 11 April
Jon Rahm wins the US golf Open. Several commentators unable to resist comment that it was the birthday of fellow Spaniard, the much-loved Sevvy Ballesteros, ‘looking down with pleasure on Rahm’.
25th Anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday agreement. An illegal parade in Londonderry with minor demonstrations with petrol bombs, but without casualties.
Another disgruntled worker of a bank in Louisville, Kentucky adds to the toll of gun killings in America.

Tuesday 12 April
Junior Doctors’ strike begins.
Biden arrives Northern Ireland to mark the Good Friday agreement anniversary. Unfortunately, the planned visit the Parliament was quietly dropped, due to its continued self-suspension for over a year,

Wednesday 13 April
Elon Musk gives an unexpected and frank interview to James Clayton of the BBC, his local reporter. A business case study on leadership, including the takeover of Twitter. Biden’s brief public appearance at a new University campus is greeted with approval for his pledge to continue support for the peace process in its new shape of the Windsor agreement. Finds time for even briefer meetings with Rishi Sunak as well as with local leaders, before heading for the Republic.
Coincidentally, cross border collaboration has been shown in the announcement today of a joint Ireland/U.K. bid for the European Nations Football Championships in 2028.

Thursday 14 April
Hardly noted in the British press, Biden’s visit takes less than a day in Northern Ireland including a few minutes with Rishi Sunak, and then three days in the Republic.
Far more headlines today about the wife of a minor royal not attending her father in law’s promotion do.

Friday 15 April
Junior Doctors four day strike ends with no sign of a resolution. Nurses in England are voting on the offer of 5% made to them.
In America, a junior intelligence agent has been arrested for the leak of 50-100 Pentagon military top-secret documents,

Saturday 15 April
Nurses vote to reject the 5% offer and announce their next industrial action for early May.
The American intelligence offer Jack Teixeira turns out to be a right-wing fantasist using top- secret information to influence his social network group. He faces a near lifetime imprisonment sentence.
Grand National disrupted by animal rights protesters. 118 arrested.

Sunday 16 April

A power struggle in Sudan leaves over fifty civilians killed.
None of the protestors at against animal cruelty at the Grand National was injured. The third horse of the meeting died.
Building of ‘Smart’ Motorways to be discontinued in England after concerns over their safety.

Headline of the week
Nominated by @Paddy Briggs from the Telegraph
British parrot missing for four years returns only speaking Spanish. No news about progress in relearning English.

TudoRama teaser
I learned this week the correct way to address someone coming from Michigan, USA.
Any guesses?

Twitter Wit and Wisdom

@MarieAnnUK
That awkward moment when a Brexit loon tried to set fire to an EU flag but it wouldn’t burn because it meets EU regulations on flammable materials.

@SydesJokes
‘When a clown moves into a palace he doesn’t become a king, but the palace becomes a circus.’ Turkish proverb.

@kercle
It blows my mind that so many Americans can believe in God while simultaneously watching children being massacred 🤯. Why the need for guns if God is looking out for you?

@CosmopolitanUK
Kate Middleton breaks royal protocol with bold Easter manicure
@stephenfarrow
Newsflash: adult woman gets her nails done.

@deelomas
If I’m reading their lips correctly…
My neighbours are arguing about some creepy lady who lives next door

@EvLenz
A man is ordering at a restaurant, “Do you think you could bring me what that gentleman over there is having?”
The waiter looks at him sternly, “No sir, I’m very sure he intends to eat it himself.”

Answer to Tudorama teaser
According to the State Governor in his Easter message, the answer is a Michigander.

Books
Unscripted, by James Stewart and Rachel Abrams
Biography of a business tyrant which who could serve as script for a popular TV series.
[‘Riveting because its cast is so awful’, The Economist]

A Flaw in the Design, by Nathan Oates
Family drama after the all-too-common plot device of an automobile crash.
A psychological thriller by debut American author.
[‘Great characterisation ….’ The Guardian]

Bear and Bird. The Picnic and Other Stories, by Jarvis
For 5+ readers

Tuesday with Morrie
An inspiring and moving classic.
[Recommended by Sarah and Lindsay]

Twitter Wit and Wisdom under the new ownership of Elon Musk

Twitter has seen substantial changes under the new ownership of Elon Musk. But some tweeters have retained their sense of humour, and often offered flashes of wisdom. Here are twelve selected from the early weeks of April.

Thanks to

@deelomas (2 nominations)
@ModigThe
@MachTownclock
@sturgess_steve
@ArtCrunchy
@MarieAnnUK
@SydesJokes
@kercle
@CosmopolitanUK
@stephenfarrow
@EvLenz

@ModigThe
Phone rings:
Hello, my name is John from solar panel solutions, I understand you are the homeowner?
No, I’ve just broken in to the house.
I beg your pardon?
I’m a burglar.
Oh, well, I won’t keep you, thanks for your time.
Click.

@MachTownclock
🕙 BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG!… [10pm]

@deelomas
My young co workers asked me to show them some photos of me in high school. I said I’d go home and dig some out. They said, “Can’t you just look on your phone?”
And I laughed and laughed and laughed and then I cried…

@sturgess_steve
Is Easter better than Christmas? Posed by #JeremyVine. Presumably this question is aimed at a slightly backward amoeba.

@Tudortweet
I think I’m an armchair Republican. But this buildup to the Coronation Show is tilting me out of my armchair.

@ArtCrunchy
Is today a bank holiday?
@BettinaRoss1
It’s a public holiday here in Germany today, one of the so called silent ones (stiller Feiertag). Everything’s closed, there’s no sports, dances, noise allowed, and the year’s early local spring fairs are closed. In tune with this, it is dark, cloudy & rainy. I’m staying in bed.

@MarieAnnUK
That awkward moment when a Brexit loon tried to set fire to an EU flag but it wouldn’t burn because it meets EU regulations on flammable materials.

@SydesJokes
‘When a clown moves into a palace he doesn’t become a king, but the palace becomes a circus.’ Turkish proverb.

@kercle
It blows my mind that so many Americans can believe in God while simultaneously watching children being massacred 🤯. Why the need for guns if God is looking out for you?

@CosmopolitanUK
Kate Middleton breaks royal protocol with bold Easter manicure
@stephenfarrow
Newsflash: adult woman gets her nails done.

@deelomas
If I’m reading their lips correctly…
My neighbours are arguing about some creepy lady who lives next door

@EvLenz
A man is ordering at a restaurant, “Do you think you could bring me what that gentleman over there is having?”
The waiter looks at him sternly, “No sir, I’m very sure he intends to eat it himself.”

Finnish finish. The rise and fall of Sanna Marin

Finnish conservative leader Petteri Orpo has won a close three-way election race, defeating the centre left coalition led by Prime Minister Sanna Marin

Marin had became a rockstar politician, with a rise and fall in her popularity similar to that of New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern.

Sanna Marin remains popular and has an impressive political record moving Finland towards entry into Nato. Like Ardern, she has been praised for her leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic.

So why the departure from power?

Her profile was, to say the least, controversial. A young, in-your-face politician, elected aged 34 in 2019 was the youngest female political leader of a country. Her supporters saw in her a liberated woman unfettered by conventions of her status demonstrated through highly visible party-going, and attention by the global press.

Her style contributed to her celebrity status. Such non-political publicity created devoted followers as well loathing among her detractors.

Now Finland has opted for the conventional ‘safe pair of hands’, as the Political website puts it.

Finns have played it safe with a post-pandemic recession looming and their giant eastern neighbor Russia waging a brutal war in Ukraine.
In center-right leader Petteri Orpo, the Finnish electorate has backed someone with a trusted track record in party politics that stretches back decades.
Orpo convinced voters that the Finnish economy was in trouble and that he — rather than his free-spirited and freer-spending rival Sanna Marin — was the steady hand Finland needs.

Interestingly, the international news of the week is Finland’s president accepting his country’s entry into NATO. However, this significant policy is widely accepted by people and politicians alike, and seems unlikely to present an internal political problem for the new Prime Minister.