Shropshire Star

Peter Rhodes on opera, ageism and a pint-sized provocation

More overblown headlines, more breathless dispatches, more grim analysis and flinty-eyed commentaries from north of the border. The endless coverage of Yousaf and co raises a question: what percentage of the UK population is even remotely interested in Scottish politics?

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Angela Rayner. Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire

I'm surprised the embattled Angela Rayner has not taken more flak over referring to PM Rishi Sunak as “a pint-sized loser.” In an age when a TV campaign has been launched to stop us referring to a person's age, Rayner is surely guilty of heightism or sizeism.

This is a woman who, a few months from now, could be deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom, wielding enormous power on the world stage and, it is to be hoped, exuding tact and diplomacy. Let us pray she doesn't encounter the 5ft 7ins Mr Putin.