Peter Rhodes on recorders, WFH and the seriously unsmashed boat gangs

Now, at last - relief? The Royal Schools of Music report that the recorder has become the most “given-up” instrument, dropping in popularity among school children from 28 to 14 per cent in ten years. Recorders have been displaced by instruments such as drums, flute and ukulele. You may think this is good news, so brace yourselves for your local school orchestra belting out God Save Our Gracious Greensleeves. The kettledrum version.

According to a new survey for the Salvation Army, more than half of Britons believe people, especially those with disabilities, would be at risk of being pressured into applying for assisted dying. As I noted a couple of months ago, even if we trusted the politicians and doctors, we don't really trust each other.

Following the Huw Edwards scandal, the BBC commissioned an inquiry. A few days ago it reported that, while there is not a widespread toxic culture at the Beeb, there's a minority of people whose bad behaviour “is not addressed.” So how long might a problem be ignored? Edwards was not charged with sexual-image offences until 2024. Yet nine years earlier, in a 2015 episode of that glorious satire on BBC management, W1A, a manager makes a fleeting reference to “an issue with Huw Edwards.” Even earlier, in 2005, another BBC comedy, The Thick of It, referred to “the Huw Edwards rumour.” Curiouser and curiouser.

Home Secretary Yvette “Gangsmasher” Cooper must be delighted that British landlords are being recruited to accommodate migrants with the rent, council tax, maintenance and other charges being guaranteed by a private company. These “attractive and competitive” contracts last for five years which suggests Cooper and her colleagues expect the human-trafficking gangs to remain unsmashed for some time to come.

If a security alert pops up on your computer at the office, you'd probably call a technician. But if you're WFH (working from home), might you perhaps ignore it? When the latest spate of company-crippling cyber attacks is analysed, it will be fascinating to see whether WFH has thrown open the gates and let the villains in.