Shropshire Star

Peter Rhodes on a bus-driving dad, sleepy cats and how you can help abolish the House of Lords

AND now a little test for journalists everywhere. Write a short piece about the new Home Secretary Sajid Javid and his humble beginnings without using the words "bus driver." Dammit, that's me out.

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Born to be lethargic

THERE are, at the time of writing, no fewer than 26,400 Google results for the search "Sajid Javid" and "bus driver." Javid has never knowingly underplayed his father's old job. And yet back in the 1960s, when most folk considered themselves working-class, a bus driver got a decent wage, steady work, union protection and a proper pension. There were many worse starts in life.

HERE'S a quick prediction for Javid's time at the Home Office. Expect to see the term "illegal immigration" dropped. The kindly, all-inclusive "irregular immigration" is taking over. So that boatload of shifty blokes slipping ashore from an overloaded yacht in a quiet English marina, and breaking every migration law in the process, are not really illegal, just a wee bit irregular.

I SUGGESTED yesterday that knowing a blackmailer's Bitcoin number might be useful in the future. A reader tells me it's impossible to track anyone by the number. I dare say 40 years ago people were saying much the same about the limitations of DNA. Today, police in California are celebrating the arrest of a former cop believed to be the Golden State Killer, responsible for a string of murders, rapes and burglaries dating back to the 1970s. He was tracked down by examining DNA samples submitted to a free genealogy website. About 800,000 people looking for long-lost relatives have used the website. One of them was related to the suspect. Bingo. Science and technology change so quickly these days that "impossible" is becoming a word best avoided.

SAINSBURY'S has recalled some of is own-brand cat food because it may contain too much vitamin D, which can be harmful to cats. One of the symptoms of excess vitamin D is lethargy. A reader asks: "How do you diagnose lethargy in a cat?"

THE House of Lords is fully entitled to do whatever it chooses to frustrate the will of the 17.4 million British people who voted to leave the EU. In the same way, the people are fully entitled to campaign against the House of Lords. Under the petitions regulations, any petition gathering 100,000 signatures is usually debated in the Commons and could even become law. The more signatures it gets, the more potent it becomes. So after this week's votes by the £300-a-day ermine brigade, how many Brits would sign a petition calling for the abolition of the House of Lords? About 17.4 million?

YOU may not be aware that such a petition exists and stands, at the time of writing, at 126,854 signatures. It declares: "The House of Lords is a place of patronage where unelected and unaccountable individuals hold a disproportionate amount of influence and power which can be used to frustrate the elected representatives of the people." You'll find it at: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/209433