Peter Rhodes on storms, birthrates and sex attackers who come off worse
Meteorologists have announced this year’s north Atlantic winter storm names, chosen from thousands of suggestions submitted by the public. The names include Amy, Bram and Chandra. So no Stormy McStormface, then?
This week's yarn about Queen Camilla, as a teenager, fighting off a sexual attack by whacking her assailant with a shoe reminds me of a girl I knew of about the same age as Camilla who, on her way home from school sports, was grabbed by a stranger. She was young, fit, scared and angry and defended herself fiercely with her hockey stick. The sex pest spent some time in hospital.
Britain's birth rate has dropped to an all-time low, prompting fears (“A really transitional moment,” according to the Guardian.) that the UK will soon not have enough working-age people to support millions of pensioners. Maybe so. But if Britain could cleverly reduce its population from 69 million to the 52 million it was in the 1960s, might this not be a happier, wealthier and definitely less crowded nation?
