Peter Rhodes on teaching an army, growing a beard and Boris's praise for China
A survey reveals that, for the first time in many decades, more than half of British men have facial hair. I wonder why.
To look more intelligent, perhaps? I am reminded of that late, great writer A A Gill who referred to “beards as a substitute for thought”.
The good news is that proper beards now outnumber so-called designer stubble, as cultivated by the BBC's climate-catastrophe guru Justin Rowlatt. I'm not sure why Rowlatt goes for the scruffy stubbly look, unless it's to put across an urgent and rather poetic little message: “No time to shave, I've a planet to save.”
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The British Army, now slashed to a pitiful 77,000, hasn't fought a major war since withdrawing from Afghanistan nine years ago. It is currently involved in UN peacekeeping missions in Africa while supplying HGV drivers, sand-bag fillers and stand-ins for armed police officers, if needed, back home.
The Ukrainian Army, on the other hand, is 700,000 strong. It has fought the mighty Russian Army to a standstill and is now hammering at the gates of Crimea in a series of huge, co-ordinated and deadly accurate infantry, armour and drone attacks. It is probably the most efficient and battle-hardened army in the world. Which makes it odd that our Defence Secretary Grant Schapps is talking about stepping up Britain's training programme for Ukrainian soldiers. Shouldn't the Ukrainians be training us?
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Boris Johnson points out scathingly that China has built 25,000 miles of high-speed railways since 2008 while Britain has built none. Well, so what? As a Tory like Johnson knows full well, the difference between railway construction in China and the UK can be explained in two little words; private property.
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I recently described getting on National Grid's Priority Services Register which promises, in the event of a long power cut, to provide “welfare support and drinks through the British Red Cross”.
The very next day we had a mail shot from British Red Cross asking for money to support their winter outreach to the needy. We sent them a few quid. And that's the way the money goes round . . .
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