Peter Rhodes on vanishing employees, memory bumps and the BBC's tale of two Tory MPs

Worrying sign of the times. My computer spell-check does not recognise “workshy”.

In a leaked recording, BBC director general Tim Davie praises his staff for being “progressive” and describes the BBC as fair, balanced and impartial and without party-political bias. Oh, really?

So can Mr Davie explain why BBC News made such a meal over Tory MP Lee Anderson being suspended from the party for a rant about Islamists, but barely mentioned Tory MP Bob Stewart winning his appeal against a conviction for racial abuse? One might possibly form the opinion that Auntie Beeb is interested in Tory MPs only when the news is bad.

As for the incident for which Stewart was convicted, any reasonable person would see it as nothing more than two middle-aged blokes arguing in the street. In what woke and snowflake parallel universe does such an affair merit a prosecution?

Before celebrating “progressive” broadcasters, can we at least establish what Tim Davie's finest are progressing towards? I see no sunlit uplands.

More from that great national treasure, the motor-insurance industry. Am I the only one deeply suspicious of the so-called “uninsured driver promise”? This is the insurer's pledge to pay up if another driver ploughs into your car and turns out to have no insurance.

Now the small print: “ You just need the details of the other vehicle and driver.” And what are the odds, in the real world, of an uninsured driver giving you his correct name and address – even assuming he stops?

Terms for our time. Researchers report that many of our most precious memories relate to things that happened between the ages of 10 and 30 which can generate a sense of nostalgia. According to a weekend report, experts call this “the reminiscence bump”.

Mind you, bumps aren't what they used to be.