Well readers, one week from today we’ll either be celebrating or commiserating as the results of the most trying election to date will be known, and the healing process can begin. Until 2020’s election.
One bit of election news that did warm Diary’s heart is that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn spends Christmas Day visiting at a homeless shelter instead of watching the Queen's speech on telly. Hopefully that's one thing we can agree on as a good thing, with no disrespect intended to her maj.
Anyway, this week Diary pays tribute to an exceptional kitty fundraiser and suggests some improvements for the next Charity Debate.
RIP Lil BUB
Lil BUB passed away peacefully in her sleep at the age of eight on Sunday 1 December. Diary would like to offer condolences to owner Mike Bridavsky and to friends and fans of the little kitty with the sticky out tongue and wide eyes. She won our hearts and 2.3 million Instagram followers.
BUB and her owner Mike raised $700,000 for animals in need. She partnered with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 2014, starting Lil BUB’s BIG Fund, which helps special needs pets and has given out $400,000 in grants to shelters.
Bridavsky said: “BUB has made a huge difference in the world of animal welfare, and in the lives of millions of people worldwide. I know that her spirit, magic and overwhelming energy are still with us, reminding us every day to be better.”
Diary would like to add some profound words also: Bub represented love for a living creature in spite of, and in fact more so, for her imperfections. She was protected when birth defects labelled her and she helped other animals to survive and flourish. She even helped angry social media types smile occasionally.
Minister unseated
The charities minister was “unseated” earlier this week at the debate between spokespeople for the charity sector from different parties.
We mean physically unseated of course, because as a member of the House of Lords Barran doesn’t have to worry about her seat in Parliament.
At the beginning of the debate, she joked that she'd been given a dodgy chair behind her lectern, which was a “trick” designed to “destabilise the minister”. Instead she would stand for the duration of the event.
It’s a shame one of the bar stools was out of action, as it meant the representatives couldn’t have a go at pretending to be a revival of a late 1990s pop band.
In Diary’s opinion, closing the debate by having all the lecterns removed and allowing the speakers to sing Flying Without Wings by Westlife, complete with the band’s signature move of synchronised rising from the bar stool at the key change, would have sent a poignant message about unity.
And who knows, perhaps it might have given television producers an idea for a mash-up between Britain’s Got Talent and the political debates.
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