Good day, loyal member of the Civil Society News-reading, tofu-eating, wokerati, and what a week it’s been. A budget torn up on Monday, a home secretary self-combusting on Wednesday, and a casual resignation by the PM on Thursday. At this rate, Craig David might not get a chance to chill on Sunday.
The relentless upheaval is clearly getting too much for some in the sector. NCVO was understandably having an identity crisis when it emailed attendees yesterday thanking them for attending its “Civil Service Almanac” launch. There must be something in the water as only a week earlier Open Democracy referred to Diary’s employers as “Civil Service Media”. Come on folks, we can’t lose our heads just because all about us are losing theirs. Let’s hold hands and say it together: “We are civil society!” Not sure the civil service would be a much calmer sector to work in right now, either.
Cast your mind all the way back to Wednesday and the fall of home secretary Suella Braverman, who a few weeks earlier said it was her “dream” and “obsession” to see a plane full of refugees taking off to Rwanda on the front page of the Telegraph. In a barnstorming speech on Tuesday, she blamed the “anti-growth coalition” and their bean curd-based diets for environmental protests she deemed disruptive. But tofu had the last laugh the next day when Braverman was forced to resign over a data breach.
PETA UK took the opportunity to remind people of its tofu-inspired advertising campaign that began during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic:
Who can throw hate on #tofu?! 🤔pic.twitter.com/LQBTYtH30E
— PETA UK (@PETAUK) October 19, 2022
And Animal Aid logged on to share its scrambled tofu for one recipe:
— Animal Aid (@AnimalAid) October 19, 2022
In a big week for plant-based food versus politicians, the Daily Star was jubilant when its “Can Liz Truss outlast a lettuce?” banter campaign was answered: “No.” Meanwhile, PinkNews raised more than £800 for LGBT charity Kaleidoscope International Trust when it auctioned a bottle of champagne signed by Truss at its annual awards on Wednesday.
In other news
Anyway, given the shenanigans going on in government, some readers may have forgotten that as well as a swathe of new prime ministers, we also have a new monarch. After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, over 1,000 Paddingtons and teddy bears were left at Royal Residences as tributes.
On Saturday, the Royal Family announced that these fluffy friends will be donated to Barnardo's children's charity – and for those worried about marmalade stains and such like, the royals have confirmed all bears will be professionally cleaned in the coming weeks.
The teddy bears, pictured with Queen Consort Camilla, are currently being well looked after in some rather posh abodes, including at Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and in the Royal Parks nursery located in Hyde Park.
They should be reaching their new homes soon, perhaps even in time for the third prime minister of 2022 to take up residency in Number 10.
Diary was also among bystanders to be taken aback by a huge scarf wrapped around the entire circumference of the Royal Albert Hall in London this week, all in support of a dementia charity.
Despite many charities’ not appreciating being told to stick to their knitting, there are some causes for which Diary thinks this is appropriate. Indeed, hundreds of the nation's most zealous knitters stepped up to the Lewy Body Society’s appeal for people from across the country to knit their own scarf to make up the mile-long scarf.
In a rare out-of-pantomime-season sighting Christopher Biggins was among celebrities posing for photos with the long scarf, which intended to showcase the “wraparound support” available to people living with Lewy body dementia. Once taken down from the Royal Albert Hall, the scarves will be distributed to homeless charities across the capital.
And finally, it is big day for music lovers. Not only are Arctic Monkeys and Taylor Swift dropping their long-anticipated new albums but the British Heart Foundation has put together a selection of Spotify playlists that may help to save lives.
Lifesaving Beats includes tracklists for genres including hip-hop, rock and dance full of songs with a rhythm of 100-120 beats per minute, to which listeners can learn CPR.
Diary looks forward to joining in as soon as BHF compiles a synthwave, mumble rap or normcore playlist.
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