Always jarring when bank etc helplines (often very nice people btw) ask "Can I call you Adam?" My reaction is always "No" but of course I can't say that. It's meant to be chummy but is just so weirdly unnatural - in what situation, ever, do you ask that question?

I suspect it happens more at big chains like Wetherspoons - certainly it does at airports which is the only time I ever go near them

What do the folk of Runcorn and Helsby think? Presumably they knew her views when they elected her, or are they surprised and disappointed to discover she's a racist scrub? Has the BBC (or any news operation) sent someone out onto the streets to find out?

Dixy Chicken. There's something about the name that doesn't shout "class"

But are the wings any good?

I'm reading After Midnight, the new Daphne du Maurier collection from Stephen King. What mastery of storytelling & effect. When I was growing up in the 70s, boys didn't read du Maurier, they read Alistair Maclean and Desmond Bagley. Probably a good thing as she'd have scared our socks off

Spoiler alert

Stool

Not exactly unhinged but not often agreed with: knowing facts about the author's life adds nothing to your understanding of the book

If someone is telling me about their early career and they say, "I was working as a waitress (or waiter)..." I have to say, "in a cocktail bar"

Surely with his following, railing against Trump is better than cheerleading? There are plenty who haven't recanted...

Discuss...

Lawks. A bit different to the cuddly beasts in Trafalgar Square

And chooses Birmingham to traduce. The true heir of Enoch Powell. What a legacy