HERE are a few unexceptional experiences that seem marvellous…

Walking with a group of friends on the North York Moors. Going to the cinema to see Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland (great film, depressing too, but shot through with human spirit). Cycling to the university to play squash again. Meeting pals for beer and then a curry. All these activities used to happen and now they’ve taken place again. Does that mean we are back to normal as June 21 approaches? Who knows, but it’s a start, although let’s can the ‘Freedom Day’ label for just being too annoying. Still, all of the above activities were enjoyable, even losing at squash.

My beef about beef…

I SEE that the government is getting excited about striking a trade deal with Australia to import beef. This arrangement could see zero tariffs on such imported meat, which would harm our own farmers and lower health and welfare standards. The RSPCA is against such a deal; British farmers are against such a deal; anyone with sense in their head should be against such a deal. Our Brexity government is dead set on striking a hurried deal so that it can win bragging rights, if little else. Anyone in such a hurry to win a deal is unlikely to secure a good deal, I’d suggest. Also, as this is a self-proclaimed ‘green’ government, if you believe such statements, how does importing beef from the other side of the world make economic or environmental sense? It doesn’t, it makes upside-down Brexit sense. And Brexit always was the cult that dismissed good sense. If the deal goes ahead, this carnivore will make sure only to buy British beef. And here ends my beef about beef.

Photo PA

Horizontal history…

THE statue of Bristol slave trader Edward Colston has been put on show in an exhibition that will help decide what should happen to the bronze memorial. It was toppled and dumped in the docks as part of the Black Lives Matter protests a year ago. The statue, with the protesters’ spray paint preserved, is being displayed alongside placards from the protest. All this seems sensible, unless you are the man from the Daily Telegraph, who says that presenting the statue horizontally is a partisan act. Not really, it’s an accurate representation of what happened and sets the statue in its new context. Colston was honoured by Victorian businessmen who wished to glory in his achievements, while overlooking the cruelty of slavery. What happened to the Colston statue is also now part of history, and if the statue were restored to its old condition and position, that would be to overlook history. That’s the trouble with history. The past doesn’t stay still, but changes in accordance with how you look at it. There isn’t one version of history, and choosing how to remember our past is not a simple matter of saying, “Oh weren’t we great.” Sometimes we were and sometimes we were not.