The Randal Report

SINCE THE RECENT STABBING OF THE AUTHOR SALMAN RUSHDIE, THE SUBJECT OF FREE SPEECH HAS REARED ITS HEAD ONCE MORE.  IT HAS BECOME COMMONPLACE TO BE VILIFIED, HAVE YOUR INCOME/LIVELIHOOD ADVERSLEY AFFECTED, FOR SIMPLY BEING A LITTLE OUT OF TOUCH. HAVE WE BECOME A SOCIETY THAT’S TOO EASILY OFFENDED AND WHERE DO WE DRAW A LINE ON WHAT IS, OR ISN’T ACCEPTABLE? The threat of death for having an opinion...

That’s news to me, where Mel and I will take three stories that have been currently or recently featuring in the news and in ten minutes or less, add our take on the finer points, yep, just ten minutes or less!  On today's episode we discuss, Chinese vs Taiwanese tensions, Archie Battersbea and the right to life & the Energy Crisis.

As the leadership race to become Britain’s next Prime Minister enters the final furlong and the contenders have been whittled down from near a dozen to just two, we cogitate the likely outcome and thus what it means for the rest of us!

What a tumultuous week, last week was in the way of politics. Finally, Boris has to concede he’s no longer wanted! But how quick the polished, or no to so polished, videos appeared and the glossy booklets of policy for the contenders competing to replace the deposed leaded!  As a bunch of wanabees jostle for the top job whilst resorting to all sorts of tactics to hamstring their opposite numbers,...

“YET ACROSS THE GULF OF SPACE, MINDS THAT ARE TO OUR MINDS, AS ARE TO THOSE OF THE BEASTS THAT PERISH, INTELLECTS VAST AND COOL AND UNSYMPATHETIC, REGARDED THIS EARTH WITH ENVIOUS EYES, AND SLOWLY AND SURELY DREW THEIR PLANS AGAINST US”  H. G. WELLS  (WAR OF THE WORLDS) A SMALL CLUE AS TO TODAYS TOPIC!  ALTHOUGH HUMANITY’S BELIEF IN ET LIFE FORMS DATES BACK TO THE TIMES OF ANCIENT GREECE, IT IS TR...

IS BRITAIN PLC HEADING FOR DEEP TROUBLE? INFLATION, RECESSION AND MORE!   WITH CHAOS AT THE AIRPORTS, DELAYS RENEWING PASSPORTS AND DRIVING LICENCES, AN ONGOING TRAIN AND TUBE STRIKE, UK INFLATION TOPPING 9% IN THE MOST RECENT FIGURES, POSSIBLE STRIKE ACTION BY TEACHERS AND NURSES AND MORE,  HAS THIS GOVERNMENT SIMPLY RUN OUT OF IDEAS? ARE WE HEADING FOR RECESSION AND A REPEAT OF THE SEVENTIES, WI...

Does anyone want to hazard a guess as to who got COVID the other week and delayed us getting a new episode out to you?    Today we discuss where we are with the latest variant and the end of restrictions and mandates in the UK. Are things improving or are our government turning a blind eye to a worsening situation to save our ever more precarious economy?

Until recently, the idea of talking about mental health in personal terms was quite rare, for the stigma attached to the health of the mind was so great, that the mere mention of it often resulted in friends giving you a wide berth and in the context of one’s professional life, often resulted in one being surreptitiously manoeuvred out of one’s job. Whilst attitudes have improved, with seemingly a...

SUPERMARKET WOES I’m someone that generally goes to the supermarket every day, usually when it’s just opened, but I really get annoyed by other shoppers and their weird habits!

Once the preserve of fading Hollywood stars and retirees to Miami, it seems now that going under the knife, injecting paralysis inducing toxins and lip fillers all, in the pursuit of vanity, is nearly as common as brushing your teeth. I’m not adverse to a few enhancements, such as tattoos and piercings, you understand, which I consider to be an expression of one’s self, I’m not talking about those...

With the controversy surrounding the actions of Prince Andrew and his association to a  convicted and now deceased sex trafficker, one Geoffrey Epstein, Prince Harry having more or less left the Royal family and the latest incarnation, the cash for honours charity probe, which could lead to the questioning of Prince Charles by the police, is the British Monarchy on its last legs and past it’s best...

As Russia begins its invasion of the Ukraine, it is on this subject we will concentrate today and what that might mean for all of us in the days and weeks to come. Is the world on the brink of a protracted world war, is there shifting power that is creating an axis between Russia, China and other sympathetic countries.

Today we talk about Covid-19 and the lifting of legal restrictions, such as the isolation rules if you display symptoms and of course, abandoning testing, which has been costing the tax payer some £2 billion per month. Since the start of the pandemic, some 160,000 people have died from the virus in the UK. Whilst the death toll is clearly now falling, there were still over 1,000 deaths within 28 d...

Cyclists, Pedestrians, Drivers; whomever you are, do we share our roads with the same consideration we once used to? Road rules; have they changed in the last 20 years, there used to be a tacit understanding between us, is this now lost?

Interest rates are rising, Inflation is at a 30 year high , the cost of living is rising across many sectors.....Is this the inevitable result of an impending recession or is there a financial or fiscal resolution right around the corner?

There is nothing like a good rant from time to time and no one better to deliver one than Simon. Today he discusses the wonders of creeping old age.

Today we are taking a deep dive into Veganism & how it has become mainstream over the past few years.

In this Episode we discuss the looming conflict between the Ukraine and Russia. Are we heading towards military conflict or is the West conflating matters to force Russia into a fatal reaction?

NOW ITS PROBABLY OF LITTLE SURPRISE IN RESPECT OF THE SUBJECT FOR OUR FIRST FORAY, AS THERE’S NOTHING GETS THE HECKLES UP LIKE A BIT OF POLITICAL DISCOURSE. IT’S BEEN RELENTLESSLY COVERED IN THE NEWS OF LATE AND THAT OF COURSE IS PARTYGATE, WHICH SEEMS TO HAVE RELEGATED WALLPAPERGATE, ANOTHER YET UNRESOLVED MATTER OF POSSIBLE IMPROPRIETY, ALL OF COURSE PERTAINING TO OUR PRIME MINISTER MR BORIS JOH...