Keep calm and Carrie on

I DO not know whether Carrie Symonds, left, wields undue influence in the affairs of Number 10 or not but what I do know is that it is not sexist to say that she does.

It may or may not be unfair but sexist it ain’t. Dominic Cummings suffered endless criticism, as did Nick Timothy in Theresa May’s time. Male politicians, advisers and assistants are expected to accept such scrutiny as an occupational hazard.

There was plenty of speculation of Philip May’s role in some of Theresa’s more controversial decisions and nobody cried sexist, but as soon as a woman’s actions are questioned up goes the cry it is just because she is a woman. Women’s lib means equality, not immunity.

I LIKE the sound ofWilfried Zaha’s mum and dad. Explaining why he has concluded that taking the knee before matches is “degrading”, the Crystal Palace footballer said: “Growing up, my parents just let me know that I should be proud to be black no matter what, and I feel like we should just stand tall.” As advice to combat the sort of poisonous inadequates who seek to make skin colour a point of conflict, it’s impossible to beat. Sadly, that is precisely what Black Lives Matter also does, exploiting people’s best intentions to provide cover for other much less palatable motives.

Slogans are easy to hide behind – and cost-free for the complacent and deeply cynical big business backing the Premier League’s elite clubs.

Boring though it might seem, and lacking in opportunity for attentionseekers, it is the live-and-let-live mentality of the vast majority and the humdrum of our everyday interactions that minimise our differences and best marginalise those who wish to deepen them.

WHILE out recently with Mrs Kelly on one of our government-sanctioned walks, we were passed by an older woman (to provide some comparison, my birthday last week put me on a par with the Heinz Varieties) who was cheerfully serenading an accompanying child.

So long has it been since last hearing the song, I needed a moment before recognising it as Three Wheels On My Wagon.

I was instantly transported back to childhood and Ed Stewart’s Junior Choice on the radio. Until I researched further online, I’d been unaware it was co-written by Burt Bacharach.

The song’s lyrics about being chased by Cherokees would now probably prompt a negative stereotype disclaimer before being played, but it strikes me as the perfect hymn to the sort of stoicism our current times demand.

All together now: “And I’m still rolling along…”