Cheers and Jeers 12: Olympic gold and Labour pains

It's Sunday again... so it's time for a quick rouind-up of the events of the previous week.

Cheers to Team GB’s curling teams for reaching their respective finals, and especially to the women's team for their incredible victory to clinch the gold medal. Few people will have predicted a GB v Japan final at the outset, but Eve Muirhead's team got betetr as the tournament progressed and thoroughly deserved their fine win.

Jeers to the Labour Party, which is reportedly looking at "naming and shaming" people convicted of buying drugs. Out-Torying the Tories on the "war against drugs" underlines the fact that Labour is far from a fully-progressive party and, worryingly, Keir Starmer's authoritarian instincts remain very much to the fore. Also, it's another hopeless idea that simply won't work.

Jeers also for Angela Rayner who has suggested that police should "shoot terrorists first and ask questions second". In defence of her answer, she explained that "on things like law and order I am quite hardline.” I’m not sure she even believes any of that at all and I suspect she's saying something simply because she thinks it's what the public want to hear. However you begin to try to explain her words, it's very dissappointing coming from Labour's deputy leader. 

Jeers to another one-time socialist, now tyrned something else (I'm really not sure what) - George Galloway. He now seems to think that even weather warnings are the product of “culture wars”... 

Tears for former Welsh Assembly Member Aled Roberts and former MP for Eastleigh David Chidgey, who both sadly passed away this week. Tears also for DUP MP Christopher Stalford who died suddenly at the age of 39 - I don't have to share his politics in order to feel saddened at his passing at such a young age.