Among those addressing the Pope yesterday evening were actor Antonio Banderas, who reflected on the enduring relationship between faith and artistic expression.

#PopeLeoXIV #MadridMass #Spain #Vatican #Faith #WorldNews

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Pope Leo began his address by praising Spain’s rich cultural heritage, reflecting on the beauty woven throughout the country’s history—in its cities and monuments, universities and churches, music, art, dance and cuisine.

The Pope said “We run the risk of becoming experts in the media and effective producers,” he said, “yet uncertain as to why, for what purpose, with whom and for whom we produce.”

The Church an “expert in humanity”

Echoing the teaching of Saint Paul VI and the Second Vatican Council, Pope Leo reaffirmed the Church’s commitment to dialogue with the contemporary world.

“The decisive question remains the same,” he said. “What does it mean to be truly human?” Drawing on the Church’s centuries-long experience accompanying humanity through history, the Pope explained that the Christian faith proposes paths toward dignity and the common good because it recognises in Jesus Christ the answer to the deepest questions of human existence.

Quoting from his recent document Magnifica Humanitas, he insisted that the human person remains “the way for the Church” and the centre of authentic, integral development.

What are we cultivating?

Reflecting on the etymological link between the words “culture” and “cultivation,” Pope Leo invited his audience to consider what contemporary society is sowing for future generations.

“What is flourishing,” he asked, “and what is silently withering in our society?” “What values are we preserving and which are we allowing to die?”

These questions, he said, require an honest and ongoing social dialogue rooted in listening, respect and encounter.

Building networks through dialogue

The central theme of the evening was expressed in the image of “weaving networks,” which the Pope described as an art that requires people and institutions to come together in mutual respect. Such dialogue, he said, must always be centred on human dignity.

Universities, he noted, should neither abandon truth nor isolate themselves from the realities of work. Businesses must never reduce employees to mere economic variables. Art should not become the preserve of elites. Sport should not be reduced to entertainment or profit. Technological progress must remain attentive to the elderly, the poor and those whose voices are rarely heard.

Communication itself, the Pope added, carries moral responsibility. “Every form of expression speaks and conveys meaning,” he said. “It can wound or heal, shatter expectations or open new horizons.”

Created with threads of love

From a Christian perspective, Pope Leo explained, authentic dialogue begins with recognition of the intrinsic dignity of every human person.

“The Creator has woven human beings with threads of love,” he said, recalling that humanity is created in the image and likeness of God.

This dignity, he continued, is not granted by institutions or governments but is inherent and inalienable, and therefore constitutes the foundation of every genuine social relationship.

Beauty that transforms

The Pope’s reflections also returned repeatedly to the role of beauty and artistic expression.

Quoting Pope Benedict XVI’s observation that faith “creates poetry and music” and “creates beauty,” Pope Leo spoke of those experiences that change people from within: a song, a poem, a church, a voice, a glance, or even a game shared among friends.

The Pope again pointed to Spain’s rich spiritual and artistic tradition—from Holy Week saetas to the writings of Lope de Vega, Saint Teresa of Ávila, Saint John of the Cross and Calderón de la Barca—as evidence of the profound dialogue between the material and the spiritual dimensions of human existence.

Faith’s contribution to society

Turning to the Christian contribution to public life, Pope Leo recalled the countless schools, hospitals and charitable initiatives established through the inspiration of faith.

Without seeking controversy, he invited his listeners to reflect on the extent to which Europe itself has been shaped by its Christian heritage. “Is it seriously possible to believe that Europe would be the same without the influence of faith?” he asked.

Echoing the words of Saint John Paul II, he repeated the appeal: “Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors to Christ.”

The cry of the poor

The Pope also placed the plight of the poor at the centre of his reflection. “Who are the ones being excluded despite their virtues and abilities?” he asked.

The condition of the poor, he insisted, remains a constant challenge to societies, political systems, economies and the Church itself.

Recalling the Church’s social teaching, he stressed that economic and institutional structures can be considered just only insofar as they promote the integral development of every person and encourage responsible participation by all.

Lessons from the playing field

Pope Leo concluded his speech reflecting on sport, a world he described as particularly familiar to him. Many people, he observed, learn respect, perseverance and fair play more effectively on a playing field than through formal instruction. Athletes, he added, teach society how to lose without bitterness, win without humiliating others and rise again after failure.

Recalling the words of Saint John Paul II, who was also an athlete, he noted that sport can offer a powerful witness to unity, peace and social cohesion at a time when violence and division threaten the bonds that hold communities together.

A renewed society

Concluding his address, Pope Leo called on all present to become protagonists in the construction of a renewed society.

A society, he said, where time remains open to eternity; where culture preserves memory and encourages dialogue; where education pursues truth with intellectual honesty; where art awakens wonder; where business recognises the dignity of every person; and where work remains a source of hope.

Invoking Saint Paul’s exhortation to “rejoice with those who rejoice” and “weep with those who weep,” the Pope urged his listeners to live in harmony and peace.

For, he concluded, the future depends on whether humanity’s true greatness continues to shine forth: “Let us be new protagonists for weaving new networks that harmonise all areas of life.”

Pope Leo XIV visits Spain today and there is much expectation.

Pope Leo XIV will travel more than 2,500 kilometres between Madrid, Barcelona, Gran Canaria and Tenerife, and will deliver 12 speeches, as well as five homilies and five greetings.

In the Plaza de Cibeles, in front of the the seat of Madrid city council, the huge stage from which Leo will say mass on Sunday in front of as many as 1 million worshippers has taken shape. The Paseo del Prado, which runs off Cibeles and down to the eponymous museum, is hung with banners welcoming the pope and urging the faithful to heed Jesus’s words in the Gospel of John and “alzad la mirada”, or “lift up your eyes”.

It is reported that the Pope knows Spain much better than the vast majority of Spaniards, because he has visited more than 30 cities, whereas many Spaniards havenʼt even visited half that number.

The first of his trips to Spain dates back to July 1982. Robert Prevost was 26 years old at the time and had been a priest for just over a month and a half. Together with several companions from St. Monica International College run by the Augustinians in Rome, he embarked on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in a van, a journey not without its adventures.

Many of these journeys were undertaken for pastoral, educational, and community visits for the Order of St. Augustine. In 2002, he visited Oropesa in Toledo province for the canonization of Alonso de Orozco, as well as the city of Talavera de la Reina and León, the city where the centenary of the Augustinian school was being celebrated. From then on, Valladolid became one of his bases of operations; he stayed at the Royal Seminary of the Philippine Augustinians and traveled from there to monasteries such as the one in Madrigal de las Altas Torres in Ávila province.

Leo’s determination to highlight the plight of migrants and asylum seekers – at least 1,172 of whom died en route to the Canaries last year – will not go unremarked in Spain or beyond. The pope’s commitment to the basic human rights of migrants has led him to criticise the Trump administration, over what he has termed its “extremely disrespectful” treatment of foreigners in the US.

That stance has also brought him into alignment with the policies of Pedro Sánchez’s socialist-led government, which has bucked European political trends by defending the economic and social benefits of migration, and which is now regularising the status of at least 500,000 undocumented migrants and asylum seekers.

I have been reading the Pope’s Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity), which was eagerly awaited since Pope Leo XIV said days after his election that he considered Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be the biggest challenge facing humanity today.

The Pope invoked J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings character Gandalf as he urged people to do their part to build a "civilization of love" amid the threat of AI.

In his text, Leo called for ownership of AI data not to be left solely in private hands, for policy-makers to protect the rights of workers and keep children safe from the technology, and urged the cooling of competition between AI companies.

“What is needed is a more active political involvement that is capable of slowing things down when everything is accelerating,” said Leo in the text

The pope called for “robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility.”

"For its part, the Church wishes to contribute to a serene and informed discussion of these pressing questions by stressing above all the need to weigh the ramifications of AI in light of the integral development of the human person and society. This entails taking into account the well-being of the human person not only materially, but also intellectually and spiritually; it means safeguarding the inviolable dignity of each human person and respecting the cultural and spiritual riches and diversity of the world’s peoples.” Pope Leo XIV

US tech billionaire and Trump Maga donor Peter Thiel held a series of closed-door lectures about the antichrist in Rome in March , putting him on a collision course with Pope Leo XIV, the Catholic Church’s first American pontiff.

Thiel, the founder of data intelligence company Palantir Technologies — the Pentagon contractor whose AI systems are being used in the US and Israeli attack on Iran — is preoccupied with the risk of a “one-world, totalitarian state” obstructing scientific and technological progress. He depicts those who lobby for tech regulation as harbingers of the antichrist. “The way the antichrist would take over the world is, you talk about Armageddon nonstop…”

Thiel told the New York Times last year. “You talk about existential risk nonstop, and this is what you need to regulate . . . The thing that has political resonance is: we need to stop science, we need to just say ‘stop’ to this.”

Thiel’s views stand in stark contrast to those of Pope Leo, who has warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence and called for stronger regulation to minimise its risks.

Thile’s four-day series of lectures location in Rome remained secret — and is co-organised by a new fringe Italian group with links to Italy’s far right and Catholic conservatives in the UK. In the run-up to Thiel’s lectures, the Catholic newspaper Avvenire in March — which is owned by the Italian bishops’ conference — published a series of articles criticising Thiel and Palantir, saying that “to save humanity . . . he proposes devices that ultimately restrict what is most human in humanity”.

AI in Action

Pope Leo said earlier this year that his call for AI regulation was not aimed at stopping innovation “but rather to guide it and be aware of its ambivalent nature”. The pontiff and US bishops have also been highly critical of US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, which Palantir has benefited from, with its services used by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to track migrants.

Massimo Faggioli, professor of ecclesiology at Trinity College Dublin, said Thiel’s appearance in Rome in March was an implicit challenge to Leo by ultra-conservative Maga Catholics. “This is an operation that I see as hostile to the papacy,” Faggioli said. “This pope is very critical of AI and Thiel is one of the Mr AIs. This is part of an attempt to create an alternative American circle in Rome in competition with what Pope Leo is saying.”

The Vatican viewed Thiel as someone engaged in a “violent project to tweak the future”, which is fundamentally at odds with the vision and values of the contemporary Catholic Church, Faggioli said. “If you think that every possible solution, and ultimately salvation — immortality — comes from technology, you have made technology your god,” he added.

Peter Thiel’s lecture series in March in Rome was shrouded in secrecy, with both the guest list and venue not made public

Father Paolo Benanti, the Vatican’s adviser on AI, wrote on Le Grand Continent website on Saturday that Thiel’s career “can be read as a prolonged act of heresy against the liberal consensus: a challenge to the very foundations of civil coexistence, which he now considers outdated.” Another article in Avvenire described Palantir as “a Big Brother that puts Orwell’s prophecies to shame”.

America’s AI titans used to warn about the technology’s extinction-level threat to humanity. “Stop me before I harm the species,” was their gist. Then they radically changed their tune. Anybody today who questions Silicon Valley’s accelerationist drive is an “AI doomer” — a Luddite who might as well be on China’s team. Safety is woke. So too is worrying about your kids’ mental health or your future earnings. Anything that gets in the way of the US winning the superintelligence race is either uninformed or dumb.

According to the Financial Times, it is rare for the US public to agree on anything these days. Fear of AI is as close to a national consensus as it gets. A clear majority says that AI will do more harm than good. In one recent NBC poll, AI’s net negative rating ranked below ICE, the disliked immigration enforcement agency. A sizeable share of both Democrats and Republicans oppose new data centres. Even strong voter preferences, however, are little match for the lobbying clout of America’s tech giants, especially with Donald Trump behind them.

Blair, Alastair Campbell and Jack Straw were main protagonists in war decision

Iraqis are suffering from the devastating impact of war crimes and other atrocities perpetrated by the United States/UK -led coalition in its invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq.

The Chilcot Report showed the dossier prepared to make the case for war “did not reflect the evidence given to Mr Blair by the security services “. It confirms that Blair undermined the UN security council’s authority and that war was not a last resort.When Blair failed to get the second UN resolution, he handed over UK foreign policy to George Bush. The Blair.Bush legacy is a million dead, a failed state and the Middle East in flames.

It should be noted that the region as a whole in crisis, with innocent families fleeing their own governments and terrorist organisations, and desperately seeking refuge in Europe. Another illegal war is ongoing now in Iran and Lebanon by the United States, with such devastating consequences without a judicial or political reckoning.

Amnesty International states “ Along with the egregious violations that US and allied forces committed against Iraqis, the US’s ill-advised policies, such as the so-called de-Ba’athification process, the disbandment of the security forces and its injection of huge quantities of arms into the country, contributed to a security vacuum that allowed sectarian violence to spiral. Since the invasion, Iraq has been mired in consecutive cycles of violence and a culture of impunity that the US-led coalition, through their policies, helped foster. This devastating legacy of the US-led invasion continues to claim new Iraqi victims to this day.”

2023 on 20th Anniversary of the War

Blair: Why I Disregarded Iraq War Advice

Sir John Chilcot's inquiry found some serious government shortcomings.

The findings of Chilcot’s 2.6 million word report. It took more than eight years to produce, and was critical of Blair’s role in the 2003 invasion, with many MPs calling to impeach the former PM using an ancient Parliamentary law. The Report included:

• The UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. Military action at that time was not a last resort.

• Military action might have been necessary later, but in March 2003 there was no imminent threat from Saddam Hussein; the strategy of containment could have been adapted and continued for some time and the majority of the Security Council supported continuing UN inspections and monitoring.

• Judgements about the severity of threat posed by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction - known as WMD - were presented with a certainty that was not justified.

In 2017 a court in London has found that Blair cannot be prosecuted under English law for his role in the 2003 Iraq war. The ruling comes after a former Iraqi general tried to have Blair put on trial.

The international criminal court said the decision to go to war remains outside its remit, meaning while individual soldiers could be prosecuted, the former Prime Minister could not.

See Impeachment discussions Impeachment in the House of Commons .

On 20 March 2003, a US-led Coalition invaded Iraq, overthrowing the government of Saddam Hussein. A military occupation was established and run by the Coalition Provisional Authority, an interim Iraqi government was formed in June 2004 and a transitional government was elected in 2005. US troops withdrew in 2011.

In Wales we love our creativity especially of our children and their talent of singing, reciting writing, composing, dancing, acting and much more.

We have an organisation called Urdd Gobaith Cymru (some try to translate it as Welsh League of Youth but I prefer Youth the Future of Wales) is Wales’s largest national voluntary youth organisation, with over 55,000 members aged 8 to 25.

Established in 1922, its primary mission is to provide children and young people across Wales with opportunities to learn and socialise entirely through the medium of Welsh.

Urdd Gobaith Cymru has a main motto that forms the core of its mission, along with an original Welsh phrase heavily associated with its Urdd National Eisteddfod.

• The Main Motto: “Cymru, y Ffydd a Christ” (in Welsh) or “To be faithful to Wales, our Fellow-man and Christ“ was the one I grew up with.

• The Eisteddfod Motto: “Er Mwyn Cymru“ (Welsh for “For Wales’ Sake“)

Lois makes history by becoming first female to win two Eisteddfod yr Urdd chairs

If you were brought up in a welsh language school or community you would be a member.

Elin Undeg Williams has won the coveted Urdd Eisteddfod Crown today, marking a run of female winners of the three main prizes for the last three years. At the Main Ceremony on the final day of Eisteddfod yr Urdd Ynys Môn (Friday, 29 May), Elin Undeg Williams from Betws Gwerful Goch, Denbighshire was announced as the festival’s Crown winner. Studying law at Aberystwyth University a member of Young Farmers. Lowri Bebb from Caernarfon came second, and Ffion Eleri Thomas from Bangor took third place. .

378 competitions held at the festival over 7 days. I watched the TV coverage it was remarkable.

Lois Medi – the first female to win two Chairs in the history of Eisteddfod yr Urdd revealed as Winner of the Chair prize for poetry at Eisteddfod yr Urdd Ynys Môn 2026.

Wales’ First Minister, Rhun ap Iorwerth, was been shown a video of his younger self performing at the Urdd Eisteddfod over 40 years ago as part of a visit to the annual event which takes place on Ynys Môn this year.

Rhun who lives on Ynys Môn two miles from the great event was Presidents of the Day on Tuesday watching his father Edward receive an award and he joined thousands of competitors, families, and visitors from across Wales who had headed to Ynys Môn as Eisteddfod yr Urdd 2026 – Europe’s largest travelling youth festival – expands to seven days for the first time in its history.

Llio Maddocks, Director of the Arts, Urdd Gobaith Cymru, said: “Eisteddfod yr Urdd is for everyone, and extending the festival to seven days for the first time ever has allowed us to reach out to new audiences and competitors.

“Seeing more competitors with additional learning needs taking part than ever before is proof that the festival continues to broaden the arts opportunities available to children and young people through the medium of Welsh.

“A huge thank you to Ynys Môn for the warm welcome, to the local committees for all their hard work and support, and to the hundreds of volunteers who will be helping us run the historic festival next week.”

Click:

BBC COVERAGE

The week’s highlights can be watched on S4C Clic and all of the results can be found on S4C’s website: s4c.cymru/urdd

• The company is increasing annual investments in oil and gas to roughly $10 billion while significantly cutting back renewable capital.

• BP paused new offshore wind investments and moved remaining onshore assets into a specialized development joint ventur

  Albert Manifold wasted no time stamping his authority on BP after becoming the UK energy company’s chair last year. He soon replaced its chief executive, slimmed down its board of directors, refocused on oil and gas from renewables and shook the place up. “It’s the Albert Manifold show,” said one investor.

The Times reports that conflict with the company secretary was one of the drivers behind the ousting of Albert Manifold, BP’s former chairman, who has issued a sharp rebuttal of the allegations surrounding his dismissal. Having been a Secretary of the WDA which was promoted by David Malpas the CEO of Tesco I am with with Ben Mathews, who has served as group company secretary at BP since 2019, before Mathews had taken a leave of absence from the company before the dismissal: his role at BP was to advise the board on corporate governance.

Manifold was appointed BP’s chair in replacing Helge Lund after six troubled years steering the company. He is not one to take criticism lying down: “I do not accept . . . that lies can be told about me,” he said in a statement.

BP has significantly underperformed its primary peers, Shell and ExxonMobil, over both long-term and short-term horizons. This is largely due to the capital allocation inefficiencies of its earlier renewable energy transition strategy.

While recent surging oil and gas prices have provided a massive profit windfall to all three energy giants, clear financial gaps persist across key operational metrics.

Manifold’s arrival came months after activist investor Elliott Management disclosed a significant stake in BP. Elliott has pushed for cost cuts and a focus on its core oil and gas business. He survived an investor rebellion at BP’s annual meeting last month. More than 18 per cent of investors voted against his election, after advisory group Glass Lewis raised concerns about governance.

The BP board “unanimously decided” to remove Manifold as Chairman from the board of the energy group on Tuesday after “serious concerns” related “to important governance standards, oversight and conduct”.

The Financial Times reported the level of control he exerted as more akin to that of an executive chair. They alleged Manifold at times spoke down to senior members of staff, both in one-to-one encounters as well as in larger meetings. One person familiar with BP claimed that describing Manifold as “shouty” was “understating it”, adding: “They thought they were hiring a tough change agent, they didn’t think they were hiring a bully.”

Manifold told the FT the decision to remove him came “out of the blue” and he added via a spokesperson that he would contest the claims about his alleged behaviour, saying he had worked to “drive genuine change at BP — cutting costs, challenging excess, and holding the organisation to higher standards”.

A spokeswoman for BP said: “We note the comments of our former chair. We stand by the statement we have made. We have a duty of care to all our employees, particularly those impacted by his behaviour.”

The move to oust Manifold, a former chief executive of Irish building supplies group CRH, comes just weeks after Meg O’Neill became BP chief executive. One person with knowledge of the matter claimed Manifold had attempted to restrict O’Neill’s ability to meet independently with BP’s non-executive directors.

According to the FT Meg O’Neill, who started in April and is the first woman to take the top job at BP, forged a reputation as a tough operator as head of Australia’s Woodside Energy and is said to have bristled at challenges to her authority. O’Neill has moved swiftly to make her own imprint on BP by splitting it into two main business units, marking a return to the oil major’s structure before its 2020 decision to transform itself into a renewable energy company.

The FT states some of the blame lies with Dame Amanda Blanc, chief executive of the insurance company Aviva. Blanc is senior independent director of BP’s board and led the search for a successor to Helge Lund, BP’s former chair. Announcing Manifold’s selection last year, she praised his “relentless focus on performance”. He turned out to be rather too relentless.

BP now has a tough and determined chief executive in O’Neill. Blanc herself pulled off an impressive turnaround at Aviva and recently offered fulsome praise to George Culmer, its modest and effective chair: “The strength of relationship between chair and CEO is the bedrock [of] high performance.”

Shell consistently demonstrates a more robust financial profile than BP. It enjoys higher operating margins and a superior Return on Capital Employed (ROCE). Shell's leaner business structure—optimized rapidly under CEO Wael Sawan—allows it to convert high oil prices into free cash flow more effectively than BP. BP operates with notably higher leverage (debt-to-EBITDA ratio of ~1.1x) compared to Shell (<0.9x) and Exxon. This higher debt burden restricts BP’s flexibility to conduct the massive share buyback programmes that its rivals use to boost equity value.

The FT Opinion concludes: “ For UK governance aficionados, the affair shows the power of the senior independent director when things go wrong in the boardroom. Having led the search for Manifold on BP’s nominations committee, Blanc is in line to do so again for his replacement. She should ask herself whether that is a good idea. BP needs a better outcome this time.”

Notes on BP Personal Disclosure on my Experience

Opponents of a controversial solar energy project on Ynys Môn in my country suspect the developer has withdrawn a planning application in anticipation of a potential legal challenge.

I was involved in the the Maen Hir project when it started it was announced by Lightsource bp almost five years ago, with the intention of building a 240MW solar farm around Llyn Alaw, the drinking water reservoir for the north of Anglesey. As the scheme was originally under 350MW, it was progressed as a Development of National Significance, with the decision to be made by Welsh Government Ministers.

However, after holding public consultations, the project was re-launched as a 360MW solar and battery project, bringing it into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project process, with the decision to be made by the UK Government’s Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband.

I felt this subsidiary of BP was lacking in a moral compass and resigned as a consultant it dismissed community concerns.

The proposed solar farm is huge would be built in four large blocks of farmland totalling around 3,000 acres near Rhosgoch and Llanerchymedd. This includes fields where the endangered Greenland White-fronted Geese spend the winter, one of only two places in Wales they visit.

Around a third of the land is classed as Best and Most Versatile agricultural land, which under Welsh planning policy should not be developed. Protection is much weaker under UK policy. However, the nearby Alaw Môn Solar project, covering nearly 700 acres, the majority of which is classed as Best and Most Versatile land, was approved by the previous Welsh Minister.

It would be interesting to know who are the lobbyists.

Stephen Colbert hasn’t even been off the air long, the launch of a new YouTube channel that has garnered hundred of thousands of subscribers.

The popular late-night host, who aired his final episode of The Late Show last Thursday, quietly debuted the channel over the weekend with a single video titled: “Only In Monroe --- May 22, 2026.”

The hilarious hour-long video features Colbert appearing on Monroe Community Media, a public access television station in Monroe, Michigan – a small town with a population of roughly 20,000…with original hosts including delightful Miss America 1988 talking about grief and cancer of the thyroid …and actor Jeff Daniels who featured on The Late Show on 19 Feb 2026 see Colbert/Daniels

Colbert asked “what is the scariest animal? “

Jeff Daniels “what is the name of the animal on Trump’s head?”

#TheLateShow

In the video, the 62-year-old comedian joked: “It’s been an excruciating 23 hours without being on TV, so I am grateful to be able to be here on Monroe Community Media before they also get acquired by Paramount,” referring to CBS’s parent company, which was recently acquired by Larry and David Ellison – allies of Donald Trump – as part of an $8bn deal.

Colbert’s new YouTube channel cropped up amid lingering controversy surrounding the end of Colbert’s show and Paramount. Last year, Paramount announced the cancellation of Colbert’s show while seeking regulatory approval from the Trump administration for its merger with Skydance Media.

The proposed deal faced months of delays after the president filed a lawsuit against CBS News over a 60 Minutes interview with former vice-president Kamala Harris in 2024. In the lawsuit, Trump and his legal team accused the program of deceptively editing Harris’s interview, claiming the broadcast amounted to “election interference”.

Paramount eventually settled the lawsuit and agreed to donate $16m to Trump’s future presidential library. Colbert sharply criticized the agreement on-air, calling it a “big fat bribe”.

“As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended … I don’t know if anything – anything – will repair my trust in this company. But, just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16m would help,” Colbert added at the time.

Colbert’s comments quickly drew backlash from Trump, who publicly demanded the host be taken off the air. Meanwhile, critics viewed the cancellation of Colbert’s show as a move to appease Trump amid a federal review of the Paramount-Skydance merger.

Following Colbert’s surprise appearance on Only in Monroe – a show he had previously appeared on in 2015 ahead of the debut of The Late Show – clips from the episode quickly spread across social media.

CBS responded by issuing a wave of copyright notices targeting users who had reposted footage from the appearance, prompting backlash online. Critics accused Paramount of trying to “suppress” the clips through what they described as “frivolous” copyright claims.

Then CBS reversed course, stating that the episode had been “financed and produced by CBS Studios and was posted on Stephen Colbert’s YouTube channel in collaboration with Monroe Community Media and The Late Show’s YouTube channels”.

Under attack CBS added that it would “waive further enforcement of this standard industry practice pending additional review” while emphasizing that “as is our regular practice, we send copyright notices to unauthorized websites that post copyrighted content from CBS and our network/studio talent such as Stephen Colbert”.

Monroe, Michigan is most famous as the childhood home of General George Armstrong Custer, the birthplace of the La-Z-Boy recliner, and the location of the River Raisin National Battlefield Park from the War of 1812.

if you don’t know his favorite action movie, or what he thinks happens when we die, do you really know legendary actor Jeff Daniels? After the clip, get to know other big stars on a deeper level with #TheColbertQuestionert playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
#Colbert #Comedy #ColbertQuestionert #JeffDaniels #StephenColbert

Last year, I spent much time researching the great Anthony Raphael Mengs whose work is heralded in a once in a lifetime exhibition in the Prado in 2025. And Raimundo de Madrazo the MAPFRE Foundation presented the first major retrospective dedicated to this artist.

Mengs argued in his treatise Reflections on Beauty and Taste in Painting (1762) that:

“beauty is an imperfect manifestation of divine perfection”.

Mengs was driven to be a great important 19th painter, as his father demanded of him.

He wrote

“It appears to me indubitable, that the part most noble in painting is not what which solely delights the sight and renders a work pleasing to men, who are in fact ignorant of art, but that those parts are the most valuable which satisfy the understanding , and content those who know how to use the full of the faculties of the mind.”

Stretching the mind, this statement reminds of my learning of one of my favourite ever Painters Raimundo de Madrazo, (Roma, 24 de julio de 1841-Versalles, 15 de septiembre de 1920) a student at 13 years of age, Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, where his fellow students included Martín Rico, Rosales and Palmaroli, among others.

20 years of research brings a great exhibition. In Madrid. Links below.

I love Raimindo for not only his art but his way of life. He was kind and caring found his path worked hard, never took anything for granted .

19th-century painter, was a sensitive and fine man. Grandfather Director of the Prado, Son to respected great painter too Frederico , Brother to Cecilia and Brother in Law to Mario Fortuny Senior, His wife died and he had one Son Coco , and found another Love,María Hahn, Uncle to Fortuny Jnr . His soul and spirit was of goodness and he elevated those he painted.

During the Franco-Prussian War Raimundo aided the Red Cross in its work in Paris.

Lived in Madrid, Rome, Paris and New York for In the late 1860s, he spent some time in Rome with his brother, working in the studios of Mariano Fortuny, who had married their sister Cecilia. During the Franco-Prussian War, he lived in Granada.

His wife died during childbirth in 1874, the same year as his brother-in-law, Fortuny.

In 1894, he donated a collection of works by Francisco de Goya that he had acquired in 1869 to the Museo del Prado.[4] In 1914, he moved to Versailles, where he died six years later. His son, Federico de Madrazo y Ochoa (known as “Coco”) also became a notable painter.

Federico de Madrazo

by his son Raimundo 1875

The MAPFRE Foundation organised in collaboration with the Meadows Museum in Dallas, brings together more than one hundred works that trace his career between Paris and the United States, where he was the favorite painter of many in high society.

My studies of Raimundo in 2025 were rewarding as it led me to Venice and Fortuny Jnr his nephew from Major Madrazos of Prado to Minor yet the important keys to creative genius, Mariano Fortuny (1871- 1949)...

Many of Raimundo best-known paintings are anecdotal genre scenes whose central figure is Aline Masson, his model for over fifteen years. Dressed or nude, sporting a white mantilla or disguised as a “Pierrette,” she appears in many of Madrazo’s more commercial works, most of which are frivolous in their subject matter but extremely well executed, fresh and sensual. These paintings seem to capture her lively, smiling youth with an awareness of the unsustainable decadence of late-bourgeois realism.

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The Catalan Pep Guardiola is an exceptional individual, transcending the roles of a sportsman, footballer, and manager. His father, Valenti, celebrated his 95th birthday on Saturday, the day preceding his son’s receipt of unwavering global admiration and focused love and support in Manchester. While the statistics are unprecedented, they do not encapsulate the profound impact Pep has on making the world a better place.

Guardiola, the individual who arrived in Manchester in 2016 and metamorphosed not merely a club but an entire football culture, addressed the devoted fans who had bestowed upon him unwavering support and subsequently reciprocated their loyalty in an extraordinary speech. Each word imbued with the weight of a decade, each pause conveyed a profound message, and every sentence struck a deeper resonance than anticipated.

"If everyone wants to be a jazz musician, it will be chaos. They will not be a team, and nothing will be possible."

Pep in 10 years won 70% of his 593 matches across all competitions, coming out on top 416 times. 904 goals scored and only 328 conceded. Meanwhile, our goal difference across all competitions is a frankly unbelievable +901 owing to 1,423 scored and 521 conceded. 20 Trophies.

The PEP Video shows his depth Video of Pep after 10 years

The greatest football managers in history but his video shown his emotional intelligence his sense of history.

The Message from Pep talking about love of Manchester, the colour of the bricks, Pankhurst , industrial revolution, work and suffer doing it through hard work. Guardiola Message

“The result is an empty thing. What satisfies me the most in my job is to feel emotions, the way we play.”

Poem by Tony Walsh

Record in last ten years at Manchester City

Pep Guardiola leaves Manchester City this summer after a transformative 10 years in charge of the Club.

North Stand to be renamed ‘The Pep Guardiola Stand’

The Catalan boss has led us to several counts of unprecedented success, lifting 20 major trophies and breaking records galore along the way.

His 593rd and final match was also special as he became our longest serving manager by games, overtaking Les McDowall who led us on 592 occasions.

We have enjoyed dominance of English football, becoming the first side ever to win the top-flight four years in a row and setting a Premier League points record of 100 in 2017/18.

2018/19 remains the only time a team has ever won all four major domestic trophies in the English game – Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Community Shield.

2022/23 is perhaps Guardiola’s crowning achievement, taking us to the holy grail of a continental Treble before we completed 2023 as the only English side ever to hold the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup at the same time.

Above all, he’s done it with relentless and beautiful attacking football in a style that while inimitable, has inspired sides up and down the pyramid to attempt to play the Pep way.

While such an impact can never be fully captured by numbers and records, Guardiola’s time in England has broken new ground on so many frontiers.

Here we’ll recount the stats that formed the basis of this historic decade…

OVERALL PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE

The boss has led us to a whopping 865 points from his 380 Premier League games in charge, averaging 2.28 points per game and almost 87 per season.

Liverpool are the only other side to make 800 over the course of the last 10 years, ending on 801 – 64 behind Pep’s City.

Every word of Guardiola’s final pre-match press conference

Arsenal are next on 726 with Chelsea on 670 and Manchester United rounding up the top five on 662 – more than 200 behind Pep and City over the course of the last 10 years.

Over the course of his 10 years in the Premier League, Guardiola has been the quickest manager to 500, 600, 700 and 800 points.

WIN PERCENTAGE

The boss won 70% of his 593 matches across all competitions, coming out on top 416 times.

In Premier League terms alone, it’s 269 wins in his 380 games – which is also a win rate of approximately 70%.

That’s almost five per cent more than Alex Ferguson, who won 65.2% of his 810 matches in the Premier League and way above other Premier League managerial greats in Arsene Wenger (57.2%), Jose Mourinho (59.2%) and Jurgen Klopp (62.5%).

Since 2008/09, when Pep managed in one of Europe’s top five leagues for the first time, he has won 467 league games. That’s over a 100 more than any other boss in that same time period.

Pep: I leave so confident about City looking to the future

GOAL DIFFERENCE

With a goal difference of +576 across his Premier League career, City are 153 better off than Liverpool, who have been the next best side in the 10 years.

That’s come from 904 goals scored and only 328 conceded.

Meanwhile, our goal difference across all competitions is a frankly unbelievable +901 owing to 1,423 scored and 521 conceded.

The three seasons with the best goal difference for a Premier League side have been Pep’s City, finishing +79 in 2017/18, +73 in 2021/22 and +72 in 2018/19.

Two of the three highest scoring seasons in Premier League history have come for City under Pep, with the record set by our 2017/18 team with 106.

In 2019/20, we hit 102, with Chelsea’s 103 in 2009/10 the only other one to surpass that.

TITLE WINS

With six titles to his name, only Alex Ferguson has won the English top-flight more than our boss.

He’s tied with Aston Villa’s George Ramsey, who won the league six times between 1894 and 1910, and Bob Paisley at Liverpool between 1976 and 1983.

And as we know, our four titles in a row between 2020/21 and 2023/24 is an all-time English football record for the longest streak of top-flight titles.

Only Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and David Moyes have won more matches in the Premier League era than Guardiola, but our man’s win percentage is significantly better than any of that trio.

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Guardiola’s first title in 2017/18 came with a Premier League points record as we racked up a century, an amazing 19 points better than second placed Manchester United.

We followed that success up in 2018/19 by edging out Liverpool to the title, claiming 98 points.

We were again far ahead of the competition in 2020/21, finishing 12 points ahead of Manchester United before another tense battle with Liverpool ended in a second title decided by just one point.

Our 2022/23 season saw us collect 89 points – five more than Arsenal in second before we surpassed 90 again with 91 in 2023/24.

90 POINTS

We have accumulated at least 90 points in four seasons under Guardiola.

That is more than any other side in the Premier League has managed in the league’s entire history, with Liverpool and Chelsea both hitting that mark three times. Manchester United have done it twice and Arsenal once.

MOST GOALS

Erling Haaland is the most prolific player in Pep’s time at City, scoring 162 times.

Sergio Aguero is next with 124 and Raheem Sterling on 120 before Phil Foden rounds up all players to surpass 100 on 110.

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MOST ASSISTS

Kevin De Bruyne is far and away the most creative player from Pep’s period in charge, providing 158 assists across all competitions.

Bernardo Silva is next on 75 with Raheem Sterling on 66 and Phil Foden on 65.

CLEAN SHEETS

No side has kept more clean sheets across Europe’s top five leagues than City since the start of Pep’s first year at City.

We’ve shut out our opponents on 252 occasions, with PSG next on 231 and Atletico Madrid after that on 223.

APPEARANCES

Bernardo Silva is Guardiola’s most selected player ever, playing 460 times across all competitions

Kevin De Bruyne and Ederson are next, getting through 381 and 372 games respectively.

All three are amongst the six men to have been part of all six titles under the boss along with Phil Foden, John Stones and Kyle Walker.

TROPHIES

Premier League (2017/18, 2018/19, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24)

Champions League (2022/23)

FA Cup (2018/19, 2022/23, 2025/26)

League Cup (2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2025/26)

Super Cup (2023)

FIFA Club World Cup (2023)

Community Shield (2018, 2019, 2024)

RECORDS AND MILESTONES

Premier League

Only team to win four top-flight titles in a row in English football history.

Record points tally in a Premier League season – 100 points in 2017/18.

90+ point tallies four times – more than any other club has managed across the entire 34-year history of the Premier League (Liverpool and Chelsea on three, Manchester United on two, Arsenal on one).

Quickest manager to 100, 150, 200, 250 Premier League wins.

Quickest manager to 500, 600, 700, 800 Premier League points.

36 Premier League wins across in 2021 is an English top-flight record for a calendar year.

19 away league wins in 2021 is English top-flight record for a calendar year.

32 wins in 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons is most in a single Premier League campaign.

The three seasons with the best goal difference for a Premier League side have been Pep’s City, finishing +79 in 2017/18, +73 in 2021/22 and +72 in 2018/19.

106 goals in 2017/18 is the most ever scored in a single campaign.

704 points in his first 300 Premier League matches, which is 70 more than next best Jose Mourinho

Our 14 consecutive wins to end the 2018/19 Premier League season is the longest run of victories at the end of a campaign.

Quickest to 150 Premier League wins when scoring three or more goals.

FA Cup

First team ever to reach the semi-finals eight seasons in a row (2019 – 2026)

First team ever to reach the final four seasons in a row (2023 – 2026)

Joint biggest FA Cup final victory (6-0 v Watford in 2019, level with Bury v Derby Count in 1903).

More wins than anyone else during his time in charge (46, nine more than Chelsea in second).

Longest ever run of successive home victories (18), beating Clapham Rovers’ 17 between 1873 and 1881.

The best win ratio of any manager to take charge of at least 10 games in the competition, winning 85% of his ties.

League Cup

Most League Cup victories of any manager in English football history – Five. Alex Ferguson, Brian Clough, Jose Mourinho on four.

First manager ever to win the competition four years in a row, with Liverpool’s run of four between 1981 and 1984 overseen by two managers.

More wins than anyone else during his time in charge (29 in total).

Champions League

One of only four managers to win the Champions League/European Cup three times – 2009, 2011 and 2023.

Quickest to 100 Champions League wins, requiring just 160 matches. 20 matches faster than previous best Carlo Ancelotti.

Second most victories in Champions League history - 117 from 189 games. Ancelotti has the most with 124 from 218.

Other

First English club ever to lift the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup within 12 months.

Only team ever to win all four major domestic trophies in the same season (2018/19) – Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, Community Shield.

Only the second manager to win both domestic cups at least three times each.

In 2025/26, we became the first side ever to win every single game in both domestic cup competitions.

We are the only English top-flight team to score 100 goals at home in a single season in all competitions, doing so twice (2018/19 and 2022/23).

Most games in charge of City (593), overtaking Les McDowall on 592 in his final match as manager.

COMPETITION BY COMPETITION STATS

Premier League

Matches: 380

Wins: 269

Draws: 57

Losses: 52

Goals: 904

Conceded: 328

Goal difference: +576

Trophies: Six (2017/18, 2018/19, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23. 2023/24)

Most used player: Bernardo Silva (304)

Top scorer: Erling Haaland (112)

FA Cup

Matches: 54

Wins: 46

Draws: 1

Losses: 7

Goals: 160

Conceded: 32

Goal difference: +128

Trophies: Three (2019, 2023, 2026)

Most used player: Bernardo Silva (36)

Top scorer: Phil Foden and Erling Haaland (12)

League Cup

Matches: 39

Wins: 33 (including penalty shoot-outs)

Losses: 6 (including penalty shoot-outs)

Goals: 83

Conceded: 26

Goal difference: +57

Trophies: 5 (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2026)

Most used player: Phil Foden (29)

Top scorer: Riyad Mahrez (8)

Champions League

Matches: 107

Wins: 66

Draws: 18 with penalty shoot-outs

Losses: 23 with penalty shoot-outs

Goals: 246

Conceded: 122

Goal difference: +124

Trophies: 1 (2023)

Most used player: Bernardo Silva (86 games)

Top scorer: Erling Haaland (34 goals)

Overall

Matches: 593

Wins: 416

Draws: 87

Losses: 90

Goals: 1,423

Conceded: 522

Goal difference: +901

Trophies: 20 (6x Premier League, 5x League Cups, 3x FA Cups, 3x Community Shields, 1x Champions League, 1x FIFA Club World Cup, 1x UEFA Super Cup)

Most used player: Bernardo Silva (460)

Top scorer: Erling Haaland (162)

The Film Taxi Driver Martin Scorsese's groundbreaking New York thriller turned 50 this year. It remains a remarkable piece of work – though its truly defining moment is probably not the one you think.

Even after five decades of popularity, influence and recognition Scorsese’s ,classic film Taxi Driver (1976) written by Paul Schrader, is still most remembered for a famed five-word phrase uttered by its star Robert De Niro, playing troubled anti-hero Travis Bickle:

“Are you talking to me?”

Bickle asks himself, staring at his reflection in the mirror. An ex-marine-turned-taxi-driver, he is quickly unravelling in the existential nightmare of 1970s New York.

It’s an indelible cinematic moment but, as Taxi Driver turns 50, having been released in US cinemas on 8 February 1976, it has come to dominate the cultural memory of Scorsese’s complex film – sometimes unfairly overshadowing the rest of it. Robert De Niro to prepare for the film took a taxi driving licence out in New York, he deliberately lost 5 35 lbs working to give a gaunt look 12 hour taxi shifts, immersion keeping a diary that informed his performance “All the animals come out at night”, notes.

Most conversations taxi drivers have are very simple: how’s your day, how’s the weather, how’s the traffic, when is your shift finishing, that sort of thing. Occasionally you meet taxi drivers who are psychologically and emotionally sound, it is frequently the case in Cardiff or Madrid.

Some suggest being a taxi driver is like being an observer where no one will acknowledge that you even exist and it makes you feel lonely seeing how happy and normal people's lives are when you're just struggling to be alive. Or is that the passenger? Travis in the film, see life from perspective of a taxi driver but it is consequence of loneliness, false purpose and delusion of false heroism.

Robert De Niro and Cybill Shepherd as Travis Bickle and Betsy – the latter’s rejection spurs Bickle to violence

One of my good friend’s is a driver but works for private customers. Shrewd and knowledgeable he spends his days looking through the mirror to the rear of his car.He is dependable, hard working the opposite of Travis Bickle in the Film.

Last October in New York coming over the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, also known as the 59th Street Bridge, is a cantilever truss bridge over the East River…I had a fine conversation about the future of the United States and the correct prediction of a new Mayor for the City of New York.

In Wales, Cardiff taxi drivers hail from every nation. The prevalence of Somali drivers is not a surprise in Cardiff. The City hosts one of the oldest and largest Somali communities in the UK, with deep historical roots dating back to the late 19th century. The community is centered primarily around the Butetown, Grangetown, and Cardiff Bay area. The driver describing his happy life in Cardiff but stating he would like to visit his Mother who was aged 92 back in Somali, stating “behind every good man is an excellent woman.”

In a week, I met Cardiff taxi drivers not only from Somalia but from Lebanon, Afghanistan, Nigeria all talking about world affairs. It reminded me when of when I had lost my mother I had to be in London and travelling from Dolphin Square to the House of Commons, a black cab driver and I talked about grief. He too had lost his mother in the same week, the exchange saw us tearing up as I arrived at the entrance to the House of Lords to meet an old friend.

In Madrid, a driver can take you through his favourite art in the Prado or the Reina Sofia but will also give you detailed analysis of football in Atletico Madrid or at the Bernabéu as you go from rail station of Chamartín.

In the Film, Travis serves as the film’s narrator, making for an almost entirely subjective perspective. As he voices his erratic thoughts, it quickly becomes apparent that he feels as if the world, as represented by New York, is corrupt and broken. Feeling alienated from society, Travis spends much of his free time alone in his small apartment .

Eventually, Travis is celebrated as a hero for having saved a young prostitute Iris, allowing her to return to her grateful family. In the final scene, Travis is back at work when Betsy gets into his cab one night. By all appearances, having once rejected him, she now admires him, telling him that she read about him in the newspapers. In the rearview mirror, however, a flash of paranoia in Travis’s eyes suggests that his mental health has not improved.

The dual burden of long hours and high-stress customer interactions has led to high rates of depression and anxiety among drivers, with some studies estimating depression rates as high as 60% within the industry.

When My Father died I extended my business trip to New York. Spending four days exploring the City mainly by using taxi drivers this was in the 90s. It is City of extremes and taxi drivers. The psychological dynamic between a taxi driver and a customer is an asymmetrical interaction. Drivers act as confidants or temporary "therapists", absorbing stress, while enduring the emotional labour of managing unpredictable interactions. Tough job.

Over many hectares the Museum, is one of the gems of international museums which now preserves Welsh history. The Editor references a row of terraced houses from Merthyr Tydfil, once the industrial capital of Britain, if not the world. I love these look backs, at our history. Each of the six houses is presented as they were at different times in their history — 1805, 1855, 1895, 1925, 1955 and 1985 — from poverty (and shared beds for lodgers working different shifts) to relative prosperity. People expected their living standards to improve, and they did.

Plaid Cymru wants to bring back version two of the Welsh Development Agency under the leadership of Adam Price MS who was appointed as the Welsh Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy on May 13, 2026, serving in the minority government led by First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth.

Wales has a chance to build an economy again. Labour dissolved the WDA in 2006 and the economy went backwards to bottom of the UK league.

We know we cannot rely on nostalgia. Mr Price has great knowledge of the welsh economy and is an ideal person to take the job.

Workmen’s Institute Oakdale, today in St Fagan’ sWorkmen’s institutes were established as centres for self-education as well as recreation, ‘the brains of the coalfield’.

The author, Mr David Smith, draws our attention not only the houses from Merthyr but also the splendid Workmen’s Institute, originally in Oakdale, a mining village 10 miles north of Caerphilly. It provided, as well as recreation, a reading room and library, for self-education and improvement. All now museum pieces tells us a lot about the industrial history of our South Wales.

The foundation stones were laid on 3 July 1916 and just over a year later, the new Oakdale Institute was opened on 10 September 1917. It reminds of the much grander Welfare Hall in my home town of Glynneath, now sadly demolished.

Explore St Fagans .

The Economic Editor references the striking differences within the UK economy:

Official figures show that London’s gross domestic product (GDP) per head in 2023, the latest year for which figures are available, was £69,077 — 75 per cent above the UK average and more than double six other regions and countries; the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, the East and West Midlands, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The poorest region of the country, measured by GDP per head, was the North East, 28 per cent below the national average, followed by Wales, 26 per cent below.

It will not have escaped attention, well except the Prime Minister Keir Starmer, that these were places where the political earthquakes on May 7 were most intense.He states:

“All of which means politicians promising change that will restore past glories are doomed to disappoint. If Reform or the Greens ever get anywhere close to national government, they will disappoint, as Labour has disappointed, and the Tories before them with their failed “levelling up” agenda.”

Mr David Smith writes:

“The UK is still a significant manufacturing nation, the world’s 11th largest, but struggling even more now against a backdrop of sky-high energy costs and the loss of single market access. When you get voting patterns like those we saw on May 7, with Labour almost wiped out in Wales and suffering huge losses in English local councils, it is almost, as with the Brexit vote ten years ago, an economic cry for help.”

The author reminds us of Merthyr.

He writes “To conclude where we started, in the former industrial heartland of Merthyr Tydfil. A Hoover factory was established there shortly after the Second World War on an old ironworks site, and among its products in the 1980s was Sir Clive Sinclair’s C5, an iconic if dangerous to ride battery-electric tricycle. But the Hoover factory has been a piece of industrial archaeology for some time, and the site is now being developed for housing. That may say it all.”

I agree with the Economics Editor that what we need, of course, are different but no less fulfilling jobs.

It must be done and a new WDA will assist but it must bring Wales together.

In Wales we recognise that we have a chronic shortage of skilled construction workers. Service-sector jobs are key, but the spread could be a lot better. Spain is a role model with continued GDP growth of over 2 % year on year. Infrastructe is key.

An important point is made “Skilled trades are less vulnerable to AI-related job destruction than others.” but now the non existent welsh miners would now be traded for AI robots to take on the dangers underground, as my father knew.

The author concludes “We cannot rely on nostalgia.”

We need progress can the politicians deliver we will wait and see.

• Spain built over 3,200 kilometres at £13 million per kilometre.

• France’s most expensive TGV line cost £16.9 million.

• Germany completed Berlin to Munich through difficult terrain at around £19 million.

The full network was originally costed at £37.5 billion. Industry estimates have now passed £100 billion. It is now expected that the first trains will not run on the HS2 line until 2035 at the earliest- nine years late on the deadline that was first announced with the project in 2012.

Alon Levy, who maintains the largest international dataset of transit construction costs, has calculated that the total cost of every high-speed line ever opened in France and Germany combined is approximately equal to the cost of HS2 alone.

While the overall timeline has been delayed, all twin-bore tunneling is complete on the 46-mile opening section. The Transport Secretary and HS2 Ltd are currently executing a "Crossrail-style" recovery plan, with a fully revised, definitive timeline and cost blueprint expected to be released to Parliament by the end of 2026

"Litany of Failure"

Reset (Push back to 2035–2038): The Transport Secretary confirmed that there was "no reasonable way" the remaining London-to-Birmingham line could make the 2033 window. This pushed the earliest operational timeline to 2035 at the absolute earliest.

See article

Crazy Cost of Britain’s high-speed rail project, HS2.

The original plans for HS2 saw the high-speed rail connecting London to Birmingham and splitting from there in a Y-shape to Leeds and Manchester. The Leeds connection was cancelled in November 2021, now ending at Nottingham. The Golburne link was also binned from the western line and in October 2023 at the Conservative Party Conference, then-prime minister Rishi Sunak announced the axing of the Crewe and Manchester leg.

Whistleblowers alleged that senior HS2 officials artificially inflated cost estimates to ensure the goverment kept funding the project, largely via taxpayer money. Former senior HS2 cost analyst Stephen Cresswell told the Sunday Times in 2023 that he was ordered by senior officials to ‘play down’ the costs of the now-axed Birmingham to Leeds leg.

A “casebook example of how not to run a project”

The damning verdict above on the HS2 project was given earlier this year, after a public accounts committee report found that the project had been so poorly managed that it presented “real risk” to the UK’s reputation.

That report estimated that HS2 costs could reach as high as £80bn; Wild’s report will see a revised estimate of £100bn.

PAC slams HS2 project for costs and uncertainty

The report highlights that the Department for Transport (DfT) and HS2 Ltd disagree on the costs of Phase 1 of the project, with the DfT estimating £45-54bn, while HS2 estimate £54 -66 billion.

Criticism is also aimed at how Euston station is being handled with its re-development. In spite of the need to redevelop the station after changes to the project, there is still not a plan for work for the station, the existing Network Rail station, the underground station, or the commercial and housing developments nearby. Clarity is also needed on the funding for Euston station’s work, as the government says the work will be privately funded but with no detail on how.

“We expect to see a real improvement when we next examine this matter”

In 2025, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said: “Our Committee has not made recommendations in our report on delivering better outcomes for HS2’s future passengers. We are long past that point. It is time to deal with HS2 as what it is – a cautionary tale that should be studied by future governments in how not to run a major project.”

PAC Chair “ We are sceptical of Government’s ability to successfully deliver even a curtailed scheme, one which we already know will on its face bring very poor value for money. The question has instead become: what possible benefit can the Government now salvage for the taxpayer, from a mess that presents real risks to the UK’s overall reputation?”

“This Committee has scrutinised HS2 since its inception. Our report lays out a catalogue of warnings proceeding from that scrutiny which, if heeded, may have brought about a different outcome. Both DfT and HS2 Ltd. must now begin the hard work of making this project the best possible version of itself in the circumstances, while swiftly addressing the needs of those impacted by decisions made under this scheme who are still waiting for answers. The government must now look to future, and deliver on its responsibilities to Parliament and the wider public – through the lens of its accountability to the PAC.”

“It is ultimately the Department of Transport that has failed to manage this enormous project and manage HS2 properly. This is likely to have wasted billions of pounds of taxpayers money in delays and overspends. “

“The department as well as resetting the project must now reset itself to manage this project to a workable conclusion in line with the eventually agreed budget and timescale. To do this they will need to employ people with the correct range of skill sets to critically supervise and oversee this huge project. This is the only way to salvage its severely tarnished reputation. We expect to see a real improvement when we next examine this matter.”

My father from Cwmgors, worked for 35 years for the National Coal Board in Wales, see letter below* , mechanising 15 mines in the South Wales coal field.

Dai John would, if alive today, undoubtedly support renewable energy initiatives in Wales and globally. If a young man in 2026, he would be in the engineering side of it, rather than becoming a procurement specialist like my son. He would likely share his enthusiasm with his workforce. I was so proud of my father, who provided me with an exacting childhood full of support. His values of social democracy are deeply ingrained in me, as are they now in my son, William.

As a family, we are concerned about those who are impoverished and cannot afford the anticipated energy prices in 2026, or are in need, or are suffering in or the effects of war. Additionally, we are grateful for the emergence of a new political party thinking that is poised to lead in Wales.

My father would be astounded by the aggressive actions of America and Russia in the present day. Furthermore, it is concerning that approximately 22% of the population in Wales (roughly 680,000 individuals) resides in relative income poverty. Additionally, around 45% of single-parent households in Wales are living in relative income poverty after factoring in housing costs.

Renewable energy can reduce poverty but also renewable energy promotes world peace.

The right wing pelicans cling to the need for fossil fuel suppliers and funders for their non climate change propaganda and denial that we face each day from the likes of Donald Trump and Nigel Farage .

Not only do fascist dictators require financial backing from fossil fuel extractors, but they also finance some of the world’s most severe conflicts. Since the commencement of the war in 2022, Russia’s fossil fuel revenues have significantly surpassed Western aid to Ukraine.

This situation allows the Kremlin to sustain its aggressive actions.

Tragically, this recent price surge is anticipated to further fuel Russia’s war machine. Proxy wars in Sudan, Yemen, and other regions are facilitated by fossil fuel revenues and driven by disputes over resources.

Moving beyond fossil fuels must therefore be a priority — not just an environmental imperative, but a strategic investment in national and global security.

Juan Manuel Santos a former president of Colombia, Nobel Peace Laureate and chair of The Elders states “We now stand at a crossroads between two models of development: one rooted in extraction and uncertainty; the other in resilience and shared prosperity. Renewables offer a pathway toward the latter and the capacity to contribute to peace in an increasingly volatile world. It is a recalibration of the geopolitical playing field. It is a peace strategy in and of itself.”

Nations must now make a critical decision: to persist on a path of fossil fuel reliance or accelerate the transition away from its utilisation. There is an allure to choose the former, whether by diversifying dependence from a single supplier or expanding fossil fuel subsidies. Although these actions may provide temporary relief, they will only exacerbate long-term instability and reinforce the very vulnerabilities that countries seek to overcome.

Concurrently, and even more concerning, the climate consequences of the current system are accelerating. Fossil fuels account for approximately 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and climate-related disasters have already incurred an annual cost exceeding $200 billion to the global economy. The past three years have been the hottest ever recorded, with temperatures exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for extended periods. Every fraction of a degree now engenders more pronounced risks, including more intense heatwaves, more destructive floods, and prolonged droughts that compromise food and water security..

Yet a cleaner, fairer, more secure energy future is available.

Renewable energy presents a fundamentally distinct model, characterised by progressively decreasing costs. Energy independence serves as a means of stability, and this is precisely what renewable energy sources situated within national boundaries can deliver. The sun and wind are not subject to the constraints of the Strait of Hormuz and are not subject to the erratic decisions of autocratic leaders.

If nations were powered by clean energy, they would be safeguarded from the disruptive effects of conflicts in the Middle East, Russia-Ukraine, or other regions. Recent events demonstrate this in practice.

Spain’s adoption of solar and wind energy has protected it from the price increases that many others are experiencing, contributing to its reduced vulnerability to external economic and political pressures.

Pakistan’s rapid solar expansion has facilitated the avoidance of over $12 billion in fossil fuel imports and is mitigating the economy as gas shortages emerge, thereby strengthening the type of stability that underpins peace.

The lesson is clear: although the transition to renewable energy will not be instantaneous, decreasing reliance on fossil fuels can strengthen a nation’s resilience to global disruptions, alleviate poverty, and foster stability.

The World must and will become a better place.

"If you keep a friend who betrays you, you're betraying yourself."

— Melinda Gates

We live in a world where loyalty is cheapened by us all. The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies; it comes from those you trust the most.

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet the tension between loyalty and betrayal serves as the primary catalyst for the tragedy. On Absolute Loyalty it seen in these wonderful lines of Hamlet to Horatio:

“Give me that man

That is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him

In my heart’s core, ay, in my heart of heart,

As I do thee.” (Act 3, Scene 2)

Throughout your life, you will inevitably encounter and explore the themes of loyalty and betrayal. The formation and collapse of matters are often driven by personal selfish interests rather than fixed selfless values. While loyalty fosters unity and stability in personal life and global political governance, betrayal is frequently employed to eliminate individuals or undermine their influence. In world affairs, political opponents may seek power, while others may prioritise short-term tactical advantage. Within familial relationships, dishonesty, greed, and financial gain can also serve as catalysts for betrayal.

As exemplified by Shakespeare’s profound exploration of these themes, contemporary politics serves as a poignant illustration. It inevitably engenders betrayal as politicians ascend the treacherous path of electoral and self success, only to plummet more precipitously than they anticipate, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer is currently experiencing.

Recently, I experienced a similar situation within my family. In this instance, the underlying cause was not power, but rather greed and a profound lack of respect. The perpetrator’s desire for money was intertwined with a sense of righteous entitlement, which convinced him of his own righteousness. This psychological manipulation served as a valuable lesson for me, as my psychologist friend explained to me this week.

Although we may not be perfect, moments of hurt can occur. Those you once trusted and were loyal to may no longer be as they were. This can be a relief because you have always been attuned to subtle signs and dismissed warnings from those you trusted. In my case, I brushed them away, because I made promises to my mother on her deathbed.

For politicians such as Keir Starmer and Boris Johnson, this manifests in public discourse, with headlines appearing in newspapers rather than in theatrical productions.

Privately, it manifests in one’s thoughts, potentially causing damage. However, it is crucial to learn to resist and not endure such betrayal. Did you not notice the signs? Others did. Feeling foolish may be a natural response, but this is a common reaction in situations of betrayal.

In business, I have consistently endeavoured to maintain loyalty, and this approach has yielded positive outcomes in both my professional and personal lives. It is disconcerting to be betrayed by someone who professes loyalty while simultaneously demonstrating the opposite. As a friend once aptly described it, it is akin to attempting to flatten a crumpled piece of paper, which will inevitably result in permanent damage. While I have not always been steadfast in my loyalty in my personal life, particularly in romantic relationships, I have come to the realisation that true loyalty requires unwavering commitment in all aspects of a relationship. Once a person demonstrates loyalty in thought, word, and deed, it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle.

“Fake friends are like shadows: always near you at your brightest moments, but nowhere to be seen at your darkest hour.” — Khalil Gibran

It is crucial to acknowledge that no individual can be considered a true friend if they disregard your right to personal growth at any age. Personal growth entails respecting your strengths and weaknesses, as you develop from both. A valuable test to evaluate friendships or business is to assess the ratio of your contributions to theirs. Do you actively promote their strengths or dwell on their weaknesses? This approach is not entirely transactional, it is worth considering. The fear of betrayal can serve as a protective mechanism for your heart and mind, while loyalty is a more fulfilling and joyful endeavour.

In 1984 I remember seeing Antony Sher in a Royal Shakespeare Company performance in Richard III his physical interpretation, utilising crutches to mimic the character’s physical deformity while emphasising animalistic menace. I also loved Mark Rylance for his 2014 portrayal, see below: “to take is not to give”.

Shakespeare’s Richard III is full of little (and not so little) betrayals. This sets the mood for the play: nothing is sacred and no one is safe. Richard betrays his friends and family, and his friends and family betray him. Through it all, there’s hardly a moment of surprise or shock, even when Richard orders the executions of his nephews, whom he’s supposed to be protecting. Betrayal is an expected part of power politics, and the audience learns to be wary of the motives and intentions of nearly every player. Betrayal is also a contagion that drives everyone to preemptive deceit. Only Richmond, who refuses to betray the state’s interests for his own gain, breaks the cycle of distrust and exploitation.

The line “Teach not thy lips such scorn, for they were made / For kissing, lady, not for such contempt” is spoken by Richard in Act 1, Scene 2 of William Shakespeare’s Richard III. In this scene, Richard uses flattery and manipulation to woo Lady Anne, even after murdering her husband and father-in-law.

Modern politics plays that out. Because the starkness is that they the politicians need to vote and its black and white. Politicians shift their allegiances in response to changing voter sentiments or strategic career pivots. Niccolò Machiavelli emphasised that a ruler's strength and intelligence are measured by the quality of their inner circle and their ability to command loyalty.

I have come face-to-face with the painful truth that integrity is no longer the guiding light it once was.

We have all seen life play out, people who pledged undying loyalty to a cause or leader suddenly shift ground when financial inducements are introduced. It is a sobering reality that the pursuit of short-term gain has eroded the very foundation upon which true leadership ought to stand.

In my professional experience, I had the privilege of working with an individual for a seven-year period. Our professional relationship commenced at the Garrick Club in London, and our final interaction took place at that esteemed “theatrical venue” prior to his passing. Throughout our tenure, various challenges and pressures arose that tested our loyalty. Notably, his final words were a testament to his appreciation for my unwavering support. This unexpected gesture left a lasting impression on me, as he had achieved remarkable accomplishments, rising from a knighthood of House of Lords. While I have never aspired to pursue such a career path, as I witnessed the toll it can take on an individual.

In the realm of politics, akin to business, loyalty has I recognise, been commodified into a transactional process, where “allegiance is commodified” for self-interest rather than selfless conduct. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in contemporary politics, particularly in Westminster and Washington. This betrayal not only diminishes relationships but also destabilises trust. Nevertheless, the world and you personally will eventually overcome this, seek new opportunities, and emerge more resilient.

The true test of character is to remain steadfast and true, even when others falter.

The single most profound quote that bridges the themes of loyalty and betrayal is in Hamlet spoken by Polonius to his son Laertes (Act 1, Scene 3):

“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

This afternoon, I will witness the performance of Manchester City Football Club in the FA Cup. My son and best friend support Chelsea FC, our opponents. I have been a loyal supporter of City for 57 years. My son, who was then seven years old, inquired as to why I support City when they were in the third division. He asked, “Why don’t you support a better team, Dad?”

I talked of Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee, Francis Lee, Joe Corrigan, Tony Book, Tony Booth … Alan Oakes holds the record for Manchester City league appearances, having played 565 matches between 1959 and 1976. If all senior competitions are included, Oakes has 680. Loyal players.

Under the current manager, Pep Guardiola, has won 19 trophies during his time, including six Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League, and two FA Cups. Yesterday, when asked if his Manchester City trophy tally constitutes “greatness,” he responded with a laugh, tongue in cheek stating, “Of course! 19 titles in 10 years…”

Pep has not only great but also very loyal…

Today May 15th, Madrid honours its patron saint, San Isidro Labrador, pictured above Francisco Goya, The Meadow of San Isidro (1798). We celebrate the feast of San Isidro Labrador, the beloved patron saint of farmers and labourers. As we honour his deep faith, humility, and dedication to hard work, may we be inspired to cultivate not just the land but also our hearts with kindness and gratitude.

Francisco Goya, a Spanish master of painting and etching, is known for the philosophy too:

"Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels".

His quotes often reflect on art, truth, and the human condition.

A year-long restoration has turned Madrid’s San Antonio de la Florida church from a sombrely lit mausoleum into a luminous celebration of Francisco de Goya’s work, as Spain prepares for a vast commemoration of the bicentenary of the artist’s death in 2028.

Goya is often referred to as both the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. He was also one of the great portraitists of his time.

The Museo del Prado in Madrid holds the world’s most extensive collection of Francisco de Goya’s work, featuring over 140 paintings including The Third of May 1808, The Second of May 1808, The Nude Maja, and The Clothed Maja, and a massive collection of 620 drawings. The collection spans his entire career, including his famous tapestry cartoons, portraits, and the dark “Black Paintings”.

The Lázaro Galdiano Museum in Madrid houses a significant collection of Goya's works, generally featuring seven paintings as part of its permanent collection, alongside numerous prints and drawings. The museum displays over 4,800 pieces in total, making it an essential stop for art lovers in Madrid. The Museum reminds me of the when I saw him at the Frick Collection is an art museum on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City , the fine Museum has four fine paintings.

Often overlooked is the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid houses a significant collection of works by Francisco de Goya, who was a member and director of the academy. The permanent collection includes 13 paintings by Goya. Key paintings include two self-portraits (including Self-portrait at the easel), The Bullfight(Corrida de toros), portraits of Moratín and Juan de Villanueva, The actress La Tirana, and the scene The Burial of the Sardine. The Calcografía Nacional, located within the Academy, holds 228 copper plates etched by Goya.

Francisco Goya (1746–1828) spent his final years (1824–1828) in voluntary exile in Bordeaux, France, where he created masterpieces like The Milkmaid of Bordeaux and the innovative Bulls of Bordeaux lithographs. Despite declining health, he continued painting and drawing, often depicting scenes of daily life, in a vibrant, experimental style.

This is not a view on our current world it is a reference to W.H. Auden's ambitious book-length poem The Age of Anxiety was first published in July 1947. It explores the paradox of human suffering. People often stubbornly cling to their familiar miseries and illusions because true change, though necessary for growth, requires vulnerability and courage.

Auden suggests humans struggle to accept reality. The characters seek comfort in their own neuroses and fantasies rather than facing the truth of their spiritual condition.

The famous American painting of people sitting in an all-night diner, you are thinking of Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. Painted in 1942, it captures the melancholic, quiet stillness of urban life.

And Leonard Bernstein wrote - Symphony No. 2, ‘The Age of Anxiety’ in tribute.

The Age of Anxiety struck a powerful chord, giving name to the cultural condition of the mid-twentieth century and allegorising the search for faith fomented by the Second World War.

"The world needs a wash, and a week's rest."

The Age of Anxietyexplored a theme that Bernstein was repeatedly drawn to in his compositional career: as he described it:

"The essential line of the poem (and of the music) is the record of our difficult and problematical search for faith."

Identifying strongly with the poem, he chose to write his symphony for piano and orchestra, noting that "the pianist provides an almost autobiographical protagonist" in the quest for meaning and faith.”

Bernstein’s long-time mentor Serge Koussevitzky commissioned the symphony, and The Age of Anxiety premiered on April 8, 1949, with Koussevitzky conducting the Boston Symphony and Bernstein playing the piano solo.

I bring it to your attention as Antonio Pappano was in the Barbican with the London Symphony Orchestra conducting to rave reviews on the weekend. The Times stated “The central Dies Irae must be one of the wildest things the composer wrote, suggesting not Christian faith but — at least in this performance — anarchic nihilism.”

Bernstein admits his astonishment at “the extent to which the programmaticism of this work has been carried”:

“I had not planned a “meaningful” work, at least not in the sense of a piece whose meaning relied on details of programmatic implication. I was merely writing a symphony inspired by a poem and following the general form of that poem. Yet, when each section was finished I discovered, upon re-reading, detail after detail of programmatic relation to the poem—details that had “written themselves”, wholly unplanned and unconscious…. If the charge of “theatricality” in a symphonic work is a valid one, I am willing to plead guilty. I have a deep suspicion that every work I write, for whatever medium, is really theatre music in some way.”

“The Age of Anxiety” is the strangest poem of a marvellously fertile period for Auden. While Quant imagines the decay of the dead: “Soil accepts for a serious purpose / The jettisoned blood of jokes and dreams . . .” And Rosetta imagines, with striking prescience, the world to come:

“Odourless ages, an ordered world

Of planned pleasures and passport-control,

Sentry-go sedatives, soft drinks and

Managed money, a moral planet

Tamed by terror . . .”

Auden fourfold view was Jungian, see notes below. When it becomes clear that the puppet-master has handed out abstractions to all his characters –

Malin is "Thought",

Quant "Intuition",

Rosetta "Feeling" and

Emble "Sensation"

– some can sympathise with the Horizon reviewer who called the poem "a re-hash of Auden's psychology divided by four". John Berryman, who regarded Auden as "one of the best living poets", none the less called them "the four vaguest characters in modern literature". But that is the beauty of it.

It is well known that the speeches are meant to be taken as inward monologues, dream-soliloquies, while the uniform shape of utterance suggests a commonality, a shared and inescapable plight.

“For the others, like me, there is only the flash
Of negative knowledge, the night when, drunk, one
Staggers to the bathroom and stares in the glass
To meet one’s madness”

Similar to the poem, the symphony is structured into six movements, each of which is further subdivided. However, many of the movements gradually fade or merge into one another. By his own admission, Bernstein adhered closely to the poem, with the piano representing the self’s quest for meaning and faith. The piano struggles to be comprehended, cherished, and understood against a backdrop of jazzily detached and distracted woodwinds, horns, celesta, and wild percussion. In the quest section, the piano descends a tentative and untrustworthy scale, akin to the onset of a dream. Conversely, “The Masque,” the section set in Rosetta’s apartment, is a scintillating piano solo that resembles a real dance for survival. Bernstein’s daughter, Jaime, aptly described it as “ridiculously difficult . . . one of the hardest parts ever written.” Remarkably, it accomplishes what the poem fails to do—it propels the characters beyond reason in their desperate attempt to obliterate the dreary world.

The decade following WH Auden’s emigration to New York in 1939 produced not only the long poems “For the Time Being”, “New Year Letter” and “The Sea and the Mirror” – his sublime meditation on The Tempest – but some of the finest works of this or any 20th-century poet: “In Memory of WB Yeats”, “At the Grave of Henry James”, “If I Could Tell You”, “The Fall of Rome”, “The Quest”. And the great – and latterly disavowed – lament for a falling world “September 1st, 1939”.

“We cannot be deaf to the question: 'Do I love this world so well that I have to know how it ends?”

At that point where genius in language and music meet, only the latter can seem to mend what's broken. The Age of Anxiety is among the first poems in English, perhaps the very first, to register the fact of the Nazis’ genocidal murder of millions of Jews.

Notes

In 1921 Jung published Psychologische Typen (Psychological Types), in which he created a series of binary categories. He opposed the extravert, for whom social interaction is a source of energy, to the introvert, who loses energy through social interaction. He claimed that some of us perceive the world primarily through sensation, others through intuition; and that some of us make our ethical judgments primarily through thinking, others through feeling. (These distinctions became widely known when they were adapted for the Myers­Briggs Type Indicator tests administered in many workplaces.)

“The Four Faculties.”

There the faculties introduce themselves in this way:

Intuition

As a dwarf in the dark of His belly I rest;

Feeling

A nymph, I inhabit The heart in his breast;

Sensation

A giant, at the gates of His body I stand;

Thought

His dreaming brain is My fairyland.

The Age of Anxiety: An Analysis of Auden’s Poem by Shubhpreet Sandhu Assistant Professor

https://ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT2203562.pdf

Analysis

https://assets.press.princeton.edu/chapters/i9412.pdf

The Music

https://www.classical-music.com/features/works/guide-bernstein-s-age-anxiety-symphony

I saw his ability to unite intense spiritual mystery with hyper-realistic detail. I have now visited the Prado over a thousand times, he still remains a major influence in my heart and touches the soul of everyone from his still life to his saints.

I had not realised that England did not really understand the genius of Zurbarán until I read the 5 star reviews of the English media in the last 7 days. It was a surprise to me that the new exhibition in London was a first.

The National Gallery in London is hosting the first major monographic exhibition of Spanish Golden Age master Francisco de Zurbarán in the United Kingdom. The historic retrospective spans nearly 50 works, tracing his career from striking intimate still lifes to monumental religious compositions

The product of Spain’s golden age, the fabulous 17th century that fortunately also gave us Velázquez, Murillo, Juan Martínez Montañés, Pedro de Mena and El Greco.

Chief Art Critic of The Times Waldemar Januszczak states:

“Zurbarán at the National Gallery is one of the greatest shows I have seen. Do whatever it takes to witness it. Take a hammer to Granny’s piggy bank if you must. It’s worth it.”

The Prado is home to Zurbarán paintings but in Madrid so is Basilica of San Francisco El Grande. This spectacular basilica features one of the leading sacred art collections in the city of Madrid, the magnificent paintings by Zurbarán displayed within its chapels.

The court painter to King Philip IV of Spain, during the 1630s, the King commissioned him to create prominent works for the Hall of Realms at the Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid. He also had a world wide reach, in 1647 the artist was paid to paint twenty-four virgin saints for the monastery of Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación in Ciudad de los Reyes, Perú, while in 1649 he sent another fifteen to Buenos Aires.

The present canvas of Saint Casilda, which may have belonged to a convent in Seville entered the Madrid Thyssen-Bornemisza collection in 1979 is a master piece.

The Agnus Dei is my favourite. It is touchable.An artist who has the power of art in his brush the tactile rendering of objects, fabric, and skin.

Agnus Dei

Zurbarán loves depicting female Saints with an exquisite array of attire. St. Apollonia, adorned with delicate pink and sunshine yellow, exudes a sense of grace. St. Casilda, the Muslim princess who provided bread to Christian captives, is elegantly dressed in exquisite damasks of brown and silver. His influence is his father, such paintings acknowledge Zurbarán’s profound absorption of his father’s intimate knowledge of fabrics.

St. Casilda

Zurbarán never left Spain and may never have seen Caravaggio's work, meaning these innovations were deeply aligned with the ascetic, Counter-Reformation climate of Seville.

It is reported that when a group of English journalists saw Christ and the Virgin directing rays of light from the hearts they held in their hands at a visionary monk, they laughed. I would laugh at them for being stupid and ignorant. Waldemar Januszczak as a fine art critic would never do that , the Times are fortunate to have him.

A Cup of Water and a Rose…

The UK is fortunate to see the Master’s work outside of Spain. The reviews are rightly impressed by the Master , I think Francisco would find it amusing.

Since commencing his political career in 2013, Rhun ap Iorwerth has garnered a substantial increase in his vote count. While he received 12,601 votes in 2013, as entered politics on his beloved Ynys Môn, yesterday’s figures provide a far greater number under his leadership and with his fine team he led a fine campaign.

Plaid Cymru secured a substantial victory, winning 444,665 votes across Wales. This represented 35.4% of the total vote share, a remarkable 14.7 percentage point increase compared to the previous election.

Plaid Cymru won the Welsh Senedd election, ending 100 years of Labour dominance in Wales and blocking the momentum of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Labour have governed in Wales since devolution began in 1999 it fell apart as predicated under the weight of what Plaid Cymru offers plus the disillusionment of voters siding with Reform UK.

43 Seats

Plaid won 43 seats, Reform 34, Labour 9, the Conservatives 7, Greens 2 and Liberal Democrats the lonely 1. Plaid doing better than that predicated in all the polls.

Wales’s next First Minister Rhun ap Iowerth leader of Plaid led a fine campaign

The Plaid Leader asserted that Plaid will govern Wales comprehensively, encompassing not only the electorate who elected them but also the broader population. Wales faces a critical juncture, for example, a decade since the enactment of the Well-being of Future Generations Act. The disparity between the Act’s aspirations and its actual achievements is widely acknowledged.

Plaid’s leadership knows that the realisation of transformative potential will be achieved through increased collective effort, the provision and use of robust resources, and the implementation of effective political leadership.

Major surgery is required; evidence and legislation alone cannot transform systems. Long-term objectives become tangible only when political, fiscal, and institutional incentives support them.

Plaid Cymru Potential

Plaid Cymru possesses the potential to establish a minority government. It can draw upon a new generation of individuals to bolster its existing team, many of whom are deeply committed to the Party and Wales.

Ap Iorweth, who, as stated, entered politics in 2013, does not underestimate the challenges of transforming Wales. His twin-track approach to campaigning was a resounding success, demonstrating both vision and a critique of Reform. The people of Wales were presented with a clear choice between the two parties. Wales made the most judicious decision.

To secure the vision, Plaid Cymru will require a period of eight to twelve years in power, during which it will implement a strategy that builds from the grassroots up and operates from the Senedd downwards. This approach is in line with the legacy of Plaid’s recent founding fathers , such as Dafydd Wigley and Dafydd Elis Thomas, who were renowned for their selfless service to the local community and then nationally.

Plaid knows whingeing is companion to failure part of the losers charter.

Complaining is a characteristic is associated with defeat, as Reform learned during this electoral showing in Wales and will likely discover more in the near future.

Plaid will deliver on prosperity

Plaid will deliver on prosperity, necessitating the influx of investment, the enhancement of international trade, the strengthening of indigenous businesses, and the pursuit of research and development. The newly to be established economic development agency will be instrumental in achieving these objectives. Plaid must also seek comprehensive control over income tax bands and acquire novel powers, adopting a Basque-style “fiscal federalism.” This transformation will necessitate a profound shift.

Reform

The misspelling of two out of three Welsh words on the Reform UK welsh manifesto cover serves as a defining characteristic of Reform UK’s political stance.

The party’s manifesto lacks specific details and relies heavily on sweeping promises, which the electorate often overlooks. Competence is essential for effective governance, and a Welsh woman I spoke to last week revealed that the majority of Reform voters are white men who engage in rhetoric but contribute little to their communities beyond complaining. A YouGov poll indicated that only 42% of Reform voters were female, whereas Plaid Cymru had nearly 50% and the Greens had 60%.

Reform Party has placed several devolution-sceptic candidates on its electoral lists. It has very limited experience in governance, the party boasts an abundance of whinging members who are inherently suited for opposition rather than government roles. This situation is akin to a rugby club that remains passive and complains about the progressive winning rugby played, the committee, president, and chairman, while never having played the game of rugby football or purchased a pint.

Again signs of little vision from Reform UK and the message from Farage and cronies is Wales “can’t do” things, even protect its own language and culture when it can with confidence, and under Plaid Cymru it will.

Labour

It is not surprising that there is a growing sense of disillusionment among Labour supporters, particularly regarding the state of public services. In comparison to other UK nations, Labour’s performance in these areas has reached a critical point.

Labour’s handling of the National Health Service has been widely criticised, and the economic situation has been disastrous over the past two decades. The calls for reflection from those who led the Party are superficial and too late. The results in Labour’s heartland, where the party once enjoyed strong support, were not a surprise.

In Labour’s once-safe areas, Alun Davies lost his seat in Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymney. Eluned Morgan, the party leader, also lost her seat, making her the first national UK leader to lose their seat in a general election.

Morgan did some good work I saw it in Spain and Labour started to look at the economy but way too late in the day and no told to do so.

In Catalonia: An agreement signed in Barcelona with President Salvador Illa to collaborate on technology, renewable energy, and language preservation. In Basque Country: A partnership with Lehendakari Imanol Pradales focused on trade and industrial growth.

But Eluned was up against it and Labour lost the plot with little help from the uncaring “I am in it for me” , Sir Keir Starmer centrism, in London.

The Future and Reality what do others say

The LSE British Politics says:

“Health and Social Care accounts for £12.6 billion, more than 55 per cent of the Welsh Government’s resource budget. An ageing population and high levels of chronic illness continue to increase demand.

At the same time, Wales has limited fiscal autonomy. Around four fifths of Welsh Government funding comes from the UK block grant, with only a small share raised through devolved taxes.

The result is a fiscal trap. Rising health demand locks spending into crisis response, while limited revenue powers restrict the ability to invest upstream in prevention and long-term priorities.”

See Research LSE Research across Welsh health, community and education settings shows how services and institutions can support connection to self, others and nature in everyday settings.

LSE found that the quality of the relationship between coordinators and community members predicted wellbeing through increased community integration, highlights the potential for connection to reduce service dependency. See LSE

Conclusion

Politics in Wales is of paramount importance. While the turnout was satisfactory, I believe we can enhance our engagement with people and the aspiring. It is imperative that we avoid the escalation of electoral competition into a more polarised state.

Wales needs long-term commitments, in communities, if polarised the disenfranchised become easier targets.

Long term vital infrastructure boost or a multi-decade investment in energy to ease energy prices or prevent or climate adaptation can quickly be reframed as ideological.

Wales and Plaid Cymru possess the potential to achieve their goals, but as realists, they acknowledge the electorate’s desire for immediate solutions. Wales will only function effectively when systems provide opportunities for action and policy implementation. I emphasise it requires substantial energy and focus to move forward, rather than perpetually complaining about its progress.

Whingeing is companion to failure part of the losers charter.

Complaining is a characteristic often associated with defeat, as Reform learned during their electoral defeat and will likely discover in the near future.

Wales must win. Cymru Am Byth.

Pope Leo has said:

Lay down your sword is a message addressed to the powerful of this world, to those who guide the fate of peoples: have the courage to disarm! At the same time, it is an invitation to each one of us to recognise that no idea, faith or policy justifies killing. We must first disarm our hearts because unless we have peace within ourselves, we cannot give it to others. October 13, 2025.

The olive tree and its branches are among the world’s oldest and most universal symbols of peace, reconciliation, and hope. Cleansing and healing, light, victory and richness.

References to the olive tree, its fruit and its oil abound in Scripture, and take on heightened significance in the life of Jesus, particularly as he undergoes his Passion. The Garden of Gethsemane is at the foot of the Mount of Olives, where Jesus and the apostles went on the night he was betrayed (Matthew 26:30). It was there where the Ascension took place (Acts 1:9-12). And it is there where olive trees continue to grow, some nearly a millennia old. I loved visiting the place.

The olive is Christ’s tree from Gethsemane. In Hebrew, after all, Gethsemane means “olive press.”. The Catholic moral tradition — from the prophets through Pacem in Terris — has invoked it again and again as the language of peace.

'The pope is doing what he must do, the pope is being the pope, so to attack him in this way, to reprimand what he does seems to me a bit strange.'
—Cardinal Pietro Paroli

The gift Pope Leo of pen made handed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was a teaching as much as an object.

Leo chose it deliberately. The moral leader of 1.4 billion Catholics, watching an American administration drop bombs on Iranian children, handed an American Secretary of State a sign of refusal — written in the wood of an olive tree, accompanied by a book of sacred art the Vatican uses to instruct visitors to seek peace.

Leo, who had gained a reputation for being a soft-spoken pope, has emerged as a vocal critic of the United States and Israel’s war with Iran, repeatedly calling on leaders to pursue a ceasefire and urging ordinary citizens to contact their elected representatives to plead for peace.

Three days before the Leo-Rubio meeting, Trump said the pope was "endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people" with his position on Iran, repeating the false claim that Leo supports allowing Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.

Without naming the president, Leo responded to the attack in comments to reporters upon leaving the papal retreat outside Rome the following evening.

“If someone wants to criticise me for announcing the Gospel, do so with the truth,” he said. “The church for years has spoken against all nuclear weapons, there is no doubt about that, so I simply hope to be heard for the value of the Word of God.”

In Romans 11, St. Paul draws on the olive tree to warn gentiles not to “boast” or be “arrogant” in sharing “in the rich root of the olive tree,” that is, Israel (Romans 11:17). It is that root which supports you, Paul says a verse later. He was not pulling the analogy out of thin air — as a Jew, he knew well the prominence of the olive tree in his faith. A gentile from Rome, on the other hand, might not at first glance understand or appreciate the deep meaning of a tree whose physical appearance is rather unremarkable

In America, the olive tree is an enduring legacy left by the Franciscan missionaries who established the California Missions in the late 18th and early 19th centuries

Pacem in Terris (Latin for “Peace on Earth”) is a 1963 papal encyclical issued by Pope John XXIII that calls for world peace based on human rights, dignity, truth, justice, and charity. Written during the Cold War, it was a landmark document addressing “all men of good will,” not just Catholics, urging disarmament, collaboration, and the rejection of war as a legitimate political tool.

PLAID CYMRU must win

Polls sometimes get things wrong. But the last YouGov poll in this Welsh election, published on 5 of May, forecasts Plaid Cymru to win 43 seats in the Senedd, pulling ahead of Reform with 34 seats and Labour with 12.

A total of 49 seats is required for a majority in the new Senedd and opinion polls have indicated a coalition agreement between two or more parties could be the only viable route to government. This works but Plaid Cymru must rule by a minority government which means having a First Minister and Cabinet of Plaid Cymru Senedd Members not ruling out posts for able Senedd Ministers but not in a transactional sense.

Plaid Cymru is the only progressive option . A Party of values of good sense and a conscience.

The alternative is Reform UK it is not in any way Welsh.

Reform UK with bundles of foreign “bit coin” backing, is a disgrace to democracy and should be banned from standing in elections but they do because Britain is broken in terms of god sense and other matters a sick country. Why do I state that?A case in point is that disgraced Reform UK Senedd candidate who stood down after an image emerged of him performing a Nazi salute resumed campaigning last night before voting gets underway in the Senedd election.

Nigel Farage and his former UKIP party are racists and want Trump America in Wales. I and thousands of others don’t.We are allowed to stand up and fight that.

In Germany, the political landscape regarding the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is characterised by intense, conflicting actions—including high-level exclusions and increased surveillance—rather than a total removal from the political scene. This will happen in Wales.

With names like “Deutsche Jugend Voran” (German Youth Lead the Way ) or “Jung und Stark” (Young and Strong): far-right extremists are banding together across Germany to spread hatred and violence. For the past two years, security agencies and experts have been monitoring mounting acts of violence and far-right propaganda from within these circles.

The young perpetrators primarily target the LGBTQ+ community, individuals they think are immigrants, or young people they suspect to be leftists. Attacks have repeatedly happened in Berlin and other cities — especially during Christopher Street Day and Pride parades.

That is not my Wales. Get out Farage stay in Clacton not Wales.

Plaid Cymru represents a progressive and comprehensive vision that will guide the formation of a much-needed new Welsh Government.

The leader of Plaid Cymru, Rhun ap Iorwerth, exudes a poised demeanour and has energy to achieve what is needed, and Wales must elect him as First Minister on May 7th to start enacting the vision and release energy much needed for Wales.

RESTORING A ROBUST ECONOMY

On economic development Plaid Cymru has advocated a new economic development agency for Wales. Each job “created and safeguarded” by the old WDA was verified and from land reclamation to innovative indigenous business support to foreign direct investment, it had world class expertise. The WDA was required to take action with local authorities and build local economies. Plaid Cymru has expressed its intention to restore a new WDA Mark 2 suited to 2026 and build communities. Scotland Enterprise gets record investment year after year: sadly not Wales anymore despite claims in false summits.

Sir Simon Jenkins, a contributing writer for The Guardian, has surprisingly advocated for Welsh independence. Although he did not stress, this matter is not on the electoral agenda in 2026, despite the inaccurate claims made by the opposition parties.

I recall Jenkins served as a trustee of the Millennium Commission and was directly responsible for approving funding for projects like the Llanelli Millennium Coastal Path after a brief helicopter day visit.

As the Secretary and Legal Director of the Welsh Development Agency in the 90s (WDA Mark 1), I was apprised of the visit by Urban Development Executive Alan Nicol, who has sadly since passed away. During Jenkins’ influence in the 1990s, other projects for Wales were also approved. These included the Millennium Centre in the Bay, the new rugby and the football National Stadium in Cardiff, and the wonderful Botanic Garden in Carmarthenshire. All of these “cool” legacy projects were brought to fruition by the teams at the WDA who brought expertise and knowledge to the much heralded funding.

In the Guardian, Jenkins boldly asserts that Wales could be wealthier than any other region of the United Kingdom.

We like that type of ambition of statement but such matters require attention to detail and experience, hitherto not available in the corridors of Cardiff Bay, look at the Bryn Glas tunnels a bottle neck stifling economic growth or the Cardiff Airport Business Park or the failures in bringing renewable energy projects into supplying the grid keeping energy prices low for the whole population and particularly the manufacturing economy.

“He is one of our own”

He then goes on and states, “I merely wish Plaid’s leader would exhibit greater confidence in the pursuit of independence.” That’s where is pen fails to understand Wales in 2026 and where the Plaid Cymru Leader does fully understand it from North to South, he is one of our own as the terraces cry on a Saturday afternoon.

IN GAINING CONFIDENCE ONLY PLAID CYMRU CAN DO THIS

Jenkins fails to comprehend that the leader requires time to restore the confidence we have lost over the past two decades and regain the “Can Do” spirit we possessed in 90s during the “Cool Cymru” era.

If you tolerate this your children will be next

Regrettably, the Can Do Days of the 90s, of the Valleys Band the Manic Street Preachers, Cynon’s Stereophonics and melodius sharp, Cerys and Catatonia did not translate into the devolution we wanted. The lack of coordination among politicians and civil servants resulted in a kind of muddled/foggy outcome which still persists, writing consultation papers and throwing out the baby with the bathwater by destroying policies that worked. Indeed in the 1990s, Wales had the necessary tools for the task slowly removed by partisan politics, which lacked vision and was merely rhetoric nothing to replace it, which has since been criticised rightly by economists as failure. Even the dragon logo was turned into a swan, I recall American investors laughing at us, once the branding was spot on they said.

As a test, I consider the number of my friends’ intelligent children born or raised in the 1990s, who no longer reside in Wales and work outside the economy .

The words “economic progress ” derives or originates from the intelligence of the individuals employed in the economy and we need young people encouraged not dampened in thinking “progress” . Even those who were older and worked successfully in the 90s were dismissed as they left the Welsh economy or considered too old, then the country to seek progressive refuge elsewhere, shunned by the complacent old thinking Labour Party. If you were a member of the progressive lot or exhibited original optimistic critical thinking, you would be excluded from the ranks. “Talking Wales Down”. Those who were aware of the consequences of failure and possessed no fear found it amusing and predicted devolution’s most disastrous outcomes.

Wales needs to change before it’s too late

Plaid Cymru’s Manifesto is the most ambitious, others are limp and bear no statements that have proper solutions, just political rhetoric, the Labour leader put fear into her election speak, and has lost the message, the electorate is not listening, says she has brought billions of investment in with no evidence, she put a Economic Summit together, but has it had little impact, in her defence, it was a very short reign.

In this election, Labour will incur the consequences of over two decades of placing Wales at the bottom of every league, from economic indicators to educational attainment. The evidence is unequivocal: Labour believes it possesses superior knowledge, yet it continues to disregard impartial advice, akin to the former “Mid Glamorgan” on stilts or in communist dictatorships, which, regrettably, perpetuates poverty rather than prosperity.

Wales has the highest economic inactivity rate in Britain (28.1%, compared to the 22.2% UK average) and the lowest GDP per head rates in the UK. It is a mess.

Bloomberg News covers business and politics worldwide announces to the World in recent days “Labour Set for Worst Result in Wales in a Century.”

It alludes to the fact that Labour has been the largest party in Wales since 1922.

“From winning half of the 60 seats in 2021, they are projected to get just 12 of the 96 on May 7.”

The Plaid Cymru leader, Rhun ap Iorweth, on the grounds of the Eisteddfod, Wrexham, 2025

Back to the beguiling Sir Simon Jenkins, remember although his father was welsh, he does not really know Wales, his focus is London, as seen by being critical of the building of the River Dyfi Bridge in Machynlleth in Powys which cost £46m. A very good Labour Government project. But the high costs were astonishing, such UK costs especially rail infrastructure are five times that of Europe look at rail projects in Spain as an example. The best rail infrastructure outside China, and trans run on time.

Machynlleth was a huge bottle neck and infrastructure was welcomed by Mid Wales and those travelling North to South and vice versa. Jenkins then listed Wales woes. as an aside, I do agree with him that the Cambrian News is a great newspaper. I first read it, aged 15 in Furnace near Mach, in the house next to the old mill.

Jenkins on Welsh independence states”…elsewhere in Europe people have found answers to centralist fanatics such as those in London. They start in self-confidence and end in self-reliance. Wales should set aside its identity paranoia, open itself up and slim itself down. If, as seems likely, ap Iorwerth wins next week, he should look across the water to Dublin’s example. There lies the future for Wales.”

The Plaid Cymru leader is not deflected by the question of independence but Dublin is a fair example. Wales needs to build self confidence first.

The opposite would be achieved by the deranged Trumpian party - Reform UK, it will rule by fear and division. It’s ICE version of the UK patrolling Grangetown and controlling from Clapham.

The Welsh electorate knows, and Plaid’s intelligent leadership knows, time is not right to discuss Welsh independence it must be the will of the people. We need to learn from failed parts of devolution and there are many parts to learn from. Let’s get that right first.

The Plaid Cymru Leader told me in February that “Politics has been boring in Wales.” I agreed with him. That is the exciting part, Wales can be enlivened to be cool again to build not to destroy.

I have known the Plaid Cymru leader for a very long time. Wales needs Rhun ap Iorweth and his energy without him it will be chaos: Wales will remain bottom of every league relegated to a visionless pursuit of nothingness and turmoil.

Paradoxically, the polls remain inconclusive. Plaid Cymru and Reform UK, neck and neck. We shall soon see, let’s hope it is not another BREXIT/UKIP Farage shambles which definitely weakened the Welsh economy, if so recession awaits. Has Wales learnt?

Wales must seize the opportunity and demonstrate action to instil hope and confidence, which will pave the way for sustained success beyond the May 7, 2026 Election.

Plaid Cymru can do this.