Whatever happened to firework night?

I’m not talking about those large communal events where adults and children gather at sports grounds or other open spaces to watch a pre-programmed display of pyrotechnics. I’m talking about fireworks in the garden, each one ignited not by the press of a button but by using a match or a taper (plus a torch to see what you’re doing).

It amuses me that most of the people calling for the right to ‘unite’ to ensure a right wing government seem to be former Conservatives who defected to Reform.

I have friends - former Conservative politicians, prospective parliamentary candidates, and party activists - who are now members of Reform UK and, to be fair, none of them seem to regret their decision.

According to the Guardian the CD is making a comeback. It’s a bold claim but I’m not convinced because the evidence seems rather thin to me.

Nevertheless, you may recall that two years ago I bought a ‘new’ CD player because, despite owning hundreds of CDs, most of them acquired several decades ago, I no longer had a CD player at home or in my car.

My wife has just returned from a cruise on Cunard’s Queen Anne.

It was booked last year and I was supposed to go with her and another couple, two friends with whom we regularly go on holiday, but I had to pull out for reasons not unconnected with a previous cruise in July when I was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop in the ship’s medical department.

According to The Times, ‘Almost two thirds of British drivers polled by Allianz, the insurance company, said they would now prefer physical buttons and dials in their cars instead of the now ubiquitous touchscreen “infotainment” systems.’

On this, I’m with the majority. My current car was 12 months’ old when I bought it in 2021 but the actual model was launched in 2017 and it has every dial and button I need to alter the temperature and the air-conditioning, operate the heated seats, adjust the wing mirrors, and so on.

I was delighted to catch up with Dan Donovan in Nottingham this week.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, some of his paintings are currently being exhibited at The Drawing Room Gallery in the city centre.

I was very sorry to hear that James Lindesay-Bethune, 16th Earl of Lindsay, died on October 9.

I’m late to this because I missed the obituary published by the Telegraph two weeks ago and only found out this morning when The Times published an obituary in today’s edition.

Speculation ahead of tomorrow’s Budget statement suggests there will be few, if any, major surprises, which would be par for the course for a government that seems unable or unwilling to make any important decisions this side of the next general election.

Good Morning Britain presenter Richard Madeley was spot on yesterday when he and Susanna Reid interviewed the prime minister and Madeley suggested that many of Andy Burnham’s recent pronouncements were no more “kite-flying” to gauge the response.