At least one group are singing from the same songsheet

Last Saturday, I had the benefit of listening to a male voice choir. For a small donation to aid restoring the essentials of the church roof, I watched the 25 strong (and they were some members light) group perform many different tunes - Unchained Melody, Bohemian Rhapsody, You'll Never Walk Alone (from the musical Carousel) and the Lord's Prayer - in a most delightful manner. There were also duets, a saxophone solo and a piano solo. When I first saw them in their yellow blazers I thought of Hi-de-Hi. Apparently, some were discontented at this choice of colour since previously they had been in scarlet, then blue torso apparel; and it was chosen by the conductor who wears his own white jacket, black trousers tuxedo suit. But I felt it added to the nostalgia of times past, old-fashioned popular culture.

This David Abrahams affair in politics is certainly most bizarre and it's hard to remember (though I just about do) how it all came about. He seems like a protagonist in a Shakespearean comedy: to paraphrase Geoffrey Regan, he appears in various guises, confuses everyone including himself and turns serious matters (such as party financing) into farce. Now the whole Labour party are scrabbling around trying to find out if their resources are all above board and have received no contributions from third parties. The odious Harriet Harman, who equates supporting the family unit as demonisng single parents - the with-us-or-against-us totalitarian mindset that her supporters so deplore of the current US administration - is now demanding her pound of flesh from Gordon Brown after less than unequivocal support from her leader , and, as the porter in the Scottish Play warns us, equivocation can be dangerous. Brown, for his part, must be pondering whether to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous monetary fortune or take up arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing, end donations (and renew efforts to institute state funding). The lucky chancellor has become, after an initial early glow, the distinctly unlucky prime minister.