Arndale

Last week, as pubs and restaurants opened for outdoor service, everywhere in Manchester seemed to be booked up, so we limited ourselves to a couple of trips to the New Oxford on Bexley Square, which I enjoyed even if it was a bit chilly.

This evening, though, the Minx had sorted us a table at Salvi's on Exchange Square. It was, I think, a bit warmer, although I took the precaution of wearing a substantial jacket, and it was lovely to sit there, eating and drinking, chatting and people watching.

Looming over the square is the Arndale Centre, which was rebuilt in the late nineties, although it still maintains a rather seventies vibe. It was bombed by the IRA in 1996 and that fact - which I was happy to consign to The Past - seems to have regained some resonance given the situation in Northern Ireland now.

Said situation is unarguably down to Johnson's blustering approach to Brexit and is an excellent example of the very real pitfalls of having a clown in charge. Johnson might well try and point the finger elsewhere but as David Allen Green points out:

"We have a prime minister who is loudly and publicly denouncing as 'ludicrous' the very arrangements in respect of Northern Ireland that resulted from his own change of policy, which he negotiated and signed, and for which he campaigned for and won an electoral mandate before rushing into law."

He sums that up nicely in the following Tweet:

"Johnson changed May's policy so to have these barriers, despite saying he would not
He negotiated them
He signed the agreement
He won an election mandate for them
He forced them through in legislation without proper scrutiny or debate
And now...
...he calls them 'ludicrous' "

On a more trivial but lighter note, I also managed to get a haircut. See my Extra.

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Reading: '(R)evolution' by Gary Numan