JUST WILLIAM: Staying Alert

Hello, and thanks for reading!

It’s good to be back after the Grand National Festival, and I’d like to start this week by paying tribute to the incomparable Davy Russell, who got a deserved happy ending with two Grade 1 winners. It would have been a travesty for him to go without a big winner and hopefully, he’s enjoying his retirement to the fullest – he does so with my personal best wishes and thanks for his time and friendship, even when riding at the biggest meetings!

For this week’s Polling Station, click here:

THE POLLING STATION | Succession and Dominion

Bottling? Shake your head.

It’s been a roller-coaster season for fans of Arsenal – like yours truly here. From the disappointment of missing out on the Champions League last season to leading the mighty Manchester City in a two-horse race for the Premier League title, it’s fair to say plenty of water has passed under the Bridge at the Emirates.

After two agonising weekends – where the Gunners went 2-0 up and then dropped points on both occasions – many have accused Arsenal of ‘bottling’ the title. Such calls will inevitably come Arsenal’s way – all football fans do – but even if Manchester City overwhelm the Gunners in the last seven games of the season, such a charge will be ludicrous.

Arsenal are predicted to end up with 86-88 points at the end of the season – a points tally that would have won the league only two seasons ago and been enough for second in four of the last five campaigns. The only side with a realistic chance of catching them is a Manchester City side who have won four of the last five titles with points tallies of 98, 99, 86, and 93 under one of the game’s great modern coaches (who has enjoyed smart and sustained backing over that period).

If there’s a real takeaway from this year’s title race, perhaps it’s the difficulty of stopping Manchester City over the course of a season. Just ask the Liverpool fans who saw their side hit 97, 99 and 92 points and only lifted the trophy once. Maybe the new mission impossible is winning the Premier League.

Staying Alert

In case you haven’t heard about it, this Sunday at 3pm, there will be a national test of the UK Emergency Alerts service. Which means that at 3pm your phone might make a loud sound, vibrate, or even read out an alert – for about 10 seconds.

Whilst we hope that no natural disasters take place anytime soon, it would seem wise practice for a government to test the emergency alerts system every now and then to make sure it works – bear with me here – in an emergency.

Any normal country, surely, would go along with this momentary disruption for the purposes of public safety. Or so one would think. Right?

Right?

'It's going to be St George's Day…it's going to ruin that.'

Leader of the Heritage Party, David Kurten, says the Government's emergency alert system is going to ruin St George's Day and that the UK-wide test is an 'intrusion'. pic.twitter.com/gWOeyjEhL6

— GB News (@GBNEWS) April 18, 2023

‘I don’t want the Government to interfere in my life unless it has to.’@Jacob_Rees_Mogg gives his take on the Government’s emergency alert trial, which is set to take place this week.

📺 Freeview 236, Sky 512, Virgin 604

💻 GB News YouTube: https://t.co/Wa58gYGZwF pic.twitter.com/E5l3Ygx5Vo

— GB News (@GBNEWS) April 17, 2023

'Why would somebody want to buzz my phone without me asking for it…alien invasion!'@EamonnHolmes questions the Government's new emergency alert system that will send a siren-like alert to mobile phones.

🖥 GB News on YouTube https://t.co/Wa58gYGZwF pic.twitter.com/EAyOH8mQJF

— GB News (@GBNEWS) March 20, 2023

The obvious exception aside – people who need to have a hidden phone for safety reasons – the amount of bedwetting over a simple measure that is common place all over the world has been truly staggering, even by the standards of recent years.

Imagine what it’s going to be like during an actual disaster…

Between a Raab And A Hard Place

As I write this, Rishi Sunak has not taken his decision on the future of his deputy Dominic Raab – the subject of an inquiry into bullying allegations which was handed to him this morning – although it would appear that we’ll find out soon.

The 24 complaints about Raab, one of Sunak’s closest allies, puts the Prime Minister in an extremely difficult position. If he doesn’t fire Raab – who has read Tolley’s report into his alleged bullying and will not be resigned according to Robert Peston – then to avoid legal challenges from civil servants and opposition parties hounding him for a blatant failure to uphold the Ministerial Code.

If he fires Raab, then he needs a new Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister as well as losing one of his closest allies in Government. Whilst there are plenty of names one can think of for a replacement, the process wouldn’t be uncomplicated – and the headlines are the last thing that Sunak or the Tories would want after signs of improvement in some recent polls.

Who’d be a politician, eh?

WILLIAM KEDJANYI

Views of authors do not necessarily represent views of Star Sports Bookmakers.