Thursday 16 June 2016

Cliff...

Chips Moman has died: the man who, with Dan Penn, wrote Dark End of the Street, which would definitely be one of the eight songs I’d take with me to that mythical ‘desert island’. And Chips Moman also had a son called Casey.

I read another story - or, rather, non-story - today, about no charges being brought against Cliff Richard over alleged “historical sexual offences”. According to Martin Goldman, chief crown prosecutor for Yorkshire and Humberside, there is “insufficient evidence” to bring about a prosecution. That hadn’t stopped the police from making a dawn raid on Cliff Richard’s Berkshire penthouse, having tipped off the BBC about their plans. A dawn raid? What planet were these people living on? Had they watched too many episodes of Miami Vice? The BBC got their film footage, though not of Cliff Richard himself, who was on holiday in Portugal at the time of the raid.

Allegations about sexual offences had been swirling around for years, though the singer was never charged. There was no need for the public to know anything until - or unless - charges were brought. So why was a man’s reputation dragged needlessly through the mud? I’m no fan of Cliff Richard’s music, but I can only imagine the distress caused by these allegations. The “no smoke without fire” brigade, happy to be judge and jury in such instances, will have come to their own conclusions already. As for the rest of us… we didn’t need to know…

I’m taking a break today from my rigorous routine of taking pictures and faffing about, to watch the England v Wales game. With a win from their first game, another win against England would put Wales into the next round. With a draw from their first game (against a very poor Russian team), England need a win… or they’ll most likely be going home, with a chorus of boos ringing in their ears. So the pressure is all on England, despite the fact that beating Wales has presented few problems over the years. Should be an interesting game, with lots of cutaway shots to England fans biting their nails as the minutes tick away…  

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