Review of the Week – 27 February to 4 March 2012

REVIEW OF THE WEEK: 27 February to 4 March 2012

That Was The Week That Was

For me, it’s been a testing week, with my Grade Five Music Theory examination on Thursday, and my non-calculator Maths GCSE paper on Friday. Whilst I don’t think I’ll get exceptional marks in either, I gave them my best shot – all my ever-supportive parents ever ask for.

Monday’s papers headlined with George Osborne’s announcement that “the UK has run out of money”, the fact that 9 million households face fuel poverty, and the smugness of Rupert Murdoch in selling over three million copies of his Sun on Sunday that he launched last week.

MATT CARTOON: Telegraph cartoonist Matt Pritchett's take on 'Horsegate'.MATT CARTOON: Telegraph cartoonist Matt Pritchett's take on 'Horsegate'.
MATT CARTOON: Telegraph cartoonist Matt Pritchett's take on 'Horsegate'.

But not all was fine and dandy in Wapping – Rupert’s son James resigned from News International after further details of a cover-up of phone hacking and bribery of public officials. This was just hours after Rebekah Brooks, the former Sun editor, was discovered to have been one of just twelve people allowed to adopt a horse from the Metropolitan Police’s Mounted Branch in 2008. This fresh revelation did not help to quell the idea of suspiciously close connections between journalists and those in power – especially when David Cameron admitted riding Raisa, the aforementioned animal, in a ‘scandal’ the Telegraph dubbed “horsegate”.

ALMIGHTY FORCE: Police moved in to clear the protest camp in the dead of night. In other news, the protestors outside St Paul’s Cathedral were finally evicted and their camp was cleared; London’s new Routemaster entered service (despite one or two teething problems); and Meryl Streep won the Oscar for Best Actress, for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in the fantastic The Iron Lady.

It’s been a bad week for Costa, the cruise ship operator, after the Allegra (the Concordia‘s sister ship)suffered its own, much smaller-scale “disaster”. It’s been a mad week for motorists, as the cost of petrol hit an eye-wateringly high 137.44p a litre. And it’s been a sad week for the relatives of PC David Rathband (the man blinded by gunman Raoul Moat in 2010), after the policeman was found dead on Wednesday night in a suspected suicide.

“As [Rathband] set off for the long flight home [from Australia, where he had been staying with his twin brother Darren] messages appeared on his Twitter account saying: “lost my sight, my job and my marriage… flying back on Monday and will say goodbye to my children” before signing ominously “RIP PC Rathband”.

— Jonathan Brown, writing for the i, 2 March 2012


Photo of the Week

This week’s Photo of the Week was taken at the reunion camp for the Berkshire Unit who attended the World Scout Jamboree last summer. Held two years (to the nearest weekend) after the selection camp back in March 2010, almost all of the 36 young people (now all Explorers) and three of the four leaders were present, though I was only able to spend a few hours of yesterday (Saturday) at the camp. The photo I’ve chosen for this week reminds me of the three male leaders, all of which I got along with very well, and the great times we had together in Sweden.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Berkshire's WSJ 2011 Unit leaders take delight in watching the old unit playing together, reunited after months apart. (IMG_8891)


Quote of the Week

“Been there, done that, bought the …scarf? Team GB unveil 2012 souvenir head scarves. Scarves, really?” [Link]

“Get the feeling if you stand still for 30 seconds in London this year LOCOG will probably brand you and try to sell you.” [Link]

The Media Blog, tweets regarding the Olympics 2012 Team GB merchandise, 27 February 2012


This Week’s Number One

This week’s official Number One is Somebody That I Used To Know by Belgian-Australian singer Gotye, featuring Kimbra.

THIS WEEK'S NUMBER ONE: Somebody That I Used To Know. (Click to play in Spotify.)


‘And Finally’ Story of the Week

LUCKY STAR: Teenager Richard Kitching tidied up when he found a lottery ticket worth £52,981.From The Daily Telegraph:

“A teenager cleaned up after he won a whopping £53,000 on the National Lottery – all because his mum told him to tidy his room.

Slovenly Ryan Kitching, 19, reluctentantly [sic] clean his bedroom after being nagged by mum Susan when he unearthed 12 old tickets in his drawer he thought he had checked.

He was about to bin them but decided to take them to the supermarket to double-check – and one ticket contained five numbers and the bonus ball netting him a cool £52,981.”

More details about this story are available online from The Telegraph.

Andrew Burdett

Andrew Burdett is a twenty-something from Maidenhead in Berkshire, working for ITV News.