Almost two thirds of Britain鈥檚 22 million pet owners celebrate their animal鈥檚 birthday, a study found, spending an average of 拢121 a time..
Toys and gourmet food were the most popular presents, chosen by two thirds of owners, followed by a new bed or blanket, with about half buying personalised gifts. Those wanting to push the boat out a little may be interested in a 拢1,219 button-back leather chesterfield for their dogs.
As a hopeless dog lover myself, I get it, although I do wonder how many of these people have actually stopped to consider whether their pets actually want to be dressed up as a hamburger.
Anyhow, the punters are spending about 拢1.7 billion a year on this stuff – substantially more than the 拢1.4 billion that Rachel Reeves will not now be saving from cutting the winter fuel payments to the elderly. This can’t have escaped the Chancellor’s attention.
Move over Rover, she’ll be after your monogrammed food bowl.
I’m totally in agreement that Iran needs to be disarmed, even if I’m nervous about the gung-ho way the US and Israel are going about it. If they are successful in stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons, then we should be grateful for that.
But whatever made Israel think it would be a good idea to bomb the notorious Evin prison, where Iran holds its political prisoners? If you want to hurt Iran, go after the wicked people who run the oppressive regime, not those who are brave enough to challenge them.
Meanwhile, the usual conspiracy theories are circulating about a plot inside Iran to oust ‘supreme leader’ Ali Khamenei. It reminds me of how, for most of the early 1990s, there was constant speculation that Saddam Hussein was at death’s door with various health problems, despite him remaining resolutely alive until his execution in 2010.
Anyhow, US newspaper The Atlantic reports an Iranian official saying a move to oust Khamenei could be imminent.
“Everybody knows Khamenei’s days are numbered,” the official says.
I’m not sure this is much of a scoop, and you certainly don’t need to be Doris Stokes to see that his days might be numbered. The bloke’s 86, and makes Joe Biden look positively youthful.
What worries me is that his continued presence might mean all our days are numbered too.
Trying to see the glass half full, I do think Khamenei’s advancing years could actually be a good thing. Because, on balance, I find the prospect of a 86-year-old deranged tyrant marginally less scary than a 36-year-old one.