Where is the love?

May has been a strange month with quite a few stories catching my eye for all sorts of reasons – apart from scratching the head and blinking a couple of times to confirm what I have read the thought has crossed my mind most frequently in the past few weeks has been ‘Where is the love?’.

After one of the most lack-lustre, over-hyped and elongated elections ever the UK now has the government that it deserves. Not that I think that any particular party deserved to win on merit, but someone had to and there is a lot to be said for better the devil you know. The faces may have changed but the key issues are the same as they have always been, no one has come up with any radical solution to tackle any of the problems because any proposal for radical change is tantamount to political suicide.

At least we no longer have the ‘love-in’ between David Cameron and Nick Clegg but doubtless we will witness the tories going out of their way to embrace the SNP following their overwhelming success north of the border. Yes, there are probably a number of things that they could control better in Scotland but  I sense an element of ‘having one’s cake and eating it’. The tail seemingly wants to wag the dog from Scotland in the same way that Cameron wants to wag the European dog from Westminster – neither work for me.

The tories may have scraped in with a small majority but I do not get that cosy feeling of welcoming back an old friend, more a distant relative who has shown up on the doorstep unannounced.

Fall out from the election means that both the Liberal Democrats and Labour will be seeking to appoint new leaders. If you  are not already turned off by politics then you have a Summer of electioneering ahead that will last up to the start of the party conferences in September.

A story that has attracted much press attention is the arrival, and departure, of Kevin Pietersen. The England Cricket team’s dismal performance in the World Cup was followed by a similarly woeful performance in the recent test series in the West Indies. Paul Downton and Peter Moores being the sacrificial scapegoats for underachievement, with Andrew Strauss taking over the mantle of Director of Cricket at the ECB.

Having made clear his desire to return to the England fold Kevin Pietersen was advised by the ECB to get back to playing for a county side and start scoring runs again.  He duly rejoined Surrey instead of going to the lucrative Indian Premier League and announced his return with a career-best unbeaten 335 in a championship game against Leicestershire. Andrew Strauss, who famously fell out with KP then announced that there would be no place for him in the test setup because of ‘Trust issues’. Not surprisingly KP booked the next flight to India only to be ruled out through injury.

In the next few months England have 2 test matches against an in form New Zealand side followed by the Ashes series against Australia. None of the present England team have demonstrated any real consistency this season and devoid of confidence the side will do well to make any headway in either series.

I am not the greatest KP fan but on his day he can be one of the most destructive batsmen around and no opposing team would relish seeing his name on the team sheet.  He also draws the crowds in a way that few others can, at a time when interest in the game is on the wane.

There have always been mavericks in cricket, sometimes it has been difficult to accommodate them within a team but in this instance the situation should be fairly clear cut – in a stuttering side that has woefully under-performed you need to pick the best players available and for that reason I feel that he should have been given his recall.

Maybe he was misled by the cricketing authorities, maybe he wasn’t, the fact remains that the handling of the whole issue has brought further shame on the ECB when they are already under pressure to turn around performances.

Joking, Pietersen himself suggested he should apply for the vacant position of England coach – now there is a thought.

Elsewhere in sport, Chelsea cruised to the Premiership title, much to the disgust of many football purists while the relegation of Burnley from the league elicited a great deal of sympathy given the high standard of entertainment they brought to the league this season. Statistics would suggest that Chelsea were as productive and entertaining as any of the other clubs in the league, just goes to show that success doesn’t guarantee you popularity.

Possibly feeling the love – 3 of the most respected role models in English football bid their farewells to the Premiership at the end of the season - Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard depart these shores for America’s MSL while Brad Friedel hangs up his gloves at the age of 43. 

Not feeling the love?   Preston North End fans must be delighted to reach the League One Play-off Final at Wembley against Swindon. 30,000 fans are likely to make the trip to Wembley on 24^th May but unfortunately none of them will be able to travel by train due to scheduled engineering work by Virgin Trains – who by coincidence happen to be the official shirt sponsor of the Lancashire club. 

The emergency aid teams around the world seem to be have had even more responsibility than usual placed upon them. Apart from the ongoing demands for their services in areas of conflict and famine they have struggled to come to terms with the devastating effect of the recent earthquakes in Nepal that has killed more than 9,000 people, injured more than 19,000 and left  millions without shelter.

The month has also seen a horrendous loss of life among refugees fleeing across the Mediterranean  Sea in overcrowded boats, trying to take advantage of the calmer waters at this time of year. The EU is being stretched to breaking point trying to accommodate the influx of people prepared to risk their lives in the hope of finding a better life in an EU country that is ill equipped to care for such numbers or prevent the illegal transportation by people traffickers. Not wanted in their own country, not welcome in a new country – definitely not feeling the love.

Another story that caught my eye was the fact that while the development of cars that drive themselves is progressing at pace it is not permitted to produce records that show the number of incidents involving driverless cars or the extent to which these vehicles have been damaged or caused damage to others. All things considered I should still be around to enjoy being chauffeured around the country in my dotage by a robot. I still believe there is a fair way to go before this can become reality and it doesn’t fill me with confidence when companies are reticent about how efficient or reliable the cars have been. Imagine what the world would be like if humans were not required to report or record their driving indiscretions.