How the Mighty Have Fallen

I have only just recovered from the last weekend of sport which saw another poor England performance against Israel in the "European" Championship qualifiers. A 3-0 victory against the mighty Andorra midweek has hardly raised spirits and quite frankly, until Steve McClaren leaves the England job I will not be watching this joke of a national team again.

Meanwhile in the Cricket World Cup Bangaldesh and Ireland qualified for the Super Eight stage taking the place of those two subcontinent powerhouses of world cricket, India and Pakistan. The Aussies must be loving it. It also appears that sadly, Bob Woolmer was murdered and the hunt is on to find his killer. Inzamam-ul-Haq has been questioned twice, and CCTV footage has been examined.

This joke may be in poor taste but it can't have been Inzy, otherwise it would be obvious from the CCTV footage...

As he was running from the scene he would have forgotten to ground his bat...

Brown Blows Last Budget

Gordon Brown delivered what was likely to be his final budget yesterday and the People's Republic remains unimpressed. The consensus is that the headline 2p income tax cut actually means the poorer are paying more tax due to the abolition of the 10p rate. PragueTory claims anyone earning less than £17935 more than £5000 is actually paying more tax (not taking into account any tax credits). Not like the Tories to give a damn about the poor, and not like me to agree with them. Circumstance makes strange bedfellows.

This time last week HP stopped producing its sauce in Aston, Birmingham and moved production to the Netherlands where corporation tax has recently been cut to 25.5%. In what can only be described as shutting the door after the horse has bolted, Brown cut corporation tax to 28p yesterday, making up the shortfall by tightening up the rules and raising taxes on small business. We are still quite a way off Ireland's corporation tax rate of 12.5%.

Oh and tax goes up on beer by 1p a pint on Sunday.

Better tank up before then...

A Super Weekend of Sport

What a weekend of sport! The fun started on Saturday when a double shock in the Cricket World Cup saw Ireland beat Pakistan and Bangladesh beat India. Unfortunately the former result took its toll on Pakistan's former Warwickshire coach Bob Woolmer, who was later found unconscious in his hotel room and died later in hospital. I would have loved to see him back at the Bears and the World Cup will be overshadowed by this tragedy.

Meanwhile post-Schumacher Formula 1 is more exciting than ever (unsurprisingly) with Kimi Raikkonen beating Fernando Alonso in the first race of what promises to be an exciting season. And forget Jenson Button; third place Lewis Hamilton staked his claim to become Britain' best racer with an excellent podium on his debut.

Poor Sleep Cloud Moral Judgement

Poor Sleep Clouds Moral Judgement reports the BBC in its health section today. Margaret Thatcher famously survived on only 4 hours sleep a night when Prime Minister.

Explains a lot.

US Athletes to be Based in Brum

On the day the European Indoor Athletics Championships came to an end it was announced that Birmingham will be the base of the USA athletics team for London 2012. Hopes are high that the Chinese team will follow.

Perhaps the People's Republic was wrong to believe only London would benefit from the Olympics. Now all they need to do is get ready on time and on budget...

Birmingham holds (another) Sporting Event

No football at the community hall at the NIA this week as Europe's top Athlete's descend on the city for the European Indoor Athletics Championships that will take place over the weekend. It will be the most significant athletics event to be held in Great Britain before London 2012, and the London 2012 campaign acknowledge the contribution that Birmingham's hosting of the Indoor Athletic Championships has made to their bid. Birmingham has held more sporting championships than any other European city in the last four years. And when we hold a sporting championship, we don't just invite the nations we've conquered.

Unlike some cities...