Becky Cooper's letter to David Lammy

If one MP can draw attention to the situation in Gaza, so can others.

Grammarly sucks

Publishers are averse to the use of Artificial Intelligence.

The piece of Artificial Stupidity which I find most annoying is Grammarly. It started out as a way of correcting grammar. It then decided it would write my stories better than I could. Anything I could do, Grammarly could do better.

Take any piece of poetry or prose and subject it to the Grammarly treatment and you will see what I mean. All of the major speeches in Shakespeare are all wrong and Grammarly could improve on them. It could do the same to Jane Austen and Charles Dickens.

Or you could just delete the pompous smug app and have done with it.

Introduction to "The Pernicious Snood"

We police an area known as Scoresdale. It includes the villages of Scoresdale, Scoresdale West, Sodbury and Lower Sodbury. The surrounding area is mainly populated by sheep who do not cause us much trouble.

Scoresdale has been refused permission to call itself "Scoresdale by Sea." Presumably the English Channel is invisible to the County Council.

Colin Burgos is a constable who has been plagued by teasing about his illiteracy. He now reads everything that comes his way and provides us all with an exegesis whether we ask for it or not.

Clare Turner is another constable who is based in Nether Sodbury. Whereas Colin is not keen for promotion I can see Claire passing the Sergeant's exam and taking my job one day.

The other member of the team is Community Support Officer Francis Skinner who has a dislike of being called Frank. He is older than all of us and has a lot of experience in the RAF regiment which is like the military police.

I was unable to join the RAF because I failed the medical due to colour-blindness. I am also incapable of reading a map which would not have helped.

The politicians in their infinite wisdom have cut the regional crime squad over and over again until it was reduced to three men and a dog. Then the dog died. The three men don't look too well either. The practical result of this is that however serious the crime is, it is up to us to deal with it.

The Perncious Snood is about how we go about it.

Sergeant Chris Morgan

(Fictional character)

Agatha Crusty and the Health Spa Murders

Agatha Crusty and the Health Spa Murders is a very funny production by the Durrington Theatrical Society. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

The title role of Agatha Crusty was played by Pam Stringer. Not only a novelist but an amateur detective, she ultimately solves the mystery. When she then tries to sell her books to the other residents they make an excuse and leave.

The professional (D I S Aster as he is known, played by Robin Ferguson) is no match for her but he does have some of the funnier lines.

Special mention should go to Dominic Webster who excels in the role of Paval Popovsky with his idiot's guide to English and some of the funniest lines in the play. The things he can do with a birch twig are remarkable but all take place offstage.

I have no intention of telling you "whodunnit". You will have to watch it for yourself.