simon read

Helplines Acas 0300 123 1100 Action Fraud 0300 123 20 40 Alcoholics 0845 769 7555 Age UK 0800 169 6565 Bereavement 0808 808 1677 Childline 0800 1111 Citizens Advice 0800 1448848 Domestic Violence 0808 2000 247 Mind 0300 123 3393 NHS 111 Samaritans 116 123 Shelter 0808 800 4444

Disappointment for Chelsea fans at Wembley on Saturday but I'm back there today cheering on my hometown club Southend United in the FA Trophy Final.

I've had a fun and interesting week. I hope you have too.

@GregBufithis Not that I'm aware.

@simonnread @simonnread We don’t get BBC. Is the lost episode, which first aired on 16 September 1968, being aired tonight available anywhere else?

Wa-hey! Eric Morecambe was born 100 years ago today. He brought sunshine throughout his life and still does so today youtu.be/GNbTJ2AnDKc?si…

Number of the day: £10.8m - the amount Tesco boss Ken Murphy made last year, which was about £1m more than the year before. Last year’s pay included £1.51m in basic pay, a £3.4m annual bonus and a £5.7m long-term bonus which includes shares in the company. theguardian.com/business/2026/…

Is new technology always better? No, as I discovered during this interview. It turns out old-school radio frequencies can be a better way to track stolen cars than satellite-based GPS systems. How? Read my interview for Insurance Post to find out postonline.co.uk/personal/79602…

Monday: "It's unfair to label Reform supporters as Nazis". Thursday: Reform suspend Councillor for being a literal Nazi.

There's a bit in the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (written in 1979) where the heroes come upon an intergalactic flight has been grounded for thousands of years. Its automated systems told it not to launch until it was fully stocked up with lemon-soaked paper napkins, for the comfort of its passengers. But the surrounding civilization collapsed, and the napkins never arrived. Consequently it put all the passengers into hibernation (waking them once every few hundred years for coffee and biscuits) until such time as another civilization might arise, and restock its lemon-soaked paper napkins. The Guide is a more accurate and prophetic account of modernity than most Very Serious Science Fiction writers could dream of creating.

I saw Stage Kiss at the Hampstead Theatre. It was about actors and lovers kissing and rekindling affairs. There were plenty of laughs over two hours and a quarter and fun plays-within-a-play. No surprises but a fun evening. It runs until 13 June.

Make Reform Councillors do their jobs rather than spouting their offensive nonsense by reporting a pothole in your area fixmystreet.com

Number of the day: 438. The number of phones, earphones and other personal items dropped onto the Underground was 438 last year, 272 in 2024 and 197 in 2023 tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media…

The FCA is probing how investment firms treat bereaved customers. The review is long overdue. Too many financial firms fail those left behind with rigid processes and a lack of empathy when they should provide compassion and help to cut through red tape. content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKFCA…

Start Wednesday with a smile

What's this old building I spotted rising on the opposite shore of the Thames in London?

BBC Somerset fail! Don't listen if the C word offends!

#blackandwhitefilm of the day: I Am A Camera, 1955. Long overshadowed by musical remake Cabaret, this interesting first retelling of Christopher Isherwood's Berlin stories sees Julie Harris as Sally Bowles charming Laurence Harvey on @TalkingPicsTV at 11pm youtu.be/T811D04Pso0?si…