Cathy Dobbs: Online twits are sending TV hosts from hero to zero

I think we all agree ITV presenters Phil and Holly are pretty harmless. However, at the time of writing this, the petition to see them lose their jobs has reached almost 73,000 signatures.

So, what did they do to be the target of such hatred? The simple answer is ‘Queuegate’, when they are accused of jumping the queue to pay their respects to the Queen, just like dozens of other journalists did.

However, Laura Harrison, who started the petition on change.org, clearly has it in for the hosts of This Morning, which she describes as “one of the most damaging to mental health daytime TV shows”. She believes the ITV show turned the “cost of living anxiety into a game show”’ and Phil and Holly have “monopolised way too long”.

This is less about Queuegate and more about sending a couple of popular TV hosts from hero to zero – something the twits on Twitter love to do. These spiteful few are probably the same people that urged us all to ‘Be Kind’ in the pandemic. Sadly they have reduced themselves to showing undignified anger – something the late Queen would never have wanted.

When it comes to calm, confident dignity it looks like Liz Truss is as about as unflappable as Queen Elizabeth. It’s as though their meeting, just a couple of days before her death, was one Liz passing the baton to another.

At a recent routine blood test, the nurse admitted that wherever she goes she can’t help spotting good veins. When your job involves searching out veins for a needle, it may be difficult to stand in the queue at Tesco and not admire the veins of the shopper in front of you. So, if you ever find someone staring at your arms take it as a compliment, you must have good veins.

The cost of living crisis seems to have spurred businesses on with their deals. So, at a recent trip to the pub my was husband thrilled that he could get his favourite ale for just £3 a pint. At the same time our local Co-op was offering a pizza, garlic bread and salad for just £5. Being savvy can certainly help with weekly bills.

It seems young horticulturalists have a new name for gardening – ‘plant parenthood’. If you are green fingered then you are either a plant daddy or plant mommy. After the hot weather, the plants in my garden look a bit bedraggled. Maybe I need to up my plant parenting skills, or get in a nanny – i.e. a gardener!