Pnewsology

The week’s news with a dash of psychology!

Jane Ogden (Professor in Health Psychology, Emeritus; email janeogden509@gmail.com; based on a conversation with James Cannon at Radio Surrey; 8.40 am 13/03/2026)

Week ending 13/03/2026

All opinions are those of Jane Ogden

This week there has been lots of talk of allies.  Who our friends are, who they should be and, often, how they can do us harm!  The war between the US, Israel and Iran still rages on and it is clear that the US and Israel are great allies with the US spending billions to help Israel with its mission.  Its also clear that many of the Gulf States saw themselves as allies of the US and have let them have bases on their territory.  These are now being bombed by Iran.  And it seems that the US thinks we should be their ally and help them out.   In the midst of this, Keir Starmer has been doing his best to navigate the middle ground whereas Tony Blair stood up this weekend and clearly felt Starmer wasn’t doing enough!  Blair was talking at a Jewish News event and stated that Starmer ‘should have backed Trump from the beginning’, that Labour ‘had better show up’ for Washington’ and that if they are your ally, they are the cornerstone for your security.  Apparently, he thought he wouldn’t be quoted! Thanks Tony! With ex-Prime Ministers like that who needs enemies!

More locally, there have also been stories of friendships gone wrong.  There was a dreadful stabbing of a teenager in Staines with two other arrested, one for ‘assisting an offender’.  Clearly a story there of friendship gone wrong.  There have also been stories of people as young as 14 needing to wear incontinence pads after taking ketamine.  Drugs are very rarely taken alone.  Here’s another story of friends accessing drugs, friends offering drugs, friends threatening not to be friends if others don’t go along with them and take drugs, and friends not telling friends to stop! Bad friends all round. 

But we did have one heart warming story.  The poor new goalie for Spurs, was subbed off by the new manager after just 17 minutes and could been seen sobbing as he walked off the pitch.  Just must have been heart breaking and totally humiliating.  But the heartwarming part comes from how people reacted.  His teammates hugged him; the opposition players and fans rallied round and social media saw an outpouring of support.  All seemed to blame the manager – now that’s what friends are for!

Allies come from history and can just be a matter of time.  Think world wars and those you have just known forever.  They also come from geography – think the US and Canada (!), England and France (!) and the people who happened to live on your road as a child.  And they can also come from religion or family or school (those we just spend our time with).  Most of these we don’t really chose but just acquire and then they stick.  But proper allies should not only just be there, but should also be good for us!  The UK and US have been allies for decades and the Gulf States have aligned themselves to the US. And like marriage, we might say through thick and thin and in sickness and in health.  But also like marriage, it doesn’t have to be a life (or death) sentence.  Spain have drawn a line and so can we.  Time for a massive worldwide divorce and for us to realign with those who actually like us, will look after us (and don’t make us want to scream every time they speak!).