Are we being tricked into distraction by a bombardment of news items that just when we begin to understand, something else is thrown at us to make us question our morality?

Ken Livingstone is an anti-semite, Donald Trump is now great because he orders a bombing camping whilst on the 16th tee, Gibraltar is an innocent victim of Brexit, not a dubious tax haven for gambling companies and an Asian woman has taken her first steps to international stardom after laughing at an irrelevant rodent who needs a good wash and it would appear, urgent treatment for rabies.

I’m glad I went to watch Reading lose 7-1 at the weekend, if only to get away from it all.

Ken Livingstone an anti-semite? I’m sorry, I’m not having that. In my opinion he quite possibly as issues with zionism but we have to be careful when differentiating as dislike of Israeli policy to disliking Jews. There are many Jews across the world who don’t sit comfortably with the treatment of Palestinians, so to be critical of a regime who have been compared to apartheid Africa, is not being an anti-semite.

Anti-semitism is still a genuine problem, with hate crime on the increase, but to let Israel off the hook for their humanity crimes through fear of receiving anti-semitic accusations, would, in my opinion, be utter madness.

However, we are living in utter madness, such utter madness, that out of nowhere, a narcissistic, sex offending, tax dodging, serial bankrupt, is being applauded by liberals for ordering a bombing campaign (based on circumstantial evidence) in Syria, heightening tensions further in what in effect is a US/Russia proxy war.

Suddenly, from nowhere, Trump has a big heart, suggesting that the chemical poisoning of people he has banned from travelling to America, is a red line that has been crossed. In this proxy war, you can kill as many people as you want, just as long as you use weapons that kill people nicely, preferably purchased from British or American arms dealers.

In the background, Boris Johnson is still trying to pretend Britain is a major player, not an irritating class clown who Theresa May presumably put in the job to subject him to utter humiliation. She does this by pulling him out of any diplomatic meeting of relevance, presumably because if she knows one thing, Boris is an accident waiting to happen.

Meanwhile, Michael Howard did his best to put Britain back on the map by trying to lay the foundations of a war with Spain over Gibraltar after it emerged that Brexit could cause issues with freedom of movement. This is because the damn Spaniards feel a bit aggrieved that Gibraltar is in effect, a spooks paradise, a major player in the art of smuggling, and a revenue avoidance mecca for online gambling companies who don’t like paying tax.

I often wonder what it would be like if Spain owned Portland Bill and allowed it to govern its own tax rates, undercutting the British people on its doorstep. In a way, it is remarkable Spain has been so tolerant and it will be within its rights as an EU country to halt freedom of movement if a sensible deal cannot be done. Of course this will lead to The Sun newspaper offering a free Ford Fiesta to anyone who kills a spik.

You won’t hear this often but it’s not only Spain who lose revenue because of Gibraltar. There are over 20 online betting companies in Britain who make millions of pounds every year but because they base themselves in Gibraltar, they pay no British taxes. Everyone outside Gibraltar is a loser but Michael Howard still thinks it may be worthy of blowing up Madrid. If we are serious about tax evasion, laundering and corruption, we should just hand it back.

Fortunately, ever since Jeremy Paxman asked him about 500 times whether he threatened to overrule the governor of the Isle of Wight prison, Michael Howard has been about as relevant as the goalkeeper in a team facing Luxembourg in a World Cup Qualifier, and only a few people took the cretin seriously.

So after a week of digesting all this bad stuff, we were finally offered a good news story when Saffiyah Khan was pictured facing down a member of the far-right group, the EDL (English Defence League).

I was impressed how media astute Saffiyah Khan was after the event and I can’t help but think that her moment in the spotlight has set her up for a great career. I am not saying that it was contrived but with social media the way it is, I would not be surprised if there are many young people eyeing up what she achieved and are planning going to a demonstration where they can, if caught in the right moment, become the darling of the media, appearing on Question Time or The Jonathan Ross show within weeks.

They say there is no such thing as bad publicity but anyone with 1% of brain functionality must now know that the EDL are just a bunch of disaffected half-wits who, with some irony, have evolved in the same way as the maniacs who attach themselves to Islamic fundamentalism from a prison cell. There is no substance to their being, with the only thing unifying them being a lack of basic education and a feeling of needing to be part of something where their anger at the world can come out.

The media coverage of the Saffiyah Khan incident did verge on overkill, as she was hardly a student stood in front of an incoming tank was she? That said, it as still nice to see a young woman of mixed race refusing to be cowered by thugs who were intent on causing trouble in her home town.

However, I preferred the picture showing her wearing a Specials T-Shirt (above) as it proved that a band that created more racial harmony in Britain than any other, are still relevant in 2017.

Have a happy Easter.