The Americans, bless their little cotton socks, like to think 1991 was the year punk broke.
That was when Nirvana appeared seemingly out of nowhere to shake up a moribund music scene dragging dozens of bands – some great and some not so great – into the spotlight in their wake.
As an adolescent on this side of the pond, however, I knew that wasn’t true.
The original punk revolution took place 15 years earlier, with The Sex Pistols leading the charge.
Alas, I was born too late for any of it.
So as someone who maintains a love of all music that is both shouty and thrashy, you can imagine my delight at the fact that not only are the Pistols’ relevant again, we’re all trapped in a twisted version of their Anarchy in the UK.
On Wednesday night, Brexiteers revealed themselves, yet again, to be utterly clueless about what they want from Brexit, nevermind how they go about actually achieving it.
Watching Jacob Rees-Mogg explain why he voted against Theresa May’s deal was like seeing the lyric “don’t know what I want but I know how to get it” come to life, only borne out of privilege rather than the rage young punks felt more than 40 years ago.
Even with MPs voting against a No Deal Brexit, that option still cannot be discounted entirely.
The food and medicine shortages that could come with such a scenario remain all too worryingly real a prospect.
Brexit deal rejected: Another crushing blow to Theresa May’s authority
In Dundee, councillors have suggested stockpiling food and petrol in case the worst happens while the city’s port has been earmarked for use to bring in food if there are shortages.
That the UK is sleepwalking into this situation is a damning indictment of both the Tories and Labour, which have torn themselves apart over leaving the EU.
Both have shown a devastating lack of leadership and, in many ways, a lack of responsibility.
It took Anna Soubry, who left the Conservatives to join The Independent Group, to point out on Wednesday that MPs’ first duty is not to their party but to the nation as a whole.
And yet pro-Brexit MPs have charged ahead in pursuit of a ruinous No Deal Brexit that will have a seismic impact on every village, town and city in the UK.
In the process, they’ve completely destroyed faith in the parliamentary system and the credibility of our MPs.
Apart from that, it’s all going swimmingly.
It’s hard to imagine young people today looking at the House of Commons with anything other than complete dismay.
When singer Johnny Rotten got tired of being part of carnage surrounding the Pistols on their ill-fated American tour, he asked the San Francisco audience “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”.
It took the USA 15 years to fully catch up on the musical impact of the Pistols.
After four decades we’re finally getting to catch up on what Anarchy in the UK really means.
Straight Outta Lang Toun
Sometimes it’s hard to be a Fifer.
Take the case of former Kirkcaldy man Barry Innes, who now lives in Bristol where he regularly attends Bristol City home games.
Unfortunately, poor Barry faces being banned from Ashton Gate because of his repeated swearing which, the club says, has led to repeated complaints about his behaviour.
Football fan facing ban swears Fife accent is cause of ‘repeated complaints’
Barry, who says he has been trying to watch his language, maintains he is being unfairly victimised because his Scottish accent makes his diatribes more pronounced than that of English supporters who use equally spicy language when action on the pitch gets heated.
Rather than crying foul, it might be worth Barry trying just that little bit harder to curb his enthusiasm.
Down in the dumps
There was even worse news for residents of the Kingdom this week when Dundee City Council told people living in the Tay Bridgehead they are no longer welcome at the city’s two recycling centres.
The cash-strapped local authority has stopped issuing permits to Fifers that let them drive domestic vans and trailers to its recycling centres, although car users will still be able to use the facilities unless the council decides to introduce passport checks at Baldovie and Riverside Drive.
Fly-tipping fears as Dundee council bans Fifers from using its recycling centres
It means some residents will have to drive to St Andrews or Cupar if they have a lot of waste, turning a 10-minute trip into a much longer journey.
Dundee City Council is, of course, blaming the cost of processing the waste for the ban.
Hopefully the move will not lead to an increase in fly-tipping as some councillors fear. If it does then the cost could end up being a lot more than the money one council hopes to save.
