Mark Andrews on Saturday: Tearful politicians, the joys of household chores, and since when did Wolves play in sky blue?

Compare and contrast.

May 8, 1945, with the Allies finally defeating Nazi Germany, Winston Churchill delivered a rousing speech: "We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing, but let us not forget for a moment the toils and efforts that lie ahead".

On December 8, 2020, after the NHS administered the first coronavirus vaccines, Health Secretary Matt Hancock blubs like a baby in front of Piers Morgan.

Paul Gascoigne eat your heart out. But don't you prefer it when our leaders showed a stiff upper lip?

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According to survey by online florist Serenata, 50 per cent of women have taken up a new hobby since the start of the pandemic, with 67 per cent practising their new skill at least once a week. Oi, stop sniggering at the back.

Cooking, baking and gardening top the list, with the ladies who took up these hobbies enjoying significant mental health benefits. Nearly a fifth felt happier as a result.

This confirms my long-held view that if you really want to speak to an expert in mental wellbeing, the first port of call should always be an online florist.

Additional research, carried out entirely by myself, says the therapeutic benefits are even greater from ironing, scrubbing floors and car maintenance. Come on ladies, you'll feel so much better.

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Another study to drop into my inbox calls for a ban on Christmas crackers, warning that 40 million will end up in landfill this year.

Mark Hall of Business Waste is dreaming of a 'sustainable Christmas'. Plastic tablecloths and shiny wrapping paper should also be given the heave-ho, he says.

I wouldn't miss Christmas crackers, with their lame jokes, fortune-telling fish and plastic spinning tops. And a plastic tablecloth sounds horrid.

But I think his idea that we should all wrap presents in brown paper is taking things a little far.

"Your tree will look like something out of a lifestyle magazine on Christmas morning," he says. Either that or a Parcel Force depot.

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Why ever were Wolves wearing a sky-blue kit against Liverpool on Sunday?

A rhetorical question of course. We all know it's about getting gullible fans to shell-out more cash buying the reserve kit as well. All clubs do it. And with Christmas approaching, now is surely the best time to get little Johnny badgering his parents for another strip.

The real question is why do the FA allow it? A change of kit should only be permitted when the referee decides there is a clear risk of one team being mistaken for another. And given Wolves have one of the most distinctive kits in the country, there won't be many games where that is the case.

Wouldn't it also be nice if the reserve kits bore at least a passing reference to their clubs' traditional colours? Wolves, for example, could wear black shirts with gold trim, Villa light blue with claret trim. And Albion could wear, er, white-and-blue stripes. Instead of the usual blue-and-white.