(6 February 2023) Listening to the radio this morning, whilst in the process of getting up and facing the day, it struck me that there are many things of interest to people besides the current critical political mess in the United Kingdom. I know that is a rather obvious remark, but bear in mind that first thing in the morning it sometimes takes a while for the brain to slip into gear.
Indeed, browsing through various publications, online, there are a number of headlines drawing one’s attention to - as the Guardian proposes - News, Opinion, Sport, Culture, Lifestyle and much more. The sheer variety of human interests never ceases to amaze. News and events from around the world tend to seep through the domestic agenda despite the plethora of local concerns confronting the British public. Granted this is primarily about foreign conflicts and catastrophes, but there are some cultural and lifestyle happenings reported as well.
Be that as it may, the unease caused by the crises in the NHS, cost of living and lack of support for public services is the main consideration. It appears to me, that because these issues are so paramount, we are distracted from the slow but maleficent progress towards legislation designed to restrict and coral the citizen into isolationism and submission never before contemplated by the citizens of this country. Apart from the current restrictions being put in place on public demonstrations and workers rights, the government would seek to further this agenda by removing its adherence to the European Convention of Human Rights, that is to say that it would withdraw from the very concepts of respect for humanity and individual liberty, proposed as early as the 6th Century and have been nurtured and developed in this country for nearly one thousand years.
Yes, it has taken a millennium for basic human rights to be made statutory law and this United Kingdom government would seek to end it. They seem to be determined to put up a permanent barrier around the country to completely isolate it from any interaction with the rest of the world. Suella Braverman, our Home Secretary, who openly admits to dreams of flights of fancy.
At the same time these Conservative Party stalwarts and Brexiteer adherents brazenly talk of economic growth and low taxation. The inanity and insanity of these diametrically opposing propositions is staggering. How does growth work by retreating into a shell? The stupidity of constant repetition of these arguments is yet further evidence of the stagnating dementia in the minds of the current ministerial cabinet.
There is some small consolation in that within five minutes of the sub-headline in the Guardian:
“Rishi Sunak warned that taking UK out of European convention on human rights would cross ‘red line’ for many Tory MPs.”
Over 1853 comments were sent to the paper. So at least some people were paying attention, but clearly not enough. The frozen turnips are still frozen.
Much of the midday news has been taken up with accounts of the horrific seismic catastrophe on the Turkish and Syria border, and the help and assistance those countries will need to rescue and care for victims. The aftermath and reconstruction are of equal concern. The fact that the seism has occurred in an area of conflict in Syria, is an added difficulty in terms of international co-operation. Assistance for other countries must come at the invitation of the existing leadership of the country concerned and President Assad is not exactly in charge of much of the quake area involved. Still, I am sure that humanitarian aid will supersede the politics. At least I hope so.
Britain has gathered together an experienced team of rescuers ready to fly out today. This is as it should be, despite the ridiculous isolationist attitude of the government. What is strange is that on every occasion which calls for the recognition that international cooperation is inevitably more advantageous to the country, and the world in general, this lot will always revert back to little Englandism.
Why is it that the Conservative Party treats the working population of the country as the enemy? Is this part of the left-leaning economic establishment so reviled by Liz Truss. Why is it that they stubbornly insist on confrontation with the very people who do the work on the ground? Those people who drive the ambulances, deal with the injuries and victims, clean up the mess, make the beds, apply the dressings, hold the hands, console the relatives, and generally administer life saving care. What is the problem? The promise of beds and buildings is not a solution if you do not have the people to actually make the beds and work in the buildings. It is people who care for people not the steel bed frames or bricks.
The truth is they have no idea of what to do. They are plagued with fantasists who proclaim growth results from low tax (on what basis as there is no evidence whatsoever for that supposition) arrogant bullying ministers, such as Dominic Raab and Suella Braverman, ridiculous hard line separatists like Jacob Rees-Mogg et al, and careless unrepentant tax dodgers. There is even talk of bringing back the last would-be despot Priti Patel as Party Chairperson. What kind of government have we got? The headless chicken analogy comes to mind.
So listening to the radio in the morning does not strictly help. Also I shy away from Sport, Culture and Lifestyle when contemplating the world outside my front door. It is something I must make an effort to change. It is not good to sit, seethe and vent at a keyboard. It affects one’s spelling and grammar as well as one’s sense of proportion.
(8 February 2023) Patel has not been reinstated in the Cabinet so far. What we have had is not so much a reshuffle as a bit of fiddling with how departments will be reconstructed. Grant Shapps, previous Boris Johnson apologist, will now only have Energy and Security to cope with and Kemi Badenoch will deal with Business and Trade.
The man who had been Minister for Trade Policy, Greg Hands has been named Conservative Party Chairman. As to Hands’ previous, the office of Minister of State for Trade Policy was established by Teresa May in July 2016 and Greg Hands was given the job. He left the job in June 2018, but was reappointed by Boris Johnson in February 2020 and stayed till September of 2021. Liz Truss put him back in October 2022 and Rishi Sunak kept him on till now. Between September 2021 and September 2022 he acted as Boris Johnson’s Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth. This Department has once again had a facelift and is now split into two, divided as above, between Shapps and Badenoch.
So again, there is nothing new or refreshing about Mr Sunak’s cabinet or Conservative Party policy. They are all one and the same. They cannot pretend that the 13 years of decline is not entirely the result of their policies, despite any additional problems brought about by Covid and the Ukrainian war. Those have just been convenient excuses for failure. They cannot be used in mitigation for their offences.
(10 February 2023) Much has been said since the 8th February about Lee Anderson newly appointed Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party. This is a very strange man who started his political life as a Labour Councillor on the Ashfield District Council representing Huthwaite and Brierley Ward. He was suspended from the local branch of the Labour Party in February 2018 after receiving a community protection order under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, for using boulders to block members of the Traveller Community from "setting up camp at a site in the area". The following month Anderson defected to the Conservative Party. He was elected Conservative member of Parliament for Ashfield in 2019.
Given this man’s track record and his current comments about the death penalty and crime it is sad to note that this area of Nottinghamshire, a former coal mining community, has adopted such a demonstrably bigoted individual as their parliamentary representative. This is a man without principle with no political agenda other than personal prejudices. This is a man who has been adopted by the Conservative Party leadership as a serious representative of their cause. A racist defector whose loyalty is to intolerance and anti-social behaviour. He no doubt calls that taking back control.
Many people have already weighed in on Mr Anderson, but, sadly there is a high percentage of the British public that would support him. Hopefully not enough to influence Parliament to bring back the death penalty to the United Kingdom. It is sufficient that it holds back the slow social progress towards civilisation.
I believe the world’s communities, on the whole, have become more civilised. Perhaps I am being naïve, but there has been steady movement towards ‘civilisation’. It is that element of just simply being civil towards one another. Civilisation has been described as having a quality of refinement and excellence. I believe most individuals endeavour to match their behaviour with high standards of refinement and excellence. A lot of people do not, but I have an optimistic view about the state of things.
Most people abhor war and conflict. Even those Russian citizens who believe Mr Putin’s fabrication of his special military operation. He has such control of the means of communication that he rivals Orwell’s ‘big brother’. One hears interviews with Steve Rosenberg in Russia, presumably Moscow, with some of the local citizens. It is sad that they do not seem to be fully aware of what is actually going on in the Ukraine. Disturbing, but it is no different than listening to interviews with ardent Trump supporters in the United States who have swallowed Trumpism whole. Indeed it is probably worse than Russia, as most of the media in the United States, and in particular the three major networks of CBS, ABC and NBC all refer to Trump’s views about the 2020 election as the big lie. Trump does not have control of the airways like Putin although I’m sure he would like to.. There is a lot of information about Donald Trump and his fantasies, deceptions and lies all over the United Sates, and yet he still has millions who refuse to have any doubts about him and his character.
This deliberate and tenacious holding on to ignorance on the part of certain sections of the public in any number of constituencies (e.g. The State of Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, Moscow, Nottinghamshire’s Ashfield, Budapest, South West Norfolk, etc.) gives us the likes of Marjorie Taylor Green, Lee Anderson, Victor Orban, Liz Truss. It appears that they are all part of what is referred to as Generation X – those born between 1965 and 1976 or near enough. It is this lot that have taken leadership roles in countries around the world.
According to researchers their characteristics are: work hard, believe in work-life balance, are independent-minded, flexible and direct, self-reliant, thinkers and embrace feedback. I would certainly not apply these qualities as characteristics describing the above mentioned X’ers. If anything they are an aberration from the norm of Generation X persona. I do not for one moment see Marjorie Taylor Green as a thinker who is flexible and embraces feedback. All they are intent on is division and fucking up the world.
My friends and I come from the tail end of what has been termed “The Silent Generation”. I find this a rather mistaken view. Although there was clearly a ‘Silent Majority’, there was also Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhoff, Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, Rennie Davis, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tariq Ali, Darcus Howe, Daniel Cohn-Bendit and numerous other protesters and activists who were hardly silent and in some cases, very heavy dudes. Their activities during the sixties made quite an impression on the world and on the baby boomers who would follow. In any event a number of us are checking out now; but, do not speak slightingly of that not so silent generation, for they do not go gentle into that good night. They made a point and I hope they still will.
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