PREPOSTHUMOSITY
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Unaffiliated Independents
Sunday, 21 May 2006
When I saw that my old friend General Wranter was to give a lecture at The Bragmore Hall. I very much looked forward to hearing all he had to say concerning the Society of which he recently become President. ‘Wranter’ has a distinguished record of Military Service which he concluded as an unusually senior Military Attaché in Washington. A post he accepted as he wished to have easy access to the Congressional Library. When I invited him to write the Preposthumosity Column he immediately consented .
_____________________________
SOCIETY OF UNAFFILIATED INDEPENDENTS.
My good Lady Wife first put me onto this new system of communication. She said that stamps had become too expensive, and buying the things just encouraged the chappies to put the price up. Never give in to Undue Pressure is my advice. Furthermore those blue aeroplane labels are always in short supply, never able to get the damn things. I have always been open to new ideas, flexibility counted for everything in the Army, so I did not hesitate to give this new signalling system a chance to prove itself. One does not reach Staff Rank without being decisive. Maybe one is not always right, but men knew where they were under my command. If there were unfortunate sacrifices made due to unforeseeable circumstance, no man complained, but was merely content to fall in the knowledge that valuable lessons were learnt for future deployment. No names taken nor pack drill given as we used to say. Great times and it was an honour for me to command such a splendid bunch of fellows.
I was, I hope affectionately, known in the Service as ‘Old Wranter’ not to my face of course. The men thought I didn’t know, but nothing much escaped my notice, or if it did I knew nothing of it. It was an acronymic ‘double entendre’ on my name Wrant. The men saw it as ‘Warlike, Reconciliatory, and Nocturnal Tantivy, Exceedingly Reliable’. That described me well enough; I worked hard and played hard. Mens corpora ever my guiding principle, combined with a proper sense of duty.
I retired from the Army some twenty five years ago. After revisiting my Postings, the Lady wife and I involved ourselves in local activities. I became the Branch President of the Royal British Legion, and Phyllis, that’s my wife’s name Phyllis, devoted her time to the Parochial Church Council, of which she is now the Deputy Chair, whilst I sit on the County Council, where currently I Chair the Ways and Means Committee as we term it . Until my recent resignation I had the honour to be one of her Majesty’s Deputy Lieutenants.
I am known as a man of action and opinions. When people came to me saying that something needed to be done about ‘it’, there was no need to enquire which particular ‘it’ they had in mind. Nor did I hesitate to accept their implicit invitation to become their leader. Clearly they needed a man such as me, one with a handle to his name, if only to open doors. I though was more than merely willing to assume a more proactive role.
Having left the Army and my D.L. behind me, I am free to proffer good advice, based on a life time of active service. I suspect some may regarded me as another old Blimp, unwilling to accept the changing circumstance of life. However that is not the case. I can tell you that since Mrs T’s Administration, all Governments have been running around like headless chickens, without a Statesman in their midst. Most of them staffed with opportunistic incompetents, some of whom might better be described as carpetbaggers.
I needed to appoint an Aide de Camp, so invited Colonel Archibald Browne to fill the post. Archie had served under me in most of my post war campaigns, and he has been a trusted friend and companion since Sandhurst.
In fact I am Godfather to the delightful Susan, his daughter. Together he and I assembled a Cadre of men, and too the redoubtable Lady Bovingdon who consented to become Spokesperson for the fairer sex. I regard her as a very sound man, although Phyllis never cares to be as judgemental.
Those of us who think independently recognise that her Majesty’s Realm is beset by many problems, most of which have arisen not through any misfortune of Fate, but by that already mentioned Incompetence of Government. Expediency now taking precedence over Experience. Lack of Moral Fibre it used to be called.
This business with Europe for instance, it is never going to work. Can one trust Johnny Frenchman, not to mention all the others; significantly none play Cricket? Undoubtedly all are in Europe for what they can get out of it, rather than for what they can put into it. I have never suspected anything else from them, furthermore I say ‘bully’ for them. My objection is that we as a Nation are daft to expect anything else. Phyllis and I are on the Continent every summer and however enjoyable the time we spend there, it is apparent to us that all is not well. Corruption at all levels is hinted at, and there is a lack of application to anything other than Bureaucracy and the Black Economy. Our involvement with Europe is a National Disaster, which has sullied our good name.
The French too have an immigration problem. It is understandable that if people are being persecuted in their homeland they wish to seek refuge elsewhere. However I hear alarm bells ringing, when Refugees decide that the only really secure destination is the United Kingdom. I have served in Africa and in the Middle East, and so far as my experience of their delightful people goes, one might think they were entirely suited to the French Way of Life. I see no sense in giving Citizenship to Refugees be they genuine or merely economic, nor is there any sort of obligation to welcome their sisters, their cousins or their aunts. We are told we are short of manpower, need people to clean our offices, harvest our vegetables, and apparently for Personal Services. However can they not just be employed under contract? My Goddaughter did the Grape Harvest in France before she went to College, but there was no suggestion of making a career of it. Let us not forget that if there are oppressive regimes, maybe the oppressed should have thought longer, before booting us out of their Country in the first place. We never had starvation in Africa before it became self governing.
In the Middle East there is a disinclination to educate their women folk. My Phyllis never went to College. She did the Season and then went to Mrs Hoster’s, before getting herself a secretarial job prior to her marriage. Susan has a degree, and Archie and I are very proud of her. It is however debateable whether Education is a beneficial accomplishment for a woman. After College they tend to get a job for a couple of years or so, decide to have a child and remain too busy to return to work. It is all rather pointless to arouse expectations that can never be accomplished. Lady Bovingdon sacrificed her maternal aspirations to the public good. If our country is short of babies, it is plain where a woman’s first duty should lie; the very idea of importing children seems positively unpatriotic.
We the ‘Unaffiliated Independents’ feel that it is our duty to lead the way that others may follow. Much though I admired our first lady Prime Minister as a leader, I too feel that unfortunately she did not lead us along the path of righteousness. Independents do believe in the concept of Society, and are more inclined to the principles of One Nation Conservatism, than self interest. Unaffiliated Independents wish to regain the integrity of our Sovereign Lady’s Domain, and restore the security of her Kingdom, together with her Realms beyond the sea. Let us confound all knavish plots and reclaim a proper sense of our own self esteem.
It is our plan that neither Council nor Parliamentary seat goes uncontested by an Independent Candidate. The job is too large for us to organise before the Council Elections in 2007, but if you are with us and wish to stand then as an Independent non Party Political Councillor, or even in any other by-election should the vacancy arise. Please accept my assurance that like minded men and women are out there, who will give you their vote.
General Wrant Retd.
Founding Life President.
When I saw that my old friend General Wranter was to give a lecture at The Bragmore Hall. I very much looked forward to hearing all he had to say concerning the Society of which he recently become President. ‘Wranter’ has a distinguished record of Military Service which he concluded as an unusually senior Military Attaché in Washington. A post he accepted as he wished to have easy access to the Congressional Library. When I invited him to write the Preposthumosity Column he immediately consented .
_____________________________
SOCIETY OF UNAFFILIATED INDEPENDENTS.
My good Lady Wife first put me onto this new system of communication. She said that stamps had become too expensive, and buying the things just encouraged the chappies to put the price up. Never give in to Undue Pressure is my advice. Furthermore those blue aeroplane labels are always in short supply, never able to get the damn things. I have always been open to new ideas, flexibility counted for everything in the Army, so I did not hesitate to give this new signalling system a chance to prove itself. One does not reach Staff Rank without being decisive. Maybe one is not always right, but men knew where they were under my command. If there were unfortunate sacrifices made due to unforeseeable circumstance, no man complained, but was merely content to fall in the knowledge that valuable lessons were learnt for future deployment. No names taken nor pack drill given as we used to say. Great times and it was an honour for me to command such a splendid bunch of fellows.
I was, I hope affectionately, known in the Service as ‘Old Wranter’ not to my face of course. The men thought I didn’t know, but nothing much escaped my notice, or if it did I knew nothing of it. It was an acronymic ‘double entendre’ on my name Wrant. The men saw it as ‘Warlike, Reconciliatory, and Nocturnal Tantivy, Exceedingly Reliable’. That described me well enough; I worked hard and played hard. Mens corpora ever my guiding principle, combined with a proper sense of duty.
I retired from the Army some twenty five years ago. After revisiting my Postings, the Lady wife and I involved ourselves in local activities. I became the Branch President of the Royal British Legion, and Phyllis, that’s my wife’s name Phyllis, devoted her time to the Parochial Church Council, of which she is now the Deputy Chair, whilst I sit on the County Council, where currently I Chair the Ways and Means Committee as we term it . Until my recent resignation I had the honour to be one of her Majesty’s Deputy Lieutenants.
I am known as a man of action and opinions. When people came to me saying that something needed to be done about ‘it’, there was no need to enquire which particular ‘it’ they had in mind. Nor did I hesitate to accept their implicit invitation to become their leader. Clearly they needed a man such as me, one with a handle to his name, if only to open doors. I though was more than merely willing to assume a more proactive role.
Having left the Army and my D.L. behind me, I am free to proffer good advice, based on a life time of active service. I suspect some may regarded me as another old Blimp, unwilling to accept the changing circumstance of life. However that is not the case. I can tell you that since Mrs T’s Administration, all Governments have been running around like headless chickens, without a Statesman in their midst. Most of them staffed with opportunistic incompetents, some of whom might better be described as carpetbaggers.
I needed to appoint an Aide de Camp, so invited Colonel Archibald Browne to fill the post. Archie had served under me in most of my post war campaigns, and he has been a trusted friend and companion since Sandhurst.
In fact I am Godfather to the delightful Susan, his daughter. Together he and I assembled a Cadre of men, and too the redoubtable Lady Bovingdon who consented to become Spokesperson for the fairer sex. I regard her as a very sound man, although Phyllis never cares to be as judgemental.
Those of us who think independently recognise that her Majesty’s Realm is beset by many problems, most of which have arisen not through any misfortune of Fate, but by that already mentioned Incompetence of Government. Expediency now taking precedence over Experience. Lack of Moral Fibre it used to be called.
This business with Europe for instance, it is never going to work. Can one trust Johnny Frenchman, not to mention all the others; significantly none play Cricket? Undoubtedly all are in Europe for what they can get out of it, rather than for what they can put into it. I have never suspected anything else from them, furthermore I say ‘bully’ for them. My objection is that we as a Nation are daft to expect anything else. Phyllis and I are on the Continent every summer and however enjoyable the time we spend there, it is apparent to us that all is not well. Corruption at all levels is hinted at, and there is a lack of application to anything other than Bureaucracy and the Black Economy. Our involvement with Europe is a National Disaster, which has sullied our good name.
The French too have an immigration problem. It is understandable that if people are being persecuted in their homeland they wish to seek refuge elsewhere. However I hear alarm bells ringing, when Refugees decide that the only really secure destination is the United Kingdom. I have served in Africa and in the Middle East, and so far as my experience of their delightful people goes, one might think they were entirely suited to the French Way of Life. I see no sense in giving Citizenship to Refugees be they genuine or merely economic, nor is there any sort of obligation to welcome their sisters, their cousins or their aunts. We are told we are short of manpower, need people to clean our offices, harvest our vegetables, and apparently for Personal Services. However can they not just be employed under contract? My Goddaughter did the Grape Harvest in France before she went to College, but there was no suggestion of making a career of it. Let us not forget that if there are oppressive regimes, maybe the oppressed should have thought longer, before booting us out of their Country in the first place. We never had starvation in Africa before it became self governing.
In the Middle East there is a disinclination to educate their women folk. My Phyllis never went to College. She did the Season and then went to Mrs Hoster’s, before getting herself a secretarial job prior to her marriage. Susan has a degree, and Archie and I are very proud of her. It is however debateable whether Education is a beneficial accomplishment for a woman. After College they tend to get a job for a couple of years or so, decide to have a child and remain too busy to return to work. It is all rather pointless to arouse expectations that can never be accomplished. Lady Bovingdon sacrificed her maternal aspirations to the public good. If our country is short of babies, it is plain where a woman’s first duty should lie; the very idea of importing children seems positively unpatriotic.
We the ‘Unaffiliated Independents’ feel that it is our duty to lead the way that others may follow. Much though I admired our first lady Prime Minister as a leader, I too feel that unfortunately she did not lead us along the path of righteousness. Independents do believe in the concept of Society, and are more inclined to the principles of One Nation Conservatism, than self interest. Unaffiliated Independents wish to regain the integrity of our Sovereign Lady’s Domain, and restore the security of her Kingdom, together with her Realms beyond the sea. Let us confound all knavish plots and reclaim a proper sense of our own self esteem.
It is our plan that neither Council nor Parliamentary seat goes uncontested by an Independent Candidate. The job is too large for us to organise before the Council Elections in 2007, but if you are with us and wish to stand then as an Independent non Party Political Councillor, or even in any other by-election should the vacancy arise. Please accept my assurance that like minded men and women are out there, who will give you their vote.
General Wrant Retd.
Founding Life President.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Elections both Local and Lordly
Local Government Elections
We have now resolved the matter of Local Government Elections until next May. Then, rural areas will air their opinion. It is a shame that National Politics has intruded on Local Government. Too many would be Councillors have been pressured into one or other of the Party Moulds. One may empathise with all the well intentioned who un-successfully contested seats on May 4th, however each has only his or herself to blame. Band Wagons are un-predictable conveyances; but successful or not standing as an Independent Councillor is always honourable.
Branch Political Parties have to root around in the belief that any inadequate Candidate sporting their ‘Favour’ is better than no Candidate at all. In fact it may be considered preferable to select lobby fodder, rather than an effective Councillor. Those who might once have progressed up the Ladder from Parish or Town Councillor have been dissuaded from offering such initial service, being unwilling to sacrifice their integrity to expediency
I vote for an Independent on principle because I believe that it is the Independent Local self-motivated Councillor that will represent a Ward better than the Party Political Hack.
Reform of the House of Lords.
There is a headline in the Sunday Telegraph today.
‘Hands off the Lords, Tory Peers warn Cameron’. It puts one in mind of that other headline of ‘Turkeys Voting for Christmas’. The very fact that allegedly one hundred Peers including Baroness Thatcher, Lord Howe, whom the Telegraph sees need to explain was the former Foreign Secretary and Lord Lawson, explained to be the Former Chancellor will fight ‘tooth and nail’ over the reform of the House of Lords; supports the need for House of Lords to reformed. These Parliamentarians were all voted in as members of the Lower House. Where do they find objection to the Franchise being extended to the Upper House? One should defer to their experience but I see no need to cow tow to former Politicians, elevated to the Upper House, some of whom our Country would have been better off without in the first place.
Let us drop the effete title of ‘Lord’ which for too long has been the undue vestigial arrogance of our past, and has since become the sinecure of the fading Politician, or the Carpet Bagger. Premier Blair only did half the job. Yes we need a second house, but there is little wrong with it being composed of elected Senators. Providing they are detached from Party Political Patronage, and are but the progeny of talent and accomplishment. I have no more wish to be Governed by the former Aristocracy many of whom originally gained their seats in doubtful circumstance, than by yesterdays ‘men’ whether in or out of Prison. Let them take up ‘Blogging’ like the rest of us.
‘In the name of God Go’
We have now resolved the matter of Local Government Elections until next May. Then, rural areas will air their opinion. It is a shame that National Politics has intruded on Local Government. Too many would be Councillors have been pressured into one or other of the Party Moulds. One may empathise with all the well intentioned who un-successfully contested seats on May 4th, however each has only his or herself to blame. Band Wagons are un-predictable conveyances; but successful or not standing as an Independent Councillor is always honourable.
Branch Political Parties have to root around in the belief that any inadequate Candidate sporting their ‘Favour’ is better than no Candidate at all. In fact it may be considered preferable to select lobby fodder, rather than an effective Councillor. Those who might once have progressed up the Ladder from Parish or Town Councillor have been dissuaded from offering such initial service, being unwilling to sacrifice their integrity to expediency
I vote for an Independent on principle because I believe that it is the Independent Local self-motivated Councillor that will represent a Ward better than the Party Political Hack.
Reform of the House of Lords.
There is a headline in the Sunday Telegraph today.
‘Hands off the Lords, Tory Peers warn Cameron’. It puts one in mind of that other headline of ‘Turkeys Voting for Christmas’. The very fact that allegedly one hundred Peers including Baroness Thatcher, Lord Howe, whom the Telegraph sees need to explain was the former Foreign Secretary and Lord Lawson, explained to be the Former Chancellor will fight ‘tooth and nail’ over the reform of the House of Lords; supports the need for House of Lords to reformed. These Parliamentarians were all voted in as members of the Lower House. Where do they find objection to the Franchise being extended to the Upper House? One should defer to their experience but I see no need to cow tow to former Politicians, elevated to the Upper House, some of whom our Country would have been better off without in the first place.
Let us drop the effete title of ‘Lord’ which for too long has been the undue vestigial arrogance of our past, and has since become the sinecure of the fading Politician, or the Carpet Bagger. Premier Blair only did half the job. Yes we need a second house, but there is little wrong with it being composed of elected Senators. Providing they are detached from Party Political Patronage, and are but the progeny of talent and accomplishment. I have no more wish to be Governed by the former Aristocracy many of whom originally gained their seats in doubtful circumstance, than by yesterdays ‘men’ whether in or out of Prison. Let them take up ‘Blogging’ like the rest of us.
‘In the name of God Go’
Sunday, April 23, 2006
PREPOSTHUMOSITY
Pre-post-hum-o-city (et orbi). Certainly upsets spell check
Well I not quite dead as yet.It is just that the older one gets others tend not to hear all the good advice one wishes to pass on. Much of which is based on a lifetime of inexperience. 'Telling people ' is therapeutic, but if one does it through the written word, none
Government and Opposition have lost their way. That New breed 'The Career Politician' regards gaining and retaining 'Office', far more important than being effective on either side of the Despatch Box. Members of Parliament keep one wary eye on their Party Leadership, and the other on their personal Electoral Majority. Meanwhile alleged Leaders huddle together trying to decide whether they still have a policy and if they have, what the policy is. In an ever changing world updating is a necessity; but if one refashions Party Principles to follow the tortuous path of Political Correctness or expediency the game is hardly worth the candle. Any politician incapable of informed gut reaction or having no sense of right and wrong , has no business to be in Government at any level. Where else could the majority of Parliamentarians match the Salary and Allowances of Parliament? Are we short of Politicians that we have to pay them so much? Maybe if we had fewer of them, and each was permitted to serve a maximum of possibly three sessions, then the system might operate more effectively. That latter suggestion would encourage all to speak their minds and vote accordingly, unless of course they are looking for a seat in the Lords. Maybe ex.-members of the Lower House should be excluded from the Lords. After all members of the House of Lords are excluded from voting in Parliamentary Elections.
The House of Lords was an abomination in the face of Democracy. Government promised to do away with the Hereditary Principle, but has done only half the job. I do not doubt that a substantial proportion of the population can trace a line of descent from the Aristocracy. That is no reason to give any of us a seat in Parliament. It so happens I can trace a direct sinister descent through six Kings of England and others of Scotland, but that does not entitle any of my generation to become Monarch.
Few doubt the necessity for a second Chamber. There is however no more call to fill it with failing Politicians, than with the progeny of the Dark Ages. Why can we not have a 'Senate' formed by the elected representatives of, 'all manner of folk'? The Professions, the Law, Medicine The Police, and Armed Services, Teachers, Engineers Farmers ,Trades Persons and so on, so that every classifiable interest is represented. This could of course include the Old Aristocracy, and others representing not only Religion but too the interests of our recently acquired multi-cultural Society. The Upper House should no longer be the sinecure for Yesterday's men, subsidised by the taxpayer. One may wonder why this Government is making such a song and dance over the issue of Reform. No one wants Tony's Cronies any more than David’s or another’s. ‘In the name of God go'. Why does one have the Lords Spiritual in House? If they still have a Message, do they not have Pulpits of their own? One understands that the Catholic Hierarchy chooses not to be represented in the Lords? The population no longer patronises the Established Church and the Catholic Church no longer thrives as was once the case. Judaism has its problems. Seemingly Islam is on the up and up. Are the rest of us marching out of step, or is it that Religion has failed to give the Moral Leadership it once aspired to? Maybe a spade should again be called a spade. There are seemingly more eloquent Apologists for the ways of lost sheep, than clergy willing to lead by personal example. Church still puts on the best show in Town, but do those who go there; go to hear what the Minister has to tell, or are they there just to be reassured in the embrace of traditional certitude? Possibly some merely seek refuge, as might the passengers of a sinking liner huddle together in the First Class Saloon? Each sees their action a better alternative, than jumping into the sea and swimming on one's own. People do enjoy hymn singing and hearing the poetic text of Psalm and the King James Bible. But is such attendance more an appreciation of a theatrical performance, than anything more spiritual? Does the Church play to the Gallery rather than the Gods at its well-attended Feasts of Easter, Christmas and the Sacraments of Baptism, Marriage and Death?Should the Church of England remain an Established Church ? Many more attend other Denominations than attend Protestantism. A majority is without Faith. Surely it should not be the concern of the Church to devote so much of their resource to the maintenance of lovely old buildings, which all said and done are much more of a National Treasure than was the Millennium Dome. The money paid out for the maintenance of that folly would have been better spent maintaining the Heritage of Church Architecture. There is no more reason for such costs to be borne by diminishing Congregations, than for the full cost of anything else always being borne by the ephemeral consumer. In France “The State” maintains the Church Fabric, maybe we too might do the same. (In case any of us are in doubt concerning why the Millennium Dome remained in situ, it was to shield Government from the accusation of having squandered the content of the Public Purse.)
Law and Disorder
What has happened to the British Legal System? Maybe truth to tell, it is a system that never worked, and it is only now that injustices are at last coming to the light. Too much time and money, both Public and Private are spent on the administration of Law. Too many duff prosecutions are launched, whilst other people evade prosecution through mere technicalities. Maybe there are things this country might learn from others. Is our Adversarial System really the best way to prosecute Crime? How many of us could afford to seek Legal Redress should the need arise, and would the money be well spent ? It is all far too expensive.
Education and Employment.
Why does Government aspire to send fifty per cent of the population to University? We have far too many Universities already. There is no call for more and more of us to sit modular courses in Media Studies. Britain needs brain power and more technical capability. New Technical College Qualifications are required. There is no call for third rate BA.s even if the Graduate has been advised that his or hers was a First Class Degree. We are all obsessed with reclassification, rather as if a rose really wouldn't smell as sweet by any other name. Dentists decided that they were no longer Dentists, not even Dental Surgeons entitled to be called Mister. They all become Doctors. There was a time that a Doctor either held a University Doctorate; or was a person who having Qualified as a Bachelor of Medicine/Surgery, did a job called 'Doctor'. Someone if a Bachelor of Dentistry is entitled to practice as a Dentist. That latter job description does not qualify a Doctor to be a Dental Surgeon ,nor to call themselves a Dentist. Police Constables became Officers. Metropolitan Commanders were once reclassified as Deputy Assistant Commissioners of Police. What would Fabian of the Yard have thought about that? The Retired have become either Senior Citizens, or are as I am a Silver Surfer, is there is no end to such nonsense? One must suspect not. Maybe we might all prefer to be brain surgeons however unsuited we are to the job. Most people have to find a different occupation, if only because there are not enough brains to go around. Some found work at a 'Call Centre'. It is at least a job. So long as People in Britain are willing to do such work, it is a remarkably short-sighted Policy to ‘Outsource’ the work to India or any other country. It will lead to tears in the end. I do not find it satisfactory for example, to negotiate my car Insurance with someone living thousands of miles away who has no executive authority to deal with my particular little problem, neither do I wish to have my Bank Account processed I know not where by I know not who.
How long can one expect highly educated ‘foreigners’ to remain content answering a telephone? Like everyone else they too will move on. Soon enough it will be they who run our businesses, and outsource telephone queries back to the UK. Not at all far fetched just look to see who made your Computer, Television or Motor Car. Certainly not the work of a British Graduate trained in Media Studies.
Accommodation
Britain is short of Homes. Accommodation is needed not only for long time residents, but too for everyone coming to live here from overseas, whether from Europe or elsewhere. The fashionable answer to the problem is to use vacated 'brownfield' sites for the construction of new housing estates. That is frequently a very good answer in areas where a vast acreage has been vacated by heavy industry. It is not in the public interest to permit housing on every temporarily vacant Industrial Site. Developers tend to buy such land cheaply and after maybe quadrupling its value by obtaining Planning Consent may do nothing with it, save probably mortgage it to finance their purchase of the next such site that becomes available. The Housing Market has a very artificial pricing structure, supported by Planning Regulations and Green Belt Restrictions. It is no good everyone saying 'tut tut' , whilst each of us wonders how much our own house has gone up in price. That Policy of Selling off Council houses has been nothing short of a disaster. Most homes bought at a discounted price eventually sell at current market valuations. The best houses were of high quality construction; the worst might have been pulled down so that the land they occupied could have been redeveloped more suitably. Prior to then the Leasehold Enfranchisement Act had already hiked up the price of housing. Freeholds which Landlords were obliged to sell to most long term Tenants for maybe an hundred pound including Legal and Valuation fees are resold for thousands of times more than the new freeholder paid for them in the 1960s. If Government saw fit to deprive the original Freeholder of his property, there was no justification to give the profit away to another. Why did they not retain the freeholds for the common good, give substance to the fact that all land belongs to the Crown anyway. (That was a rhetorical question, they used other people’s freeholds to buy votes.)
Surely the time has come to review the Housing problem. Everyone has a right to expect a decent home. Government should pay more attention to the matter. Not waste time and Public Money unsuccessfully legislating about fox hunting, for even the foxes of the field have their holes, which is more than can be said for those still homeless.
The state of Governance in England is little short of pathetic. If those we have entrusted to office, either now or previously are unable to cope with the many problems that beset us. Then maybe they should go. Everyone is entitled to try to become a Member of Parliament. Each of them may think him or herself elected to Office by the popular vote, that is not really so, mostly each was 'appointed' for us by small groups of Party Activists. Such Activists have a heavy responsibility and none should join such committees unless they are willing to make a positive contribution. Being a fellow traveller is not enough.
Our Fishing Industry is in trouble. Part of the problem arises through the way the European Union was set up. However I well recall that some years ago there were Russian Deep Sea Factory Fishing Vessels sweeping the Oceans for fish. These fish were being used as fertiliser. Those of us who at the time mentioned that it was not a good idea, were advised that the seas were so full of fish there was no cause for concern. Maybe the Fisherman should have been consulted, rather than someone with a Modular degree in Media Studies with Social Sciences.
Civil Partnerships? Have my best wishes up to a point. However during a recent trip to France I suffered a certain amount of ribbing concerning this matter which was taken to be further evidence of the ‘foufou anglais’. I always assumed that the former ‘Married Persons Allowance’ and other benefits were on the basis that a home would need to be bought and furnished, so as to assist in the establishment and raising of a Family. A project traditionally staffed by breadwinner and mother figure. When the one died the accrued benefit continued to be enjoyed by the spouse until both had died, at which time; if one was stupid enough to have retained ownership of one’s worldly goods, then at some level Government grabbed some 40% of their value in Inheritance Tax. What is the case for giving financial benefit to same sex couples? Should not both be out earning a living? The financial aspects of Civil Partnerships give cause for concern. How long will it be before Tax Lawyers and Accountants advise their wealthy clients of whichever solitary status, to enter into a Civil Partnership if only as a means of manipulating their inheritance taxation? Furthermore more might there be a possibility of elderly folk forming unsuitable alliances with younger persons, or even entering into extra territorial partnerships to facilitate immigration? I am all for people doing their own thing, however there seems little justification to bless these domestic arrangements with the same financial inducement as is granted to those raising children.
Conservative Party. It is interesting if a leopard changes its spots, but it makes me uneasy that some see that voting for a ‘Party Brand Name’ is more important than giving critical appraisal to its policy. One has heard of the ‘Curate’s Egg’, but when a set of Politicians puts one more in mind of Archie Rice’s willingness to please, than demonstrate its purposeful conviction; it is disturbing .If the Private Patient refund of last May is (rightfully) abandoned and Thatcherism is out, I can but support David Cameron for saying so. However would it not have been better had he said so earlier; better to have stood down on a matter of policy if he perceived it to be wrong? Other good men did as much, Churchill for one. Furthermore fronting his new recruitment campaign is the old Constituency Guard; still anxious to Captain the blue boat of State, oblivious to the fact that it was they who previously navigated it onto the rocks.Over half a century ago as a young Conservative (Yes the girls were the main attraction) I gave peripheral support in the Election campaign which returned Peter Emery as MP for Reading by six votes. Even though not a supporter of Thatcherism I campaigned in 1979 for one of her candidates then attempting to rest the Isle of Wight from the Liberal Party. I was too on a Branch Committee, and its representative on the Constituency Local Government Advisory Panel. One might better have spent that time playing tiddlywinks. My then ‘in-comer’ Branch Chairman told me he had ‘no interest in Politics but was merely interested in maintaining his life style’! In my experience the Conservative Party was but a fund raising machine which had nothing to do with the aspirations of its membership. In both 1978 and May 1979 I stood to become an Independent New Forest District Councillor, despite the votes of 52% of the Ward Electorate in May 1979 I failed to be returned, because the other two candidates received more votes (see me after Class!) I could possibly have been elected as a Conservative but as I did not believe in the Sale of Council Houses, or the works of Thatcherism it would not have been but a Pyrrhic victory . After subsequent discussion concerning standing for the County Council; and becoming the runner up Chairman in the South of England Conservative Public Speaking Competition, and Co-founder of the New Forest Conservative Auction, I just for the fun of it offered to fill the vacant position of our Branch Secretary! Well I do have a sense of humour. Experience of Party Politics can be disheartening, more especially so if Party Managers apparently adopt a lackadaisical attitude concerning the selection of their protégé or protégée, maybe it really is time for a change of Management.
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Well I not quite dead as yet.It is just that the older one gets others tend not to hear all the good advice one wishes to pass on. Much of which is based on a lifetime of inexperience. 'Telling people ' is therapeutic, but if one does it through the written word, none
Government and Opposition have lost their way. That New breed 'The Career Politician' regards gaining and retaining 'Office', far more important than being effective on either side of the Despatch Box. Members of Parliament keep one wary eye on their Party Leadership, and the other on their personal Electoral Majority. Meanwhile alleged Leaders huddle together trying to decide whether they still have a policy and if they have, what the policy is. In an ever changing world updating is a necessity; but if one refashions Party Principles to follow the tortuous path of Political Correctness or expediency the game is hardly worth the candle. Any politician incapable of informed gut reaction or having no sense of right and wrong , has no business to be in Government at any level. Where else could the majority of Parliamentarians match the Salary and Allowances of Parliament? Are we short of Politicians that we have to pay them so much? Maybe if we had fewer of them, and each was permitted to serve a maximum of possibly three sessions, then the system might operate more effectively. That latter suggestion would encourage all to speak their minds and vote accordingly, unless of course they are looking for a seat in the Lords. Maybe ex.-members of the Lower House should be excluded from the Lords. After all members of the House of Lords are excluded from voting in Parliamentary Elections.
The House of Lords was an abomination in the face of Democracy. Government promised to do away with the Hereditary Principle, but has done only half the job. I do not doubt that a substantial proportion of the population can trace a line of descent from the Aristocracy. That is no reason to give any of us a seat in Parliament. It so happens I can trace a direct sinister descent through six Kings of England and others of Scotland, but that does not entitle any of my generation to become Monarch.
Few doubt the necessity for a second Chamber. There is however no more call to fill it with failing Politicians, than with the progeny of the Dark Ages. Why can we not have a 'Senate' formed by the elected representatives of, 'all manner of folk'? The Professions, the Law, Medicine The Police, and Armed Services, Teachers, Engineers Farmers ,Trades Persons and so on, so that every classifiable interest is represented. This could of course include the Old Aristocracy, and others representing not only Religion but too the interests of our recently acquired multi-cultural Society. The Upper House should no longer be the sinecure for Yesterday's men, subsidised by the taxpayer. One may wonder why this Government is making such a song and dance over the issue of Reform. No one wants Tony's Cronies any more than David’s or another’s. ‘In the name of God go'. Why does one have the Lords Spiritual in House? If they still have a Message, do they not have Pulpits of their own? One understands that the Catholic Hierarchy chooses not to be represented in the Lords? The population no longer patronises the Established Church and the Catholic Church no longer thrives as was once the case. Judaism has its problems. Seemingly Islam is on the up and up. Are the rest of us marching out of step, or is it that Religion has failed to give the Moral Leadership it once aspired to? Maybe a spade should again be called a spade. There are seemingly more eloquent Apologists for the ways of lost sheep, than clergy willing to lead by personal example. Church still puts on the best show in Town, but do those who go there; go to hear what the Minister has to tell, or are they there just to be reassured in the embrace of traditional certitude? Possibly some merely seek refuge, as might the passengers of a sinking liner huddle together in the First Class Saloon? Each sees their action a better alternative, than jumping into the sea and swimming on one's own. People do enjoy hymn singing and hearing the poetic text of Psalm and the King James Bible. But is such attendance more an appreciation of a theatrical performance, than anything more spiritual? Does the Church play to the Gallery rather than the Gods at its well-attended Feasts of Easter, Christmas and the Sacraments of Baptism, Marriage and Death?Should the Church of England remain an Established Church ? Many more attend other Denominations than attend Protestantism. A majority is without Faith. Surely it should not be the concern of the Church to devote so much of their resource to the maintenance of lovely old buildings, which all said and done are much more of a National Treasure than was the Millennium Dome. The money paid out for the maintenance of that folly would have been better spent maintaining the Heritage of Church Architecture. There is no more reason for such costs to be borne by diminishing Congregations, than for the full cost of anything else always being borne by the ephemeral consumer. In France “The State” maintains the Church Fabric, maybe we too might do the same. (In case any of us are in doubt concerning why the Millennium Dome remained in situ, it was to shield Government from the accusation of having squandered the content of the Public Purse.)
Law and Disorder
What has happened to the British Legal System? Maybe truth to tell, it is a system that never worked, and it is only now that injustices are at last coming to the light. Too much time and money, both Public and Private are spent on the administration of Law. Too many duff prosecutions are launched, whilst other people evade prosecution through mere technicalities. Maybe there are things this country might learn from others. Is our Adversarial System really the best way to prosecute Crime? How many of us could afford to seek Legal Redress should the need arise, and would the money be well spent ? It is all far too expensive.
Education and Employment.
Why does Government aspire to send fifty per cent of the population to University? We have far too many Universities already. There is no call for more and more of us to sit modular courses in Media Studies. Britain needs brain power and more technical capability. New Technical College Qualifications are required. There is no call for third rate BA.s even if the Graduate has been advised that his or hers was a First Class Degree. We are all obsessed with reclassification, rather as if a rose really wouldn't smell as sweet by any other name. Dentists decided that they were no longer Dentists, not even Dental Surgeons entitled to be called Mister. They all become Doctors. There was a time that a Doctor either held a University Doctorate; or was a person who having Qualified as a Bachelor of Medicine/Surgery, did a job called 'Doctor'. Someone if a Bachelor of Dentistry is entitled to practice as a Dentist. That latter job description does not qualify a Doctor to be a Dental Surgeon ,nor to call themselves a Dentist. Police Constables became Officers. Metropolitan Commanders were once reclassified as Deputy Assistant Commissioners of Police. What would Fabian of the Yard have thought about that? The Retired have become either Senior Citizens, or are as I am a Silver Surfer, is there is no end to such nonsense? One must suspect not. Maybe we might all prefer to be brain surgeons however unsuited we are to the job. Most people have to find a different occupation, if only because there are not enough brains to go around. Some found work at a 'Call Centre'. It is at least a job. So long as People in Britain are willing to do such work, it is a remarkably short-sighted Policy to ‘Outsource’ the work to India or any other country. It will lead to tears in the end. I do not find it satisfactory for example, to negotiate my car Insurance with someone living thousands of miles away who has no executive authority to deal with my particular little problem, neither do I wish to have my Bank Account processed I know not where by I know not who.
How long can one expect highly educated ‘foreigners’ to remain content answering a telephone? Like everyone else they too will move on. Soon enough it will be they who run our businesses, and outsource telephone queries back to the UK. Not at all far fetched just look to see who made your Computer, Television or Motor Car. Certainly not the work of a British Graduate trained in Media Studies.
Accommodation
Britain is short of Homes. Accommodation is needed not only for long time residents, but too for everyone coming to live here from overseas, whether from Europe or elsewhere. The fashionable answer to the problem is to use vacated 'brownfield' sites for the construction of new housing estates. That is frequently a very good answer in areas where a vast acreage has been vacated by heavy industry. It is not in the public interest to permit housing on every temporarily vacant Industrial Site. Developers tend to buy such land cheaply and after maybe quadrupling its value by obtaining Planning Consent may do nothing with it, save probably mortgage it to finance their purchase of the next such site that becomes available. The Housing Market has a very artificial pricing structure, supported by Planning Regulations and Green Belt Restrictions. It is no good everyone saying 'tut tut' , whilst each of us wonders how much our own house has gone up in price. That Policy of Selling off Council houses has been nothing short of a disaster. Most homes bought at a discounted price eventually sell at current market valuations. The best houses were of high quality construction; the worst might have been pulled down so that the land they occupied could have been redeveloped more suitably. Prior to then the Leasehold Enfranchisement Act had already hiked up the price of housing. Freeholds which Landlords were obliged to sell to most long term Tenants for maybe an hundred pound including Legal and Valuation fees are resold for thousands of times more than the new freeholder paid for them in the 1960s. If Government saw fit to deprive the original Freeholder of his property, there was no justification to give the profit away to another. Why did they not retain the freeholds for the common good, give substance to the fact that all land belongs to the Crown anyway. (That was a rhetorical question, they used other people’s freeholds to buy votes.)
Surely the time has come to review the Housing problem. Everyone has a right to expect a decent home. Government should pay more attention to the matter. Not waste time and Public Money unsuccessfully legislating about fox hunting, for even the foxes of the field have their holes, which is more than can be said for those still homeless.
The state of Governance in England is little short of pathetic. If those we have entrusted to office, either now or previously are unable to cope with the many problems that beset us. Then maybe they should go. Everyone is entitled to try to become a Member of Parliament. Each of them may think him or herself elected to Office by the popular vote, that is not really so, mostly each was 'appointed' for us by small groups of Party Activists. Such Activists have a heavy responsibility and none should join such committees unless they are willing to make a positive contribution. Being a fellow traveller is not enough.
Our Fishing Industry is in trouble. Part of the problem arises through the way the European Union was set up. However I well recall that some years ago there were Russian Deep Sea Factory Fishing Vessels sweeping the Oceans for fish. These fish were being used as fertiliser. Those of us who at the time mentioned that it was not a good idea, were advised that the seas were so full of fish there was no cause for concern. Maybe the Fisherman should have been consulted, rather than someone with a Modular degree in Media Studies with Social Sciences.
Civil Partnerships? Have my best wishes up to a point. However during a recent trip to France I suffered a certain amount of ribbing concerning this matter which was taken to be further evidence of the ‘foufou anglais’. I always assumed that the former ‘Married Persons Allowance’ and other benefits were on the basis that a home would need to be bought and furnished, so as to assist in the establishment and raising of a Family. A project traditionally staffed by breadwinner and mother figure. When the one died the accrued benefit continued to be enjoyed by the spouse until both had died, at which time; if one was stupid enough to have retained ownership of one’s worldly goods, then at some level Government grabbed some 40% of their value in Inheritance Tax. What is the case for giving financial benefit to same sex couples? Should not both be out earning a living? The financial aspects of Civil Partnerships give cause for concern. How long will it be before Tax Lawyers and Accountants advise their wealthy clients of whichever solitary status, to enter into a Civil Partnership if only as a means of manipulating their inheritance taxation? Furthermore more might there be a possibility of elderly folk forming unsuitable alliances with younger persons, or even entering into extra territorial partnerships to facilitate immigration? I am all for people doing their own thing, however there seems little justification to bless these domestic arrangements with the same financial inducement as is granted to those raising children.
Conservative Party. It is interesting if a leopard changes its spots, but it makes me uneasy that some see that voting for a ‘Party Brand Name’ is more important than giving critical appraisal to its policy. One has heard of the ‘Curate’s Egg’, but when a set of Politicians puts one more in mind of Archie Rice’s willingness to please, than demonstrate its purposeful conviction; it is disturbing .If the Private Patient refund of last May is (rightfully) abandoned and Thatcherism is out, I can but support David Cameron for saying so. However would it not have been better had he said so earlier; better to have stood down on a matter of policy if he perceived it to be wrong? Other good men did as much, Churchill for one. Furthermore fronting his new recruitment campaign is the old Constituency Guard; still anxious to Captain the blue boat of State, oblivious to the fact that it was they who previously navigated it onto the rocks.Over half a century ago as a young Conservative (Yes the girls were the main attraction) I gave peripheral support in the Election campaign which returned Peter Emery as MP for Reading by six votes. Even though not a supporter of Thatcherism I campaigned in 1979 for one of her candidates then attempting to rest the Isle of Wight from the Liberal Party. I was too on a Branch Committee, and its representative on the Constituency Local Government Advisory Panel. One might better have spent that time playing tiddlywinks. My then ‘in-comer’ Branch Chairman told me he had ‘no interest in Politics but was merely interested in maintaining his life style’! In my experience the Conservative Party was but a fund raising machine which had nothing to do with the aspirations of its membership. In both 1978 and May 1979 I stood to become an Independent New Forest District Councillor, despite the votes of 52% of the Ward Electorate in May 1979 I failed to be returned, because the other two candidates received more votes (see me after Class!) I could possibly have been elected as a Conservative but as I did not believe in the Sale of Council Houses, or the works of Thatcherism it would not have been but a Pyrrhic victory . After subsequent discussion concerning standing for the County Council; and becoming the runner up Chairman in the South of England Conservative Public Speaking Competition, and Co-founder of the New Forest Conservative Auction, I just for the fun of it offered to fill the vacant position of our Branch Secretary! Well I do have a sense of humour. Experience of Party Politics can be disheartening, more especially so if Party Managers apparently adopt a lackadaisical attitude concerning the selection of their protégé or protégée, maybe it really is time for a change of Management.
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posted by PAPALSCOPE | 11:00 AM
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