PREPOSTHUMOSITY September 2006

Lady Phyllis and I are still ‘en Sud’ as she likes to refer to this part of France. I find it getter hotter here by the year, consider my recent purchase of that Panama Hat showed considerable foresight. Even an old soldier needs to be properly equipped for every eventuality.
After a month’s stay anywhere, I always get itchy feet. Like to keep on the move. Sitting around gives one too much time to think. As President of the Society of Unaffiliated Independents I appreciate when enough is enough, I am surely needed back in the UK. However Lady P insists that we have a proper holiday, says that I am becoming more invigorated by the day. In short she won’t let me home until the Party Conference in October, so that’s that. We are holding our Conference in Bognor Regis this year. Lady P says that she shares King George the Third’s opinion on Bognor. I think she must have meant George VI. ‘Farmer’ George died a long time before she was born.
Well here we are in something of a routine. I stay in bed until six o’clock every morning, Phyllis does not appreciate that the French operate Double British Summer Time, so it is actually four am. GMT. It is by that alone that I set my bio-rhythm. We have a swim in the Lido, and take Breakfast at the café there. I must admit the French make Croissant and Coffee quite as well as we do in England.
We of course have the Rolls with us, and travelled over by Ferry. Never again would I contemplate coming to France without it, nor repeat that dreadful transit through Waterloo. We drive up to the hills most weekdays, but never on a Sunday. The Altitude not only lets us escape the mid day sun, but too the hoards of Tourists who emerge from their hotels sometime after lunch, and keep at it non stop until the early hours. Provence is no longer as it once was, but when one finds a suitable Bistro at lunchtime. It usually serves simple genuine cuisine with a carafe of wine. All one needs at our age.
However the other day we had an extraordinary Literary experience. We found this very welcoming Restaurant in the middle of a village. Marvellous smell of cooking emanating from it, clearly quite the thing. Absolutely delightful. Sort of place that we travellers find, but never reveal the detail of, because before one knows it there will be tourists swarming all over it.
I speak French well enough, the natives understand me. Yesterday I, well my lady wife too of course, established an immediate rapport with the Proprietor’s wife. She had something about her that I found appealing. One has to be careful in front of Lady P, but I know how to handle her when necessary. To cut a longer story short, language seemed to be no sort of problem between Madame and I. After a couple of glasses of Kir I was positively eloquent. It was only then that my wife pointed that Madame was speaking Franglais for our benefit. Seemingly she had come to France as a Cornish Bride.
After the Kir, we had an hors d’ oeuvre of grilled Sardine with hot chestnut purée, the whole wrapped in a smoked lettuce leaf. A most unusual dish and I certainly complimented the Chef on the originality of his creation.
An Officer’s lady doesn’t have to be trained in Pastoral matters, it is an inbred skill. They instinctively know how to deal with the wives and women of other ranks, and are able to put them at their ease, even when visiting them in their own homes. Naturally A chap needs to marry the right sort of woman if he intends to make any sort of Career, be it in the Army or elsewhere.
Madame was most attentive, and in no time at all, my wife had extracted the relevant detail of her dossier. She came from St. Teath Cornwall, her parents catered to the seasonal trade. Visitors think that it’s what the Cornish do, serve teas. The Grockels that’s what they term them, consider it churlish not to buy the things, but I find the cream doesn’t agree with me, so never touch the stuff.
Seemingly Madame when still in Cornwall had been standing in for her parents one afternoon. A couple of very polite elderly gentleman had dropped in to enquire if it would be possible to take afternoon tea there, said that they had been visiting the Church. Well that was what she was there for, and after passing a few pleasantries, she popped some scones in the oven and served them Cornish Cream Teas. Neither man seemed to have much to say to the other, but the one who had spoken to her was seemingly taking notes on the back of the menu. That she’d said is the menu over there, in the frame hanging on the wall. It is a bit of a conversation piece, the French are very jealous of all the different creams that the English have, I do like to tease them over the ‘Clotted Cream’.
She went on to explain that it was what that gentleman had written on the back that made it so special to her. Seemingly as the two had left the Restaurant he’d asked her name, then wrote that too on the back of the menu before handing it to her with an apology for scribbling on it. He’d said that the doggerel he had written had been inspired by Madame, or maybe I should say mademoiselle as she then was. She didn’t think much about it at the time being too busy with other customers. It was only later that She’d read what was written.
She got the frame down off the Wall that we too might see it, adding that she would appreciate my wife’s comments. After first wiping it with her tea cloth, she handed it to Phyllis.
It was indeed a poem, written in soft pencil. My wife has a very even temperament, but as she read it, she became quite flustered. Asked Madame whether it was what it seemed to be? Madame smiled and said that she had always considered it was so.
Phyllis asked whether she might take a copy of it, to ascertain whether the tea guest who wrote the poem really had been the famed Centenarian.
It is in the hope of seeking literary appraisal that she requested that I transcribe the poem onto this web site. If anyone can help with authentication, Lady P. and Madame would be grateful.
To Tamsin
A CORNISH ‘DAIRY MAID’ .
May I take you out to luncheon
Could we munch upon a pie,
fill our time with idle chatter
In the heat of mid July?
I’ll Slumber off or doze a little
waiting for your Maiden’s Cry.
‘Tea is served with Cornish Split
clotted cream, and ‘Strawberi’.
With what rapture to your table
Summoned as in earlier times ,
I muse your Celtic delectation
Wish that all of it was mine.
Fairest skin, and freckled hand
Fraises de Bois your hair.
Oh what rapture oh which joy
That fills me with despair?
You view me as a Father figure
indulged in clotted dreams.
know not that in my early years
I was not, what now I seem.
For I was young, and fresh in hope.
Alas away time frittered,
It left me with my joie de vivre
in a pair of Carpet Slippers.
J.B.
**************
I think that there is a certain reminiscent lilt to the patter, it would not be the first time the ‘Author’ had been Summoned by ‘Belles’ in a Restaurant. There was that Joan someone or another he met in the war. Fine girl that, quite an inspiration to us Subalterns. This ‘Dairy Maid’ business is all very well, but the bit about the strawberry doesn’t really rhyme. Lady P says that doesn’t matter for it was that which makes it doggerel. Anyway she would be grateful to hear from any Critic familiar with the fellow’s work. Very good of you, damsels in distress and all that, what?
We have been visited by my God Daughter Susan and what she terms as her young man. They of course have to amuse themselves. Spend much of the day on the beach, and we meet up for an evening meal outside some café or another, before they go off dancing. One is only young once.
They persuaded me to go to the beach one afternoon. I don’t shock easily but well, well, well put it this way propriety is not what it was in my day. Of course in the Army one did that sort of thing, all men together, but one didn’t do it in front of the ladies. Dammed pretty girls too some of them. Well I am broad minded, ‘Chaque un a son gout’ and all that, but even so. Not sure I will be able to look her father Archibald, my friend and ADC, in the eye next time we meet. Only another month to go, might pop down to the beach gain after Susan has returned home. General Wrant 1/9/06

PREPOSTHUMOSITY AUGUST 2006

PREPOSTHUMOSITY
Saturday, August 12, 2006

Dog Days in PROVENCEThe Lady wife and I are staying en Provence for our annual sojourn amidst the lingering fragrance of the recent Lavender harvest. A particularly good year not only for that, but for the abundance of plums and Apricots. Our French neighbours hold the latter fruit in high esteem, referring to ‘les abricots’ in a tone of voice that to the foreign ear sounds amorously appreciative. Lady Phyllis doesn’t agree, clearly she misses the subtlety of their patois, but it doesn’t fool me. I look them straight between the eyes, so letting them know that I have no time for all their ‘Ooh La La!’Something we both agree on is that the French are Foreigners in their own land, whilst we the English are but Visitors in it. We eat what they eat, we drink what they drink, our only aberration is to attend the Open Air Service laid on each Sunday for benefit of an inclusive British Congregation. Pere Augbust the Catholic Priest expresses his admiration for our high turnout, for his own Church no longer thrives. We never let on that things are much the same for us back home. It is just that we feel we need to show the Flag before retiring to the Britannia Club for a snifter before having Sunday lunch there.France TodayIt is not my intention to abuse French hospitality in any way, but I feel one can still express myself in France for here one still has freedom of speech, something that has been proscribed in my own country.Here too there is an Immigration problem. Many new citizens settle by right, each an honoured Frenchman. There are now some six million Muslims in France, each with or without legitimate entry for the frontiers leak as might a colander. Little provision is made for such persons, and many are left to beg on the Street, whilst others live in the banlieu. Levels of unemployment are high, even amidst the qualified indigenous French. Laws were enacted allowing employers to engage the young on a short term contract, prior to engaging them at a ‘Union’ Rate of Pay. Unfortunately the latter employment most often fails to materialise, for the same job goes to a cheaper replacement youth .The French as a Race are at best un-governable. Their tendency is to agree to everything, but do absolutely nothing. If ever they intend to do anything, there is never an intent to do it today. There are exceptions primarily Road building and anything associated with Beton, as they term Concrete.We were very impressed driving down, frequently Lady Phyllis was able to touch on a speed of over fifty miles an hour according to my tachometer calculation. Already excellent roads , are being upgraded using money from ‘Europe’. Each Commune passed by, demands its own roundabout, as if its Status depended on the possession of such an embellishment. I never see such frenetic activity in England. The road that passes by our home resembles a pitted dirt track.How with unemployment so high, and all those immigrants, does the French nation do so well? Do they not now own Christie Manson and Wood our long established Auctioneers, Our Electricity and Water Supplies, Crosse and Blackwell, all our Cement and Plasterboard companies etc. One might have expected the British to purchase into French Commerce, but too frequently French legislation prohibits such acquisitions. Protectionism, and financial backing using tax payers money is prevalent in France.There is too a tremendous black economy. Cash in the hand does not go unrewarded. Planning constrictions are circumnavigated, holidays are frequent, retirement is early, Pensions are higher, and the lunch ‘hour’ still long. One wonders how success is possible in such adverse circumstance? As a nation they do not play cricket, maybe therein is the explanation.IMMIGRATION INTO BRITAINBritain has become too soft hearted. We fall for every alleged Asylum seeker who knocks on our front door . We accommodate them, feed them, give them spending money and free use of our Health Service. Provide them with education for their children, and translators so that we may better communicate. I heard a Councillor tell that his Borough has an hundred tongues to cope with, elsewhere a teacher spoke of twenty six different languages spoken in his school alone. Has our nation gone daft ?‘Those whom the Gods seek to destroy they first make mad’ I suspect that when London hosts the Olympic Games, we will acquire many more Athletes than we start off with.Britain is the indigenous abode of the Anglo Saxon Celt. It is not any Africa State, nor Pakistan, or Bangladesh. India or the abode of the Arab Nations. Do we the British have any right to transfer our culture to any of those Great Sovereign Nations, or can we ubiquitously practice Christianity in their midst? I think not. I heard that Home Secretary chap John Read on the wireless the other week. He talked a lot of sense. If there is to be another leader of his Party I think he might be the better alternative, for the other hopeful has had so much rope he’s seemingly hanged his opportunity. Well now, Read rightly suggested that it is possible to discuss these matters without accusation of Racism. Very sound advice.What does Racism mean? According to this Computer the definition goes as follows:ra·cism [ráy sìzzəm]n (disapproving)1. animosity toward other races: prejudice or animosity against people who belong to other races .2. belief in racial superiority: the belief that people of different races have different qualities and abilities, and that some races are inherently superior or inferiorEncarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.Home Secretary Read spoke correctly. If we have a problem, it is not that of anyone’s superiority or inferiority to any one else, nor of one culture being better than another.None the less we the British have a culture of our own distilled from many lands not least the Middle East. It is a culture that suits us as an Island Race, a culture which I for one have no wish to see submerged beneath that fuming tide, the Diaspora of other nations. All have been made welcome in the common cause of humanity. Those who have benefited of our largesse, should not make it their business to proselytise falsehood and do so allegedly in the name of Islam. True Followers of Islam should surely reject hot heads, and speak out, for silence does Islam a disservice .http://www.islamfortoday.com/fundamnetalism.htmThere are branches of Christianity in Britain other than the Church of England. One among many is the Catholic Church. For hundreds of years adherents of that religion suffered suppression. That was not only in Ireland, but on the mainland too. There was a time when the practice of the faith was illegal, the Mass and Catholicism forbidden. The Gentry went abroad for an education. As late as the eighteenth century Catholics were not permitted to own real estate, by that I mean a house. As late as the 1970s a Catholic was not permitted to become Lord Chancellor. Possibly is still not entitled to be the Prime Minister nor marry the Monarch, nor ‘of right’ qualify to be an Officer in her Majesty’s Services. The Order ‘Fall out the Roman Catholics’ carried a vestigial overtone to it. Judaism has had its own problems but I believe it faired well in our Government, whether in Office of Premier, or in Cabinet. There are no prohibitions against such participation by Islam either.I suspect that a majority in Britain has heard more than enough about Fundamentalism, especially that proclaimed by a deviant minority . There is a figure banded around of 25%. I know nothing about that, but if such persons do not like the way things happen in this country, they would do better to conform to the norms of our Democratic process whether they like that process or not. For that is the way things are done here. Our Government doesn’t please everyone. Parliament is indecisive and often incompetent, it has seldom housed the brightest or the best, but it took a thousand years to evolve into its present circumstance.Crashing aeroplanes into the twin towers, or putting gunpowder under the seat of Government never achieves its intended purpose. It brings ignominy to the aspirations of those who perpetrate such violence; whilst doing untold damage to others who respect and understand the teaching of the Prophet of Islam or Jesus Christ respectively, because such action is wrongly attributed to an entire Religious Denomination.None are happy about Iraq, or the Lebanon , or Afghanistan or the Taliban; or come to that about Saddam Hussein’s Regime killing the Kurds, or Israel behaving as it now does. Neither of Hitler exterminating the Jews and the Gipsies, and Homo Sexuals, nor of his invasion of Czechoslovakia and Poland. It would have been very easy for this our Island Race to have adopted an ‘I am alright Jack’ attitude, but we didn’t. I wonder what Herr Hitler thought of Islam, what were his plans for the non Caucasian Races? Was it wrong that this country and eventually America declared War on him?If some Fundamentalists are indeed first generation British Muslims, they are persons well educated at ‘free school’ and possibly by Subsidised University. Each such Man or woman might enquire what it was that caused their Parents to leave the land of their birth in the first place? Did they come here just to get a better lifestyle, were they seeking Asylum from an oppressive regime or what? I know the West Indians, to some extent our kith if not kin, came ‘to run the buses’ , but what attracted your parents here? I am very sorry if some of you don’t like the rest of us, or don’t like the Country we now share, but so far as I am concerned you will just have to put up with it, just as the rest of us have to do.Britain has no wish to be fighting anyone in Iraq or Afghanistan. We are supposed to be rebuilding the infra structure, and seeking to restore self Government to the people.Young dissidents of any faith who had the opportunity to vote in Britain are as culpable as anyone else is for our Foreign Policy. If blame is perceived you too are at fault. However dissidents do not represent the voice of Islam nor speak from the Koran. It is time that the authentic voice of Islam is heard in this Country. Possibly false prophets, those who speak with ‘forked tongues’, should be sent back whence they came.I did not approve of the introduction of the Holocaust Day, believed it to be a mistake to single out such an atrocity amidst so many others. What of Stalin’s Purges? Thus it is by the same standard I do not regard Islam as any sort of special case. If the Police decided to raid my home on the basis that I am a suspected subversive element, they are not going to go around to tell the Vicar first; but they did advise an Imam prior to the recent multiple arrests concerning the alleged planned attack on those air liners.Things can not go on the way they are. An open door is both an entry and an exit. Please will the malcontents bear that in mind. Gen. Wrant retd.

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PREPOSTHUMOSITY

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• April 2006
• May 2006

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.

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’

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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Preposthumosity

When my friend the host of Papalscope saw how much interest my earlier contributions to the Preposthumosity Column had generated, he invited me to take it over on a regular basis. He suggested that I might use it as a platform from which I could deliver helpful guidance to others as formulated during a life time serving in Her Majesty's British Army; both as an Officer and a Gentleman my wife assures me.

I regret My friends invitation came too late to allow me to write this column last month,. I was otherwise occupied as leader of the 'Society of Unaffiliated Independents' That apart there was another matter occupying my attention., a short expedition I thought. It was really rather funny so thought it might amuse if I share detail of it with my readers.

French Campaign June 2006

There has been a little miscomprehension in the Wrant Camp. I thought the Lady wife had suggested we visit Panama for a short break. It surprised me as she is disinclined to travel any further than what she terms ‘La Belle France’ for there we spend the autumn months each year. I leave all administrative arrangements for that to her; so was happy that she assume charge of this expedition too. It gives her something to do. My sole involvement was to order a new Panama Hat from the firm that advertises in the Times.

When the taxi picked us up I expected to be taken to Heathrow, but was mistaken, for it deposited us at the Local Rail Station only there did Phyllis advise that we would be travelling all the way by train. She was clearly confused but I said nothing and dozed off . At Waterloo there being no sign of a Porter, Phyllis insisted that she not I be in charge of her ‘wheelie’ case, saying that any such exertion would be bad for my heart. I don’t know what she meant by that. I am on blood pressure pills but those tend to affect areas other than my heart.

At the far end of the Station she led the way through what I imagined to be Airport Security. I had the usual problem with the metal plate in my leg. It set off the detector and although I explained the situation, no less than four Security Staff insisted that I be frisked. Their attitude was unhelpful, and I thought myself more a victim of a mugging, than a fare paying passenger. This incident did nothing for multi culturalism as this Security team was comprised of four Black Britons. My only complaint of that is that I noticed on the return journey the team had been replaced by four White Anglo Saxons types. I have made complaint to the Race Relations Board that apparently ethnically segregated Security teams are operating at Waterloo, for it seemed more than coincidental to me that there was such demarcation between Blacks and Whites. Maybe there are Asian Operatives too, maybe not? Either this Country is Multi-Cultural or it isn’t. If it is, then there is no place for such ethnic separation, be it at Waterloo or in the ‘Black Police Officers Association’. It is not right that things be so. It is un-necessary to have such demarcation in her Majesty's Services, and what is good enough for us is surely good enogh for all matter of Civilian personnel. If it fostered discontent in me, it will fuel Racial Discontent in others, and will most surely lead to tears. My experience at Waterloo made me feel as a foreigner in our own Country.

As if all that was not bad enough Phyllis then confessed that we were not on our way to Panama, but to Paname. This apparently the current fashionable incarnation of Paris. Maybe the French might publish a calendar advising which particular name one was to use when visiting their Capital in any specified year. Paris. Paree, Gay Parie, Paname? That name reminds me of a failed Airline. I was flabbergasted but soon fell asleep. Maybe had we paid to be what was termed ‘Upgraded’ we would have been treated better. That however was never my way, what was good enough for my men, was good enough for me too. I might add that what is good enough for the French must surely be good enough for the British. Phyllis pointed out a notice offering a seven Euro weekend return ticket to London from Paris. I understand that the Chunnel, along with so many of the other Works of Thatcherism does not prosper. I appreciate why that is so, for I did not care for the attitude of Eurostar Staff, and have no intention of submitting myself, or my lady wife to them again. Never again shall we travel Eurostar , such treatment besmirched my Regimental Battle Honour of Waterloo.


Phyllis suggested a taxi at the Gare du Nord, but our Hotel being only 500 metres from the terminus. I insisted we walk. I felt entirely at home en route, and took the opportunity to talk to many of the residents in their own tongues, which seemed to be any tongue other than French. During my long career in the Army I accumulated a working knowledge of the peoples of many Nations.

Our Hotel was basic and according to Phyllis gave excellent value for the money. I have never found the necessity to understand how many Euros make a pound, but well recall that on my first visit to France one was given one hundred francs for every Pound Sterling proffered. That was a very simple concept.

We suffered our five days in Paris without undue complaint from me. I pulled my Panama down over my eyes, in the hope that none would recognise me, and just got on with it. Truth was I felt myself but a Tourist. It was an humiliating experience, never again shall I go to the Continent unless with our ancient Rolls.

An American couple we met on the Metro wanted to know who where when and how much every thing was. They imparted the information that they were living in an air conditioned, four star American Hotel. Simple folk our Colonial Cousins, whom Phyllis countered with the information that I was a Four Star General. Very naughty of her but it did have its funny side. Maybe they were right to stick to their own kind, there is no telling what any one of us is up against at home or abroad.

I am little the wiser after visiting Paris again. The City’s History seems to divide into the Peasant fuelled Aristocratic phase which produced the Louvre and buildings of similar status. Then came The Aristocratic fuelled Revolution which had little to commend it. This period was followed by the ‘La Delusion’ or Napoleonic Period, after which came the even more grandiose ‘Belle Epoch’, which has recently deteriorated to such manifestations as ‘La Defence’, and the Pompidou centre. This particular building would seem to have been the precursor to the 'Lloyds of London' Building, not the Bank the other Fellows.

I have never seen such a lot of twaddle assembled together in one place as we found in the Pompidou. My overall impression of Paris was that I had stumbled on a Theme Park, one that was all ‘Gloire’ without substance.

The Parisian’s have the reputation of keeping themselves to themselves. This may be so, however if such is the case one may suspect any such insularity arises through their embarrassment at the French Life Style. This is not written as adverse comment. I am all for them doing as they see fit in their own country even though I regret being unable so to do in our own. Maybe they have things right and we are now getting them wrong. All I wish to convey is that we the IndigineousBritish used do things differently. I regret that in our now devisively separated Nationhood , we seem to be collapsing into the same cauldron that the French fueled on the demise of their Colonial Empire.

I was very pleased to get home safely.

General Wrant.
Founding Life President of the Society of unaffiliated Independents.