CHRISTMAS GOODWILL

Like all genial Britons I have been preparing for the season of “goodwill to all men”, looking for the undoubted positives in life and anaesthetising my natural truculence with copious glasses of fortified wines, rich traditional food, pies, cakes and bonnes bouches – with the Christmas blow-out itself still as much as 8 days away. Yet there is disquiet in the air, pained mutterings about our leaders, sharp jibes at all politicians, who with their media friends are bombarding the luckless electorate with blatant misinformation and exaggeration to suit their particular causes. So, alas, my Christmas carol baritone voice quavers, my worried Christmas tree lights intermittently flicker and my Yuletide spirits easily droop as I elbow away fellow-shoppers to buy that thoughtful present.

Voltaire in 1728

The garrulous Voltaire was told, when he noticed that Englishmen can suddenly descend into monosyllabic gloom, that “this happens when the wind blows from the East”. I can only say that there must be a real freezer blowing in from the Steppes as seldom have I seen the national mood so negative. The road to mutual tolerance and affection has never felt bumpier.

The malaise stems from the Brexit national debate. The country is grievously divided – London and the large conurbations are mainly Remainers, provincial England is staunchly in the Leaver camp, which won the 2016 referendum by 52% to 48%. The House of Commons is notionally in favour of Brexit on the right terms but Theresa May’s “deal” is deprecated for conceding too much to the EU and failing to satisfy Ulster. Efforts to improve the terms have totally failed as the EU will not negotiate further. Theresa clings to office having survived a damaging Tory party vote of confidence yet promises to step down before the next election. A Commons consensus is elusive as the leadership of Labour and the SNP only want the government to fall; there are at least 4 sects within the Conservatives – the no-deal Brexiteers, the supporters of the May deal (as it delivers a version of Brexit), the Lumpenproletariat of submissive or semi-detached Tory backbenchers, and the last-ditch fanatical Remainers. Not easy to find common ground!  There is much talk on the periphery of a Norway-style solution, a Second Referendum or a parliamentary postponement of Brexit.

Personally, I remain a Brexiteer and, despite numerous set-backs, I still want Brexit – control of our borders, supremacy for our own legal system, ultimate power vested in our own parliament, the ability to trade with whoever we wish and no obligation to join in the EU’s integrationist programme. I would prefer a better deal than Theresa’s, but if that is the best we can do, I would take it. If that is impossible, I would support a “managed” no-deal Brexit, whatever its risks, taking some comfort from Jeremy Hunt’s assurance today that “we will find a way to flourish and prosper” (we save much of £39 bn) in a no-deal scenario but acknowledging short-term disruption.

Sad to say, and knowing that the Thought Police monitor every utterance, I must complain that the Monstrous Regiment has rather poisoned the debate. Our Premier Theresa May dispenses her vacuous slogans “Brexit means Brexit” et al ad nauseam and fails to act in any effective way. The SNP leader, strident Nicola Sturgeon, offers nothing but her obsessional hatred of England and Westminster. For reasons I cannot fathom, Theresa has appointed fanatical Remainer Amber Rudd to her cabinet, a sure obstacle to consensus. My other bête noire is Anna Soubry, Tory MP, noisily supporting Brussels’ interests against the UK’s at every turn. I do wish these ladies would pipe down.

There are other “noises off”, who would be wise to hold their tongues. Tony Blair, now a discredited PM, much enriched since leaving office, uses his past prestige to peddle his notion of a second Referendum, though such a move would simply deepen divisions and, I believe, confirm the electorate’s wish to Leave. Which sane Briton would want to stay within the EU now that we have seen, red in tooth and claw, the true nature of Juncker, Barnier, Tusk and Verhofstadt? Despite their occasionally honeyed words, these 4 are currently the UK’s deadliest enemies and cannot be trusted.

May and Juncker wasting time in Brussels

Calming down after a stiff whisky, I do not doubt the sincerity nor the albeit twisted logic of the position of this famous 4 and I hold no animus against the talented peoples of Europe. I actually wish them all well on their road to prosperity and in their struggles against insurrectionary provinces, gilets jaunes, and Islamic terrorism. Our history is very different from theirs and we think in quite opposite ways. I just ask that they give us graciously the clanking keys and set us free from their dank and deadening EU prison. We are leaving anyway.

Whatever the outcome, in lovely Britain the Wye will still wind past matchless Tintern Abbey, the Mountains of Mourne will sweep down to the sea, the winter sun will sparkle on the many beauties of Edinburgh and the restful parks of London will pump fresh air and energy into this most dynamic city in the world. A very happy Christmas to you all!

SMD

16.12.2018   

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2018

DREAM ESCAPES

A few days ago, Andrea Leadsom, Leader of the House of Commons (and a feisty Brexiteer), announced that there would be the dreaded “meaningful vote” on Theresa May’s exit deal from the European Union on Tuesday 11 December preceded by a 5-day (yes, 5-ruddy-days!) debate. The prospect of this hellish period, complete with endless discussion of the options – hard exit, Norway / EFTA-style, Canada +++, renegotiation or no deal, all providing a prominent forum for our hideously posturing politicians – with a deafening accompaniment of blood-curdling prophecies from the metropolitan media, the BBC and The Bank of England, to name just three tainted sources, is surely enough for all sane citizens to open their atlases and try to choose some bolt-hole to escape the horror of it all.

Now we all know this 5-day fiesta is a total waste of time. Theresa’s deal has not got a prayer of a chance of being voted through. I confess to wobbling for about an hour. Surely a deal is better than no deal and Michael Gove, whose opinion I respect, said; Do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. At least nominally we would be out of the EU, in charge of our frontiers, able to control incoming migrants and be half-shot of the ECJ. But there is just too much wrong – a restricted ability to do trade deals with other blocs, lack of clarity about UK control of fisheries, vague promises about a UK/EU trade deal, convoluted interference from Brussels and the Irish Republic in the affairs of Northern Ireland and EU hostility over Gibraltar- a snip at £39bn. So, Theresa will lose the vote and probably will also lose the leadership of the Tories to some more assertive and ambitious personality, hopefully one who actually believes in Brexit. I have no idea what will happen at that point but we need a miracle to unite the nation.

What escape route can we take? I had a yen for Easter Island in the remotest South East Pacific about 1,200 miles from her nearest inhabited neighbour. But, alas, the sovereign power there, Chile, only grants 30-day visitor’s visas. Moreover, the dumbly impassive stone heads for which the islands are famous, are much too reminiscent of Brussels negotiators for comfort.

Stone Heads (moai) on Easter Island

              

Another possible bolt-hole is Pitcairn, only 2 miles across and a handy 3,000 miles from New Zealand, which sends a provision boat every 3 months. There are only 50 residents, all descendants of the eight 1790 mutineers from HMS Bounty, who had prudently taken along some Tahitian women. Frankly the place sounds boring, the romance confined to the various famous movies.

Marlon Brando as Fletcher Christian

I suppose some Atlantic islands qualify for selection, balmy Ascension with its airbase, St Helena evoking defeated Napoleon or rather chilly Tristan da Cunha, but I must not assume a warm welcome. The natives are not always friendly as that unlucky missionary John Chau lethally discovered as he landed on Sentinel Island last week in the Bay of Bengal.

On reflection I think somewhere much closer to home may fit the bill. As a native of the North East of Scotland I would consider elevated Tomintoul in Moray, the highest village in the Highlands, but easily cut off in the winter. Alternatively, there is blameless Auchnagatt (but the local pub has closed) or windswept Cruden Bay in Buchan whose splendid sands and golf course delight during the short summer months. Yet none of these places are out of range of hoydenish Nicola Sturgeon and the gnarled legion of her SNP fanatics.

Pals Theresa and Nicola pose unconvincingly

I could find civilised sanctuary amid the Cotswold villages and market towns – say, Bibury, Burford or mellow Chipping Campden but it is rather a happy hunting-ground for the metropolitan elite with whom I am currently out of sympathy.

So instead I will barricade myself in my home in Brexit-supporting Folkestone, confine my reading to the staunch Telegraph, block my ears to Remainer Project Fear scare stories and hysteria, sip delicious sparkling Chapel Down from local Tenterden vineyards, consume crusty and gravy- soaked steak and kidney pie, listen to Elgar and Vaughan Williams and read Donne and Kipling while awaiting deliverance from the hosts of Midian.

SMD

30.11.18

Text Copyright Sidney Donald 2018

A RICH STEW

The last few weeks have been so caught up in abrasive EU meetings, deafening political turmoil at home, alarms from across the Atlantic and the unbearably poignant centenary of the Armistice that I have found it impossible to concentrate on other more calming matters. So, forgive me as I dive in!

Never has the gulf, nay the abyss, between Provincial and Metropolitan England been so obvious as over Brexit. Provincial England remains staunchly in favour of a liberating Brexit; their England must defend her independent sovereignty and retain control over her destiny. They are irritated and even disgusted by the slavish obeisance of the Metropolitans to the whims and diktats of Brussels. The Establishment in government, in the City, in many professions and in business has a profound financial vested interest in the status quo. I had expected these people to resist Brexit fiercely (in fact they lazily assumed the referendum would be easily won) and now they argue that the 2016 referendum was deficient, although Cameron’s Remainer government called it. They do not respect the result, although the referenda in 1975 about remaining in the EU, and several devolution polls subsequently, were never challenged – well, after all, they went the Establishment’s way!

Leading Tory Remainer Anna Soubry

Labour Remainer Chuka Umunna

The Last-Ditch opposition we see today is unexpected to me; I would have anticipated vigorous efforts to modify terms and constructively engage in the negotiations. But not a bit of it, only root and branch hostility, suggesting to me that many Remainers are willing to sacrifice their country’s well-being for their own purposes – an attitude I find deeply unpatriotic and unacceptable. Shame upon them!

It is idle to pretend that the Leavers have not made a complete mess of their Brexit strategy. Feebly led by tepid Leaver Theresa May, the Tory government has given every possible weak signal to its electorate and to the EU’s hard-line negotiators in terms of indecision, fudge and double-talk. Our best cards – the size of our divorce settlement payment, our defence and security capabilities, our territorial waters and our trading connections have all been squandered or compromised. Some kind of agreement may be more or less ready but we are having our tails tweaked by an Irish Republican government, for generations hostile to the UK, and an EU determined to punish Britain for leaving their precious cartel.  Almost certainly we will not sign on these terms and we will move to a “hard” Brexit, with Theresa May the first political casualty and grim ill-will legacies towards our neighbours. The horrid prospect of a Corbyn administration would then indeed loom large. Indeed, this episode is shaping up to be “the worst failure of British statesmanship since Suez” in Boris Johnson’s brother Jo’s words as he resigned from Theresa’s government.

To turn to less weighty matters, President Trump was oblivious to the sensitivities of Armistice Day in Paris. He quarrelled sharply with Macron over French enthusiasm for a European Army to defend Europe against Russia, China (and America!). Trump did attend a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, although visibly upset that the King of Morocco should fall asleep on the dais beside him, but he failed to visit an American War Cemetery outside Paris (too much rain!) or to attend a Macron inspired “Peace Conference” / Gallic talking shop – understandably not Trump’s kind of thing. Instead Putin earned dix pointes for turning up!

Macron strokes Trump's knees with Imperial insouciance in Paris

The weekend gave us a heartening demonstration of British dignity, restraint and controlled emotion. The Centenary of the 1918 Armistice, bringing to an end a cruel war which saw 880,000 British dead, was sure to be a special moment. The sharp grief of families has now past as has the suffering of the maimed or wounded, but their sacrifice will not be forgotten. The Fallen were duly honoured at the Festival of Remembrance at the Albert Hall on Saturday at a most moving mixture of music, poetry and parade, ending in a rainstorm of poppies.

The traditional Cenotaph service and wreath-laying, including the music of Purcell, Elgar and many others brought back so many memories of generations past and profound thanks to the brave and invincible present generation. Like a million others, we walked on Sunday morning to the local war memorial, us to Folkestone with many hundreds of others and paid our respects. Portraits of Great War soldiers had been drawn into the sand to await the tide in 1,000 locations – we had the matchless poet Wilfred Owen, killed one week before the Armistice.

Wilfred Owen's portrait drawn in the sand at Folkestone

                

      

The timeless scene in Whitehall

The day carried on here with music from a local brass band, the lighting of one of many coastal beacons and the ringing of church bells. A deeply-felt day ended on a note of joy and hope.

Whatever Remainers and Brussels may say, it is simply impossible that a people like ours will accept domination and control from Continental Europe. We wish to be friends and good neighbours but as the old song goes; “Britons, never, never, never shall be slaves!”

SMD

13.11.18

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2018

A MODERN LIFE

I often wonder if, in my dotage, I have lived a full enough life – so many activities in which I have not participated, so many sensations untasted, so many ideas undeveloped, so many places unvisited, so much knowledge untouched. Yet very few of us are polymaths, avid researchers or men of action or are even in the slightest degree adventurous. I have settled into a comfortable, privileged married life as a member of the British middle classes, rational, Tory-voting, Brexit-supporting, after a solid career in finance, now holding mainly conservative opinions with a slight dash of liberalism, leading a calmly conventional life-style, enjoying classic books and music. Oh my God, how paralyzingly boring, I hear my critics groan!

I guess in some respects my critics are right. It was our old friend Nietzsche who described the twin natures of Man, the famed dichotomy, as consisting of the Apollinarian and the Dionysian. The Apollinarian “plays a straight bat to life” – I have those “qualities” in spades – while the Dionysian is passionate, thinks outside the box, is self-indulgent or even orgiastic, and surrounds himself with the enchanting and the magical. I am sadly deficient in these qualities. We all have a tincture of both sets of characteristics but clearly the Dionysian has most of the fun, damn him!

Apollo                         Dionysos

I wonder about what I have missed. There were plenty of influences in my youth which could have led me down more esoteric by-ways but somehow, I flunked my chances. I read intellectually curious Aldous Huxley and he had published his The Doors of Perception in 1954 recording his experimental use of the drug mescaline in 1953 in his West Hollywood house. The psychedelic and hallucinatory effect of the mushroom-derived drug became well-known and its use was encouraged by “Beat” writers like Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs (whom I also read) and the poet Allen Ginsberg (whom I never did). A more immediate influence was the poet, writer and classical interpreter Robert Graves, a leonine and eccentric figure, who became professor of poetry at Oxford in 1961. I attended a lecture he gave at the Oxford Union when he too described taking the hallucinogenic mushroom substance psilocybin in a Mexican ritual and his subsequent visions. Graves did not recommend the use of the drug and in time stopped his experiments. Graves was particularly interested in the alleged use of “magic mushrooms” in ancient religions and speculated that the prophet Ezekiel and the writer of the wildly apocalyptic Revelation of St John had swallowed a similar drug.

Robert Graves

Both Huxley and Graves were Dionysian characters. Their examples coincided with an unleashing of a psychedelic LSD flood and an orgy of drug-taking and pill-popping in the Western world. Pop musicians led the charge – Elvis, the Beatles and a host of others. Pot-smoking became endemic in US campuses and cities, criminal gangs developed the trade and much human misery ensued amid some transient pleasure. All this passed me by and so square am I that I admit I have never smoked a joint or “spliff,” as the lingo has it. Huxley and Graves were Englishmen but they lived principally in California or Majorca, where the sun beats down addling the brain. A few months in rainy Huddersfield would have washed some sense through them and put their hats straight!

The mystical or hallucinatory are not my thing. Such experiences are private and attempts to describe them are often unhelpful. A recent Telegraph reviewer, Steven Poole, cites gibberish like “I was turned into a sheaf of little papers and they were being scattered in the wind…. I was paint!” or the lady who exulted she was “literally holding the face of Osama bin Laden” or the American academic who “felt as though he had been repeatedly sucked into the asshole of God”. Enough said.

No, on reflection I am content that my life has been straight-forward and uncomplicated. We have quite enough excitement with meteorological events, earthquakes and the daily tweets of Donald Trump. Let accessible Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde carry the modest burden of our split personalities.

SMD 

30.10.18

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2018

BREXIT FIASCO

I suppose there have been other hideously mismanaged episodes in our British history – I have in mind the American War of Independence, the Crimean War or the policy of Appeasement – but the Brexit negotiations are down there in the rancid depths, as a prime example of incompetence, posturing, pussy-footing, lack of clarity, intellectual dishonesty, incoherence, a failure to connect with the public and a glaring absence of committed political leadership on a matter of supreme national importance.

Lord North, who lost America

Neville Chamberlain, who misread Hitler

It would be simplistic to place all the blame on Theresa May, though she heads the government and should be in ultimate control. She is not a Brexiteer and seems indifferent to EU shenanigans and incivility. She is a poor speaker and does not connect with the electorate, but she has the talent of persistency. Her elevation to the Premiership was in retrospect a mistake, though it was a relief at the time. Her decision to call a snap election in 2017 proved disastrous and her weak parliamentary position has made her timid, unable to face down her many antagonists.

Theresa May, who inspires nobody

The team surrounding her has been pretty weak. She over-ruled staunch David Davis, ignored harrumphing Boris Johnson, side-lined cerebral Michael Gove, relying instead on cataleptic doom-merchant Philip Hammond and entrusting current negotiations not to her bright new withdrawal secretary Dominic Raab but to an unaccountable civil servant Olly Robbins. Behind him stands a civil service strongly hostile to Brexit and drenched in the old complacency “Whitehall knows best”, but it never does.

Olly Robbins, the power behind Theresa

The issues to negotiate were sequenced by Brussels. Firstly, the divorce bill was finally agreed at £39bn (payable only if a deal is done, says the UK). Then came very technical talks about the relationship between the EU and the UK, with the Geiger counter fluctuating between the Norway option, Canada +++, an EU free trade arrangement or a hard Brexit (on WTO terms). Wrangles about the jurisdiction of the ECJ (a red rag to Brexiteers), alleged “Cherry-picking” by the UK were over-shadowed by furious disagreements on the status of Northern Ireland and the border with the Irish Republic, coupled with a so-called “backstop” arrangement. This issue has stalled the talks, rather surprisingly, as it was not initially such a big problem – I suspect there is mischief-making emanating from Dublin and Brussels, where “Green” Brit-bashing always plays well.

Confusion was twice confounded by Theresa’s so-called Chequers Proposal, an attempt to rail-road the Tories into a close relationship with the EU. It was never going to fly, upsetting the Brexiteers, the DUP, and many who merely wanted the referendum result to be honoured. A fruitful dialogue with the EU seems doomed. The UK simply want to withdraw from a commercial agreement – the EU are defending their imagined dogmas with theological intensity like members of the Inquisition. Any UK waverer must now see that Brussels harbours Anglophobic fanatics with strong absolutist tendencies, a dangerous breed.

EU Fanatics - Tusk, Juncker and Verhofstadt

It is indicative of the unreal world Brussels inhabits that it takes seriously the current views of Tony Blair, Lord Heseltine and Nick Clegg (sic), a trio of has-been Remoaners whose words hold no sway in the UK, and hope they will deliver a Brexiteer surrender, a second referendum and abject kow-towing to the will of Brussels.

Yet, the UK cannot blame the EU for fighting its own corner as it sees fit. The original Brexit campaigners were in truth taken aback when they won the referendum. The fundamental issues were well understood – the necessity of regaining sovereignty; the need to wrest back from Europe the supremacy of our courts and our laws; the rejection of enforced political, economic and fiscal integration with the rest the EU; the refusal to trade in a protectionist bloc and the deep respect for democratic practices. The UK government machine was ill-prepared for the complexity of unravelling the UK’s links with the intransigent EU. Even at this 11^th hour a deal can be done, but if it cannot the UK must walk with confidence and determination through the exit door.

That exit door leads to our liberation and fulfilment. Seize our destiny!

SMD

21.10.18

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2018

DIVERSITY

            

Our world praises countries which embrace “Diversity”, cultural, political, religious and social. The underlying narrative is that such societies are richly tolerant and modern and that the cocktail they deliver is much stronger than the sum of their parts. An idealistic aura envelops diverse societies – we want them to succeed, but we often underestimate the effort required to make the model work. There are many sad examples of failed diverse societies and far fewer examples of those embedding the rare virtues which make successful diverse societies so attractive and admired. Let me focus first on the success stories and I cite the merits of Switzerland, Germany, the UK, the USA and Canada.

Cultural Diversity in Canada

With her 4 languages, German, French, Italian and Romansh, Switzerland is inevitably culturally diverse. A cherished cantonal arrangement protects the distinctive cultural identity of her rural and city-dwelling communities. Religious freedom is now taken for granted, after historic battles. Universal military duties fortify centralised loyalty while philanthropic tradition and accumulated wealth make possible a global involvement in the less developed world. Immigration control is tight for permanent settlement but ethnic communities are encouraged and the Swiss life-style is enviable, if you can afford it.

Germany has been the great European success story since WW2 ended in 1945. Rebuilt on liberal democratic principles with a sturdy 1949 constitution, her economy surged ahead and she re-unified with her Eastern provinces in 1990. At first the country was largely culturally homogenous, but the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1960 triggered off a search for fresh labour and immigrants were welcomed from other European countries and crucially from Muslim Turkey. The education, benefit and workplace systems seem to have been effective in absorbing these new arrivals and hitherto political parties have accepted immigrants and accorded equal rights to them. The sudden surge of 1m immigrants from the Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2015 unbalanced the German political consensus; the nationalist AfD party has attracted much support and in the more socially backward East we have seen ugly disorder from extremists in Chemnitz and elsewhere. For all that, Germany is still among the most attractively diverse and tolerant countries in Europe.

The United Kingdom has plenty diversity with the ancient rivalry of Scotland and England only resolved in 1603 and 1707 by the unions of crown and parliament. The UK hit highs of prosperity with her industrial revolution and the acquisition of a profitable empire mainly in Canada, South Africa, India, the Far East and Australasia. She became an economic draw for poorer Commonwealth countries in Africa and the West Indies and in the sub-continent. The first Immigration Act restricting access was in 1962 but large black and Asian communities co-exist and are being integrated. The relative success of this process is demonstrated by the election of Sadiq Khan as Mayor of London and the appointment of MP Sajid Javid as Home Secretary; both have Pakistan-born parents.

Sadiq Khan, London's Mayor

UK Home Secretary, Sajid Javid

The UK has liberal abortion laws and recognises same-sex marriages – all the buzzwords of our time. The visceral hatred of a hardcore of benighted Scotsmen for the English (hardly ever reciprocated by the phlegmatic English themselves), worked up by the SNP as a matter of policy, is the principal serious blemish on the serenity of the diverse UK. An earlier tendency to encourage ethnic “ghetto” diversity is being reversed as quite tough citizenship tests are introduced focusing on knowledge of the English language and on UK national institutions. Anyway, I feel myself blest to be British..

The USA has a great claim as a melting-pot creating a new being, the all-American classless, democratic good-neighbourly citizen. For over a century this claim was undermined by the ferocious discrimination against black and Hispanic people in America. Successive civil rights legislation and its enforcement have transformed the US to somewhere near the American Dream. There is no doubt more to do in terms of sharing prosperity, improving social security and reducing the violence of life there, but America has long been, and remains, a beacon of hope for the world’s dispossessed and disadvantaged.

Trump, flawed standard-bearer of the American Dream

Finally, in this round-up of the pick of diverse societies comes Canada, incorporating the best of Britain, France and the USA, a vast country successfully steering a contentedly generous route, made possible by wealth and geography. It is impossible to mention everyone, but similar accolades are due to the Benelux, Scandinavian countries and Australasia.

I regret I have not included highly civilised France, but she has failed to integrate her large North African population and the 10.6m votes (33.9%) won by Marine LePen in 2017’s presidential election are evidence of deep-seated hostility to diversity from a significant minority. Yet I may be wrong. To have doubts about diversity is not the same as being racist or xenophobic. A country like France is intensely proud of her culture and terroir and resists radical change to the character of her nation. It is no offence to disparage pop culture, franglais, junk food and venal politicians!

Another far from perfect but often admirable country is India, dazzling in her ethnic diversity, so polyglot there are 21 official languages among the 400+ actually spoken. Amazingly India has remained a functioning democracy since 1948 almost uniquely within Asia. But there is a huge downside; the ancient caste system still casts a shadow over the employment prospects and social mobility of many millions of Hindus and the status of women, especially in respect of marriage, is abject in much of rural and provincial India. Women are routinely physically, socially, sexually and intellectually abused in their native country to India’s shame. An enormous reform is required and cannot be expected quickly within the existing political structures.

Dynamic, modernising but socially backward India

Among the sad failures in Diversity, I must mention Yugoslavia, always an artificial concept, dominated by Serbs and Croats and unable to reconcile Slovenes, Bosnians, Kosovars, Montenegrins and Northern Macedonians whose festering rivalries led to a bloodbath break-up in the 1990s. Another Versailles 1919 construct was Czechoslovakia, peacefully divided again in 1994, as the two nations could not co-exist. Pressure of war has seen multi-ethnic Iraq fracture and ancient communities (many Christian) flee for their lives. Even the mighty Soviet Union saw 15 republics secede and the Russian Federation was left to pick up the pieces and atone for 70 years of murderous Communism.

Diversity, social and communal, is an ideal presently only attained by relatively rich nations. A few countries, like say Iceland or Paraguay, can live in a peacefully homogenous fashion with basically their own kith and kin; yet so far has globalisation gone that people move between countries with astonishing ease. In a few years, Poles have become the largest foreign-born minority (900,000+) in the UK, while other European countries have experienced similar influxes. These pressures make diversity a necessity, but the emotions and habits of mind of the nation-state die hard and there is much there worth retaining. We must keep our values as we adapt to hectic and profound change.

SMD

10.10.18

Text Copyright Sidney Donald 2018

THE DIGNITY OF OFFICE

Some of my attitudes are doubtless Neanderthal – older people just have to cope with such epithets – but I do not apologise for tending to respect those who have risen from the ranks to become senior politicians, generals, judges, university professors, top commentators or industrial leaders. We do, of course, mock the panjandrums of our society if they become cocksure or arrogant but broadly speaking, most people grant a presumption of competence and ability to those leading us. Yet our society seems to make living in the public eye almost impossibly unpleasant.

Few and far between are the politicians or other leaders who have lived such blameless lives that they do not suffer a middle-of-the-night shudder or an involuntary clenching of fists or toes at the memory of a past piece of ignoble behaviour. We are flesh-and-blood humans, not canonised saints. An FBI investigation into one’s conduct at age 17, in the early flux of manhood, is likely to uncover plenty of indiscretions, foolishness and even shameful episodes. Yet most people look upon these events as a rite of passage, to be forgotten and forgiven – unless they are so gross or violent as to become a matter for the criminal justice system. An early complaint, say within a month, by any victim would be normal: a delay of 36 years is excessive and even suspicious. Evidence of serial misbehaviour would make the complaint even more serious but in the case in point only a single incident is cited.

 Nominee Kavanaugh                       Accuser Blasey Ford                 

I am of course referring to the current clash over President Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, an appointment which would tip the balance of the Court in a conservative direction, and the objection voiced by academic Dr Christine Blasey Ford, who alleges Kavanaugh, then 17, sexually assaulted her, then 15, at a teenager party in 1982. Dr Ford is an occasional Democratic activist whose allegations are angrily denied by Judge Kavanaugh. The judicial nominee committee has approved the submission of Judge Kavanaugh’s appointment to a full Senate vote – on condition that the FBI first investigate allegations against the Judge within a week, which seems a fair enough compromise.

The atmosphere surrounding these proceedings has been poisonous. Voting has been on strictly partisan lines. President Trump would leave a legacy for a generation if he succeeded in creating a Right-leaning Supreme Court and the Democrats naturally want to prevent that. It would be wrong to prejudge the immediate issue – Kavanaugh may be lying or Blasey Ford could be fantasizing. Yet this ugly cause célèbre has polarised American opinion. The Democrats stridently disparage anything emanating from Trump while the Republicans scorn feminist complaints and Leftist agitation.

Well might observers ask “Is it worth it to attain high office if you are to be crucified in this way?” or alternatively “Is it worth making a complaint of this kind if you jeopardise your reputation and mental good health?” The process is defective and needs revision on a bi-partisan basis.

Similarly unfair has been the treatment meted out by the media to Meghan Markle, now Duchess of Sussex. She is not in a position of power but certainly has privileges and is much in the public eye. Her half-sister Samantha Grant, 17 years older than Meghan, has kept up a chorus of criticism and complaint even though the pair last met in 2008 and last spoke on the phone in 2015. Samantha has nothing of substance to say but the media seize on her every word. Samantha’s current beef is that Meghan has not financially supported their mutual father, reclusive Thomas Markle, who failed to attend her wedding, though invited.  She has arrived in London to “confront” her sister, if she can get near. There is a strong element of sibling jealousy and resentment here, best not paraded. The British popular press has plumbed new lows in bad taste in its coverage.

Samantha Markle                          Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

Free speech is cherished in Western societies and the throwing of brickbats at Brexiteers, Remainers, Lefties, wobbly Liberals, Republicans and Democrats is entirely legitimate. But there are conventions, so keep to the issues and do not hit below the belt.

SMD

30.09.18

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2018

WHERE HAVE THEY ALL GONE?

We rejoice at the accomplishments of our Brave New World and swell with pride at our world of global media, artificial intelligence, driverless cars, immense productivity, space exploration, colossal buildings, far-flung enterprises and so on, and spare hardly a thought for those aspects of our world we have lost or soon will. I am as selfish and uncaring as the next fellow but I believe we would be well advised to take stock and pause our egotistical mad tango. Some radical changes in our lifestyles are almost unavoidable – time to adapt to the inevitable!

Most change is gradual, as Nature constantly evolves at her own pace, but Mankind’s intervention can quicken the process alarmingly. Without being sentimental in a Mrs Tiggy-Winkle nostalgia, a recent survey suggests that the common hedgehog population in the UK has reduced at least 50% since 2000 and that there may be some 1m left, as against maybe 30m in the 1950s.

An old friend under siege

In our Cotswolds home in the early 2000s, a hedgehog family regularly visited our back garden and our two dogs went into paroxysms of excitement on encountering these cute nocturnal creatures. The precipitate hedgehog decline is attributed to the lack of sheltering hedgerows and the dearth of insect food due to the widespread use of chemical pesticides. In Germany there is thought to be a 75% drop in insect life since the last century – all certain to upset the food chain.

A Sparrow, hero to zero

Statistics about animal and insect numbers are inherently unreliable but we see with our own eyes the decline of the house sparrow – in London the decline is catastrophic. Those pushy birds which used to hop around outside coffee tables and eat crumbs are no more. In St James Park, where once there were 300 pairs, there are now none. Other cities like Paris do better, for reasons not yet fathomed. If so ubiquitous a bird as the sparrow can be endangered, what hope is there for rarer species? The bigger picture is even more alarming. In the years 1970 - 2012 the world vertebrate population is said to have declined by 58% and that of freshwater fish by 81%, thanks to habitat loss and the relentless displacements caused by the search for new sources of energy.

This decimation of our fauna is tragic but there are larger species whose absence may not be much mourned. First is the Spotted Eurofanatic, once embodied in bibulous Roy Jenkins or more lately in Jean-Claude Juncker: the genre has become more dangerous by a re-animated Tony Blair, eyes a-rolling, and worst of all, in Emmanuel Macron, oozing Gallic arrogance from every pore. This species, alas, will long be with us. Then there is the Sabre-Toothed Secret Policeman, represented by Vladimir Putin, a sinister creature of the shadows, despatching murderous gangs across Europe: Stalin would be proud of him.

Macron pushes his fanatical federalist opinions

Somewhere in the deep undergrowth lurks a Slothful Backwoodsman Tory, once very common but now a rarity. They were thought to be going extinct but elegant and polite Jacob Rees Mogg has revived the species, clutching the cherished encyclicals of Pius IX and a well-thumbed Malthus to fortify his gently presented but prehistoric opinions. A related species is the Cackling Rich-boy Toff wholly ignorant of the lifestyle of their constituents, but plausible speakers on the surface but the surface is all there is. This species was epitomised by smooth David Cameron, the hollow man par excellence, and by his sidekick, unlovable George Osborne.

Boris, the Tory Favourite

Their arrogance and low attention-span can be seen in Toff Boris Johnson, who is certainly clever, if too fond of the well-turned but undiplomatic phrase. Yet mop-headed and right-on Boris does strike a chord with the great British public, who may yet forgive him his Casanovan predelictions.

Jeremy trying to look responsible

The prize specimen of a recently revived declining species is the Squawking Soapbox Orator, long thought to belong to history. There are folk memories of Chartist agitators, useless George Lansbury, the Kinnock windbag, but now we have a Labour Party stuffed full of jumped-up Dantons, preaching red revolution (and believing it). The Leader of this rabble is deeply uncharismatic Jeremy Corbyn, whose party is ungovernable, a man of agitation and street demos, seemingly confused by his own policies. All this hardly matters, as long as fickle Fate does not give him a place anywhere near government and real power. Fickle Fate is, alas, not wholly reliable!

SMD

24.09.18

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2018

The PROBLEM OF THERESA

As the blessed summer recess sends MPs to their favourite faraway fleshpots where they hope their sins will not be featured in The Sun, the more contemplative Tory MPs wake up screaming in the night seeing horrid visions of a fouled-up Brexit, lost constituencies and the nightmare of a Jeremy Corbyn government putting the UK back 73 years to the advent of dismal Clem Attlee, or even 370 years to the heyday of the Levellers. These MPs would normally simply demand sharp action from their Leader, but alas, their Leader is Theresa May, already found wanting on numerous counts and as inspirational as a limp stalk of last month’s rhubarb. A low murmur can be heard in the Shires and in the loyal heartland of England, with due acknowledgement to Rogers and Hammerstein, asking in agony “How do you solve a problem like Theresa?”

Theresa's time to depart

Our erstwhile European “friends” could offer rapid answers. The French could volunteer “Madame la Guillotine”, the Czechs “Defenestration”, the Spanish “The Garrotte” and the Germans, spoilt for choice from their own dark history, would suggest “The Firing Squad”. Of course, the Russians deployed an ice-pick on Trotsky and pistol shots to the forehead for Beria. The Americans have seen 4 Presidents succumb to an assassin’s bullet but the British have only witnessed one violent end to a Prime Minister and that was Spencer Perceval in 1812, but his assailant was clearly deranged. No, we Brits want a constitutional solution for Theresa’s finale, bloodless but decisive and irrevocable.

Sadly, the electoral arithmetic could hardly be less promising. The Conservatives have no majority in Parliament and depend on the support of the Democratic Unionists from Ulster.

Party	Seats
Conservative	316
Labour	258
Scottish National Party	35
Liberal Democrat	12
Democratic Unionist Party	9
Independent	7
Sinn Féin	7
Plaid Cymru	4
Green Party	1
Speaker	1
Total number of seats	650

Theresa was chosen as the Leader to unify the badly split Tories – to paper over the cracks. She gambled but lost in an attempt to strengthen her party’s position by calling a snap election in June 2017, which made her position worse. Her own feeble campaigning was much to blame.  She has since formulated her “Chequers” proposal, much too concessionary to the EU in the view of most Brexiteers but supported by many other Tories. The EU has yet to pronounce but recent experience is that it will react entirely negatively. A “no-deal” Brexit is a real possibility with every Remainer Cassandra prophesying doom. The torrent of gloomy predictions emanating from the Treasury since 2016 have actually all proved false. Theresa might conceivably win a vote of confidence in the Commons if some half-respectable deal were negotiated but a new man at the helm would struggle to reconcile the 60-80 diehard Brexiteers with the 100 or so tepid Remainer Tories and the mass of stolid backbenchers.

The fact is that Teresa is not a believer in Brexit and has no vision of its stimulus and opportunities. The other leading Tories - Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees Mogg, David Davis, Michael Gove and Philip Hammond – are saving their powder for a showdown at the right moment, but that moment has not yet arrived. Every delay makes Theresa better entrenched and a feeble Brexit deal more likely. All great political parties need maintenance, the speeches to warm the grass-roots, the flesh-pressing bonhomie, the private words of confidence and appreciation from the Leader and the convincing performances before the media – all little arts which Theresa has failed to master. A party not thus maintained will fail and collapse as surely as that ill-fated Morandi motorway bridge in Genoa.

An unmaintained Genoa bridge

Utter despair is not the rational reaction. Let us peek into the future, as I see it. A deal will emanate from Brussels and London, not ideal, but as Gove said “Do not make the perfect the enemy of the good”. The House of Commons by a free vote or (less likely) a second referendum will approve the deal. All in the UK are heartily sick of the Brexit discussions and want to move on, convinced that the EU is not our kind of game nor led by our kind of people. A handful of Labour Brexiteers will support the deal, and the views of the declining SNP, the moribund Liberal Democrats and assorted oddballs outside the Tories may sway the parliamentary vote. We will leave on 29 March 2019 as agreed with a transition period until 31 December 2020. What new alignments on Left and Right shall emerge? Soon after 29 March a new Tory Leader will call and convincingly win a general election.

Who knows? We will see!

SMD

26.08.2018

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2018.

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