It must be something in the air. There is much
learned talk of dopamine bubbling about in the blood-stream and the normally
dead-pan Serbs have a word for it - Vrbopuc (typically unpronounceable),
to describe the changes in nature seen in early April. Anyway, Britain is
greatly afflicted and most of the rest of the world too – many people have
simply gone potty and we sane ones gaze on bewitched, bothered and bewildered.
Let me give you belt and braces examples:
1. J K Rowling, the highly accomplished
creator of Harry Potter, was earlier “cancelled”- i.e. denied any academic or
media platform even to speak and defend herself, when she denied trans activist
claims for special treatment. She concentrated on the birth sex of trans people
and stuck to 2 sexes only. Her ungrateful critics included the film actors her
works had made famous, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, who could not resist
jumping on the “woke” green room bandwagon. Happily, the tide seems to be
turning against trans-mania and JKR, who has staunch defenders, is becoming
more acceptable in trendy media company (Warner Bros are doing a new series and
HBO have relented). But what an unjust episode!
Radcliffe, JKR, Watson
et al
2. Very little of value comes out of
devolved governments and a case in point is Wales, which has just announced
that forthwith The Brecon Beacons National Park shall be known as Bannau
Brycheiniog – don’t even try to pronounce it. A whole smoke-screen of
justification has been erected but fundamentally this is an exercise in
Welsh-language fanaticism, imposed without consultation by the Cardiff regime.
We know The Brecon Beacons to be a lovely part of rural Wales, much farmed and
a training ground for the SAS. I hope the general public give the new name and
pompous Mark Drakeford (Lab) the proverbial two fingers.
3. Talk of devolved governments
inevitably brings us to Scotland, where the SNP regime has fallen into a rank
haggis-stew. The sudden departure of ghastly Nicola Sturgeon seems to have
uncovered a trail of financial mismanagement. CEO Peter Murrell, husband of
Nicola, was briefly arrested and now Treasurer Colin Beattie has been too. The
auditors, Johnston Carmichael, resigned in September 2022, but this was never
disclosed. Police are investigating what happened to a fundraising of £600k,
meant for an independence campaign. There are questions about the ownership of
a £110,000 motor-home, said to be an SNP battle-bus, parked at Murrell’s
mother’s house. Nothing is clear and Stalinist opacity reigns supreme. Humza
Yousaf, Sturgeon’s successor looks out of his depth, the party is in disarray,
which suits the Labour and Conservative opposition in Scotland. The reputation
of Scotland, alas, is in the mud thanks to this folly.
Some
legacy, Nicola!
4. As usual, Ireland is a forum of madness. In
the North, Sunak negotiated some improvements on the Irish Protocol (the
botched work of Boris) between the UK and EU. Inevitably, this was not accepted
by the idiotic hard-line Unionists of the DUP. So, Stormont does not function
and inter-communal tensions are high. Into this mess blunders half-awake Joe
Biden, wanting to celebrate the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, but
really to flatter the nationalist Irish vote in the US. He utters his usual
gaffes and then cavorts around the Irish Republic in a green orgy of sectarian
anti-British prejudice. He is not our friend, but his country often is. There
is the grim prospect of Biden running again in 2024 against Trump (OMG!). These
geriatric gladiators diminish us all – please America, embrace a younger
generation!
5. Then our home-country is not in
great shape. Strikes besiege us. We want to relax and enjoy The Grand National
at Aintree, but some outfit called Animal Rising pretends to care about the
welfare of horses and disrupts the race. The racing community is outraged and
the luckless highly-strung horses are greatly upset by these exhibitionists
(but we selected 3 places!)
Even more bizarre, our home-grown
terrorists, under the banner Just Stop Oil, attacked the Crucible in Sheffield,
dedicated to unpolitical snooker, in a haze of yellow powder.
A noisy, moronic intervention
Yet, repellent and sad as these scenes are, I
do not believe they are remotely representative of the real United Kingdom. At
Easter, with my eldest son joining as my gentle minder, I took the train to my
home town of Aberdeen, Scotland and later flew back. Everywhere I encountered
civility, efficiency and warmth which revived my faith in our people and our
future. Our day will dawn!
SMD
18.4.23
Text Copyright © Sidney
Donald 2023
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