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Showing posts from June, 2017

Staying Calm

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With so many awful things happening at home and abroad at the moment, it is very hard not to be in angry mode the whole time. So instead, I've been breathing deeply and doing what I do best, namely enjoying retirement. Of course, a mini heatwave has helped along with the return of the youngest after her time at the University of Texas.  You always know when the temperature reaches Mediterranean proportions because not only do you reach for the sunscreen but there's a frantic bid to find the insect repellent, long hidden in a bathroom cupboard, even if it was out of date and of no tangible effect either. Similarly you always know when the youngest is at home because the laundry baskets fill quicker and the fridge becomes home to all kinds of strange vegetarian foods. I'm certainly not complaining, especially as we've just enjoyed two wonderful afternoons in the sunshine. The first at Kiplin Hall which I had promised to return to when the sun was s

Just One Regret

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It's a strange old world and a sign of the times when the winning party loses and the losing party is seen as the winner. That, however, seems to be the outcome of  the election.  Taking the electorate for granted with its arrogance the Conservatives went hammer and tongs for the United Kingdom Independence Party voters and in so doing forgot that middle England with its intelligent, economically literate, remain-voting  populus would be both repulsed and insulted by the rhetoric. Consequently, although winning the most seats (albeit short of an overall majority), the Prime Minister totally failed in her objective of getting the large majority and mandate she was seeking to negotiate a "hard" Brexit, closing the door to the exisiting arrangements for free trade and the movement of people within Europe. So, having finished my last blog entry with a feeling of resigned disillusionment, like more than half of the electorate I was overwhelmingly buoyed to find

The Long Night Ahead

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I honestly didn't intend to do another political post or let off steam again, so hopefully this will be a quieter post. As I type I am conscious that the Polling Stations close in less than thirty minutes and I am steeling myself for a late night.  It has been a nasty election campaign when the strong and stable image of the Prime Minister has crumbled into a weak and wobbly one, refusing to engage with the public, debate with the opposition, cost her policies or even bother to explain them. That said she will undoubtedly triumph tonight leaving us with the most extreme right wing Government in memory. The only other viable party in presenting policies that are progressive and socialist, will inevitably have shown itself to be too far left for significant electoral gains. The best one can hope for is a hung Parliament or certainly one without the clear landslide that the Prime Minister was seeking when she chose to call this snap election. A campaign that was me