Holdenforth had planned to use this blog to complete a trilogy in we examined the gaps between what our politicians had achieved as opposed to what to they intended to achieve.
Our first two efforts – on Rishi Sunak and on Keir Starmer – were relatively straightforward to write.
Thus – in the case of Mr Sunak the gap was so wide that all we had to do was to paraphrase extracts from the avalanche of abuse hurled at our hopeless PM – note – no plagiarism – we will leave that to Rachel Reeves.
However even old-world cynics like Holdenforth could not have foreseen the bile that poured out of Suella Braverman following the curt verbal P45 call from Mr S.
And we certainly did not see coming the restoration of Mr Cameron – rapidly elevated to Lord Cameron – as a key feature of the reshuffle changes following the Braverman exit stage right.
More on the Cameron /Lazarus development later in the blog
What about Sir Keir Starmer?
Rather more stability here. We noted in our previous blog that Sir Keir had just one policy – to secure the keys to Number 10 in the next election. He and his supporters have exercised sufficient control within the Labour Party to minimise any boat rocking from dissenters. He quickly and effectively showed them who was in charge. The minor hiccup that arose within the Labour party as the number of civilians killed in Gaza rose on a daily basis was quickly suppressed.
Holdenforth had originally planned – in the interests of fair play, to examine where the Liberal Democrats stood on the issue of policy and achievements.
We threw in the towel here. Quite simply no material to work with on either policy or achievement.
Instead we opted for a stroll down memory lane – Holdenforth decided instead to look back at the performance of Lloyd George – the last Liberal leader of any significance.
Here are the views of his contemporaries.
“Put the two men together in any circumstances of equality and the one would eat the other”
From “Great Contemporaries” by Winston Churchill.
Churchill was comparing Lloyd George with Lord Curzon and found the talents of the former considerably greater than those of the latter.
“To see the British Prime Minister (Lloyd George) watching the company with six or seven senses not available to ordinary men, judging character, motive and sub-conscious impulse, perceiving what each was thinking and even what each was going to say next, and compounding with telepathic instinct the argument or appeal best suited to the vanity, weakness, or self-interest of his immediate auditor was to realise that the poor President (Wilson of the USA) would be playing blind man’s bluff”
From Keynes’ essay on the Council of Four in Paris, 1919
The sardonic comments of a formidable intellect.
“The great English (sic) demagogue had set out solely to exert the greatest possible effect on the mass of his listeners… Regarded from this standpoint the speeches of this Englishman (sic) were the most wonderful performance for they testified to a positively amazing knowledge of the soul of the broad masses of the people …”
The comments of Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf on the speeches of Lloyd George.
It is worth noting that the eventual downfall of Lloyd George as Prime Minister was engineered by one of our more self-effacing prime Ministers, Stanley Baldwin.
A word on Brexit
The Brexit debate rumbles on. Very few now seek to argue that the UK should rejoin the EU.
The Labour MP for Torfaen (and the MP for Holdenforth) Nick Thomas-Simmonds , has been handed the mosr formidable challenge of all in the Starmer shadow cabinet, that of reaching new arrangements with the EU short of full membership.
Mr Thomas – Simmonds has our full support in this Herculean assignment.
For all practical purposes – the UK is out of and will remain out of the EU for the next few years.
For Holdenforth that leaves a little unfinished business. Prior to the referendum in 2016 we had a modest wager with a rambling colleague about the outcome. We hoped fervently for a Remain outlook – but we lost our preference and our wager. We hope to settle up before the Grim Reaper calls.
The COVID-19 Inquiry
As I write the enquiry into the effectiveness of the handling of the Covid Pandemic by HMG is getting into its stride.
Holdenforth is uneasy about the value of this enquiry and about the contribution it will make, if any, to the effectiveness of the management of future epidemics.
We have been advised that it is inevitable that at some point in the future a different but related version of the original pesky parasite will emerge to pose problems.
Will we be ready?
Thus far the Hallett inquiry seems to have provided a platform for disgruntled politicians and their SPADs to settle old scores – and, sadly but predictably some are doing thus that.
The proceedings take me back more than 60 years when I was voicing my adverse criticisms about the performance of colleagues to a senior manager.
His reply has stayed with me: “They are all useless buggers except thee and me and when I’m on my own – you’re a useless bugger”
Remind you of a contemporary soap opera masquerading as a serious exercise?
The rule of lawyers
“Britain being run by rule of lawyers”
Headline in the Daily Mail – Sept 9, 2023
In the article beneath the headline Martin Beckford, Daily Mail policy editor, narrowed down the criticism to human rights lawyers and judges.
“MPs DO have a legal means of breaking the stranglehold human rights lawyers have on our democracy. So why won’t they use it?”
Headline above an article by Dr Arnheim, Daily Mail, Sept 14, 2023
Holdenforth is bemused by these attacks on human rights lawyers who were simply carrying out their professional tasks. Well done you legal eagles – doing well by doing good.
It would help if politicians were to specify what is and what is not legal in clear language.
Monarchical matters
In an earlier blog we asked about what, if anything, Princess Diana and Leon Trotsky had in common.
We thought that both of them had been air brushed out of history by very effective manipulation of PR machines by their respective detractors.
We are uneasy that the unorthodox route to the throne by Camilla might be thought of by some as one of the more audacious usurpings of the crown in our 1,000 year turbulent history.
We are also distinctly uneasy about the suggestion that Charles III may be allowed to pontificate on the policy of HMG.
The elevation of plain Mr Cameron to Lord Cameron in the twinkling of an eye.
“On his first introduction to these little fellows it had seemed to Ambrose that they had touched the lowest possible level to which Humanity can descend. It now became apparent that there hitherto unimagined depths which it was in their power to plumb”
The sombre thoughts of Ambrose Mulliner about his two schoolboy charges.
Holdenforth has similar views about David Cameron
The transfer of Cameron from oblivion to the Foreign Office and to The House of Lords startled even your hardened blogger.
For us it represented a transition from the – shall we say respectable – corridors of Oxford University to the darker corridors of the Arthur Daley business school. It was a squalid act even by the abysmal standard of this drowning administration.
We predict and hope that this change in title and job will end in tears.
A few closing one liners.
Boss at scandal-hit university saw pay surge by £186k
The boss in question, Alice Gast at Imperial College London, somehow managed to secure an increase in her reward package despite presiding over a shambles.
Her unkind critics tend to forget that the looting of the public purse can be arduous and time consuming.
“Wilko unions demand inquiry into stricken chain”
Daily Mail headline Nov 4, 2023
Unions representing sacked workers have picked up that “£77m in dividends was dished out to the owners and shareholders of the retailer in the decade before its collapse”.
Holdenforth doubts if the requested inquiry will ever get off the ground.
The Post Office scandal.
Holdenforth gathers that the consequences of this most appalling of scandals are slowly but surely closing in on the perpetrators.
We fervently hope that those responsible – Vennells ? Crozier / – will answer for their actions.
Holdenforth urges the great British public to put pressure on the authorities to make languid inquiries such as that presided over by Sir John Chilcot to be replaced by a policy beloved by Sir Winston Churchill – Action this day.
Some old timers will recall Parkinson’s first law – “work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”
It is time that this recipe for the lining of legal pockets was repealed.
Holdenforth had hoped to get all his discontents off his chest while there is still time. Sadly Holdenforth/aka John Holden , a grizzling, grousing, griping grumbling aged malcontent who finds that he disagrees with almost everyone about almost everything still has more to say.
Watch this space
Holdenforth aka John Holden
Holden Forth 