We ended our previous blog in some confusion. Our excuse was and still is that we were merely reflecting the confusion and chaos that enveloped us at local, national and international level.
Enough implausible excuses – we are beginning to sound like Rishi Sunak.
In the few days that have elapsed between our previous blog and this one some intriguing new issues have emerged.
Our competitors in the respectable media outlets and the wild west that comprises social media have been busy.
Let us crack on.
A stroll down memory lane.
Holdenforth has noticed that from time-to-time people in the news find the searchlight of the media focused on what they have been up to.
In the unlikely event that we find ourselves subjected to – shall we say The Rayner treatment – we will get our story out now.
Birth – I was born at the end of June, 1940 – just a few weeks after Dunkirk, the youngest of my mother’s nine children. That would date my conception around September 1939 – just around the time that Britain declared was on Germany. Not ideal family planning.
Boisterous politics – I recall being thrown out of Trafalgar Square during the sit down organised by the Committee of 100.
Sedate Politics – I was in the hall in Scarborough in 1963 when Harold Wilson delivered his “White Heat of Technology” speech. There can’t be many left who can say that.
I attended as a Young Socialist delegate from Ebbw Vale in the company of Michael Foot’s agent, Ron Evans. I remember Ron giving a surly greeting to a scruffy old timer on the way to the Hall. He then told me that old timer was called Gerry Healy – the then leader of Militant Tendency. Ron was very suspicious of the Trots. I also recall that Ron warned me to steer clear of a delegate called Tom Driberg – I can’t remember why.
My father was a plate layer – born in 1896 – who served in the Royal Engineers in WW1. In 1919 he was in a Railway Unit which operated in the Caucasus between Batuum on the East of the Black Sea and Baku on the West of the Caspian Sea. After the war he was glad to get back to his job as plate layer on the relatively peaceful line between Bolton and Lostock Junction.
Let us open the proceedings with a few items from our previous mission statements.
These basic preferences will help us to feel at home.
* The BBC – the case for privatisation goes stronger on a daily basis.
* The transgender sector – no offence meant but our core case remains that “If my aunt had balls she would be my uncle but she didn’t and she wasn’t.”
* Long live the Remain cause
* The decline of the British manager. This sector is anxious to collect the rewards of the job – and equally anxious to avoid doing any work thus severing the link between the 2 components.
There – we feel better already.
By far the most disturbing issue in the world continues to be the conflict in Gaza.
The scale of the conflict grows on a daily basis and the prospects for a peaceful outcome grow more and more unlikely.
There are significant sub plots to this conflict including the war in Ukraine and THE WEST v Putin.
All Propaganda is Lies—- George Orwell
Holdenforth agrees with the bleak but realistic assertion made by Orwell.
We have noted the intense but bloodless war between the rival propaganda machines operated by Israel and Palestine. The mendacious work of these machines as they ransack the globe for financial support – let us call this struggle the conflict between the mendacious mendicants is of considerable significance because the propaganda machine operated by Israel is possibly the most effective in the world. This weapon has been and remains a formidable weapon in the Israeli war machine.
In a previous blog we noted that:
“One closing point on this topic – Holdenforth has noted the non stop raucous resolute attack by Netanyahu on Hamas but we note also that he is strangely mute on the Zionist activities of the group which pioneered terrorism in the region -Irgun back in late 1940s.”
Holdenforth has been keeping an eye on the scoreboard as the conflict in Gaza has continued.
The casualties arising from the conflict have not been distributed evenly between The Israelis and the Palestinians – Palestinian fatalities, mostly civilians, are reported as being in excess of 30,000.
Holdenforth has also noted that support for the Israeli cause globally has steadily diminished as the number of deaths on the scoreboard has risen at a daily rate of 200.
The prospects for Ukraine
The situation and prospects here are broadly similar to those in Gaza – the ability of The Ukraine to continue the war with Russia is thought to be critically dependent upon the support of its paymasters in THE WEST.
A word about Mr Putin and THE WEST.
Mr Putin does not appear to be about to throw in the towel in this interminably protracted war.
The latest word from the USA is that Mr Biden has put his real money where his somewhat erratic mouth is and that he has promised that the USA WILL provide sufficient support to enable Mr Zelensky to fight on.
The above points taken together promise a lucrative future for arms suppliers and an ongoing mixture of blood, toil, sweat and tears for those called upon to do the actual fighting.
In short, the prospects for WW3 sooner rather than later look increasingly likely.
Update on illegals
The political struggle between the House of Lords and the House of Commons on the Rwanda policy of HMG has been brought to a conclusion of sorts with the Lords accepting the supremacy of the lower house.
The numbers being quoted suggest that the demand for sanctuary in the UK is considerably greater than the ability of those in charge in Rwanda to cope.
What will the outcome be?
Holdenforth would like to suggest a rethink of the core issues
Everyone – and that includes you and Holdenforth – will understandably constantly seek to achieve a better life for themselves and their families. So – how do nations and groups of nations reconcile the claims and wishes of the home population with the claims of their would-be neighbours? Completely open borders or effective controls effectively managed.
Holdenforth argues that the latter option will minimise the damage to long term wider social stability.
“Says Labour about the migrant crisis -” the first thing to do is deal with the back log
No, it isn’t. If the bath-tub is overflowing the first thing to do is to turn off the taps, not try to empty it”
Did Mr Bradshaw of Cowbridge have a point in his letter to the Daily Mail?
Meanwhile, Holdenforth gathers that there is public concern about the high and rising number of immigrants seeking asylum in Ireland. One aspect of the situation which confuses Holdenforth is the allegation by some that the problem has arisen because Ireland rejected Brexit. We had assumed and still assume and will continue to assume that the problems arose because of the absurd decision by the UK to opt for Brexit.
The forthcoming presidential contest across the pond between the two aged candidates.
Holdenforth can speak with some authority on the melancholy prospect as he is (just) a little older than the shaky flaky President Biden and the bombastic ex -President Trump.
At the time of writing we are unsure as to whether Mr Trump may have to do his campaigning from the inside of a Prison cell.
Should the ex-Pres actually be locked up – might this pose a handicap to his campaign?
Notes on Arthur Balfour
The name of Arthur Balfour is mainly remembered as being the author of the Balfour Declaration. Holdenforth readers will recall the clause in the Declaration which read “it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”
Events did not quite work out as required by the Declaration.
Asked why he did not subscribe to a press cutting agency Arthur Balfour replied that “I have never put myself to the trouble of rummaging an immense rubbish heap on the problematical chance of discovering a cigar end”
Might Balfour have viewed today’s Social Media as a dubious source of information despite the enormity of the material available. A mountain of rubbish?
Teesside – now and then
Now: Mr Sunak , desperate to find something / anything, in the recent local election results to build on, has hailed the success of Mr Houchen on Teesside. Holdenforth has followed the hostile war of words about Teesside between Mr Houchen and Private Eye.
Private Eye has argued that there have been dubious commercial practices carried out by Mr Houchen in his thrust to the top job.
It is difficult to judge the merits of the arguments put forward by the two sides from the outside but we urge our readers to watch this space.
Then: A decade or ago the Redcar steelworks on the south bank of the Tees was acquired by a Thai Steel Company. The relief was short-lived. The new venture ran into difficulties and The Thai owners withdrew their support.
What then followed resulted in the most disgraceful act of industrial vandalism in the history of the UK steel sector.
The Redcar Blast Furnace, one of the cleanest and most productive in Europe was closed in such a way that it could not be re-started.
Given that Mr Houchen is now firmly in the driving seat – Both HMG and the Labour opposition need to ensure that – should similar problems in South Wales and / or in British Steel in Scunthorpe result in closures – that Houchen doppelgangers do not seize the opportunities for easy pickings.
More on the recent local elections – Voters should keep an eye on the methods adopted by the rebuffed to seek to return to the fray, in other words to get on board the job creation scheme to protect those rejected in the various elections.
“What is any political campaign save a concerted effort to turn out a bad set of politicians who are admittedly bad and put in a set of politicians who are thought to be better? The former assumption, I believe, is always sound, the latter is just as certainly false. For if experience teaches us anything at all it teaches us this: that a good politician, under democracy, is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar. His very existence, indeed, is a standing subversion of the public good in every rational sense. He is not one who serves the common weal; he is simply one who preys upon the commonwealth …
HL Mencken:-The Politician
“The typical American law maker is willing to embrace any issue, however idiotic, that will get him votes, and he is willing to sacrifice any principle, however sound, that will lose them for him… they are in the position of the chorus girl who, in order to get her humble job, has had to admit the manager to her person “
H.L. Mencken :- Notes on Democracy
Holdenforth endorses the Mencken view of the Politician in a Democracy.
It has not been an edifying experience to observe politicians, rejected in one contest by the voters, scour our democracy to seek other opportunities in the vast and expanding framework of our various institutions – to conform to the Mencken model.
At what point might the number of jobs in this sector exceed the number of voters?
A case study to illustrate the above possibly caustic theory deployed in practice.
The House of Lords – its performance and prospects
In an earlier blog Holdenforth noted that on a busy day The House of Lords resembles an old folks’ home and, on a quiet day, a morgue.
Can the very existence of this venerable creaking institution be reconciled with any version of democracy?
No – it can’t.
The unseemly return to public life of Mr David – now Lord – Cameron was yet another nail in its creaking coffin.
The actions of Mr Cameron following his defeat in the Brexit referendum were dubious – see the Greensill affair.
Mr Sunak was evidently prepared to overlook these transgressions and in one speedy manoeuvre Cameron was promoted to Foreign Secretary and membership of the Lords.
We rest our case.
Your aged blogger has run of steam but there is no shortage of topics once we have recharged our batteries – a mixed metaphor surely?
A brief trailer for our next blog
- Mr Kretinsky – this gentleman, a Czech business man, is thought to wish to acquire the Royal mail operation with no motive other than to ensure that the great British Public gets its mail on time at a price that it can afford
- Greedy Vice Chancellors – this story just runs and runs
- The endless supply of fat cats – see Greedy Vice Chancellors
- The scandal that is Grenfell – a scandal yet to be tackled
“Times they are a‘ changing” – Song by Bob Dylan
In 1957 – on the BBC Any Questions programme – Earl Ferrers was reported as saying that he “finds women in politics highly distasteful.” Does the team – which included Barbara Castle -agree?
Malcom Muggeridge commented that “the best governed and probably the most prosperous country in the world today is Switzerland, where women have not yet been given the vote”
At this point – Holdenforth makes a hasty exit.
Holden Forth 