In this mini blog we will recycle a few extracts from previous blogs whilst bending our minds to the key task of finalising our manifesto ahead of the forthcoming general election now just 11 days away.
Most of the big players have now issued their manifestoes – with the Labour Party version notable for blandness, the Lib Dem version for comedy and the Tories for desperation.
We will kick off this blog by heading straight for our comfort zone and recycle a few of our favourite themes.
- Holdenforth was NOT impressed by the recent mega project put out by Radio 4 on the BBC to compare and contrast the work of Orwell with the work of Kafka. We saw it as a job creation scheme for the friends of the producer. Our admiration for the work of George Orwell remains undiminished.
- We note that the T subgroup of the LGBT sector continues to spout dubious raucous views on this issue. The position of Holdenforth remains diffidently muted – “If my aunt had had bollocks she would have been my uncle but she didn’t and she wasn’t”
- Holdenforth notes with a touch of envy the growing prosperity of the legal profession as the UK increasingly resorts to litigation to resolve – or at least to clarify – the issues arising from the avalanche of contentious legislation.
- We at Holdenforth are anxious about the precarious political position of Mr Netanyahu. It appears that Mr Netanyahu is faced with a rebellion from the angry and ostensibly very rightwing members of his own party. This against the background of the daily death toll of around 200 Palestinians killed by Israel
- Whither the BBC? Holdenforth demands that the BBC be promptly privatised.
Notes on UK Prime Ministers – Now and Then
Holdenforth suspects that the Great British Public has not been and remains unhappy with the performance of its six Prime Ministers since the departure of Tony Blair in 2007. Readers may recall that Blair was applauded by the House of Commons when he left the chamber as Prime Minister for the last time.
The performance of his six successors has been patchy with fierce competition for the dubious accolade of being the most inept.
Debate is intense and verges on the abusive.
As we write the jury is out on this one.
Holdenforth would like to take a stroll down memory lane to present the views of eminent contemporaries about David Lloyd George -British Prime Minister from 1916 to 1922.
“There never was any comparison in weight and force between Lloyd George and Curzon….Put the two men together in any circumstances of equality and the one would eat the other.”
From Great Contemporaries” by Winston Churchill
“To see the British Prime Minister (Lloyd George) watching the company with six or seven senses not available to ordinary men… 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 / USA) would be playing blind man’s bluff in that party!
From “The Council of Four” by J.M Keynes
“The great English (sic) demagogue had set out solely to exert the greatest possible effect on the mass of his listeners … The speeches of this Englishman were the most wonderful performance for they testified to a positively amazing knowledge of the soul of the broad masses of the people..”
From Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
When our (munitions) difficulties were solved through Dr Weizmann’s genius I said to him:- “You have rendered great service to the State and I should like to ask the Prime Minister (Mr Asquith) to recommend you to His majesty for some honour.”
He said – “there is nothing I want for myself..but I would like you to do something for my people”
That was the fount and origin of the famous declaration about the National Home for Jews in Palestine
From “The War Memoirs of Lloyd George
The snag in the good intentions of Lloyd George was that Palestine did not belong to the UK and his key role in the issuing of the Balfour declaration may be seen as a factor leading to the problems that persist to the present time.
Notes on the Ukraine Conflict
Holdenforth was disconcerted by the news that the USA has formally agreed to increase its financial support for the Ukraine in the war between Ukraine and Russia.
It may be that Mr Putin will be dismayed by the news and immediately sue for a peace which will require all Russian troops to leave the Ukraine.
But – what if Mr Putin decides to dig in? what then?
The Job Trotter syndrome
Job Trotter was a friend of Mr Alfred Jingle in “The Pickwick Papers”. He was noted for his mulberry coloured livery and his propensity to be lachrymose as required.
Recent exhibitions of the Job Trotter syndrome have been shown by Paula Vennells and Vaughn Gething.
A word about the responses of Mr Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer to a question put to each of them – “Would you jump the queue to arrange private treatment if a close member of your family was seriously ill”
- Mr Sunak replied promptly -YES
- Sir Keir relied equally promptly – NO
Holdenforth suggests that the Starmer reply was humbug in both the usual sense of the word and in the Pickwickian sense of the word as used by Mr Blotton of Aldgate.
Holdenforth makes this possibly unkind accusation against Sir Keir because we suspect that the NHS treatment in these circumstances would be considerably better than that experienced on a daily basis by the public at large.
Of the Senedd and other Welsh Institutions
A shortage of time and space will not allow a detailed assessment.
We will allow ourselves a few examples selected at random
The Welsh Assembly Government – now re-titled the Senedd – is reported to be seeking to increase the number of members from 60 to 90. A wonderful example of a job creation scheme.
Time was when the political work load in Wales was carried out by two elected Westminster Members of Parliament.
Has the political workload in Wales really mushroomed to require this planned increase?
No – it has not. It simply and vividly illustrates the desire of the political class in Wales as it does everywhere to suckle on the teat of public service.
At what point might the number of jobs in this sector exceed the number of voters?
As I write – Mr Vaughn Gething, until recently the First Minister of The Senedd, has lost a vote of no confidence because of alleged dubious arrangements made with a local environmental contractor.
Holdenforth seconds the abrasive comment of the Tory MS for Clwyd – “It is the biggest power grab from the people of Wales that it has every suffered in the history of Welsh democracy”
As far as police commissioners are concerned, Holdenforth voted for none of candidates on the ballot paper the above in the recent election. We believe that policing is far too serious an activity to be politicized in this tawdry fashion – as a hiding place to house the ever-growing numbers of politicians looking for sanctuary.
Meanwhile, health professionals from the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board have been nominated for awards at the time when that body faces an annual overspend of £60 million. Given the generally adverse reports about the performance of the NHS in Wales -Holdenforth suggests that the job of all health professionals is to improve standards rather than spend time on mutual admiration activities.
Let’s hear it for Alex Brummer
Holdenforth continues to be impressed by the fierce and tireless opposition of the Daily Mail Finance editor to the attempt by the Czech billionaire to acquire control of The Royal Mail.
His stance was supported by Ross Clark, also in The Daily Mail, who asked on June 17th: “Why .. Do we repeatedly off our public utilities to private interests and expect anything other than to be loaded with debt while investors feast off their assets?”
Well said Messrs Brummer and Clark.
On Bullying
The issue of bullying went quiet after Mr Raab was obliged to walk the plank following allegations that he had bullied his subordinates.
Holdenforth has experienced bullying but to date has not been accused of the offence.
At the time we felt that Mr Raab had been hard done and we still feel that to be the case. The diving line between friendly banter and bullying is not easy to draw.
A case study.
Some years ago it was felt by the Board of The British Steel Corporation – not that there was too much bullying at the top – but that senior managers should do more to recognise good performance within the group – and a guidance document was issued to this effect.
Holdenforth was present at one consultative meeting when one senior manager was asked why he rarely if ever praised the performance of any of his subordinates.
The senior manager angrily replied by saying that he was far too busy for such trivialities.
One junior member of his team cautiously noted from the floor that he could always find time to deliver a bollocking if he deemed it appropriate.
Enough already. Plenty of food for thought for our manifesto.
Holden Forth 