Post Office – Holden Forth

As I Please

What is new since our previous blog appeared on Holdenforth in early May?

Not much by the frenetic standards of today. That is, until a few days ago.

During the morning of Wednesday, Wednesday, May 22, Paula Vennells, ex CEO of the Post Office was being grilled by the very capable barrister Justin Beer about what she had done and not done, what she had known and what she had not known during her well rewarded time as CEO of the Post Office.

Her performance was pitiful. Holdenforth suspects that Ms Vennells had been briefed by Mr Micawber, advisor to David Copperfield.

“My Dear Sir,

Circumstances beyond my individual control have, for a considerable lapse of time, effected a severance of that intimacy which, in the limited opportunities conceded to me in in the midst of my professional duties, of contemplating the scenes and events of the past, tinged by the prismatic hues of memory ….”

Mr Micawber explaining how the root causes of his many personal problems were outside of his control.

Sadly, for Vennells, lawyer Beer was able to jog her evasive memory with the chapter and verse of the relevant documents.

After lunch – we had a mega combination of drama and farce as news leaked out that Mr Sunak was about to call an early general election.

His announcement that the election was to be held on July 4 was made to a moist and resentful audience in Downing Street – these days know to insiders and indeed some outsiders – as “Bullshit Boulevard”.

No one got a more thorough soaking than the PM – after his announcement he was ushered inside to dry out.

A suitably absurd end for his premiership.

Holdenforth, like almost every other observer, was wrong footed by the announcement.

Seasoned observers were unable to agree on the decision firmly announced by Mr Sunak. Lord Finkelstein though it sensible to make a run for it now because the going was unlikely to improve. Conversely, Matthew Parris argued that Mr S should have adopted a Micawber approach hoping that something would turn up.

Dear Holdenforth readers – what do you think?

In these confused circumstances let us open our blog with a few extracts from our previous mission statements.

These basic preferences will help us to feel at home.

The BBC – the case for privatisation grows stronger on a daily basis. Holdenforth would cancel the Reith Lectures and replace them with what? What about The Lineker diatribes?
The transgender sector – no offence meant here 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 key components.

What else do we have to say?

“The 17 highest paying law firms in the square mile for newly qualified solicitors are American – two of these firms recent boosted their starting salaries to £150k”
Extract from The Times, May 23

Holdenforth was not surprised by the emergence of this newly affluent sector in society. He was merely envious. He suspects that there will be some re-alignment of loyalties as these latter day successors to F.E. Smith and George Carman flourish in our litigation prone society.

Kretinsky

This well-heeled Czech billionaire is said by his PR team to wish to acquire the Royal Mail business with no motive other than to ensure that the great British Public gets its mail on time at a price that it can afford.

Is that it?

Well – Up to a point Lord Copper.

“PM must make it clear Royal Mail and King’s Head are not for sale”
Headline above Alex Brummer’s column, Daily Mail – May 16

That’s more like it.

Holdenforth wonders – why might a Czech robber baron get richer still in the UK?

We suspect that Mr Kretinsky is anxious to expand his increasingly opaque business activities in the UK for all the usual reasons – because the UK is a safe haven for the shady shaky dodgy international affluent sector – for this group the streets of London are indeed paved with gold.

Meanwhile, the Mail also reported (May 28^th) that the “Czech Sphinx” was planning to cut up to 1,000 Royal Mail jobs. Understandably, the Communication Workers Union is anxious about job losses should Kretinsky take control.

Watch this space – The parties competing to win the coming election will be asked by Ms Kuenssberg – should Kretinsky be allowed to acquire this hallowed British Institution?

Holdenforth would go further and ask Sir Keir Starmer to take Royal Mail back to where it belongs – the public sector.

Holdenforth also believes that our concerns about Kretinsky apply to most of those who figure in the recent Sunday Times rich list.

A modest Holdenforth proposal – we urge some enterprising media organisation to reproduce the list of the affluent, but their version would mirror the practice deployed for those apprehended by the law for some reason or other – front and side unsmiling angry mug shots for this C3 collection of sharp practitioners.

Rejected Politicians

“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

Voters should keep an eye on the methods adopted by the rebuffed here in the UK to seek to return to the fray, in other words to gain admittance to the job creation scheme to protect those rejected in the various elections.

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, scouring our democracy to seek other opportunities in the vast and expanding framework of our various institutions.

At what point might the number of jobs in this sector exceed the number of voters?

Let us go from the general to the particular.

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.

We repeat – At what point might the number of jobs in this sector exceed the number of voters?

As I write – Mr Vaughn Gething, the recently appointed First Minister of The Senedd is under scrutiny because of alleged dubious arrangements made with a local environmental contractor.

Might Gething have to jump ship before he is required to walk the plank? He will imminently face a vote of no confidence.

Holdenforth hopes that he does abandon ship.

Democracy as it operates in the UK

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.

Holdenforth has quoted the following sentence in previous blogs and we will be quoting it in future blogs

“The privatisation of near monopolies is about as irrelevant as (and sometimes worse than) were the Labour Party’s proposals for further nationalisation in the 1970s and early 1980s.
“A Life at the Centre” the autobiography of Roy Jenkins

Holdenforth commends this policy to Sir Keir Starmer.

Privatised near monopolies to be speedily returned to the public sector include the Rail Sector and The Water Sector

A word about Nigel Farage

Holdenforth understands why Mr Farage has opted not to seek almost certain defeat in the coming election were he to stand as a candidate in a UK constituency.

He has sensibly opted to wield his formidable influence across not only the whole of the Disunited Kingdom scene but also to use his talents to influence the intriguing developing battle between the two aged candidates in the USA Presidential election.

We at Holdenforth find ourselves with more conflicting opinions about Mr Farage than any other prominent figure in British political life.

We were and remain strongly opposed to his very effective contribution to the Brexit victory during the In/Out referendum.

We readily concede that he has made very effective and positive contributions to a series of major scandals notably the de-banking conspiracy.

He has also made telling criticisms of the absurd attempts by HMG /Mr Sunak to deliver an effective solution to the vexed problem of illegal immigration.

We live in turbulent times that are set to become even more turbulent. Holdenforth believes that Mr Farage will continue to make effective interventions.

Whither the NHS?

In my role as an aged blogger who has considerable experience of the NHS from the inside – I have two observations to make on this once rightly revered institution.

“The language of priorities is the religion of socialism”
Quote from Nye Bevan

Martha’s Rule requires that patients unhappy with an initial diagnosis can demand a second opinion.

Holdenforth suggests that before this rule comes into force – provision be made for ALL patients to be entitled to a first opinion.

The barriers in place to limit access to this initial appointment verge on the insurmountable.

Holdenforth has noted that there is a powerful medical lobby opposed to the idea of assisted dying.

We are strongly in favour of enabling those wishing to make an early exit from this vale of tears should be allowed to do so.

On a possibly sour note we suggest that a significant number of those in the medical profession are already arranging assisted dying for many whether those involved want this outcome or not.

The Chilcot model governing independent public enquiries.

Holdenforth would like to some urgency injected such enquiries. We do not doubt the transparency or the independence but how about speeding things up.

Chilcot set the standard when he chaired the Iraq enquiry: we note, for example, that the enquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire is unlikely to report until 2026.

The Mail reported in February that a Tory MP was “in the clear” after a rape enquiry which had taken four years to complete. As Lord Moylan said at the time, “The real scandal here is why the Met Police is not held to account for needing 21 months to investigate this…”

Holdenforth wants to see an end to the Chilcot practice of painfully protracted enquires., and suggests that no enquiry need take longer than 3 months to come to decisions and recommendations.

Instead we urge the adoption of the approach of Mr Churchill in WW 2 – “action this day.”

A modest proposal

Holdenforth gathers that there are in our midst many thousands of octogenarians who – for a variety of reasons – are unable to access the required level of support from the caring sector.

We also gather that there are in our midst many thousands from the portly sector who struggle to lose weight by time honoured means and resort to surgery to achieve trimmer figures.

Holdenforth can confirm from personal experience that if those from the portly sector were to provide for the needs of old timers in need of care on a 24/7 basis for say 3 months – the pounds surplus to requirements would be shed.

Prospects for World War Three

“Round about 1890 England had become sick of peace, retrenchment and reform; the craving for violence which recurs after every long period of peace was beginning to be felt”
From “Progress of a Biographer” by Hugh Kingsmill

Holdenforth is anxious about the current preference for international violence in some sectors.

Thus far the preference is limited to providing the means for others to fight and die – peace has been the norm in the UK since the end of WW2.

Crime and Punishment – The water polluters

Holdenforth ponders the appropriateness of sentencing senior managers in the privatised water sector to a spell in prison where slopping out was part of the routine.

Those so incarcerated would experience what millions of their customers have experienced and continue to experience.

Back to Vennells

“As we all know, most computer projects ever launched have been late and over budget. To put the matter in simpler terms most computer projects fail. Computer projects in the public sector fail spectacularly. What more evidence do we need?”
From “A Cushy Number” by John Holden in 2003

Don’t say that you were not warned.

“80 detectives to work on criminal probe into top Post Office chiefs”
Daily Mail headline May 28

Holdenforth is very anxious to see justice meted out following the painfully protracted Sir Wyn Williams enquiry.

But – are detectives the ones to carry out this probe. Holdenforth thinks not!

The conflict in Gaza

We have previously noted the intense war between the rival propaganda machines operated by Israel and by Palestine. The mendacious work of these machines as they ransack the globe for support 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.

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.

Meanwhile, we have heard reports from the USA about the current wave of student unrest. This unrest is spreading to the UK and elsewhere in Europe. This concern is understandable in the context of the number of deaths on the scoreboard in Gaza.

As I Please

The fall and decline of Holdenforth aka John Holden

Holdenforth has been hors de combat in recent weeks. Sadly, old timers are prone to going arse over tip and Holdenforth is no exception.

I fell and on my way down my head collided with the door frame -and I came a poor second in what followed.

I was whisked off to the local hospital, was checked and tested and measured and then came home resolved to be more careful in future.

Right now Holdenforth resembles Winston Smith, the hero of Orwell’s novel,1984, after his harsh treatment by the State enforcer, O’Brien.

Meanwhile there has been a flurry of activity on the national political front as the big boys and girls – not to mention those in no man’s land in the middle – develop and present their election strategies and tactics.

Holdenforth cannot afford to be left at the starting line.

What follows is a recycling of extracts from previous blogs to give Holdenforth readers a recap on where we stand on what we see as key issues.

A word of warning to old timers.

Holdenforth has considerable experience about the stresses that are imposed on octogenarians who rashly allow themselves to be burdened with responsibility for caring for themselves and for their spouses on a 24/7 basis.

My advice – do NOT agree to this formidable burden.

A modest proposal

Holdenforth gathers that there are in our midst many thousands of octogenarians who – for a variety of reasons – are unable to access the required level of support from the caring sector.

We also gather that there are in our midst many thousands from the portly sector who struggle to lose weight by time honoured means and resort to surgery to achieve trimmer figures.

Holdenforth can confirm from personal experience that if those from the portly sector were to provide for the needs of old timers in need of care on a 24/7 basis the pounds surplus to requirements would be shed in a few weeks – a win win outcome -and no pun intended for our editor.

On the privatisation of monopolies

A word from the late and very great Roy Jenkins:

“I think that the privatisation of near monopolies is about as irrelevant as (and sometimes worse than) were the Labour Party’s proposals for further nationalisation in in the 1970s and early 1980s.”

Let us fast forward those suggestions to today.

Take the privatised utilities back into public ownership starting with the water sector.

Minimal compensation to the affronted shareholders.

PO scandal update

“Scotland Yard is under pressure to speed up its enquiry into the Post Office scandal after it emerged that the company continued to fight sub-postmasters in court knowing its defence was untrue.”
Report in the Daily Mail by Josh White, March 30

For Holdenforth this is the most significant fact to emerge thus far – it appears that The Post Office Management knew that the accounts held by Sub Post Masters COULD be accessed by agents of the senior management.

Holdenforth urges all those in a position to speed things up to do just that.

On Gambling

“The whore and gambler, by the State
Licenc’d , build that nations Fate….
The Winner’s Shout, the Loser’s curse,
Dance before dead England’s Hearse”
Auguries of Innocence — William Blake —
Written around 1800

For obvious reasons there are many more curses from the losers than joyful shouts from the few lucky winners.

The plague of betting shops across the nation is worrying. The desire to gamble is all pervasive.

Can anything be done to curb this passion?

Holdenforth urges the tightest possible controls on those that currently exploit this anti-social activity.

“BET365 fined over money laundering policy”
Daily Mail April 5

In the report below the above headline we noted that “Denise Coates has earned £1.2 bn in the past 4 four years”

Some juicy low hanging fruit for our new regulator.

Monarchical matters

Holdenforth has been dismayed as the PR machine at the disposal of the Monarchy has worked tirelessly and, it has to be conceded, highly effectively to restore the respectability of the institution. We had assumed in our naivety that the squalid conduct of Prince Charles and of his former mistress would present too formidable a series of obstacles to a restoration of the respectability that was such an enduring feature of the reign of his mother.

How wrong we were!

We were and we remain uneasy that the unorthodox route to the throne by Camilla was one of the more audacious usurping of the crown in our 1,000-year turbulent history.

Yet again Holdenforth has to acknowledge the truism that the people have short memories.

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 still believe that this is the case.

On The Lords

The speedy elevation of the discredited David Cameron to the House of Lords was seen by some as evidence of the flexibility of this aged feature of our constitution.

Holdenforth was not persuaded that this was / is the case.

For us – it was yet another nail in the decaying coffin of our democracy.

The sooner the House of Lords is abolished the better.

On the Trans Issue

Is there no prospect of an outbreak of common-sense north of Hadrian’s Wall?

“They hate Capitalism, they hate Imperialism, but most of all they hate each other”
Alexie Sayle on the aggressive propensities of his fellow Trotskyists in Liverpool

The recently passed Hate crime bill passed by the Edinburgh government is providing a mixture of hard work for the police and lawyers in Scotland plus, of course, first class entertainment for the voters. Much of the debate about the bill has centred around the decision to make what are deemed to be transphobic comments a hate crime.

“If my aunt had bollocks, she would be my uncle but she didn’t and she wasn’t.”

Holdenforth thought that this time-honoured aphorism had edged this contentious issue onto the back burner but the issue continued to provoke angry responses.

For now – we will respond with a muted call of “Bollocks”

That should do the trick.

The new young super rich

Holdenforth has noted the startlingly high incomes being gathered in by successful youthful raucous vocalists.

We diffidently suggest that the tax authorities examine these eye watering incomes – always assuming that the employees of HMRC can be persuaded / coerced into going to work – with a view to transferring much/most of these earnings into revenue for the many.

Is that it?

We had intended to touch on a few broader issues:

Putin and democracy
The West v Putin
Prospects for ww3
The need to push up spending on defence
Brexit
Immigration – both legal and illegal

Sadly, our energy levels are down – enough for now

We would note that as the issues covered in this blog – and many others – are vigorously discussed as one would expect in a lively democracy committed to free speech – the ongoing daily death rate in Gaza is steady at around 200.

“This is that way the world ends….

Not with a bang but with a whimper”

TS Eliot

The Hollow Men

Holdenforth is perplexed as to which of Eliot’s outcomes will come to pass.

As I Please

A gloomy preamble to a gloomy blog

“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity …

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the second coming is at hand…
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
From “The Second Coming” by WB Yeats

Background notes to this blog

There has been no letup in the intensity of the political struggles within the UK political parties in recent weeks. The pundits ponder interminably in print and on the airwaves about which event is more likely to come first – the next general election or World War 3.

Other issues competing for our attention include racialism, anti-

Semitism, Muslim activities, the increasing gap between rich and poor, democracy – the list is endless – and there is confusion everywhere.

In this blog Holdenforth will comment on these and other issues. We make no pretence to be impartial or independent but we will do our utmost to adhere to the central Orwellian principle of sticking to the truth.

To get our show on the road Holdenforth asserts that the UK is a national Augean stable.

What, I hear you ask, is the meaning of Augean?

Augeus was the king of Elis in ancient Greece, and he had a problem. His problem was that he owned 3,000 oxen whose stalls had not been cleansed for 30 years. If you do the calculation, you will see that Augeus had on his hands a lot of bullshit.

Let us continue.

Holdenforth accepts that we need to state to our readers what we would actually do were we to find ourselves in a position to do it.

We also plead guilty to the charge that we disagree with almost everyone about almost everything, that Holdenforth is a grizzling griping grousing grumpy old timer. And we assert that on most contentious issues we have been in the right.

Don’t say that you have not been warned.

Israel, Gaza and Anti- Semitism

There is strong competition for the title of the most worrying conflict in the world as I write 6. For Holdenforth, the most worrying conflict is that between Israel and Hamas that has been raging for the past five months.

Holdenforth notes that around 200 hundred innocent civilians – mostly women and children – are being murdered in Gaza on a daily basis as the various academic debates continue about the rights and wrongs of these murders.

We pose the question to Israel in general and Netanyahu in particular – how many more innocent people are to be murdered before you call off the dogs of war. Possibly the most harrowing event now taking place anywhere in the world is the treatment by Israel of the two million inhabitants of Gaza, a tiny narrow strip of land – approximately 45 square kms -to the south and west of Israel.

It is in this tiny area that Hamas operates and in which the October 7 attack was planned.

In the 5 months or so that have elapsed since October 7 Israeli forces have inflicted huge casualties on the civilian population.

In our time there is no shortage of extremely effective propaganda machines.

To illustrate the point the Israelis rightly and raucously highlight that Hamas is a terrorist organisation but they are quite reticent on the terrorist organisation that brought Israel to power, namely Irgun.

Other critics of Israel point out that the Balfour /Lloyd George declaration in 1917 was conceding land to the Zionist Organisation that was not theirs to dispose of. That consideration would not have weighed heavily with Lloyd George and Arthur Balfour.

“In Palestine there was irreconcilable conflict between Arabs and Jews.”
English History 1914 to 1945, AJP Taylor

“The Balfour Declaration was abandoned after 20 years of attempting to reconcile the irreconcilable. It was no doubt unreasonable that the Arabs of Palestine should pay the whole price of what was a world problem, anti Semitism.”
Extract from English History – AJP Taylor

Where does Holdenforth stand on the most worrying issue of today – the conflict between Israel and Palestine – or, or many refer to it- the conflict between Israel and Hamas?

As I write the media – official and social – are replete with details of the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

For its part Israel has vowed to inflict retribution on those responsible.

Back to Lloyd George and Arthur Balfour

In Year 2 of the first world war – 1915 – Lloyd George, in his capacity as Minister of Munitions, was concerned about the acute shortage of explosives.

He contacted Professor Weizmann, an accomplished chemist, to explain the problem to him and to seek his help. Professor Weizmann quickly solved the problem and his achievement was a most important contribution to the British war effort.

Lloyd George asked him how he, Lloyd George, might reward Weizmann for his work.

To quote Lloyd George, “Weizmann explained his aspirations as to the repatriation of the Jews to the sacred land they had made famous. When I became Prime Minister in December, 1916, I talked the matter over with Mr Balfour – the outcome was the famous Balfour declaration in 1917.”

This declaration read:

“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

During the next 28 years the collective mind of the Jewish Diaspora was understandably pre-occupied with the murderous activities of Hitler in pursuit of his final solution of the Jewish problem.

In post war Palestine the British Government attempted to maintain peace between Jewish immigrants and existing Palestinian communities. This was not an easy task and the UK sought to relinquish the mandate.

One feature of this phase was the emergence of Irgun, a Zionist group roughly equivalent to Hamas in Gaza today.

In the years from the end of WW2 to 1948 Irgun proved to be masters in using terror to secure their aims. Given the scale and severity of the terror the British Government of Mr Atlee wished to be relieved of the mandate.

The Irgun Group wrote the textbook for terrorism that has been imitated around the world to this day.

It is ironic that the “terror” tactics employed by Hamas are taken out of the Irgun textbook.

The State of Israel was established in the summer of 1948.

Events in Palestine since 1948 have seen years of the steady expansion of Israel at the expense of Palestine and others.

Israel continues to occupy and even extend illegal settlements, a point noted in the last week by Mr Gutierrez, the Secretary General of the UN despite the opposition of the United Nations.

“All the devouring and insatiate Monsters imagined since imagination could record itself are fused in the one realisation, Guillotine. And yet there is not in France, with its rich variety of soil and climate, a blade, a leaf, a root, a sprig, a pepper corn which will grow to maturity under conditions more certain than those that have produced this horror. Crush humanity out of shape once more and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious license and oppression over again and it will surely the same fruit according to its kind.”
From “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens

In the above extract Dickens was making the simple point that the horrors of the French Revolution arose from the suppression of the people by the ruling class in previous years.

Thus – The French Revolution
Thus the emergence of Hamas

The terms and conditions of the Balfour declaration have drifted down the years away from Palestinian claims and in favour of Jewish claims.

It is not easy to predict a civilised lasting settlement to this frightening conflict, the origins of which go back into the mists of time.

For our part we hope for the best but we fear the worst as the daily toll of deaths mounts.

We would go further – Netanyahu, the most powerful figure in the Middle East, sadly combines the mendacity of Goebbels, the viciousness of Himmler, the arrogance of Goering and the humbug of Mr Pecksniff – an unedifying combination.

A few words on the conflict between the free world and Mr Putin being waged in the Ukraine

This conflict is now well into its third year and there are few signs that the war will end any time soon.

Holdenforth would like to rewind the tape of history back to the Crimean War waged between France and Britain on the one side and Russia on the other side in 1854.

“If there was a moral to be drawn from the Crimean War (1854 to 1856) it would be this: in a war between Russia and The West, it will be the Powers which keep out who will be the real gainers”
From “Crimea: the War that would not boil”, an essay by AJP Taylor.

Does the verdict of AJP Taylor on events which took place almost 200 years ago have any relevance today?

Holdenforth thinks that it does.

The outcome of this conflict today – Putin versus The West – is difficult to predict despite the daily detailed accounts about what is happening.

Holdenforth is mindful of the advice of Orwell that “all propaganda is lies”

Holdenforth follows this advice and tries to be wary about swallowing the information fed out by both sides.

Thus:

We accept that the NATO net is tightening to the north of Russia.

Russia is tightening its grip in Eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine is experiencing a shortage of munitions as its suppliers become increasingly anxious about throwing good money after bad.

It is reported in some quarters that some supporters of the Ukraine cause are dubious about the performance of Zelensky as a latter day Kitchener.

Others have been comforted by the suggestion of Mr Macron that now might be the time to put western boots on to the ground and into the fray, a suggestion that did not meet with universal western approval.

The careless work of the German Intelligence Department in allowing The Kremlin to listen to sensitive conversations about what NATO was planning to do next did little to bolster the confidence of the beleaguered Ukrainians in the day to day conduct of the war.

Just a thought – Mr Zelensky has been strident that Putin and his henchmen be brought to justice once Ukraine has emerged victorious.

Where does Zelensky stand on the conflict in Gaza? At what level of fatalities might he say that enough is enough?

The death of Mr Navalny.

The available evidence suggests that Putin is as contemptuous as Netanyahu about the murders that he is prepared to authorise in order to secure his objectives and strengthen his position.

Just as Netanyahu follows the Irgun rule book so Putin is prepared to follow the example of Stalin in his pursuit of Trotsky.

Gosh – Trotsky again in an Holdenforth blog. We are merely reporting and have no links with Momentum.

Notes on democracy

Many Western commentators on the prospects of WW3 breaking out rightly stress the importance of democratic safeguards in their various institutional arrangements.

What then is democracy?

“Democracy is that system of government under which a great free people having 35 million people to choose, pick out a Coolidge to be head of state. It is as if a hungry man set before a banquet prepared by master cooks … should stay his stomach by eating and catching flies.”
Thus HL Mencken on Coolidge in 1927.

What are we to make of the selections of Biden and Trump respectively in 2024?

“The democratic method is that institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the people’s vote”
From “Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy” by Joseph Schumpeter.

Holdenforth is happy to second this definition.

It is quite easy to spot the difference between regimes which abide by this definition and those which don’t.

All those living in Europe and North America will testify to the ferocity of the competitive struggle for the people’s vote.

Mr Putin pays lip service to the principle but those contemplating participating in the struggle in Russia are understandably uneasy about the hazards posed by joining in the competitive struggle.

Holdenforth is ready to acknowledge the strong democratic credentials of Israel – the opponents of Mr Netanyahu in Israel are only too ready to expatiate on his weaknesses.

In defence of Nigel Farage

For Holdenforth aka John Holden – what follows will not be easy to write but our claim to be honest and fair must be demonstrated.

Holdenforth has disagreed with Farage’s tireless efforts in the past decade to urge the cause of Brexit and we have said so in numerous blogs. He could accurately be described as the Founding Father of Brexit.

On the credit side in Farage’s favour we gladly acknowledge his successful campaign to expose the shabby tactics employed in the financial sector to refuse banking facilities to those deemed on flimsy grounds or on no grounds to be unsuitable.

Farage has to be congratulated for his successful campaign to expose the pitiful attempts by HMG to control the steady flow of illegal immigrants from Europe into the UK. His key point has been that all these immigrants are breaking the law because they are already in a safe country and therefore at no risk.

And Farage has led the fight to highlight the sheer absurdity of seeking to transfer those whose applications have failed to Ruanda – a costly embarrassing failure. All small boat arrivals are criminals because they are NOT at risk in France.

Farage has been and continues to be right.

There – we said it.

Defence of the realm

Holdenforth has been shaken by the catalogue of serious failures in recent months about the reliability of some of the key sections of our defence arrangements. Erratic missiles and poor maintenance performance of key ships come to mind.

I recall that many years ago there was a rumpus when a half-eaten pork pie was found in the sharp end of a British missile.

We had assumed that such sloppiness had been rooted out but evidently that has not been the case.

When the time comes – to go over the top – do we seek a postponement until our repairs are completed?

The Post Office scandal

We have had our say in previous blogs about this interminably protracted scandal

Right now, we will limit ourselves to insisting that the criminal proceedings to be taken against senior post office managers be speeded up.

This action and the proceedings carried out by Win Williams are not mutually exclusive.

Gorgeous George

George Galloway and his tirades against Keir Starmer – a damp squib or a real threat to the electoral prospects of the Labour Party in 2024?

Holdenforth would like to contribute to the Galloway debate but his most recent visit to Rochdale was to watch a Rugby League match between Rochdale Hornets and Warrington in 1954. This gap of 70 years may make our awareness of what is happening in the town a little dated.

Getting On

We referred earlier to the probable contest between President Biden v Mr Trump in the November Presidential election.

Holdenforth is confused about this prospect.

On the one hand we are delighted at the confidence shown in octogenarians by the political machines of the Democrats and Republicans.

On the other hand, Holdenforth will be 84 in a few months’ time and he is only too aware of the validity of the jibe by Shakespeare on this theme:

“And then from to hour we ripe and ripe
And then from hour we rot and rot
And thereby hangs a tale”

Speaking as an octogenarian – but NOT claiming to represent old timers – I am relaxed about aged fingers on nuclear weapon triggers – but I would not be relaxed if I were still on the ripe and ripe section of life.

Two observations

*Holdenforth noted the comedy aspects of the group photo which included Queen Camilla and Vanessa Redgrave . The former has been a tireless worker to secure promotion from the slightly unseemly role as the mistress of the Prince of Wales to the rather more exalted title of the Queen of England.

Dame Vanessa Redgrave was at one time a ferocious member of the Trotsky movement dedicated to the overthrow of the existing social order.

If you can’t beat ‘em then join ‘em!

* “Junior City lawyers in line for £2m pay packet”
Headline in the Daily Mail, February 27^th

One sector of the national economy that is running counter to the national trend is the professional legal sector where affluence can be found in abundance. They flourish not only in advising on issues within the UK but also internationally as obscure disputes are brought to the UK to be resolved usually in painfully protracted proceedings.

“ It appears that there’s gold in them there courts.”

Notes by the editor

The editor would like to respond to a couple of the points made in Holdenforth’s latest epistle. The first concerns Mr Zelenksy’s public utterances (or lack of) on the conflict in Gaza. I would diffidently suggest that there are at least two possible reasons for this, which are not mutually exclusive: both are equally plausible. The first is that Mr Zelensky has not provided his hot take on Gaza, or the Anglophone conflict in Cameroon, or the Boko Haram crisis, or the Schleswig-Holstein question, or United’s chances in the cup, because he has other priorities, such as dealing with a Russian invasion. The second is that, what with said Russian invasion taking its toll on national resources, he is anxious to maximise the number of potential allies who might be willing to contribute in whatever way to the war effort: history is littered with national leaders who have been obliged to hold their nose in this way.

The second concerns the blanket assertion that “all small boat arrivals are criminals because they are NOT at risk in France”. My response here will take a little more of your time, and will take in (amongst other things) a Fellowship in Leeds, the mendacity of the populist right, the Chichester Park Hotel and the assiduous research of Dr Matthew Sweet.

In the latter half of the 1990s, I was engaged by the Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds to read the newspapers for a living. There was a little more to it than that: if I came across an article pertaining to immigration, asylum seekers, racism, xenophobia or right-wing extremism I was then obliged to log it in an Access database under an extensive coding scheme. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was a little more to be logged in the Mail or the Sun than in the Guardian, but as a proportion of the whole, across all newspapers, not many articles needed to be logged. I would venture to suggest that were the exercise to be repeated in the current climate, those proportions would be far higher: for the past decade or so, the Daily Express in particular has devoted many of its pages to particularly unpleasant diatribes about foreigners (indeed, its front pages in that time seem to include pretty much nothing else, apart from perhaps the Royal Family and wholly erroneous long-term weather forecasts).

The Express (and its broadcast media equivalent, GB News) have sought to inflame the debate with dangerous, misleading rhetoric which should not go unchallenged.

Firstly, the notion of ‘first safe country’ is not to be found in international law; The 1951 Refugee Convention does not require a person to claim asylum in the first safe country they reach and explicitly states that asylum seekers should not be penalised for irregular entry into a country in which they intend to submit an application for refugee status”. This point has been reaffirmed on numerous occasions both in international law and, in 1999, by a British court.

So: not criminal, which is Holdenforth’s main objection. However, I think we need to dig a little deeper. There are those (not, I would emphasise, Holdenforth) who might then ask, “Why are they coming here, guv? Why don’t they just stay in France?” Without bothering to look at facts, those asking the questions typically satisfy themselves that the answer is (a) benefits (b) taking our jobs (c) raping our women (d) conducting terrorist activities or (e) all of the above.

Let us try and answer that question.

To begin with, if the asylum seekers have a smattering of a second language, it tends to be English rather than French. Secondly, France receives far more asylum seekers than the UK, and only a very small proportion of those (albeit a significant number) can be found camped out in atrocious conditions in ‘The Jungle’ settlement at Calais. Thirdly, it should be observed that the far right in France is well established; many politicians have built careers on the back of racist, Islamophobic and indeed anti-Semitic public utterances; its police can be trigger happy with the pepper spray and the tear gas: in short, France can be unpleasant if you are Black, Jewish and don’t speak French. Fourthly, those seeking asylum in the UK may have family members living in the UK, or else will be seeking support from the wider diaspora based in the UK.

Next, it is important to emphasise that many of these individuals are not economic migrants, but have been displaced by internal conflicts (often instigated, at least in part, by Western interventions). They are fleeing death, torture or sexual assault. They are desperate. Many are easy prey to the gangs who extort considerable sums of money from them, in return for allowing them – allowing them! – to risk their lives in a perilous Channel crossing.

Many of those that do succeed would be more than happy to take any jobs that are available, particularly in the informal sector: crop picking, car cleaning, working in fast food restaurants. Indeed, in crop picking, they are essential to the sector’s viability. They are not coming for the benefits (which, in France, are slightly higher).

Nor are they here to rape our women. There have recently been demonstrations (primarily consisting of extremists bussed-in from outside the area) outside the Chichester Park Hotel, now used as temporary housing for asylum seekers. The fact that those asylum seekers are overwhelmingly women and children has not deterred the demonstrators from insisting that there are sexual predators on their doorstep. (Furthermore, there is no evidence to suggest that asylum seekers are any more likely to commit sexual offences than the population at large.)

But the Express or GB News will not have this, because whipping up anger is their game. The latter does this by riffing on populist (primarily xenophobic) fears while encouraging a raft of ludicrous but potentially highly dangerous conspiracy theories. The writer and broadcaster Matthew Sweet has devoted considerable time and energy to exposing their mendacity; I would just like to dip my toe into these unpleasant waters by highlighting a few of them:

The channel regularly features Neil Oliver, who spends most of his time making false claims about the COVID-19 vaccine (e.g. that it causes new kinds of blood clots) and fictional “turbo” cancers or else claiming that the Jews are planning to impose a “one-world” government. In January 2024, he agreed with an interviewee who claimed that “a mysterious group” (whom she named elsewhere as the Jews) had a plan to turn us into cyborgs.

In 2022, it included several interviews on the Mark Steyn programme with Naomi Wolf, who described the vaccination rollout as “mass murder” and compared it to the actions of doctors “in pre-Nazi Germany”. (Steyn himself delivered misleading monologues about the rollout before leaving the channel after it decided to make him personally liable for any future Ofcom fines. Wolf has since gone even further down the rabbit hole, insisting that “they” are enabling time travel and putting chips in our arms via the vaccine.)

This week GB News has complained that a gentleman called Sam Melia was imprisoned for two years for distributing stickers that read “It’s OK to be white”. Melia, a former member of a proscribed far right group, was actually imprisoned for plastering anti-Semitic stickers outside Jewish schools.

The channel has also provided a platform for far-right groups such as Voice of Wales (now banned from mainstream online outlets) and former members of proscribed organisations such as For Britain.

And behind all this nonsense, this poison, sits Farage the ringmaster, the peerless populist always staying just the right side of the legal line so that he can avoid charges of outright racism while playing to his audience with a concoction of half truths and plain lies, deftly fomenting discontent. It remains to be seen whether he will return to front line politics with Reform UK; if so, it is unlikely that he would risk standing for Parliament again, because that is a game he might well lose. Rather, he will be Reform’s cheerleader from the sidelines, hoping that after the Conservative Party’s probable demolition at the imminent General Election that Reform, bolstered by the rump of the Tory right, might be in a position to push for power further down the line.

Like Trump, Farage has blossomed in the unfiltered post-Twitter world, where everything, even the obvious truth, can be dismissed as “fake news”. However, it is important to challenge those dismissals, and to ensure that facts – cold, hard, facts – are presented are such, and xenophobia called out for what it is.

As I Please

The Post Office scandal

Many others have had their say – here is what Holdenforth had and still has to say.

Initially we sought a platform via The Daily Mail.

“To The Daily Mail Reference The Post Office Scandal.

Full credit to Daily Mail for its vigorous campaign for justice for wrongly convicted sub post office managers. It now appears likely that a way will be found to secure compensation for all the victims fully and promptly.

I would like to suggest one further action to enable this unhappy episode to be closed off.

The register of those who held senior positions in the Post Office during the years in question is available. Why not list these names together with their respective reward packages.

This group includes the truly guilty men and women. It becomes clearer by the day that many in this category broke the law in order to preserve their lavish life styles.

The public is routinely assured that huge rewards are essential to secure the services of the best people.

So – Holdenforth poses the question – who at the top in The Post Office got what for doing what?

Paula Vennells might be quite relaxed about being stripped of her CBE. She might be rather more anxious about forfeiting the significant reward package collected her during her time at the top.”

John Holden

Sadly our letter was not published by The Daily Mail which was too busy harassing Ed Davey and Keir Starmer for ministerial ineptitude, presumably to settle some old scores.

We noticed that Adam Crozier was not named and shamed, possibly because he had control of an influential media outlet?

Holdenforth is pleased to note that more influential platforms than ours are now urging the same policy as that advocated in our letter to the Mail.

We would now urge anyone threatened in the future by odious menacing demands known to be false to adopt the approach of Private Eye back in 1971. Their reply to a solicitor – Goodman Derrick and Co – to a letter deemed to be demanding money with menaces was short and clear: “Fuck off”.

The approach worked then and Holdenforth suspects that it would be just as effective today.

A few additional points before we move on:

Well done Kevin Hollinrake, the HMG minister now in charge of handling the scandal – Holdenforth likes the cut of his jib. Shout it from the rafters Mr Hollinrake that we know where they live and see how they like being on the receiving end.

We beg HMG to abandon the languid Chilcot approach to the interminably protracted public enquiries so beloved by senile judges and rapacious lawyers. We will open the bidding at a maximum duration of three months on any public enquiry.

Let us widen this point – when will the management sector of our society be persuaded to do the job which it is paid to do? The public is constantly assured that those in this sector are lavishly rewarded because they are burdened with huge responsibilities and stresses.

The Mones vs HMG

“We have been hung out to dry on PPE, the Mones moan”
Daily Mail January 2

Holdenforth noted that The Mones were fighting back after the initial setback of Lady Mone admitting to telling porkies to an interviewer. As one might expect the facts as opposed to the gossip are not easy to come by but the gist of the defence now being put forward by “lying Baroness Bra” (soubriquet courtesy of doughty Mail reporter Guy Adams) and her husband Mr Barrowman is that they followed the rules laid down by HMG at all times.

More to the point – this issue will not be on the Pandemic enquiry for over a year.

Holdenforth thinks that the Mones have a point.

Holdenforth vaguely recalls that Kate Bingham was thought to have done a good job during the CV pandemic whilst Dido Harding was deemed to have turned in a shaky performance – or was it the other way round?

Holdenforth memo to Lady Hallett – chair of the pandemic enquiry – get a move on – we would like to see your completed report by the end of March, 2024 – repeat end of March, 2024.

Currently her enquiry saunters along for say 35 hours a week. What about the other 133 available hours?

Dead Souls

“How ghost patients have boosted GP coffers by £955m”
“GP surgeries are being paid millions of pounds a year for patients who do not exist, figures show”
Daily Mail, January 2

Nice work if you can get it.

Even better if you can get it for not working.

The business model for this imaginative venture was described by Nicolai Gogol in his novel “Dead Souls” published almost 200 years ago in Russia. The hero of the novel, Tchitckoff, bought the souls of serfs who had died between one census and the next. He used these dead souls to raise cash.

There have been one or two changes in the past 200 years but you can see the similarities.

Charity queen with a colourful life dies aged 61

The charity queen in question was Camilla Batmanghelidjh who rose to national prominence some 20 years ago. The charity she founded and helped to manage was Kids’ Company.

The charity raised huge sums of money to provide support for young people suffering from abuse, poverty and trauma, all worthy causes. However unkind critics of the charity felt that Camilla was enjoying an expensive lifestyle funded by the charity although a lengthy and costly High Court case exonerated her of mismanaging the charity or its funds.

The lesson here – it is not easy for charity commissioners to ensure that monies raised for charity always find their way to the intended recipients.

Assisted dying

Holdenforth has long supported this cause. We are not anxious about the possibility that a tetchy deity will take a dim view of our seeking an early finish to life in this vale of tears

And we certainly do not seek to impose our preference for speeding up our time in the departure lounge on those resolved or at least prepared to endure a painfully protracted end to life.

And by the way – we have got our name down on the list of those who wish promptly to make an exit when all the signs are that their time is up.

A word on Fat Cats

“Wealth tax not the answer”
Headline in Daily Mail, January 9

Mail Reporter Maggie Pagano argued against imposing a wealth tax on Denise Coates, the CEO of Bet365 who pocketed £270 million last year. Her point was that Pagano had paid every penny of tax demanded by HMG via HMRC and was in every way a law-abiding citizen.

Holdenforth can’t quite agree with Pagano. We acknowledge that there is a widespread passion for gambling in the UK – where is there not a passion for gambling?

We suggest that way to curtail the socially undesirable consequences of gambling is to reduce the huge range of outlets currently available – starting with Bet365

A possibly unseemly Fat Cat…

“Odey paid £29M before sex assault allegations
Daily Mail -January 12

The report below the headline noted that “Crispin Odey is understood to have pocketed £29M at his hedge fund last year before stepping down following sexual claims against him”.

The word is that Odey realised that the game was up and resolved to do a runner. However he thriftily paused at the company till before exiting stage left and helped himself.

Is this one for HMRC to explore?

A stop press crisis – Tensions at the southern end of the Red Sea

A militant group based in Yemen is creating problems to companies pondering the hazards of using the Suez Canal and instead opting to use the longer and much more expensive route around South Africa.

Time was when the mere threat of sending a British gun boat to show who was boss would have done the trick.

Is that the case today?

Holdenforth thinks not.

Complicating factors

*A Tory Government without parallel in sheer ineptitude.

*“Corruption at home, aggression to cover it abroad – that is what the Tories offer you – extract from a speech by Winston Churchill – then a Liberal – in 1906 – no change there

*“We cannot control the beaches on our southern shores on which strangers land almost daily but we tail along behind the Americans in the pretence that we can control the Red Sea as we seek (as far as we can grasp) to get entangled in yet another war in the Middle east.” If Peter Hitchens is struggling – what chance has Holdenforth got?

* “Why Democracy is in Peril”
“Rebels are part of a global Islamist army at war with Israel and the West”
Apocalyptic warnings from Mark Almond in The Daily Mail

Almond is like a modern version of Joe, the fat boy in The Pickwick papers, the one who wants to make your flesh creep.

* Holdenforth continues to be uneasy about the emergence of Cameron selected to lead the UK overseas in the global struggles that lie ahead

* Does Holdenforth have a point when he asserts that the Foreign Policy of the USA has two mission statements:

Never give a sucker an even break; and,
When you have them – your opponents – by the balls – their hearts and minds will follow.

* Holdenforth is mindful that our knowledge of the waterway between the Gulf of Aden in the South and the Mediterranean to the North is very limited. We do have a distant memory of a couple of weeks in Abu Zenima in 1992 as an advisor to the Sinai Manganese Company – but life in Egypt at the time was tranquil.

* Finally and most importantly Holdenforth is currently faced with heavy demands on his time in his work as a carer for two octogenarians. Accordingly we will put THE MIDDLE EAST on the back burner to enable us to focus on the formidable challenge as we don our caring hat.

As I Please

For a variety of reasons my previous blog was substantially reduced in size.

Following a civilised discussion with my editor it was agreed that whilst he had sound reasons for abbreviating the draft submitted to him (Ed – because large chunks of it had been in the previous blog verbatim) an appendix would be added to Holdenforth to restore some of the omitted material.

One reason for the confusion – I challenge HF readers to write a coherent blog in the current national and international climate- an unseemly blend of chaos, corruption and mendacity.

Let’s see how we get on this time.

Slaughter in Gaza

Where does Holdenforth stand on the most worrying issue of today – the conflict between Israel and Palestine – or, or many refer to it- the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The media – official and social – are replete with details of the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists in Israel.

For its part Israel has vowed to inflict retribution on those responsible.

“A STORY has no beginning or end; arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead”

From “The End of the Affair” by Graham Greene

In the beginning

In Year 2 of the first world war – 1915 – Lloyd George, in his capacity as Minister of Munitions, was concerned about the acute shortage of explosives.

Lloyd George asked him how he, Lloyd George, might reward Weizmann for his work.

To quote Lloyd George – “Weizmann explained his aspirations as to the repatriation of the Jews to the sacred land they had made famous. When I became Prime Minister – in December, 1916, I talked the matter over with Mr Balfour – the outcome was the famous Balfour declaration in 1917.”

This declaration read:-

During the next 28 years the collective mind of the Jewish Diaspora was understandably pre-occupied with the murderous activities of Hitler in pursuit of his final solution of the Jewish problem.

“In Palestine there was irreconcilable conflict between Arabs and Jews.”

English History 1914 to 1945 —– AJP Taylor

Extract from English History -AJP Taylor

In our time there is no shortage of extremely effective propaganda machines.

Other critics of Israel point out that the Balfour /Lloyd George declaration in 1917 was conceding land that was not theirs to dispose of. That consideration would not have weighed heavily with Lloyd George.

The Years 1945 to 1948 in Palestine

One feature of this phase was the emergence of Irgun, a Zionist group roughly equivalent to Hamas in Gaza today.

The Irgun Group wrote the text book for terrorism that has been imitated around the world to this day.

It is ironic that the “terror” tactics employed by Hamas are taken out of the Irgun textbook.

One terrorist activity of Irgun was to place a bomb in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in the summer of 1946.This hotel housed the British Secretariat and Army HQ and almost 100 people were killed.

The public comments of senior British politicians about this appalling act of terrorism could serve as a template for the terms used to describe Hamas today.

The universal hostile references in the UK – including the comments of the then Prime Minister, Mr Attlee, – to the terrorist activities of Irgun -can be accessed on the internet.

The State of Israel was established in the summer of 1948.

Events in Palestine since 1948 have seen years of the steady expansion of Israel at the expense of Palestine and others.

Israel continues to occupy and even extend illegal settlements, a point noted in the last 48 hours by Mr Gutierrez, the Secretary General of the UN despite the opposition of the United Nations.

From “ A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens

In the above extract Dickens was making the simple point that the horrors of the French Revolution arose from the suppression of the people by the ruling class in previous years.

Thus – The French Revolution

Thus the emergence of Hamas

As I write possibly the most harrowing event now taking place anywhere in the world is the treatment by Israel of the 2 million inhabitants of Gaza, a tiny narrow strip of land – approximately 45 square kms to the south and west of Israel.

It is in this tiny area that Hamas operates and in which the October 7 attack was planned

In the 12 or so weeks that have elapsed since October 7 Israeli forces have inflicted huge casualties on the civilian population.

“Political language has to consist of euphemism, question begging and sheer cloudy vagueness. Defenceless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets; this is called pacification. Millions of peasants are robbed of their farms and sent trudging along the roads with no more than they can carry: this is called transfer of population or rectification of frontiers… “

From his essay -Politics and the English language –1946

HF considers that these words of Orwell accurately describe the current situation in Gaza.

Where does Holdenforth stand on the vexed question of illegal immigration?

* Many of the asylum seekers and refugees are simply seeking to do what you and I would do were we in their shoes – to improve the conditions of their lives.

* It could be argued – indeed it is argued by some – that the criminal gangs arranging illegal entry in small boats are simply exploiting a clear gap in the travel market – to provide a travel service to those seeking a better life.

* The UK authorities encourage the growth of this market opportunity by making available to those who succeed in landing on our shores a significantly more agreeable life style.

* Most of the venom of those in the Tory party anxious to demonstrate that they have a workable plan to tackle the problem is directed against small boats with their cargo of illegals.

* As I write there are around 2 million Palestinian civilians in Gaza being subjected to the sort of treatment and worse as described by Orwell in the previous paragraph. Sooner or later someone will suggest that arrangements be made to allow these genuine asylum seekers and refugees to come to the UK possibly in very large boats – say a couple of Royal Caribbean Cruise liners with each with capacities of at least 5000 thus getting around the ban on small boats – what happens then?

Which of us would not gladly exchange life in Gaza for a new life in the UK?

What about 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 most 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 HF 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.

Finally – a few HF slogans from previous blogs- slogans dear to our hearts and a few new issues that we will return to in future blogs.

Whither the BBC – We will continue to campaign for the privatisation of the BBC.

We demand to know what is holding up the appearance in court of those responsible for the appalling miscarriage of justice in the persecution of sub postmasters.

Full credit to The Daily Mail for its vigorous campaign

HF is, if nothing else, a kindly blogger. We would be quite happy for The Rev Vennells to take her CBE with her into Holloware were she to be convicted by a jury of her peers of criminal conduct.

While we are on the subject – we beg HMG to abandon the languid Chilcot approach to interminably protracted public enquiries so beloved by senile judges and rapacious lawyers. We will open the bidding at a maximum duration of 3 months on any public enquiry.

When will the issue of who can work from home and in what circumstances be decided by management rather than by those languishing in the comfort of their own homes.

Let us widen this point – when will the management sector of our society be persuaded to do the job which it is paid to do. The public is constantly assured that this is the reason for the substantial reward packages paid to those in the sector.

Players and managers. HF was not surprised at the early departure from the management scene of Mr Rooney.

“Rooney on the scrap heap”

Daily Mail Jan 3 “

The Daily Mail piece noted the absurdity of the argument that the very best players in soccer are well placed to move into managerial positions.

The job of the manager/coach is very different from that of the player.

How many more players will be quickly humiliated when they “move into management” before this obvious outcome is appreciated.

The Mones V HMG

“WE have been hung out to dry on PPE, the Mones moan”

Daily Mail Jan 2

Holdenforth noted that The Mones were fighting back after the initial setback of Lady Mone admitted telling porkies to an interviewer. As one might expect the facts as opposed to the gossip are not easy to come by but the gist of the defence now being put forward by “lying Baroness Bra” (soubriquet courtesy of doughty Mail reporter Guy Adams) and her husband Mr Barrowman is that they followed the rules laid down by HMG at all times.

More to the point – this issue will not be on the Pandemic enquiry for over a year.

HF thinks that the Mones have a point.

Dead Souls

“How ghost patients have boosted GP coffers by £955m”

Daily Mail- Jan 2

“ GP surgeries are being paid millions of pounds a year for patients who do not exist, figures show”

Nice work if you can get it ,.

Even better if you can get it for not working.

There have been one or two changes in the past 200 years but you can see the similarities.

A word about Mark Almond, the crusading campaigning columnist – and the director of the Oxford Crisis Research Institute.

“Make no mistake, this escalating crisis in the Red Sea could prove to be America’s Suez”

Mark Almond, Daily Mail, Jan 2

Mr Almond details the substantial hazard that has been added to the problems faced by the West in The Ukraine and in Gaza, namely the problem of keeping the Suez Canal open for business as usual. After reading his column it is not easy to think that 2024 will bring about any easing of international tension.

Charity queen with a colourful life dies aged 61

The charity queen in question was Camila Batmanghelidjh who rose to national prominence some 20 years ago. The charity she founded and helped to manage was Kids’ Company.

The charity raised huge sums of money to provide support for young people suffering from abuse, poverty and trauma, all worthy causes. However unkind critics of the charity felt that Camila was enjoying an expensive lifestyle funded by the charity although a lengthy and costly High Court case exonerated her of mismanaging the charity or its funds.

The lesson here – it is not easy for charity commissioners to ensure that monies raised for charity always find their way to the intended recipients.

Finally – a memory test.

HF vaguely recalls that Kate Bingham was thought to have done a good job during the CV pandemic whilst Dido Harding was deemed to have turned in a shaky performance – or is it the other way round.

So – Holdenforth memo to Lady Hallett – chair of the pandemic enquiry – get a move on – we demand to see your report by the end of March, 2024 – repeat end of March, 2024.

As I Please

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

As I Please

“ It is the face of a man who is always fighting against something, but who fights in the open and is not frightened, the face of a man who is generously angry – in other words, of a 19^th century liberal, a free intelligence, a type hated with equal hatred by all the smelly little orthodoxies which are now contending for our souls”
George Orwell writing about Charles Dickens in 1939, in “Orwell: The new life” by D.J. Taylor

The Daily Mail edition of May 26 was brimming over with controversy even by the exacting standards of the paper.

My interest in using that edition was triggered by reading a review by Ysenda Maxtone Graham of a biography of my favourite writer, George Orwell. Ms Graham wrote movingly and memorably about the ordeal of Orwell as he struggled with the TB that was soon to kill him.

Orwell continues to stand out as a rare example of a courageous writer prepared to stand out against the tide of majority and at times of mob opinion.

Holdenforth will now give our take on the contentious issues covered in the same edition – May 26. This take will, as always with Holdenforth, specify what action we recommend.

“Met rape officer in sex case claims earned £400,000 while he was suspended”

The opening paragraph of the report read:

“ A Rape detective accused of making sexual advances to victims and who was caught offering cocaine to women was sacked yesterday – after being suspended on full pay for seven years… DI Warren Arter is estimated to have earned about £400,000 since he was suspended by Scotland yard in 2016 …”

Let us begin by noting that the accused officer did not earn £400,000 during his protracted suspension but that he was paid this amount – not quite the same thing.

Holdenforth fully accepts that the alleged offences, if found by those in charge of the investigation to have been proven, fully merited his dismissal from the Police.

Our concern is not with the outcome of the investigation but only with its duration.

Q – How long was he suspended for ?

A – Seven years

Q – What duration might be deemed reasonable ?

A – Seven years – ludicrous. Seven months would be painfully protracted. Seven weeks – still a long time – but a useful upper time limit for future breach of discipline cases.

Holdenforth suggests that an upper limit of three months would be a sensible new rule for similar cases.

“Now suspend him! Fury of VIP probe victims as top officer keeps his job”

The report below this robust headline covers the story.

Thus:

“The failure to suspend the gaffe – prone head of Scotland Yard’s shambolic VIP abuse inquiry from his £200k – a year job prompted widespread fury yesterday….. Steve Rodhouse is to face gross misconduct proceedings over Operation Midland ….. The dramatic development following the Mail‘s eight year campaign for justice and accountability marks yet another low point at the scandal- ridden Met.”

The facts underlying the abysmal performance of Steve Rodhouse are too well know and well documented to explain in this blog. Briefly Rodhouse led the pack in the hounding of a number of well-known public figures. The hounding was based on the assertions and accusations of Carl Beech, the most insecure of launch pads. All the accusations of this most implausible of witnesses turned out to be fraudulent.

What should happen now?

As with our first case study – Holdenforth is concerned more with the way that the case has been dealt with by those in senior positions.

Accordingly we suggest a replay of the first of our case studies with the emphasis on speed.

Our upper limit of three months is more than sufficient to get the job done.

The case of the Sub – Postmasters hounded by senior Post office management.

Developments here surfaced on May 27, the day after our star studied edition.

Just as the public thought that the actions of Senior Post office management had previously hit an all-time low in its treatment of sub postmasters with regard to failures associated with a new computer system – it seems that those in charge of the persecution of this group reached a new low when it emerged that the existing appalling catalogue of misconduct had to be enlarged to allow racialism to be added to the charge sheet.

Q – What does Holdenforth want to see happen?

A – An investigation into these offences

Q – When should it start?

A. Now.

Q – Allowed time scale for the investigation?

A. As per previous case studies

Q – Isn’t that a bit tight?

A – Convicted Sub masters will doubtless confirm that 24/7 is a long time to be imprisoned for a conviction for which you are wholly innocent.

Q – So – how long should the time scale for the investigation be?

A- As already defined – 3 months. If required – a spot of 24/7 working to be the order of the day.

Holdenforth has had enough – and we suspect that the British public shares this view.

We beg Mr Sunak to arrange NOW for those responsible to be charged and if found guilty to be punished according to the full rigour of the criminal law.

A final thought here – If / when Paula Vennells has been thoroughly investigated for her part in the appalling events – and if a guilty verdict is reached – Holdenforth is tempted to suggest that she be placed in a hollow square of vicars and ceremoniously stripped of her clerical regalia – the practice of an earlier Victorian generation – but we gather that this would not be acceptable in our ostensibly tolerant times.

Notes on the Angry Brigade and on Free Speech

A tricky topic here – where to begin? – how to begin?

Holdenforth has argued elsewhere for freedom of speech – given our admiration of Orwell how could we argue otherwise?

However we suggested that there ought to be a sensible balance exercised by those seeking to demonstrate free speech in action.

To illustrate the point:

No freedom to attend a Catholic mass and at some point in the service bellow out that God does not exist.
No freedom to attend a service in a synagogue and bawl the no Jews were killed by the Nazis.
No freedom to attend a Mosque and shout that the Prophet Mohammed is a figment of the imagination of gullible people.

On reflection we would go further to curtail free speech.

Thus: We would take effective action to counter the activities of those who seek to interrupt the activities of the those going about their lawful business.

Q- What sort of effective action?

A- As described in the Daily Mail ( May 29) about the treatment of Extinction Rebellion protesters in The Hague – water cannon, tear gas- you get the picture.

Q- What groups do you have in mind?

A- Those breaking the law.

Q- So how might those who wish to express their disagreement with whoever and whatever set about it?

A- That is a matter for them – but within the law.

Q- Where do the police come in?

A – See the actions of the Dutch police

Q- What sort of legal activities?

A- The Coronation/ The Rugby Cup final/ The snooker final/ The blocking of motorways

The word is that animal rights activists are giving thought to interrupting The Derby – but that is media gossip.

You see where this line of argument is taking us – if the activists are allowed to disrupt perfectly legal activities – then – by the same logic – the long suffering public have the right to insist that the law is upheld and that the activities/antics of the law breakers are speedily nipped in the bud.

One difficulty here is the acute shortage of competent senior police officers with the ability to apply the most appropriate measures to deal with the wide range of disruptive tactics – see earlier case studies.

Holdenforth must take care not to get carried away.

“Who is this man” said General Dreedle

“M-major Danby sir” Colonel Cathcart stammered ” – my group operations officer”

“ Take him out and shoot him” ordered General Dreedle

The two junior officers who were instructed to carry out the order were confused – neither had ever taken Major Danby outside and shot him before.”

From Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Point taken – Measures recommended by Holdenforth must comply with civilised practice.

“Mrs Thatcher, having tackled and defeated General Galtieri and Arthur Scargill, was looking for new fields to conquer and she selected the Town Halls for treatment. Her plan was to put in a new system of local taxation which would ensure that the rate payers would be made much more aware of what they were getting for their money (not much) and would vote for councils committed more to frugality and less to increasing both the numbers and living standards of council bureaucrats. The result? Thatcher out! Her defeat on the issue of local government reform and hence her political downfall was widely attributed to the antics of a handful of Spartists. Not so:- it was engineered by the massed ranks of the local authority bureaucrats who viewed with alarm the prospect of the collapse of their cushy number empires.

Extract from “A Cushy Number” by John Holden aka Holdenforth

Lib Dem council close to collapse with record debt of £2.4 Billion

“Woking council was on the verge the biggest ever local authority collapse after years of speculative investments racked up debts of a projected £2.4 billion by 2026”

Daily Mail May 26.

Holdenforth wondered if this report had somehow got mixed up with a separate report dealing with the problems experienced by those addicted to gambling.

Once again – Not so. It turned out that those ostensibly responsible for the debacle – a mixture of elected members (actually Conservative members) and full time senior managers – had embarked on a policy that they were singularly ill equipped to implement.

Holdenforth asks three questions:

Who will foot the bill for this mega ineptitude?
What sanctions will be taken against those found to be responsible?
What measures have HMG taken to curtail similar episodes in the future?

Holdenforth and Braverman and speed awareness.

Holdenforth has form on this one – I have attended two speed awareness courses in the past decade.

The procedure is quite straightforward. The speeding driver is informed that he/she has been caught exceeding the speed limit and is given two options on how to respond Pay the fine and accept the penalty points, OR, attend a speed awareness course. The latter option is attractive for obvious reasons – decreased risk of losing ones driving license and no increase in insurance.

Both courses were attended by around 20 people and it turned out that most of these had opted to attend for the reasons given above.

I can think of nothing more likely to weaken the value of the course to the great majority than the presence of a senior member of HMG.

Accordingly her request for a 1 to 1 session was eminently sensible as was her later decision to accept the fine.

Holdenforth is uneasy about the refusal of her civil servants to offer advice on the matter.

Holdenforth will not attempt to drive in Hereford ever again – both offences occurred there.

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