“Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to to seek to find and not to yield”
Ulysses by Lord Tennyson
In November, 2024 the USA will experience democracy in action. The two candidates for the presidency are both around the 80 mark – and Holdenforth hopes that President Biden and ex-President Trump will heed the exhortations of Ulysses/Tennyson during the campaign.
The UK general election will be held in a few days’ time. It will be something of a sideshow in the global context but there we are. Holdenforth is a self-confessed peevish petulant octogenarian – older than the two candidates in the USA election.
Holdenforth disagrees with almost everyone about almost everything. Readers have been warned.
We contend that we have in the main a sound track record of getting it right on the main issues of our time – but, like Mandy Rice-Davies in a different context, we would say that, wouldn’t we.
This may well be last UK general election in which I will be able to cast a vote – should I wish to do so. The Grim Reaper has been in touch to ask for an early meeting.
UK voters in the election have already received copies of the manifestos of our competitors and, like Holdenforth, will have been disappointed about what they have read.
“The Trotskyites in Liverpool hate Capitalism. They hate Imperialism. But most of all they hate each other.”
Alexei Sayle
Thus the Trots in Liverpool.
Thus – the Tories today.
The Tories have an unfortunate record of unmatched ineptitude combined with a startling degree of mutual loathing.
They have ignored the advice of Dennis Healy – when you are in a hole – stop digging.
Sadly – for them – they contrive to dig a deeper and deeper pit with each passing day
The Labour Party led by Sir Keir Starmer.
Some critics suspect/allege that Sir Keir, following his anticipated landslide win, will give priority to bringing in constitutional changes that would strengthen his position and that of his party in parliament.
Holdenforth harbours no such suspicions. Our view of Sir Keir is that he is a frail feeble shadow of one of his predecessors, Clement Attlee.
Starmer is adept in just one area – he masquerades as a man of the left who clings tenaciously to the tiny strip of no-man’s land in the centre.
The Lib Dems led by Sir Ed Davie.
Sir Ed has urged voters to wake up and smell the coffee. This display of oratorical skills will cause consternation in some places but we suspect that Sir Ed will need to more flesh on the creaking bones of the Lib Dem crusade to make an impact.
Reform – see later notes
A word on the Holdenforth manifesto
Unlike some of those close to Mr Sunak — (Stop Press – for “some” read “many” ) – his announcement that the election would take place on July 4 caught us by surprise and we were unprepared.
We will do our best to ensure that readers will be clear on what we would actually DO were we to find ourselves in power. On the debit side our manifesto will lack the meticulous scholarship that is such a notable feature of the Holdenforth blog.
It has been compiled at high speed.
Enough froth – let us press on.
We will start at the top
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 1000-year turbulent history. (A pedantic editor writes – she hasn’t usurped the crown because she is the wife of the monarch rather than the monarch.)
Yet again Holdenforth has to acknowledge the truism that the people have short memories.
In an earlier Holdenforth 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.
Foreign Affairs
The Farage intervention on Ukraine.
Holdenforth is very happy to endorse the views of Mr Farage on this issue. Indeed we have made the same argument that he made in his recent interview with Nick Robinson in previous blogs.
Holdenforth would immediately reverse the position of THE WEST in this conflict.
On a positive note we would urge the warring parties to end the war and to negotiate a peace settlement.
Gaza
“When you have them by the balls – their hearts and minds will follow”
USA policy
Holdenforth would seek an immediate end to the ongoing daily murder of Palestinians in Gaza and apply whatever international pressure was required on Israel and on the Jewish Diaspora to achieve this aim.
Defence – Prospects for WW3
“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
“Perhaps when the next war comes we may see that sight unprecedented in all history – a jingo with a bullet hole in him”
George Orwell war diary
Holdenforth has no wish to see anyone with a bullet hole in him/her.
We are anxious and apprehensive about the current pervasive preference for international violence in many quarters,
Thus far this preference has been limited to providing the means for others to fight and die by supplying a dubious mixture of weapons and funds.
Holdenforth would urge the various warring factions to go easy on the bombast and to implement the advice of Winston Churchill that jaw jaw is better than war war.
Immigration
The political struggle between the House of Lords and the House of Commons on the Rwanda policy of HMG has been brought to a conclusion of sorts with the Lords accepting the supremacy of the lower house.
During the debate the numbers being quoted suggest that the demand for sanctuary in the UK is considerably greater than the ability of those in charge in Rwanda to cope.
What will the outcome be?
Holdenforth would like to suggest a rethink of the core issues.
Everyone – and that includes you and Holdenforth – will understandably constantly seek to achieve a better life for themselves and their families. So – how do nations and groups of nations reconcile the claims and wishes of the home population with the claims of their would be neighbours? Completely open borders or effective controls effectively managed?
Holdenforth believes that the latter option will minimise the damage to long term social stability.
If this view is accepted then the next question to answer is – how can illegal immigration be curtailed.
Holdenforth accepts that all of us will seek to improve their lives – So :
- Remove the features that attract so many to take whatever action open to them to cross the channel.
- Apply effective international pressure to those countries responsible for driving out their own people.
“Says Labour about the migrant crisis -” the first thing to do is deal with the back log
No, it isn’t. If the bath tub is overflowing the first thing to do is to turn off the taps, not try to empty it”
Did Mr Bradshaw of Cowbridge have a point in his letter to the Daily Mail?
Home affairs
“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”
From A Life at the Centre by Roy Jenkins
Fortified by this clear policy statement from Roy Jenkins – The Holdenforth manifesto urges the prompt return to the public sector of near monopoly businesses privatised under Thatcher.
These include the UK Rail Sector and the UK water sector.
We should add that private enterprise is our preferred business model where there is demonstrable competition.
Tata and the future of Port Talbot.
Time was when Holdenforth could speak with some awareness on this subject – up to 2014.
Not now.
However we have to say that we were confused when we watched a recent very public confrontation between TUC leaders together with the MP for Aberavon on the one hand and two very senior managers from Tata Steel on the other hand.
We were not sure what part, if any, was played by Mr Sunak as he sought to strike a balance between the votes of the steelworkers and the votes of the zero sector on the other.
In the nineteen eighties Holdenforth managed an Electric Arc Furnace for long enough to grasp that the head count to make steel via the EAF was substantially less than that required to operate the Blast Furnace route.
A modest proposal put forward by Holdenforth
We start by conceding that our experience in this area is out of date. In the unlikely event that we were to be consulted on the matter we would seek to persuade the main stakeholders to invite someone respected by both sides to spell out the most sensible technical way to proceed from where we are to where we need to be.
The future of the NHS
In my role as an aged blogger who has had 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.
Currently 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.
In making this point we have in mind many of those currently masquerading as managers in the NHS and certainly not medics at the sharp end of the profession.
Where do we stand on the contentious issue of the sub section of the LGBT sector referred to Transgender group?
Holdenforth has said it before (in pretty much every blog – ed.) and we may well say it again.
“If my aunt had bollocks she would be my uncle but she didn’t and she wasn’t” – what could be clearer?
It may well be that there are those who wish that that they had been dealt a different hand by nature but many of us – possibly most of us wish that nature had been more generous in its gifts.
In muted tones – Holdenforth begs the LGBT sector to do as much as they wish of whatever it they do and rather less bawling in the streets about it.
Consider the consequences if the practice of publicly flaunting sexual preferences were to become universal.
The streets would be continuously blocked.
What about the old folk?
A word of warning to old timers.
Holdenforth has some experience of 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 to the aged – 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.
Right now Holdenforth resembles Winston Smith, the hero of Orwell’s novel,1984, after his harsh treatment by the State enforcer, O’Brien.
Brexit
Were we to win power – our first job on day 1 would be to apply to the EU to be re-admitted.
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 —
For obvious reasons there are many more curses from the losers than joyful shouts from the few lucky winners.
The recent revelations about the flutters made by some/many of those in Mr Sunak’s inner circle have not impressed the public. It is usually agreeable to have a bet on a rigged contest but on this occasion the bets have gone spectacularly awry.
For obvious reasons there are many more curses from the losers than joyful shouts from the few lucky winners.
The desire to gamble is all pervasive. The plague of betting shops across the nation is worrying.
Can anything be done to curb this passion?
Holdenforth urges the tightest possible controls on those that currently exploit this anti-social activity.
How about a few micro manifesto items?
- Duration of public enquiries, independent or otherwise – a maximum duration of 3 months
- Automated telephone exchanges – to be replaced by human beings so as to reduce one of the most irritating features of modern (appalling) communications
“A Yes-Man’s duty is to attend conferences and say “Yes”. A Nodder’s, as the name implies, is to nod.
From “The Nodder” by P.G.Wodehouse
To bring in PR would be to opt for a tsunami of Yes Men and Nodders being foisted onto the democratic payroll.
Holdenforth say no to this innovation.
* “The first thing we do, lets kill all the lawyers”
The extreme view of Dick the Butcher
Henry the Sixth -Part 2 .
Holdenforth is not clear as to why Dick the Butcher was against the lawyers but we note 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 beseech who ever forms the next Government to simply legal procedures
We have by no means run out of ideas but we have run of energy and time.
We urge our readers to exercise that most valuable of democratic benefits – the right to vote.
Notes by the Editor
It should be observed that Holdenforth’s manifesto, while wide ranging and perhaps somewhat radical in nature, stands little chance of being implemented wholesale due to the absence of Holdenforth on any of the ballot papers, and brings to mind the old joke of the rabbi praying every day in the synagogue to win the lottery, until finally an exasperated God booms out “Lionel: meet me halfway. Buy a bloody ticket!”
Secondly, while Holdenforth is right about the increasingly pervasive nature of the gambling industry, following the money rather than the pollsters tends to give a better indication of likely outcomes at election time. As things stand, the odds at the assorted bookmakers suggest that Labour will win around 440 seats, the Conservatives around 90 and the Liberal Democrats 60 or so, implying a Labour majority over all other parties of around 230 or so. It will be interesting to see how close to the mark these figures are come July 5th.
Holden Forth 