So much has happened since I last put up an article I simply don’t know where to begin. We have had an OTT surfeit of Iraq now for many months and I have certainly given tongue on the subject and some sections of the media are still in full cry. Then we have the latest on Afghanistan, a country we haven’t heard about for some months. The government has announced that they are going to send another 3300 soldiers out there, apparently responding to a special request by the new democratic Afghanistan government. I find that a bit much. That makes a total of approx. 4,500.

I can understand why Afghanistan requested them (saves them money among other things) but why should our troops to go out there because things are getting out of control yet again . The war Minister says it is only to maintain civil order not to oust the insurgents. Another Bush / Blair deal ? How long before the first body bag draped in the union Jack is saluted as it is unloaded onto the apron of a British airport? Let me remind those who might have forgotten , Afghanistan is the country America and the allies destroyed in Bush’s crazy “megalomaniac” style of spreading democracy and an all out attempt to kill Osamin Bin Laden who laughed at the allies from deep within his cave and managed to survive the bombs. And if it is not the death of our soldiers that is worrying, it’s the tax payer’s money that is maintaining all this destruction . But then of course money is no object for the Chancellor. Its just that he is using it to make war instead of upholding Blair’s election promise, “education, education, education.” Imagine all the money which the British Tax payer has supplied for Blair’s wars and will continue to supply for these bellicose activities which are the consequences of Bush and Blair’s lack of wisdom, leadership and statesmanship. And on the subject of Blair’s wars ,he is like an unfaithful wife who thinks that if he ignores his peccadilloes, refuses to make comments , say he is sorry or simply answer questions, the matter will go away. Well it neither has gone away nor will it in the future. Tony Blair is branded with the words Iraq , Bush , deceit, lies and wars. When one considers all the innocent people who have lost love ones, brothers , sisters , cousins, uncles, whole families, it isn’t hard to imagine that those who are still alive will neither forget nor forgive Bush and Blair. England has recently hit a score of 100 soldiers dead and the American death toll is in thousands.

Most of these deaths have come after Bush announced that the Allies had won which reminds one of the Roman Emperor Caligula. But it is the Iraqi civilians who are really suffering . Alongside the allies death toll come the incredible number of dead Iraqi civilians by courtesy of American unfriendly fire. This amounts to tens of thousands ! In all, the Iraqi war mark 2 adds up to a very immoral pyrrhic victory. What makes it worse is that the policy mistakes which have created this maelstrom are put down as “errors of judgement” as opposed to the reality of the circumstances which created the problem in the first place. Political mistakes and incompetence caused by the lack of quality , leadership and political wisdom. Unfortunately, the men in charge are there not because of merit but the power of American finances for Bush and the passport of British academic achievement for Blair without which it is difficult to succeed. This enabled him to side step into the top political position without the essential leadership qualities. Bush and Blaire might lead their respective countries because of Fiscal or Oxbridge credentials but that doesn’t make them natural leaders. I won’t comment on America’s Bush but England’s Blair’s yes . His credentials fit within the ever increasing political correctness of a British society which is now completely out of balance. We are told that every disaster is simply a learning curve and we must learn by our mistakes and have them evaluated by committees, investigations and hearings presided over by some government friendly judge or old friend who relate to the early years of the Prime Minister in a new labour format of “educational nepotism.” And, do these wise men extrapolate the essence of justice and human rights? No they don’t , any more than the government gave justice to Dr Kelly, now long forgotten except by his family.


High on the government's list this last week were prostitutes and kerb crawlers and, it is interesting to note that, the erstwhile eminent Liberal Democrat politician (Shadow Home Affairs no less) Mark Oaten was involved with the recent pro - government preparation of this bill. It was unfortunate that consequently he had to resign over the not so delicate matter of utilising the services of a rent boy who, it must be said, did not pace the streets but used the pathways of cyber space. Oaten resigned not because he experienced genuine contrition but because he was found out and had no alternative. It isn’t what you do when asked or ordered that is significant but what you do without being asked. Being found out is the strongest influence when it comes to resignations and Mark Oaten was no exception . Mark found his young friend on the internet which could explain why he backed the recent bill of getting rid of professional male and female prostitutes from the streets.

I imagine that there would be quite a few politicians who would favour taking the prostitutes out of street circulation because that would force the girls and boys to seek alternative ways of advertising their wares. The most favoured would probably be advertising on the internet because clicking a mouse is much safer than kerb crawling. But, even cyber space isn’t that safe because however much you might prefer to make such transactions incognito and clandestine , there is always the danger that the rent boys or ladies of the night, will recognise you from a photograph which will exposes you at worse to black mail or at best, obligatory resignation and detection of the fabrication and lies which makes you a respected member of the establishment and the government.

It is interesting to reflect that if it hadn’t have been for the rent boy recognising Mark Oaten in a press picture and blowing the whistle, there is no doubt that Mr Oaten would still be mixing his pleasures on cyber space and, if by chance he had become the leader of the Liberal Democrats and got into No 10, imagine the moral significance of that. If his personal morality and integrity were so flawed what on earth would his political integrity reflect and what could we expect in policies steered by such a person ? It isn’t the homosexual details that are significant but the denial of the truth. And although these politicians are dissimulating with specious arguments, they cannot expect the voting public to be taken in and fooled. Following in Mark Oaten’s cyber footsteps is the great pretender Simon Hughes who won his seat after mocking Peter Tatchel for being a homo sexual! What a farce!

Well, if it isn’t sex, its education which is another subject which has been hitting the headlines under the auspices of M/s Kelly, newly appointed Minister of Education. The previous one, Estelle Morris was recently elevated to the house of Lords via one of the two short cuts to this chamber. One route is a very large cheque for party funds and the second is succeeding in being a failure in a specific aspect of politics and government. In Estelle Morris’s case it was her failure as a member of the Labour front bench. I simply don’t know how such people like Kelly and Morris can be appointed to the front bench as ministers although I expect it is for the same reason that Blair appointed John Prescott. So that the people he is surrounded by don’t make him feel insignificant. Mr “Cheek and Jowl” Prescott isn’t going to make the Prime Minister feel inadequate even if he does have two Jaguars ! Mind you, I have to say something in Prescott’s favour . He is right to fight against the bringing back of pupil selection at the age of eleven and the Department of Education creaming off youngsters into Grammar schools because they passed the 11 plus exam. Obviously, at a certain stage during the pre- university or third level education years, there has to be some kind of selection but at the age of 11 it is iniquitous. On Radio 4’s Today programme we recently heard retired Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey and the Ex Chief Constable, Sir John Stevens ,give their opinions on this subject. Both failed their eleven plus but significantly both went on to obtain several degrees with honour passes.

Nevertheless, each one admitted that they still retained the sense of failure which they felt by not passing the eleven plus and this was about fifty years ago ! Failing the 11 plus exam destroyed thousands of late starters who, given a 13 or 14 plus exam instead of the 11 plus, would have given their brains time to develop not only in the basic academic subjects tested, but Art, Music, Languages, performing arts, all of which weren’t even considered as subjects worthy of assessment in the 11 plus exam. How many brilliant musicians, pianist, composer, painters or linguists were lost simply because they weren’t good at maths or able to understand the trick psychological questions which were an important part of the exam. Many of today’s politicians ( all three parties ) came up via the grammar school system so one has to assume that this is their kind of old boy network for whom the snobbery factor is just as strong as the old boy network that belonged to the middle class public schools which once reigned supreme . After the 11 plus came the Grammar school and the really ambitious sought the highest accolade of Oxbridge which has always been and still is, the easiest access and passport to the best jobs. One only has to observe the likes of Lord Falconer, Derry Irvin or David Mellor to realise that the working class snobbery that transposed them via the Grammar schools, from their humble beginnings and accelerated them forwards and upwards into a trajectory of class advancement, is as significant now as the public school system used to be.

Driven by the paucity of their family environment and having very little as children, this privileged generation made it to the top by hard work and although commendable, it didn’t make them the leaders they seem to think they are. All very admirable but now this privileged generation which controls the government, a big slice of the legislature and the civil service, would prefer to spend a large percentage of tax payer’s money on arms, weapons of mass destruction, ammunition and making war in the spurious name of democracy and human rights, instead of education for each new generation. Not every politician is culpable but there are enough to bend our modern society to their whims and prejudices. Education is the only way the world will arrive at universal peace and this must come first from the civilised (?) Western world to the Third World and even the Second World wherever it went to and if it ever existed ! Unfortunately it would appear that we are heading towards not only a two tier education but also a two tier “Dickensian style” society. The haves and have not.

So, where do we go from here ? Now, in the early days of the second half of the first decade of the 21st century, with legislation being passed non stop with hardly any reference to new laws being enacted without passing them through Parliament, it makes one wonder just who is creating this deluge of laws and statutory instruments that the public is being bombarded with. It would appear that they are being passed as delegated or subordinate legislation drafted by committees, local authorities and civil servants. People under the thumb of Tony Blair who must be acting close to an ultra virus capacity. Subordinate legislation has the authority of a parent act which is subsequently extended by associated paths found in its small print and includes legislation that can then be expanded into the many off shoots and statutory instruments which Blair has been running amok with. Hence all this overnight terrorist legislation and restrictive “1984/ Brave New World type laws which suddenly get reported in the morning press with no warning .
Blair really does want to be remembered for anything he can get his hands on, especially after his failure as the President of the European Community. I expect he will soon join the ranks of Edwina Curry, Duncan Smith and Anne Widdicomb etc. and announce his first novel in a new retirement career as a novelist. That’s if Cheri Blair doesn’t pip him to the post first.

One thing is unequivocal, Blair has certainly aged since 1997 and I expect that under the different hues and colours he has applied to his thinning hair, are many grey hairs. Frankly, I want to see him go and I don’t like this Brown fellow. He will be heavy stuff and will probably take Labour out of the glorious image of New Labour and transport it back into the Class struggle and battle of the sixties when the cloth cap was fast disappearing . They say he is the greatest Chancellor of the Exchequer for many years if not ever but, if you agree with that you will believe anything, something that is always dangerous in politics .
And it looks like the Lib Dems are out of the running with all their gay liberalism and forward thinking which means it could be the Conservatives turn once more. After Simon Hughes’s fall from grace, Menzies Campbell is the only serious contender left although he has his problems. I put my money on Ming . He isn’t too old at 65 but unfortunately he looks a lot older which leaves only one solitary unknown Chris Huhne whoever he might be.

And what of the 21st century Conservatives ? Well they are 20th century political chameleons who change colour as easily as the evening light alters at dusk. We can only wait and see . Cameron seems a good enough bloke but for the second time I go along with a Prescott statement. Cameron seems to be collecting a mafia of old Etonians , Oxbridge buddies and past leaders of the Conservatives around him. Obviuosly he intends to appoint youngsters like George Osborne who, as shadow Chancellor, appears quiet capable although I hope he doesn’t take after John Aspinal the famous gambler who I understand was the half brother of Sir Peter Osborne, George Osborne’s father whose was the son of the late Lady Osborne of Framfield, Sussex.

Blair gambles the lives of our soldiers and George Brown certainly gambles the tax payers money but the last thing we want if we do change government is a Chancellor of the Exchequer who gambles away the family silver especially when the chancellor has had his perspective influenced by his own silver spoon. Financial crisis is just one of the several disaster destinations this country might be heading for and those in power have to be very careful, especially if they are so young. Testosterone might maintain the country’s birth rate but it doesn’t make wise pragmatic policies. Profumo, Thorpe, Oaten and Hughes are just a few of the many whose behaviour has endorsed this fact and they are simply the ones who were found out. We will just have to wait and see and hopefully, in the next general election, a greater percentage of the public with voting rights will actually vote. Blair’s mandate came from less than thirty per cent of those who were entitled to vote in the last election. In my world he shouldn’t be Prime Minister and there is an awful lot of people who agree with me.

Copyright Dorian van Braam 2006-01-26