Category Archives: Current Affairs

Be Careful What You Say

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Two stories this week demonstrate the wisdom of being careful what you say or, more pertinently, being careful where you say it.

The first concerned some private emails sent by the chief of football’s Premier League, Richard Scudamore, in which he made some derogatory comments about women. I won’t repeat them here but they were the sort of comments you would associate with schoolboys or immature adult males. I think they are also referred to as “locker-room” comments and since this man is the head of top level football in this country I don’t suppose we could expect anything different.

However, what the idiot, sexist or not, failed to appreciate is that when you are in the public eye anything you say or write is fair game for the snoopers and private doesn’t exist anymore. In fairness to the man, I’m sure we’ve all said things in private that wouldn’t look too good if pronounced in public but then most of us aren’t in such a position of power or influence.

The second story concerned Prince Charles who got in trouble for comparing (in a private conversation) the recent actions of Russia’s Vladimir Putin to those of Adolf Hitler. Of course, many people will sympathise with this viewpoint since Putin’s action s in Crimea and Ukraine do bear a certain similarity to those of Hitler in Czechoslovakia and Austria in the 1930s.

The problem is that Prince Charles is the heir to the throne and as such is not supposed to involve himself in politics whether of the national or international variety. It is unfortunate that his, clearly private, utterances were overheard and reported but he, more than anybody, should surely be aware that virtually everything he says or does is fair game for the media.

All of this takes me back to when I was training to be a solicitor more than a few years ago! I was always told by my principal to be very careful how I made up my case notes and to be aware that any file was liable to be produced before the court should the judge see fit. As such the instructions were simple, do not write down anything that you would not like to be read out in a court of law. Sound advice for all in the public eye, I think.

Triumph of Evil

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The events currently taking place in Ukraine are as much predictable as they are disturbing and, as stated previously in this blog, the world needs leadership. It isn’t going to come from the weak vacillating Europeans so therefore, once again, it has to come from the planet’s most powerful nation, the USA.

Somebody needs to buy two books for President Obama, the first a history of the 1930s and the rise of Nazism. This book will demonstrate to him what happens when a peaceful, tolerant but weak world decides against confronting a determined, ruthless, and cunning tyrant. The tyrant keeps taking and taking until ultimately the world has no choice but to confront him. If Hitler had been told by the world’s leaders at the outset what the consequences of his actions would be it is quite likely that the final catastrophe would never have occurred. He wasn’t and it did.

The second book would be a book of quotations by the great 18th century Anglo-Irish politician and philosopher Edmund Burke. The book would be highlighted at the page containing the quotation “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. I have no doubt that President Obama is a good and decent man but he needs to act against Putin and he needs to act now.

Misinformation

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A few years ago our government urged us to stop driving petrol driven cars and instead to go for diesel. We were told that diesel is more eco-friendly than petrol, is better for our health, is more efficient, more economical and overall is much better for the planet. Interestingly it’s also more expensive – I wonder if that had anything to do with it?

We were told this week that, actually, the experts got it wrong and diesel is not only bad for the planet it’s bad for human health and, in fact, the particles emitted by diesel engines can prove to be fatal.

This kind of thing happens a lot, particularly with foodstuffs. We are told that we should avoid certain types of food whilst embracing others and then a couple of years later they change their minds. We are told we shouldn’t eat sugar then we should. Alcohol is bad for us but then we are told that it can be beneficial to our health. Certain fats are good then they’re not. Margarine is better than butter, then it’s not and on it goes.

The logical conclusion to all of this is that we can’t believe half the things we are told by those in authority and, since they don’t know what they are talking about we should just go ahead and drive what we want, consume what we want and live our lives the way we see fit based on our own judgement, experience and common sense.

Lack of Compassion

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Uncontrolled immigration has been a big problem in this country for the last 50 years or so and the fact that the present government has taken steps to alleviate the situation is to be welcomed. It is now harder for people to enter the country and easier for the Government to deport those who enter illegally. However, whilst the rule of law must always be obeyed and upheld there must surely be occasions where a degree of flexibility can come into play.

The story of Yashika Bageerathi, the 19 year old Mauritian girl sent back to her country last Wednesday evening, is a case in point. She arrived in the UK in 2011 to escape abuse at home and settled well here with her mother and siblings. The immigration authorities looked into the case and after due process of law it was decided that she had no lawful right to remain in the UK. She was thus ordered to leave the UK (and her family) and return to Mauritius.

The human side to this story is that Yashika had shown herself to be a hardworking and popular pupil at her UK school and was only two months away from taking her A level examinations, arguably the most important examinations in any pupil’s life.

Both the school and the girl’s family pleaded for her to be allowed to continue her studies, take those examinations and then return to Mauritius afterwards and in fact the girl and her mother promised that she would do just that if given a stay of execution. The Government and courts said no, she had to leave straightaway and so she did, two days ago.

The Government is right; of course it is. We all want our country to be secure and for the law to be upheld but on occasion can we not show just a little imagination and, more importantly, a little compassion? Would an extra two months have made that much difference to us?

Sniffing About

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We’ve all watched in bemusement as our dog greets one of its fellows by sticking its nose up the other’s nether regions or embarrassment when it places its head firmly in the crotch of your house guest. “Sorry”, you say, “he’s only being friendly”. Well, is he?

Evidently the latest dating craze is something called Pheromone Dating whereby singles attempt to find love based on smell. Of course, scientists and lovers alike have long talked of the necessity of there being the right chemistry between successful couples and of a chemical reaction taking place when you meet Mr or Mrs Right.

Online dating is huge business worldwide and the UK market alone is worth £2 billion a year so there is clearly plenty of demand for any new system designed to find you the love of your life.

Pheromone Dating involves you putting a piece of worn clothing in a numbered bag and inviting others present to have a sniff to see if it appeals. I understand that the item is normally from the upper body (thank goodness for that!) and is preferably a T shirt that you have slept in for three nights as opposed to something you may have worn at the gym for the last two to three weeks.

If a person likes what he/she smells then he/she will be photographed holding your numbered bag and his/her image displayed on a large screen so you can then decide whether or not to take matters further. This is a good idea and clearly removes the potential for any embarrassment concerning lack of physical attraction or gender preference.

So, Pheromone Dating, the future of love? I always suspected that old Rover was on to something!

Money Talks

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Earlier this week a senior police officer admitted that the public’s perception of the use of mobile speeding cameras on our motorways is that the exercise is more about raising money than saving lives. He went on to say that many motorway convictions are in areas with no history of traffic accidents but so large is the volume of traffic that the use of speed cameras is akin to “shooting fish in a barrel”.

Well, tell us something we didn’t know. Most motorists are sick and tired of being an easy target for police forces keen to boost their crime detection figures but it is refreshing to hear the police come clean for a change.

Speeding can rarely be condoned but the use of speed cameras has surely to be proportionate and relevant. For example, if speed cameras are about saving lives wouldn’t it be better to place more of them outside schools, shopping centres and busy residential areas where there is more chance of a serious accident taking place?

Unfortunately, that’s not the point; the policeman on the motorway bridge is going to generate far more money than the one outside the local primary school and as with most things in life, money talks.

The Floods

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England has just suffered the wettest January in 248 years and February is not shaping up to be any better. Parts of the South West of the country have been under water since the start of the year, the West coasts of England and Wales have been repeatedly battered by continuous storms and the River Thames is about to break its own record for flood warnings. Farmers have lost their livestock, businesses have collapsed, thousands of homeowners  have lost their worldly possessions and the Met Office says that there is still no end in sight of this freak weather.

This is a humanitarian crisis of high proportions and what do our politicians do? They point their fingers at one another and look for blame, trying to score points while families try desperately to hold their lives together. Government departments accuse each other of incompetence whilst telling the media that it’s not their fault. And politicians wonder why we dislike them so much?

Forget the posturing, you idiots, and do something about it. Ensure that all of these poor people are re-housed and their possessions replaced and then take whatever steps are humanly possible to ensure that British citizens, their homes, property and livelihoods are protected against future calamity.

Oh, and if the Government is wondering where the money is going to come from, do as one sensible Member of Parliament suggested over the weekend; for this year at least, suspend payment of the billions of pounds we give in Foreign Aid – £11.5 billion in 2013. We have enough problems of our own.

Mothers and Alcohol

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One of the  unique features of the English legal system is the fact that our laws are made not just by  act of Parliament but also by precedent established in the higher courts – case law. Occasionally a precedent is set that captures not only the attention of lawyers but the country as a whole and one such case will shortly be heard by the Court of Appeal.

A local authority is taking a woman to court to try to prove that she committed a criminal act by drinking alcohol during pregnancy, thus causing brain damage to her daughter, now aged six and in foster care. The authority alleges that the woman, repeatedly warned of the risks to her unborn child, chose to drink alcohol excessively throughout her pregnancy.

If the local authority are successful then it will be a crime for any woman to knowingly damage an unborn child through the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. This will no doubt generate a storm of controversy (what if the woman is an alcoholic, for example?) and women’s rights campaigners have already voiced their objections. However, experts say that as many as 7,000 babies a year are born mentally or physically damaged through their mothers drinking alcohol during pregnancy so, irrespective of the moral arguments and the difficulties in policing such a law, something clearly needs to be done.

Doctors have been warning for years about the (surely obvious) downsides of women drinking alcohol excessively or smoking whilst pregnant and nobody of sound mind could possibly claim to be unaware of the risks of such irresponsible and dangerous behaviour. Perhaps if that behaviour is deemed criminal it may well go some way to alleviating the problem.

An Act of Humanity

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There was a bit of a storm this week over the Government’s decision to make a U-turn and allow approximately 500 Syrian refugees to enter the country on temporary visas. The Prime Minister has been criticised by some of showing weakness and of political posturing but others take a different view.

There is no doubt that previous governments have allowed immigration to get out of hand and only recently have our rulers started to realise the mistakes they made in opening our borders to all and sundry. Immigration is now a very hot political potato and public opinion seems to be firmly against any further mass influx.

Many believe that charity should begin at home and, looking at the economic problems we still face, that has to be right. However, there are times when common decency and humanity have to take a front seat and now is one of those times.

We in the West, in spite of the daily images on our television screens, can barely imagine the extent of the suffering of that tragic country and having made, in my opinion, the correct decision not to become militarily involved the least we can now do is try to offer some small comfort to those who so desperately need it.

Of course, that comfort will come from the taxpayer but that should be no consideration – I’m sure we can all think of far worse examples of government expenditure.