Category Archives: Patriots Corner

Minority Rule

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It’s frightening to realise that a minority political party representing a fraction of the British electorate could effectively render the country defenceless. That is the nightmare scenario facing the UK at next month’s general election.

With two major political parties it used to be the case that the party with the majority would form the government and for the next  5 years would effectively rule the country according to its election manifesto. However, with an increase in the number of minority parties that is no longer the case, as the last 5 years of coalition government have clearly demonstrated.

In effect, the party supported by the largest proportion of the electorate will not be able to put their policies into practice. A clear indication of this was provided yesterday when the Scottish Nationalist Party (the SNP) announced that in spite of the fact that both major political parties, Labour and Conservative, wish to maintain the UK’s nuclear deterrent the SNP do not. If the SNP do form part of a future coalition government they have made it quite clear that they will end our nuclear capability.

Unfortunately for the majority of the UK electorate, who clearly do wish to maintain a nuclear deterrent (and imagine trying to hold off somebody like Vladimir Putin without one) the danger is that the SNP, with possibly 5 or 6% of parliamentary seats, could end up being king-maker and coalition partner to a weakened Labour party and thus achieve their aim.

So, not only do the SNP wish to lead Scotland to independence and break up the UK they also wish to emasculate us. If that doesn’t convince the undecided on how to vote on May 7th then nothing will.

Defenceless

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It is widely agreed among politicians, historians and military experts that the world is now a far more dangerous place than at any time since the height of the Cold War back in the early 1960’s.

The Western world faces not only the ever-present danger of Islamic fanaticism but also the threat of a resurgent and brutal Russia under Vladimir Putin. Add to the mix the threats of rogue states such as North Korea and Iran, to name but two, and the danger becomes clear for all to see.

The British response? We fail to commit ourselves to the minimum Nato target of an allocation of 2% of our gross domestic product (GDP) towards defence but do, however, commit ourselves (the British taxpayer) to spending 0.7% of our GDP, some £10 billion, on overseas aid.

Nobody could begrudge the giving of money and aid to alleviate poverty and suffering, but when that aid goes to countries with larger defence budgets than our own (and in the case of Pakistan, a far bigger army) you have to question our sanity.

Bad Losers

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Evidently Francois Hollande, the French president, has vetoed Belgium’s proposal for the issue of a special two euro coin to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the battle of Waterloo on June 18th.

You may consider the attitude of such a staunch supporter of the European Union to be somewhat surprising, particularly when the allied victory freed Europe from the tyranny of the French dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte, and led to over 50 years of peace on the continent. However, Hollande feels the coin might undermine European unity and would “risk engendering unfavourable reactions in France”.

Of course, the real reason for the President’s snub is that Bonaparte was defeated by a largely British force led by the Duke of Wellington and the fact of the matter is that, in spite of centuries of practice, the French have always been such bad losers.

I suggest that instead of leaving it to the Europeans, the British government should order the striking of a two pound sterling coin to commemorate the battle. On one side of the coin would be an engraving of a charging British grenadier and on the reverse a troop of fleeing French cuirassiers. That would really irritate his eminence, the French president, wouldn’t it!

A True Role Model

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I switched on the television news yesterday morning and caught the last part of an interview with a young army captain who had just been awarded the Military Cross for bravery in Afghanistan. The man was quite clearly a hero (the Military Cross is one of the country’s highest awards for gallantry) but, when lauded by the interviewer, the soldier modestly refused to be accepted as such.

Instead of describing the act of courage which led to the award he spoke instead of his pride in being part of a team of men all of whom, he inferred, would unthinkingly support their comrades in a similar manner, whatever the price. He spoke of loyalty, of duty, of honour and responsibility. Old-fashioned words and values, you may feel.

It was both humbling and heartening to listen to such a man. It was refreshing too, to be reminded that, in an age of largely negative news stories and constant disappointment in public figures, whether self-serving politicians or cheating multi-millionaire footballers, there are still some real heroes out there and true role models for our children.

A Big Year

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This year is going to be a big one for our country with a general election looming in just over four months’ time. Without putting too fine a point on it, the result of that election could well shape the future of the British people for generations to come with both our membership of the European Union and our existence as the United Kingdom at stake.

When deciding how and for whom to vote there is a natural and obvious tendency to vote for the political party that not only corresponds with our own beliefs and values but one that we think will benefit us the most individually.

This next election is more important than that and we need to put selfish desires to one side if we can and instead look at the bigger picture. The future welfare of the nation is surely far more important than, for example, immediate considerations of who can save us a few pounds here and there by cuts in taxation or an increase in state benefits.

Never have the words of the late President J.F. Kennedy been more apposite, “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” If we vote with those words in mind perhaps we will then end up with the government that we, as a nation, deserve.

Lazy British?

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Barely a day goes by without newspapers complaining about foreigners taking British jobs and British companies hiring labour from abroad. A recent report told of building firms employing Polish and Romanian bricklayers because of a shortage of British talent. Another told of high street caterers having to ship in sandwiches from Hungary because they couldn’t find British workers prepared to perform the work.

This is all rather mystifying when, at the same time, we are told that unemployment levels remain high throughout the country and millions of Britons are living on state benefits. Common sense surely dictates that a marrying together of available work with willing workers results in a solution to the problem. Of course, the key word is “willing”.

The problem was neatly encapsulated for me a couple of weeks ago in Manchester city centre, although it could have been virtually any British city or town. As I walked down the busy street I noticed two foreign speaking black women busily setting up a makeshift market stall of cardboard boxes from which to sell scarves, hats and gloves. Next to them was an apparently able bodied young white British man sat on the ground playing with his mobile phone, his two dogs sat by his feet. In front of him was a begging bowl. Enough said.

The Beginning

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Well, it’s started. Yesterday the Government announced the first major transfer of powers from Westminster to Scotland in keeping with the promises made to the separatists prior to the September referendum on Scottish independence.

To most of us, this devolution of powers, including control over income tax, seems pretty momentous and almost revolutionary but, predictably, the Scottish Nationalists Party don’t feel they have gone far enough and want more. They will continue to want more until they achieve their aim of full independence and the break-up of the United Kingdom. The clue lies in their name.

That’s fair enough and as this blog stated back in September the eventual break-up of the UK, at least in its current form, seems inevitable. If a majority of the Scottish people want to go it alone so they should.

The pro-independence lobby is not yet in the majority however and our Government must continue to bear in mind that the Scots are no better than the rest of us and whatever rights and privileges are given to them must be given equally to the people of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Condescending Politicians

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In the midst of the news of UKIP’s victory in the Rochester and Strood by-election came an example of why so many people are disenchanted with modern politics.

It was the report of the crass stupidity and insensitivity of Labour MP, Emily Thornberry, who posted a tweet stating “Image of Rochester” picturing a small ordinary town house draped with three flags of St George and outside of which was parked a white van.

This woman, no doubt enjoying life in her smart luxury London apartment, obviously thought it was clever and funny to mock an ordinary working class person who clearly happens to love his country and is proud of its flag. As a smart lawyer (in an academic sense at any rate) and the shadow attorney general with hopes one day of taking national office (Lord help us!) one would have thought she would have thought her actions through.

Not a bit of it. Sadly she is just a typical example of the many hypocritical, politically correct metro-liberals (particularly among the champagne socialists of the Labour party) who fill our parliament. Superior, out of touch and contemptuous of those who do not share their warped views of pride and nationality.

Is there any wonder that UKIP (and across the border) the Scottish Nationalists are doing so well? Well, maybe these last two by election victories by UKIP are showing us that, in the words of Bob Dylan, “The times they are a changing”. I truly hope so. It is no more than our arrogant and condescending political elite deserve.

The Best Act of Remembrance

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Unsurprisingly, most of the major news stories of the last few days have focussed on the memorial services taking place throughout the land to mark yesterday’s Remembrance Sunday and tomorrow’s Armistice Day. The services are all the more poignant this year since, as we are all aware, 2014 is the centenary of the outbreak of World War 1.

In the midst of the tales of suffering, courage and death one particular newspaper article seemed to me to strike an important chord. It was an interview in the Sunday Times with Michael Morpurgo, the novelist and author of “War Horse” who said that every British school pupil should be given the opportunity to visit the cemeteries of the Western Front of Belgium and France with the cost being borne by the State if necessary.

His argument was that children, in many cases obsessed by computer war games, need “to understand the human tragedy of conflict”.

That has to be right. Though we must never forget, and should always honour, the memories of those who suffered and died in the terrible conflicts of the Twentieth century and beyond surely the best possible act of remembrance is to do all that we can to ensure that the mistakes of the past are never repeated by future generations.

The Conquest of England

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Tomorrow is the anniversary of the battle of Hastings, a battle which took place in a year once imprinted on the brain of every English child with even the bare smattering of an education. Nowadays I’d be surprised if even a quarter of English people under the age of 20 could correctly name the year of the battle that shaped the future of their country for the next one thousand years or so.

It was always a big ask of King Harold’s English army to defeat the highly trained and fresh army of Guillame (William) of Normandy , just recently landed from across the Channel, when his own soldiers were exhausted just days after gaining a victory over William’s Viking allies at Stamford Bridge near York. The English had made a forced march over a distance of some 300 miles to meet the Norman threat and were hardly in the best of conditions to confront the second prong of the invasion of their country on that fateful morning of October 14th, 1066.

William the Conqueror’s victory spelt the end of Anglo-Saxon rule and ushered in a reign of terror with all subsequent resistance and rebellion crushed with ruthless brutality. Let nobody be in any doubt that the English suffered terribly under the cruel reign of the Normans and their harsh feudal system, aspects of which are still recognisable to this day in our anachronistic class system. Vast swathes of land were laid waste by the conquerors who wiped out whole communities all over England, particularly in the north. Such action is now referred to as ethnic cleansing or genocide.

We hear much of how badly the Irish, Welsh and Scots were treated by the “English”, meaning the ruling class of the England and a class that for nearly 300 years, until the late 14th century, spoke only French and treated English speakers as inferior serfs. By contrast we hear little of the sufferings of the English common folk. That could well be because the English have accepted it and moved on or maybe because it is just not in the English nature to wallow in sentiment and self pity.

October 14th, 1066 marked the beginning of the end of a largely peace-loving and inward-looking England concerned more by its own culture than by foreign adventure. The Norman conquest changed that forever and the country’s ruthless new rulers set out to subjugate the whole of the British Isles followed by conquest in France and beyond.

Maybe now, with the very real prospect of the dissolution of the United Kingdom, the wheel will turn full circle and England can revert once more to her pre-1066 position, a nation apart from her Celtic neighbours with an emphasis on England and all things English. Mere romance perhaps but a pleasant thought for many of us nevertheless.