A new year a new resolution?

 I realize it is some time since I last posted a blog but I thought I ought to get back to it if only to refocus myself after some turbulent and distracting times.

I am not sure if I am yet ready to admit to myself that I am prepared to accept the consequences of the referendum vote but, if I am it is probably just a ploy to protect myself from the slings and arrows of criticism from those who would dispute my view of things.

I do see the point that if we are not in the EU, and therefore on balance not paying in more than we take out, then we as a nation should have more wealth to spend on ourselves. Of course that depends on us being as financially successful in the future as in the past, but I will leave that debate aside. Part of the criticism of being in the EU, and a large part of the words shouted against it, were about the things apparently going wrong in our country that were labelled as caused by our membership. But what are our current woes, well how about housing shortage and homelessness, train travel costs and chaos, lack of adequate social care, crises in the NHS both in terms of access to hospitals and general practitioners.

None of these are as a result of being in the EU and the politician’s failure to tackle them has nothing to do with EU legislation. In fact other EU countries are handling these issues far better than us despite being members of the EU. So what am I saying, well let’s stop this blame culture and dreams of the supposed impact of being better at running our own business than with others, and get down to doing what we want with what we have.

Am I alone in this perception? I hope not.

Democracy and political messes

Democracy in the UK is meant to be in our blood, a fundamental to our way of existence, something that we trumpet about to the rest of the world. But the implications of the way the referendum in Scotland played out and then the way that the 2015 UK general election stunned almost everyone with its unexpected results, has led to mess of damaged political parties, frustrated ambitions for the future, and anger at the political process.

Now one of the damaged parties here is Labour and currently they are going though an excruciatingly protracted, and to me, very odd leadership contest. Now surely the crucial point about democracy is that it represents the views, expectations, policy declarations of the majority of the voters. Sometimes the majority view is not in line with what you or I as individuals would prefer but then that is the price you can pay, and hopefully it is not too bad. So back to the Labour party and the front runner, currently most popular candidate, who just happens to be a left winger. He is the most popular in polls because he speaks of the policies so many Labour supporters and the wider Labour movement wants. What is wrong with that? Nothing. Except that the other candidates and the continuing 'establishment' left over of New Labour believe that a left wing, or left of where they are, party is unelectable. Are they right? I have no idea and I suspect they also do not know either. So do the Labour 'establishment' want to elect a leader and have policies that conflict with the expectations of their supporters, it would appear so. So they seem to be saying there is a choice between the party being elected with policies their supporters do not want and not being elected with policies they do want. Clearly they have a problem to solve. It is too simplistic to say there are parties to suit differing views and voters should move their allegiances to suit their expectations, but equally you can't have parties that say one thing and do another, that brings politics and the politicians into disrepute, and guess what.

It all seems an absurd mess which is twisting and turning in the glare of a mainly hostile press and not helped by the strange phenomena of the party having a procedure whereby anybody can pay three pounds and then vote in the leadership election. An oddity that leaves the party open to abuse from those who wish it ill.

After the referendum and the continuing failure of parties to get proportional representation in Parliament based on the votes cast for each party, they say politics in this country is changing and, if what is happening to Labour is anything to go by, things have to change for our democracy to fit with its basic expectations.

Fences and walls of exclusion

What is the difference between the UK' s fences continuing to go up at Calais and the intentions and rhetoric of Trump's proposed wall at the US/Mexico border, not a lot if you look at the sentiments embedded in his words and those of our UK Prime Minister. Sure Trump is an obnoxious publicity seeking (space left for your own label) but he is putting his own extreme interpretation on issues that our current government is also speaking of in similar ways all be it with slightly less inflammatory words. Does it not speak of supposedly immovable objects opposing unstoppable forces. Humanity and our individual interpretations of what we believe, want to believe, should happen in these situations is being tested and many are coming up way too short in finding ways forward let alone solving these situations.

You may have noticed I have been mercifully quiet for some time, in terms of my blogs, and there have been a variety of reasons for that, health, time, interests, but possibly of late the most telling one is that I have so angry at what is happened since the start of the run up to the UK election this year, its shock and very unwelcome result, and the policies that the newly 'liberated' conservative government have been promoting. I suppose I have always believed in the concept of consensus and hence pragmatic compromise, and that just seems to have been left well behind at the moment in so many ways in so many places, to fund some appalling, exploitive and just plain unpleasant initiatives.

What is happening in Europe is messy and unpleasant enough, what is happening on Europe's borders is appalling, while beyond that it is sometimes unspeakable. The voices of reason seem dimmed to me.