What must it be like to be Theresa May?

First of all, I'd like to say that I like her and I welcome her appointment as Prime Minister  She has just made a striking statement of bold intent with a strong emphasis on social justice. She spoke of how if you're black, you are treated more harshly by the criminal justice system. She mentioned that if you're a white working class boy, you are much less likely to go to university than anyone else in the country. She relayed how if you are poor you will, on average, die almost a decade before those who are wealthy. 

As Laura Kuensberg, BBC political editor herself said, May's words were more reminiscent of  another political party - The Labour Party, of which I am a member. (Sort yourselves out, comrades!)

The last two and a half weeks have been dramatic in political terms: the EU referendum, the challenge to the Labour Party Leadership, the resignation of David Cameron, the stepping down of Angela Leadsom. the surprise disappearance of Boris Johnson because of the shocking back stabbing by Michael Gove of Boris Johnson. What price loyalty?

So what must it be like to be Theresa May right now? And what must it be like to be her husband, Philip? Theresa first - my question is, how does she feel about it all? I have no doubt that she is fully capable of being Prime Minister, but she must feel a degree of excitement, but perhaps also she is feeling overwhelmed. She has the top job in Britain. Being Home Secretary for six years is impressive on anyone's CV. But the job of  PM has no superior. Has she wanted this job for a while? Was she watching and waiting? When the chance came, did she think she could triumph against Boris Johnson, who, up until very recently, was the favourite to succeed Cameron? How could she have foretold the events of the leadership race? And if Andrea Leadsom had not made her ignorant and insensitive comment about Theresa May not having children and therefore  not having a stake in the future, Theresa's appointment may not have happened.

 The speed of her move from one job to another has also been dramatic. As far as I can see, she is managing it all with calm and good grace. What she is saying to her husband in private may well be very  different.

Just a word about David Cameron, who left office before he was really ready. He was confident that the nation would vote to remain in the EU, but, that people voted to leave, may be a sign of how out of touch Cameron was.

As he left Downing Street, just as Gordon Brown before him, 'nothing in his life became him like the leaving of it.' * We saw both David Cameron and Gordon Brown, with their wives and children, appearing relaxed and possibly a little relieved. But more than anything, they appeared fallible and decidedly human.

*from Macbeth

Tony Blair - a Broken Man?

Tony Blair told the truth. There was no attempt to deceive. 'Please stop saying that I lied.' He asked of his audience and of the nation as he faced reporters today.

Finally, after seven long years, the Chilcot report has been published. It is unforgiving in its criticism of decisions made and actions taken, but it categorically states that Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, the winner of three consecutive election victories for Labour, something no other Labour Prime Minister has ever achieved, did not lie.

I am really pleased that Sir John Chilcot found Blair not to have lied. Ever since the accusation that Blair was lying in order to secure military action against Iraq, I have never believed it. Yes, in my view, the invasion was a mistake, but hindsight is a glorious thing. It saddens me that so many Labour supporters chose to believe that Blair was lying and that they were so quick to sneer and condemn. Why were they so willing to believe he lied? Was it that they were eager to believe he lied because that way further ignominy would rain on Blair's head? I think that was the case. Damn him and damn him again. He was their quarry and they would take him down. An unpleasant trait of human nature if ever there was one.

In May 1997, Tony Blair was elected Prime Minister after eighteen long years of Tory governments. Neil Kinnock nearly did it in 1992, but we had to wait five long years before Blair finally did it for Labour. I was absolutely delighted. He grasped the nettle and changes for the better were effected in health and education. Who can forget Blair's, 'My three main priorities for government are education, education, education?'

It is undeniable that Blair did good work. This must not be forgotten. But sadly, I believe that it will be and that Blair will be remembered for his ill-conceived invasion of Iraq. 'Shock and awe' filled our screens as Iraq was hit in such dramatic and monstrous fashion. Did anyone else feel that this show of military might was just too much and that humility was sadly lacking? Should humility have been a part of it though? Was the aim not just to finish off Saddam Hussein and his torturing sons once and for all? Or should the civilians, who were undoubtedly killed, have been given greater consideration? Of course, history will be the judge of that as it will be the judge of us all, including Tony Blair. As he said, 'I express more regret and sorrow than you can believe.' And, 'There will not be a day in my life when I do not relive and rethink what happened.'

Today, Tony Blair appeared as a broken man. In such nerve shattering circumstances, all Tony Blair's wealth, for which he has been roundly criticised, is of no help at all. From this, money is no saviour. 

What was particularly striking was the fact that Blair was more than generous in the number of questions he allowed, some of which were harsh and probing. Admirably, Blair never faltered. He gave the truth, his truth and that is all any of us can ever do. 




 

Post Referendum Reflections

This last fortnight has seen  the greatest political  upheaval of perhaps the last half century. The referendum dominated politics for weeks before it took place and it was as if there was no other news apart from  the  latest on the shenanigans of the Leave or the Remain side.

But now - what a mess! The Tories are voting in a new leader, a new Prime Minister, in fact and at the moment it looks as if either Theresa May or Andrea Leadsom will be that new Prime Minister. That all seems quite straightforward, especially in comparison to the hideous behaviour of some Tories.

Boris Johnson, ex-mayor of London, bagged himself a safe Tory seat last year. Then he launched his bid to become Prime Minister, which had always been his ambition. When Boris emerged as lead Leave campaigner, some say that he was going against his natural inclination. Up until this point it seems that Boris was wholly for remaining in the EU. In order to become Prime Minister though, he had to unseat Cameron, which he succeeded in doing by fronting the Leave campaign and leading the campaign to victory. And then, in a move straight from Shakespearian drama,  Michael Gove, the good friend of Boris for two decades, raised his dagger and stabbed Boris in the back. All of a sudden, Michael Gove, who had stood with Boris throughout the Leave campaign, had decided that Boris was not good enough to be PM. Naturally, he made a fuss, talking about how hard he had thought abourt his decision to stand, but I am most certain that Gove, despite his public denials, was encouraged by his wife, Sarah Vine, to stand. It pleases me that it seems most unlikely that Michael Gove will be Prime Minister. After all, who could trust such a man?

The Labour Party has considerable problems too. Today, Jeremy Corbyn has turned to social media to plead with Labour Party members to 'Come together.' By that I believe he means to stop the attempt to depose him and have a leadership contest. People say that Jeremy Corbyn cannot win a General Election and that he was too feeble in his support for the Remain campaign. As many as 25 MPs have resigned their posts in the shadow cabinet. In a vote of no confidence there are 170 memebrs against him and just forty for him. Ironically, people, especially young people, are joining the party in droves to support him, in the event of a leadership challenge, which he will more than likely win - again.


Of course, those MPs who say that  they believe Corbyn cannot win an election may have forgotten that Neil Kinnock, Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband did not win an election either. Tony Blair did win - three consecutive elections, as it happens, yet everyone hates him. Such short memories.

And then there are the demonsrations to stay in the EU by people who cannot accept the democratic vote. Yes it was close and yes, I did vote to remain, but the result was clear. That said, it may well be the case that in the end we do not leave, as a referendum is not legally binding. However, imagine the anger. There would be some quite intense demonstrations and protests if Parliament did decide that it was not in the national interest to leave the EU, and in fact we did not leave.

It seems that at this juncture there is much more to come and as yet, there is no fat lady anywhere that is even contemplating bursting into song.

Where are the Leave Campaign? Left Already?

Have they left? Who? The Leave Campaign of course. There was a time, up until last Wednesday in fact, when you couldn't switch on the television without having to gaze at Michael Gove,  Boris Johnson or Priti Patel. But now, they seem to have gone to ground. So where are they? Are they all holed up somewhere, panicking, hyperventilating and saying things like. 'OMG! What have we done? Half the country hates us and thinks we are small-minded idiots. Better get on with it. Hang on though, what did we say we'd do?'

A friend of mine, very politically aware and once a Labour MP before he was kicked out by a Lib Dem over the Iraq war, has actually said that we may never actually leave the EU. He told me that it would take at least 2.25 years for us to cut all ties and that within that time so much may have changed in the EU that another referendum will be activated. Pipe Dream? Maybe, but at the moment I am willing to believe anything that gets us back to where we were on Wednesday.

I honestly thought that Remain would win and even Nigel Farage, on referendum night said that he thought that Remain 'had edged it.' I confess to being surprised, shocked even at thye result and yet I do not believe that the EU is perfect - far from it, especially with the 12 unelected decision makers at the helm and the money that seems to leak away from what some call the 'last gravy train'.

Even the most passionate Remain supporters will accept that the EU is not flawless, but by being a part of it we could, maybe, have influenced decisions.

What the politicians must now turn their attention to are those people who used the opportunity to spit at the government, the Labour Party and the whole of the Westminster elite. They have been fobbed off for too long while their  towns and cities have changed fundamentally. Yes, of course, immigration is a good thing, for all the reasons that have been repeatedly repeated. For some of the indigenous people though, immigration has been too numerous and too swift. It needs managing and a sense of fairness needs to be seen to be applied to all. Places in the North West; Bury, Bolton, Preston. Blackburn - the indigenous population there do not feel that 'immigration is a wonderful thing' - they just feel pushed out and forgotten.

So when you feel pushed around, bullied even, the chance to bite back is irresistible. The Leave vote won out, not because people wanted to leave the EU, but because they wanted to punish those who they felt, have punished them.

As a Labour Party member, I have to confess to being sick of the internal divisions, the self-indulgence of infighting, the vanity of MPs who think that they have a right to form little cliques and to sneer at he leadership. ALL the Labour Party should be should be thinking of those people who rely on them for fairness and justice: the poor, the dispossessed, the asylum seekers, the old, those who want to find a better life, the unemployed, those recently out of prison and those who need a step up. We can't look to the Tories for sympathy. Despite their phrase of 'compassionate conservatism' no one is fooled.

So reach out Labour, as the Four Tops instructed and look after YOUR people.

What is a 'good mother'?

We hear it all the time. 'Oh yes, she is a really good mother'. Listeners nod sagely in agreement, but what I would like to clarify is this - what do we really mean by a good mother?

So, is a good mother a woman who puts her children before everything else? Or is she a woman who has a job, employs a childminder, and heads off to the workplace daily, firm in her view that she will be a better mother if she has a job she enjoys and which giver her a sense of her worth?

Some women have a strong desire to be with their children all the time, often fearing that outside influences will corrupt them in some way. Daily there is baking, painting, craftwork, drawing and on and on. On reaching school age, what does this mother do? Well, she home schools them, of course. I don't like to mention social class or be classist in any way, but sometimes, it is the only way. Now I've excused myself for mentioning social class, it is the case that it is usually middle class women who home school. It's possible they do this because they wish to retain control. I suppose it is also possible that some educated women, usually middle class, feel that they can educate their children better than a school can, where their particular child may get lost in a class of 30+.

Is this the woman who is a good mother? The one who has sacrificed her own life and says things like, 'There's nothing more important than our children.' The middle class though are not the only ones who consider their children their most precious 'possessions' - the working class would also put their children as top priority. But, in my view admirably, the working class just get on with bringing up children, they don't make an art form out of it, and if they tell them to stop 'mithering' and to get out of their way, it does not mean that these parents love them any the less. It also does not mean that they are bad mothers.

What concerns me about some mothers, is that they behave as if they are the ones with all the answers, they have the indisputable rule book. written by themselves and so millennia of childrearing is thus rendered useless.

Some mothers see their children as a reflection on themselves, thus a narcissistic element is present. The attempt at total control though will certainly fail. Good mother or bad mother, whatever is your view, children become independent people and will develop their own views, whatever mummy and daddy say.

So what is a good mother then? I would suggest that a good mother is one who allows her child to feel bored sometimes, who does not give her undivided attention to the child, who makes the child realise that the world does not revolve around him/her, which is as good a lesson as anyone can have. I see many mothers reasoning with their child as to why some action the child has committed is not ideal, even when it involves whacking someone else. Asking the child what it was that made them do that? Were they feeling angry? Why was that? Dear God! Sometimes things are simply wrong and a child should be told so without delving into their current mental state.

Might I add that those who sacrifice their lives for their children may well regret it later. Someone who I know had 3 daughters upon whom she doted. She was a deputy head teacher, gave it up on the birth of child number 1 and decided to bring to the child all she knew. The next 2 were born which only inflamed her wish to be all things to her offspring. When they spoke, often interrupting adult conversation, they were immediately the top priority. What happened to, 'Shush, I'm talking.'

Thirty tears on and the 2 older children are abroad, and nor do they speak to their mother. It is heartbreaking to witness her pain at the loss. The youngest one is still at home, until September. She is a recovering drug addict and funded her habit by prostitution. That is not to say that such tragedy happens in all families where the children rule the roost, but it is a warning.

Jo Cox - Rest Peacefully

For a good while now I have not had much respect for politicians. The expenses scandal, the use of official cars to travel 100 yards, the nest feathering, claims for bathplugs, dog food and duck houses - all most off-putting. There are a few for whom I have some respect: Dennis Skinner, Jeremy Corbyn, Rachel Reeves and Jess Philips. These are all Labour MPs and I am a Labour Party member. Even so, I don't have a deal of time for many of the Labour MPs. As for the Tories, well... I'll explain another day, maybe.

I had never heard of Jo Cox until yesterday, when the news broke of a shooting and stabbing in Batley and Spen. A short while later the news came of her death. A woman aged 41, an MP who had worked for Oxfam, entered war zones and held the hands of women who had been gang raped and thus excluded and ostracised from their communities.

Jo Cox was a woman who didn't just express sorrow and regret as to what was happening in war torn countries; Jo Cox was a woman who actually went to those places with little regard for her own safety. Most of us, the vast majority, in fact, including myself, make sympathetic noises, may even be sufficiently moved as to make  donation to a cause, safely ensconced in our own homes. Joe was different.

A local Batley girl, she was bright enough to gain a place at Cambridge University. Her time there was not the most comfortable, largely because not many people there had an accent like hers. I have personal experience of how an accent can affect those around you, those around you being best described as snobs. My son, a Sheffield lad through and through, was also bright enough to secure a place at a top ranking university - Oxford in his case. Initially, he was asked by fellow students to say the words, bus, path and stuff - and those listening would laugh and marvel at how northern he was. Later, and no longer in awe of their wealth and their 'poshness' he told those who asked to f... off.

Elected in 2015 as a Labour MP for the place in which she grew up, Jo achieved her dream of representing the people she knew and understood so well. It was these people and all disadvantaged people for whom she campaigned. She spoke her mind and was not cowed by the fact that she was relatively young, inexperienced, and spoke with a Yorkshire accent. I imagine that her love of climbing mountains, which she did 'to relax' is evidence of the measure of the woman.

The pictures, so recent, that are in my head are of her striding confidently, dressed in a blue jacket and red trousers. Another image I have stuck in my head from the recent coverage is of her speaking in the House of Commons, putting her point forcibly to those in attendance.

An image of my own creation is of Jo, husband Brendan and her 2 young children living on a houseboat in East London. She's putting them to bed, kissing them goodnight, relishing the feeling all of us experience when you know the children are safe and quiet, and you can enjoy whatever part of the evening remains, albeit it sometimes as little as 10 minutes.

Of course her husband will miss her terribly, but he is a man in his early 40s who can remarry. This is not intended to sound heartless, but in time, he will meet someone else. What I find so heart breaking about Jo's death is that she had to leave the children that she loved.  Those 2 children will never know the ferocity, the protectiveness, the unconditional love a mother gives.

Time will tell what the motive for the murder was, but in many ways it is immaterial - Jo is dead. Perhaps what will come out of it is a gentler, more honest, more sensitive politics. Bt would even that be worth her life?

Such a Sad Day

Today I visited my 90 year old aunt who is now in a care home for the Elderly Mentally Infirm - EMI. The staff were lovely, it has to be said. As I searched the room for my aunt, it was hard to single her out amongst the silver heads sitting in chairs, heads lolling, mouths open, mostly napping.

There she was. I gasped at the change in her in just three days. Three days ago, though she wasn't doing brilliantly, she was better than this. On reaching her, her eyes seemed to be misted. unseeing, dead. I was surprised then, as she lifted her head and said, 'Hello Ruth love.' A lump in my throat, tears pricking my eyes, I had all on to utter, 'Hello Auntie Pat, how are you?'
Her reply broke my heart. 'I don't know where I am.'

Of course, I told her where she was but she couldn't grasp it. I took her for a short walk, out in the fresh air. She asked me if I'd seen her sister, Jean, who had been dead for thirty years. I may have been wrong but I told her that Jean was fine. She liked that. She also asked how Michael was but I had no idea who he was. When she was younger my aunt was very glamorous and attracted a lot of boyfriends. I wondered if Michael was an old boyfriend. I asked her who he was and what he looked like. She said he was in his twenties, tall and dark and was wearing a brown jacket. I told her I would look out for him. She smiled.

After a while she asked if she could lie down. I took her to her room and helped her lie down on the bed. Within seconds her eyes closed. I stayed a while, cried a little, then left. The guilt at leaving her there was overwhelming.

I'll go to see her again in a couple of days. It's no fun for me, but for her? I can only imagine...