Today, as with so many recent days, it rained, and this, coupled with various email received from friends, cycling team-mates and loved ones, led me to reflect on the problem of suffering.
In his poem ‘The Rainy Day’ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-82) concluded Into each life a little rain must fall, Some days must be dark and dreary.
These words were possibly inspired by the premature death, in childbirth, of his first wife, Mary Potter, but in any case later proved to be prophetic for the great man as he lost his second wife, Frances Appleton, in even more tragic circumstances when she accidentally set herself alight. Longfellow never really recovered from this second tragedy and took to his bed for long periods, too scared to sleep in case of not waking.
I've been very lucky with my health generally but I have always felt that when these human indignities are thrust upon us it tends to steel our spirits in a necessary way. Each time we suffer makes the next time just a little easier and we become more aware but more tolerant of our mortality. I remember when my dad sat me down a few years ago to discuss the merits of whether he should bother having surgery for cancer as he didn’t much fancy the treatment and knew that his restricted oesophagus and reduced stomach capacity would mean the loss of his gourmet lifestyle. To me he seemed to be taking an almost business-like approach to his life but I now know it was just the wisdom of advanced age and the human mechanism to rationalise and come to terms with the finite term we experience on Earth.
My dad is still going strong in his 88th year having made the right decision.
Coincidentally I have today received updates about several friends who are struggling through that despicable burden of ill-health. Mark and John have cancers, Sue is in a hospital bed not responding to any stimuli, Mario is worried that his wife Suzanne’s cancer has returned and Luke has had to have his right arm amputated after a mystery virus created complications.
May I ask anyone who reads this blog to pray earnestly for all of the above, with a repentant heart, as I believe the repentant heart has great power. In Luke 13 Jesus talks of the certainty of death of unrepentant sinners. You see it is all just a timing difference. We may die today or tomorrow but we shall hardly ever die when we, or our loved ones, are ready. The repentant sinner shall never die according to Jesus.
An earlier line in Longfellow’s ‘The Rainy Day’ goes Be still, sad heart! and cease repining; Behind the clouds is the sun still shining. The man truly knew the nature of suffering. All things must pass and indeed some tragedies are played out with joyous endings.
I have a friend who broke his back falling out of a tree. He is in constant pain and his paralysis has worsened over the years to the extent that he now requires 24-hour care and is confined to bed for long periods. Despite this Brian always has a joke to brighten your day and is an inspiration to all and sundry. He would actually tell you it was the best thing that ever happened to him as he didn’t really like the path his life was taking before that fateful day.
My brother Kevin had a similar accident to Longfellow’s second wife Frances, last year. He survived and visited me from his home in Ibiza this last Christmas.
It rained and then the sun shone.
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Soap Opera Continuity
Having always been a fan of kitchen-sink drama I do occasionally dip into the nation’s favourite soaps Eastenders and Coronation Street. In recent years my enthusiasm has been tempered somewhat by a mixture of unbelievable storylines and little or no continuity. To me it shows scant disrespect for the viewing public.
To give recent examples of each of these misdemeanours might serve to highlight the waywardness of the respective writing teams.
Jack Branning and ‘tough guy’ Phil Mitchell had an altercation two years ago resulting in Phil duping his mother into signing over the car lot to Jack. This in itself was totally unbelievable as Phil had already ‘sorted out’ Jack in the past and is hardly the sort of bloke to roll over and play pussy. The premise was meant to be that Phil ‘got lucky’ the first time around but now Jack was ready for him………………… I ask you!
All was not lost I thought as Phil vowed vengeance on this dastardly lowlife former bent copper who had dishonoured him and, worst of all, his family. The retribution was going to be swift and bloody as everyone in the world knows “you do not mess with the Mitchells!”
Almost two years on and Jack and Phil have become almost bosom pals, teaming up in their fight against the even more dastardly Psycho Sean. Even when Jack’s brother Max solicited Phil’s help to make Jack ‘disappear’ Phil did not rise to this obvious opportunity to settle old scores.
Yes I know Jack Branning is a good character and the writers are loathe to kill him off but they should have thought of that before jeopardising his character’s existence.
A good example of an unbelievable storyline is the present Carla/Tony/Liam ménage à trois. Of course the viewer is privy to the information that Tony had Liam bumped off (literally), but when Maria tells all and sundry that Tony confessed to her is there no one with the nous to give her the benefit of the doubt as she is hardly a straitjacket case and the clues are there as Sir David Frost might say. Surely Carla would have a long meaningful chat with Maria in order to make sense of the death of the love of her life. What sort of friend is Fizz to simply dismiss her mate’s earnest pleas. Even normally supportive brother Kirk is seen constantly kowtowing to Saint Tony by apologising for his errant sister’s foolhardiness. And as for Norris…….well he has been a victim of Tony’s menacing threats first hand so you’d think he’d put two and two together and come up with four, especially in light of the disappearance of Jed Stone.
Perhaps Kevin might even suspect that the man who sabotaged his business is not likely to gain imminent beatification.
Again, I know Tony is a strong character and the writers are trying to prolong his soap life but please can we have just a hint of reality in our storylines.
To give recent examples of each of these misdemeanours might serve to highlight the waywardness of the respective writing teams.
Jack Branning and ‘tough guy’ Phil Mitchell had an altercation two years ago resulting in Phil duping his mother into signing over the car lot to Jack. This in itself was totally unbelievable as Phil had already ‘sorted out’ Jack in the past and is hardly the sort of bloke to roll over and play pussy. The premise was meant to be that Phil ‘got lucky’ the first time around but now Jack was ready for him………………… I ask you!
All was not lost I thought as Phil vowed vengeance on this dastardly lowlife former bent copper who had dishonoured him and, worst of all, his family. The retribution was going to be swift and bloody as everyone in the world knows “you do not mess with the Mitchells!”
Almost two years on and Jack and Phil have become almost bosom pals, teaming up in their fight against the even more dastardly Psycho Sean. Even when Jack’s brother Max solicited Phil’s help to make Jack ‘disappear’ Phil did not rise to this obvious opportunity to settle old scores.
Yes I know Jack Branning is a good character and the writers are loathe to kill him off but they should have thought of that before jeopardising his character’s existence.
A good example of an unbelievable storyline is the present Carla/Tony/Liam ménage à trois. Of course the viewer is privy to the information that Tony had Liam bumped off (literally), but when Maria tells all and sundry that Tony confessed to her is there no one with the nous to give her the benefit of the doubt as she is hardly a straitjacket case and the clues are there as Sir David Frost might say. Surely Carla would have a long meaningful chat with Maria in order to make sense of the death of the love of her life. What sort of friend is Fizz to simply dismiss her mate’s earnest pleas. Even normally supportive brother Kirk is seen constantly kowtowing to Saint Tony by apologising for his errant sister’s foolhardiness. And as for Norris…….well he has been a victim of Tony’s menacing threats first hand so you’d think he’d put two and two together and come up with four, especially in light of the disappearance of Jed Stone.
Perhaps Kevin might even suspect that the man who sabotaged his business is not likely to gain imminent beatification.
Again, I know Tony is a strong character and the writers are trying to prolong his soap life but please can we have just a hint of reality in our storylines.
Saturday, 3 January 2009
Don't be Surprised by Joy
Sometimes in the bleak mid-winter months my mind turns to contemplation of shoes and ships and sealing wax and cabbages and kings.
As a new year starts and the stark waves of mortality wash through my brain I appraise what’s gone before, what is now and what is to come – for me - and for you.
For myself – at this moment in time - I feel that incredible emotion that CS Lewis described so beautifully in several of his works – Joy. Those three simple letters, which score so well at Scrabble (in almost any company) can be a Christian’s most potent defence against the vicissitudes of life. God in his wisdom withholds it from his children at some moments, and in his mercy pours it out on them at others.
Joy is at the heart of Christianity – it is that blessed gift that compels men and women into the fellowship of the Cross and transforms a wide, diverse throng of sad, lonely pilgrims into a community full of faith, hope and charity. In John 15: 11-12 Jesus says to His disciples “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is My commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you”. These words ultimately brought a motley gang of proud and competing sinners together into a fellowship of joy.
To understand Joy further I must hark back to the celebrated Clive Staples Lewis (Jack to his friends).
He distinguished joy from both happiness and pleasure. “Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again. Apart from that, and considered only in its quality, it might almost equally well be called a particular kind of unhappiness or grief. But it is a kind we want. I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is”.
Jack Lewis gave many examples of joy and almost all contained a defining characteristic of longing—a deep yearning or poignant desire for something agonizingly elusive. Just as one’s pleasure in spring contains a memory of winter longings, joy for Jack Lewis always contained "the stab, the pang, the inconsolable longing". This underlying quality of joy was "that of an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction."
The German language has a word for this emotion - sehnsucht. This is the haunting longing that full, heavy, enveloping nostalgia for a fulfillment that awaits.
I have experienced this feeling many times in my life. At church mainly but in everyday life it might even be a smell – of leather as a reminder of my first day at school and my sparkling new satchel, or of something I know not what. Yes I have a smell from time to time that I have never been able to work out what it actually is, but whatever it is that I smell I am transported back to my childhood and an attic room in Limerick with a treasure chest moneybox and key in my hand, whereupon I first wondered what that magnificent odour was.
The really merciful times I have experienced this wonderful feeling of joy is when everything seems to be dark and gloomy and I am either feeling sorry for myself or for someone else.
I am immediately reminded of King Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes 1 and how he came to realise that although he had experienced every pleasure available to mortal man it was all just vanity and man’s propensity to strive after wind. The end of this verse goes like this “For in the abundance of wisdom there is an abundance of vexation, so that he that increases knowledge increases pain”. This applies to many bright people I know but only the Christian ones are shielded from their pain by this gift of joy. It is this gift that allows someone who has suffered great human tragedy, perhaps the loss of a loved one, to come to terms with their suffering.
I have lost several friends this past year. It began with Jeremy and then Francis, and then John and then Audrey. The year before a great Christian man died. I had read his book which was a testimony of a Christian pastor. I had only met the man once, at the Whyteleafe Pentecostal Church, and he had given me a great laugh with his dancing and hopping about while still managing to say goodbye to a friend of his. He was full of joy you see.
After he died I visited his widow, Joan, and although not surprised at her reaction to her husband’s death, I was heartened by her faith that he was now with other saints who had slipped from this mortal coil. Joan showed me old photos and spoke with such joy that he was now fulfilled. But as I left she explained that although she felt joy at this particular moment she had also shed tears for her beloved husband. You see that is how joy is given to us by God.
It can be a respite from pain and grief.
Jack Lewis was even blessed enough to have married his joy, Joy Gresham to be precise – now how cool is that!
At the funeral of all four of those I mention above I felt an overwhelming joy at the celebration of life. At Jeremy’s humanist funeral I looked around at others I knew and I shared their grief for a personality which was simply irreplaceable. For Francis it was the same solidarity and love for someone we knew was a gentle man in every sense of the word.
John Piper was my old headmaster and I felt real grief to begin with that this great man went largely unheralded. But then the joy cut in. I remembered how I had knocked the top of my finger off playing football and how he had driven me to the hospital after his secretary had fainted at the sight of the bone sticking up. John waited with me all evening and right through the operation. Apparently he had always had a soft spot for me since my first year when I was awarded a 5/- book token for coming top in Maths, English and French but he had refused to hand out my selected choice of book, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (my affinity with CS Lewis was already apparent it seems), as it was far too childish for a 12-year-old young man!
Audrey was a tough one on the surface. She had always treated me like a son and I was invariably invited to all the family bashes. I was also friends with all her four sons, Wayne my ex-hurdles training partner and golfing buddy had tragically taken his own life a few years earlier, Mark had become business man extraordinaire, Tony was now a successful Manchester poet and Dave was/is and always will be one of the most special guys in the whole world. Audrey had suffered from mental health problems in recent years and this illness had alienated her from many old friends but magically everyone remembered the kind and loving Audrey we all knew for so long. I was touched by joy that day too.
This Christmas my brother Kevin came home from Ibiza for the first time in many years. It was an exhilarating time for me but tinged with great sadness as unlike him I was unable to enjoy the company of others in my family at this time. I initially felt pangs of grief but this was taken away and replaced by joy. Joy for everyone’s happiness and delight – mine too. You see, I know everyone is fit and well and happy and so all is right with the world.
Now all we need to do is experience joy through this latest credit-crunch. Read more books instead of clubbing it – not mine necessarily – give up the booze, stop smoking, cycle perhaps instead of using the car. Forget the rat race for a while. Try praying some time, read the Bible, give church a go. All these things are economically viable and can be very joyful.
As a new year starts and the stark waves of mortality wash through my brain I appraise what’s gone before, what is now and what is to come – for me - and for you.
For myself – at this moment in time - I feel that incredible emotion that CS Lewis described so beautifully in several of his works – Joy. Those three simple letters, which score so well at Scrabble (in almost any company) can be a Christian’s most potent defence against the vicissitudes of life. God in his wisdom withholds it from his children at some moments, and in his mercy pours it out on them at others.
Joy is at the heart of Christianity – it is that blessed gift that compels men and women into the fellowship of the Cross and transforms a wide, diverse throng of sad, lonely pilgrims into a community full of faith, hope and charity. In John 15: 11-12 Jesus says to His disciples “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is My commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you”. These words ultimately brought a motley gang of proud and competing sinners together into a fellowship of joy.
To understand Joy further I must hark back to the celebrated Clive Staples Lewis (Jack to his friends).
He distinguished joy from both happiness and pleasure. “Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again. Apart from that, and considered only in its quality, it might almost equally well be called a particular kind of unhappiness or grief. But it is a kind we want. I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is”.
Jack Lewis gave many examples of joy and almost all contained a defining characteristic of longing—a deep yearning or poignant desire for something agonizingly elusive. Just as one’s pleasure in spring contains a memory of winter longings, joy for Jack Lewis always contained "the stab, the pang, the inconsolable longing". This underlying quality of joy was "that of an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction."
The German language has a word for this emotion - sehnsucht. This is the haunting longing that full, heavy, enveloping nostalgia for a fulfillment that awaits.
I have experienced this feeling many times in my life. At church mainly but in everyday life it might even be a smell – of leather as a reminder of my first day at school and my sparkling new satchel, or of something I know not what. Yes I have a smell from time to time that I have never been able to work out what it actually is, but whatever it is that I smell I am transported back to my childhood and an attic room in Limerick with a treasure chest moneybox and key in my hand, whereupon I first wondered what that magnificent odour was.
The really merciful times I have experienced this wonderful feeling of joy is when everything seems to be dark and gloomy and I am either feeling sorry for myself or for someone else.
I am immediately reminded of King Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes 1 and how he came to realise that although he had experienced every pleasure available to mortal man it was all just vanity and man’s propensity to strive after wind. The end of this verse goes like this “For in the abundance of wisdom there is an abundance of vexation, so that he that increases knowledge increases pain”. This applies to many bright people I know but only the Christian ones are shielded from their pain by this gift of joy. It is this gift that allows someone who has suffered great human tragedy, perhaps the loss of a loved one, to come to terms with their suffering.
I have lost several friends this past year. It began with Jeremy and then Francis, and then John and then Audrey. The year before a great Christian man died. I had read his book which was a testimony of a Christian pastor. I had only met the man once, at the Whyteleafe Pentecostal Church, and he had given me a great laugh with his dancing and hopping about while still managing to say goodbye to a friend of his. He was full of joy you see.
After he died I visited his widow, Joan, and although not surprised at her reaction to her husband’s death, I was heartened by her faith that he was now with other saints who had slipped from this mortal coil. Joan showed me old photos and spoke with such joy that he was now fulfilled. But as I left she explained that although she felt joy at this particular moment she had also shed tears for her beloved husband. You see that is how joy is given to us by God.
It can be a respite from pain and grief.
Jack Lewis was even blessed enough to have married his joy, Joy Gresham to be precise – now how cool is that!
At the funeral of all four of those I mention above I felt an overwhelming joy at the celebration of life. At Jeremy’s humanist funeral I looked around at others I knew and I shared their grief for a personality which was simply irreplaceable. For Francis it was the same solidarity and love for someone we knew was a gentle man in every sense of the word.
John Piper was my old headmaster and I felt real grief to begin with that this great man went largely unheralded. But then the joy cut in. I remembered how I had knocked the top of my finger off playing football and how he had driven me to the hospital after his secretary had fainted at the sight of the bone sticking up. John waited with me all evening and right through the operation. Apparently he had always had a soft spot for me since my first year when I was awarded a 5/- book token for coming top in Maths, English and French but he had refused to hand out my selected choice of book, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (my affinity with CS Lewis was already apparent it seems), as it was far too childish for a 12-year-old young man!
Audrey was a tough one on the surface. She had always treated me like a son and I was invariably invited to all the family bashes. I was also friends with all her four sons, Wayne my ex-hurdles training partner and golfing buddy had tragically taken his own life a few years earlier, Mark had become business man extraordinaire, Tony was now a successful Manchester poet and Dave was/is and always will be one of the most special guys in the whole world. Audrey had suffered from mental health problems in recent years and this illness had alienated her from many old friends but magically everyone remembered the kind and loving Audrey we all knew for so long. I was touched by joy that day too.
This Christmas my brother Kevin came home from Ibiza for the first time in many years. It was an exhilarating time for me but tinged with great sadness as unlike him I was unable to enjoy the company of others in my family at this time. I initially felt pangs of grief but this was taken away and replaced by joy. Joy for everyone’s happiness and delight – mine too. You see, I know everyone is fit and well and happy and so all is right with the world.
Now all we need to do is experience joy through this latest credit-crunch. Read more books instead of clubbing it – not mine necessarily – give up the booze, stop smoking, cycle perhaps instead of using the car. Forget the rat race for a while. Try praying some time, read the Bible, give church a go. All these things are economically viable and can be very joyful.
Saturday, 27 December 2008
OK So I'm A Grumpy Old Man
As it’s the season of goodwill I thought I’d offer some advice to all those poor people who get taken in on a daily basis by unscrupulous salespersons.
Beware salesmen they often come in sheep’s clothing!
Eleven years ago my insurance company rep from Royal Sun Alliance knocked on my door and invited me to take out a 10-year savings plan. “Of course I can’t give you precise information but at the current rate of interest your money should almost double”. I can see the chap now and I remember thinking “I wonder where you will be in 10 years time”. On a beach in Lanzarote perhaps!
Last Christmas my plan matured and you might think it was a nice little earner as the previous 10 years had been a time of boom bang a bang bang – alas nooooooo. My final figure was far less than I had paid in and when I had the audacity to question this I was told “admin fees”.
While I am on the subject of RSA (now called More Than I think) I’d like to warn people at this stage that they are probably the most customer-unfriendly insurance company in Britain.
I have had my motor insurance and home insurance with them for most of the 30 years I have lived at my current abode and have never yet made a claim on either – however – I had the misfortune to be banned for speeding after speed cameras were placed on the road I live on and in total ignorance I sped through them at 38, 39 and 39mph on the first day they were implemented in February 2001. Three months later, in May, the summons’ arrived on my doorstep all at once and in September I was banned for four months on the totting-up procedure as the magistrate thought it wise to give me three points for the first offence, four for the second and five points for the third, although they were all awarded for a 24-hour period. Incidentally, I subsequently found out this year that I should never have been taken to court in the first place as there were three months between offence and summons!! Anyway my insurance company RSA took it upon themselves to write to me to the effect that I was now persona non grata and that was that. A little irked but undeterred I have continued to pay them my home insurance premium and in September put in a claim for structural damage to my hall wall as a gaping crack suddenly appeared. I sent the builder’s estimate in (£660) as they asked me to but eventually was told this was cosmetic and they would not be honouring my claim. Be warned everyone
Now back to investment issues. This Christmas I had been looking forward to a Capital Bond maturing. I opened a bank account with NatWest five years ago and immediately a personal investment banker called me into his office to tell me that my money would be best served by taking out a Capital Bond. He told me there were three types of Bond, High Risk, Medium Risk and Low Risk but all of them would DEFINITELY serve me better than the interest earned in the account I had opened. Yes, I fell for it again I’m afraid (but remember I didn’t know about my savings plan at this time) and the letter duly arrived on my doorstep last week congratulating me on my bond maturing and relaying to me how pleased they were to inform me that all I needed to do was sign the letter and send it back to the bank. I smelt a rat immediately when no figure was mentioned so I rang the bank and was eventually told that my bond was worth considerably less than five years ago. So much for the words of the investment banker who wasted several hours of my time five years ago and completely unsolicited I might add. Be warned everyone
It seems Christmas is not always the time for good cheer. On 28 December 2004 I purchased a laptop from PC World in Crawley. It never held a charge and had to be plugged in constantly.
I was busy getting my sports book out so didn’t have a chance to take it back initially but rang them up several times during the course of the year to inform them of the situation and they told me to bring it along when I am next in town. Unfortunately for me this was 29 December 2005 and the chap in the store seemed to take great relish in informing me that my warranty expired the day before. My explanation stood for nothing and another lesson was learnt. I bought another laptop this Christmas – from Currys : )
With me it is usually the principle and so the worst crime of all is when you know someone is taking advantage of you but you are helpless to do anything about it. I bought an ear cleaner from a mail order catalogue called Healthy Living in September – it cost me £15.99 i.e. £9.99 +p&p. It was advertised as having a ‘gentle suction action’ but laughably it was just a whirring noise with a light. My GP told me it was useless so I duly sent it back as the company asked me to. I checked my bank account in November to see that £9.99 had been credited and when I rang them last week was told they do not refund postage. Now come on guys I would have expected my original postage back plus the carriage in on the return. More than that I asked for an investigation as I felt this was a con and far from believing this was a faulty machine I rather fear that there could not possibly be a ‘gentle suction action’ on any of the stock as it has a solid head with no compartment for residue wax!
Be warned everyone Healthy Living could ruin your health.
The lessons learnt are twofold. Never be swayed by smooth-talking men in grey suits and if something seems to good to be true then it usually is.
A very happy new year to everyone
Beware salesmen they often come in sheep’s clothing!
Eleven years ago my insurance company rep from Royal Sun Alliance knocked on my door and invited me to take out a 10-year savings plan. “Of course I can’t give you precise information but at the current rate of interest your money should almost double”. I can see the chap now and I remember thinking “I wonder where you will be in 10 years time”. On a beach in Lanzarote perhaps!
Last Christmas my plan matured and you might think it was a nice little earner as the previous 10 years had been a time of boom bang a bang bang – alas nooooooo. My final figure was far less than I had paid in and when I had the audacity to question this I was told “admin fees”.
While I am on the subject of RSA (now called More Than I think) I’d like to warn people at this stage that they are probably the most customer-unfriendly insurance company in Britain.
I have had my motor insurance and home insurance with them for most of the 30 years I have lived at my current abode and have never yet made a claim on either – however – I had the misfortune to be banned for speeding after speed cameras were placed on the road I live on and in total ignorance I sped through them at 38, 39 and 39mph on the first day they were implemented in February 2001. Three months later, in May, the summons’ arrived on my doorstep all at once and in September I was banned for four months on the totting-up procedure as the magistrate thought it wise to give me three points for the first offence, four for the second and five points for the third, although they were all awarded for a 24-hour period. Incidentally, I subsequently found out this year that I should never have been taken to court in the first place as there were three months between offence and summons!! Anyway my insurance company RSA took it upon themselves to write to me to the effect that I was now persona non grata and that was that. A little irked but undeterred I have continued to pay them my home insurance premium and in September put in a claim for structural damage to my hall wall as a gaping crack suddenly appeared. I sent the builder’s estimate in (£660) as they asked me to but eventually was told this was cosmetic and they would not be honouring my claim. Be warned everyone
Now back to investment issues. This Christmas I had been looking forward to a Capital Bond maturing. I opened a bank account with NatWest five years ago and immediately a personal investment banker called me into his office to tell me that my money would be best served by taking out a Capital Bond. He told me there were three types of Bond, High Risk, Medium Risk and Low Risk but all of them would DEFINITELY serve me better than the interest earned in the account I had opened. Yes, I fell for it again I’m afraid (but remember I didn’t know about my savings plan at this time) and the letter duly arrived on my doorstep last week congratulating me on my bond maturing and relaying to me how pleased they were to inform me that all I needed to do was sign the letter and send it back to the bank. I smelt a rat immediately when no figure was mentioned so I rang the bank and was eventually told that my bond was worth considerably less than five years ago. So much for the words of the investment banker who wasted several hours of my time five years ago and completely unsolicited I might add. Be warned everyone
It seems Christmas is not always the time for good cheer. On 28 December 2004 I purchased a laptop from PC World in Crawley. It never held a charge and had to be plugged in constantly.
I was busy getting my sports book out so didn’t have a chance to take it back initially but rang them up several times during the course of the year to inform them of the situation and they told me to bring it along when I am next in town. Unfortunately for me this was 29 December 2005 and the chap in the store seemed to take great relish in informing me that my warranty expired the day before. My explanation stood for nothing and another lesson was learnt. I bought another laptop this Christmas – from Currys : )
With me it is usually the principle and so the worst crime of all is when you know someone is taking advantage of you but you are helpless to do anything about it. I bought an ear cleaner from a mail order catalogue called Healthy Living in September – it cost me £15.99 i.e. £9.99 +p&p. It was advertised as having a ‘gentle suction action’ but laughably it was just a whirring noise with a light. My GP told me it was useless so I duly sent it back as the company asked me to. I checked my bank account in November to see that £9.99 had been credited and when I rang them last week was told they do not refund postage. Now come on guys I would have expected my original postage back plus the carriage in on the return. More than that I asked for an investigation as I felt this was a con and far from believing this was a faulty machine I rather fear that there could not possibly be a ‘gentle suction action’ on any of the stock as it has a solid head with no compartment for residue wax!
Be warned everyone Healthy Living could ruin your health.
The lessons learnt are twofold. Never be swayed by smooth-talking men in grey suits and if something seems to good to be true then it usually is.
A very happy new year to everyone
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Politics - Oh What a Carry On!
After many years of helping the Labour Party cause I decided almost on a whim to resign from the Party today.
I say resign but in actual fact what I mean is that I shall let my membership lapse.
Last Tuesday evening (9 December) I received a seemingly innocent email sent to me and other local members informing us of a BNP Christmas Party to be held in Crawley and a request to meet at the local B & Q to form a spoiling squad.
The actual email was sent via a completely separate organisation called Unite Against Fascism, which seems to have a large body of Labour Party supporters, but is clearly distinct from the Party.
I questioned why I was copied into the email as I am not a member of UAF or any other militant body, however noble their cause might be.
All I know of the BNP is what I gleaned from surfing the web a few weeks ago when their member's list was published to such a media frenzy one would almost believe they were the Ku Klux Klan.
Their website is bound to be biased but their Wikipedia entry is moderated universally so only fact allowed to be published. This makes me draw a conclusion that although I could never join such a party for my fundamental belief that repatriation is wrong, neither could I join a pro Capital Punishment group or for that matter the Tory Party as I have a fundamental belief it is wrong to take a life and I could never live happily with an unequal distribution of wealth whatever the other policies might be.
This doesn't mean I condone any militant action against someone who is not breaking the law and as far as I can see is merely a part of an organisation of like-minded individuals trying to lobby support for their misguided ideals. I seem to remember the founding father of the Labour Party having all sorts of problems with the militant tendency within and without his party and Mr Keir Hardie being publicly harangued by all and sundry, particularly for his radical support of women's suffrage - God forbid!
What possible political threat are the BNP? Apparently they have up to 100 local council seats across the UK, so if democracy demands they have a voice then so be it. Would we be incensed if they began to turn up to disrupt our Labour Party meetings?
But I hear you say - their manifesto is abhorrent to any right-minded citizen's sensitivities - but why?
There is much I disagree with within the Labour Party but on balance I agree with enough to want to help win an election and I agree with far more than I do with the other parties as I feel Labour Party members tend to have good hearts - on the whole.
As a Christian there is also a lot I disagree with within the Christian Church but enough I agree with to want to wear that badge and again, fellow Christians tend to have good hearts - on the whole.
Having a cursory glance at the BNP website and its Wikipedia entry I can quite understand a band of human beings signing up to it, perhaps hankering for nostalgia or having real fears about our country's identity as a sovereign nation. Although I believe it to be at best a misguided sense of patriotism founded on a fallacy, surely we have not become so corrupt that we can no longer allow free speech.
The philosopher Voltaire has had quite an influence on my life one way or another and ironically it is an apocryphal quote of his that springs to mind here. “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” (Voltaire said something similar but these actual words were written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall, under the pseudonym S. G. Tallentyre in her 1906 biographical book The Friends of Voltaire).
Voltaire’s sentiment is right in my opinion and democracy lives and dies by the ability or otherwise to stand firm against militancy but not be drawn into a Sysyphean cat-fight.
Subsequent to my reply I received several considered responses mainly informing me of how the BNP have “encouraged” members to make obscene phone calls to our Labour Party councillors night and day and also that certain members were on their ‘red watch’ whatever that might mean. My immediate thoughts on this are that I would doubt a political party would act in such a manner (it is more likely individual member’s responses) but then again I was surprised to see the Labour Party taking such an ill-considered approach to a rival organisation! The point here is that if we looked after our own business and did not engage the BNP then we would not have to fight this pointless war.
I also received a response from a homosexual member accusing me of being homophobic. This was in fact the straw that broke the camel’s back as I pre-empted this response in my closing remarks.
For the record, I do not believe that homosexuality should be celebrated but that is merely a Christian viewpoint and nothing to do with this present argument. I also believe that homosexuals are human beings and I have the same love for them as I do any human being and so I certainly do not consider myself homophobic.
As it happens as the days have gone by I have received several more emails in support of my sentiments about “bully boy” tactics and how I should not be afraid to speak up for something I believe in. This heartened me considerably as if the truth be known I was very upset that I had upset this homosexual respondent as this was not my intention at all and it was on reading his reply did I feel I must withdraw firstly from the forum and after some thought, from the Party, as I do not want to make the same mistakes I have made in the past in my personal life by being insensitive to other people’s points of view.
I am not a political animal and I am certainly not PC, in fact I think the world is going mad, slowly but surely. I can no longer take my bicycle into places I have done for 30 years and when I ask why I am quoted health and safety laws. “What if someone was to fall over your bike or it fell on them”. Do we live in enlightened times – wasn’t this always a possibility. Have we had a glut of bicycle misfortunes lately that I have missed reading about?
Where will it all end – in disaster I’m afraid
I say resign but in actual fact what I mean is that I shall let my membership lapse.
Last Tuesday evening (9 December) I received a seemingly innocent email sent to me and other local members informing us of a BNP Christmas Party to be held in Crawley and a request to meet at the local B & Q to form a spoiling squad.
The actual email was sent via a completely separate organisation called Unite Against Fascism, which seems to have a large body of Labour Party supporters, but is clearly distinct from the Party.
I questioned why I was copied into the email as I am not a member of UAF or any other militant body, however noble their cause might be.
All I know of the BNP is what I gleaned from surfing the web a few weeks ago when their member's list was published to such a media frenzy one would almost believe they were the Ku Klux Klan.
Their website is bound to be biased but their Wikipedia entry is moderated universally so only fact allowed to be published. This makes me draw a conclusion that although I could never join such a party for my fundamental belief that repatriation is wrong, neither could I join a pro Capital Punishment group or for that matter the Tory Party as I have a fundamental belief it is wrong to take a life and I could never live happily with an unequal distribution of wealth whatever the other policies might be.
This doesn't mean I condone any militant action against someone who is not breaking the law and as far as I can see is merely a part of an organisation of like-minded individuals trying to lobby support for their misguided ideals. I seem to remember the founding father of the Labour Party having all sorts of problems with the militant tendency within and without his party and Mr Keir Hardie being publicly harangued by all and sundry, particularly for his radical support of women's suffrage - God forbid!
What possible political threat are the BNP? Apparently they have up to 100 local council seats across the UK, so if democracy demands they have a voice then so be it. Would we be incensed if they began to turn up to disrupt our Labour Party meetings?
But I hear you say - their manifesto is abhorrent to any right-minded citizen's sensitivities - but why?
There is much I disagree with within the Labour Party but on balance I agree with enough to want to help win an election and I agree with far more than I do with the other parties as I feel Labour Party members tend to have good hearts - on the whole.
As a Christian there is also a lot I disagree with within the Christian Church but enough I agree with to want to wear that badge and again, fellow Christians tend to have good hearts - on the whole.
Having a cursory glance at the BNP website and its Wikipedia entry I can quite understand a band of human beings signing up to it, perhaps hankering for nostalgia or having real fears about our country's identity as a sovereign nation. Although I believe it to be at best a misguided sense of patriotism founded on a fallacy, surely we have not become so corrupt that we can no longer allow free speech.
The philosopher Voltaire has had quite an influence on my life one way or another and ironically it is an apocryphal quote of his that springs to mind here. “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” (Voltaire said something similar but these actual words were written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall, under the pseudonym S. G. Tallentyre in her 1906 biographical book The Friends of Voltaire).
Voltaire’s sentiment is right in my opinion and democracy lives and dies by the ability or otherwise to stand firm against militancy but not be drawn into a Sysyphean cat-fight.
Subsequent to my reply I received several considered responses mainly informing me of how the BNP have “encouraged” members to make obscene phone calls to our Labour Party councillors night and day and also that certain members were on their ‘red watch’ whatever that might mean. My immediate thoughts on this are that I would doubt a political party would act in such a manner (it is more likely individual member’s responses) but then again I was surprised to see the Labour Party taking such an ill-considered approach to a rival organisation! The point here is that if we looked after our own business and did not engage the BNP then we would not have to fight this pointless war.
I also received a response from a homosexual member accusing me of being homophobic. This was in fact the straw that broke the camel’s back as I pre-empted this response in my closing remarks.
For the record, I do not believe that homosexuality should be celebrated but that is merely a Christian viewpoint and nothing to do with this present argument. I also believe that homosexuals are human beings and I have the same love for them as I do any human being and so I certainly do not consider myself homophobic.
As it happens as the days have gone by I have received several more emails in support of my sentiments about “bully boy” tactics and how I should not be afraid to speak up for something I believe in. This heartened me considerably as if the truth be known I was very upset that I had upset this homosexual respondent as this was not my intention at all and it was on reading his reply did I feel I must withdraw firstly from the forum and after some thought, from the Party, as I do not want to make the same mistakes I have made in the past in my personal life by being insensitive to other people’s points of view.
I am not a political animal and I am certainly not PC, in fact I think the world is going mad, slowly but surely. I can no longer take my bicycle into places I have done for 30 years and when I ask why I am quoted health and safety laws. “What if someone was to fall over your bike or it fell on them”. Do we live in enlightened times – wasn’t this always a possibility. Have we had a glut of bicycle misfortunes lately that I have missed reading about?
Where will it all end – in disaster I’m afraid
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind
Like most people I have a severe dislike of the winter months and feel sure that human beans were designed for hibernation like hamsters and frogs and bears and hedgehogs.
As soon as the leaves start falling I know the long cold trek begins and it will be three or four months before I dare to look forward to the smell of freshly-cut grass or the sound of the dawn chorus.
Of course there are always sporadic bouts of winter activity to break up the tedium and temporarily ignite the burgeoning passions but for me it is a war of attrition until I see that first snowdrop.
I booked myself on a St John Ambulance life-saving course last week and my certificate arrived today. I am now officially competent to perform CardioPulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) to gold standard i.e. compression-ventilation ratio (30:2). To the layman this means if I come across someone who is not breathing I can try to stimulate them back to life by compressing their chest 30 times (in approximately 18 seconds) followed promptly by two goes at artificial respiration, and then repeating this process continually. One might imagine that the silver standard described a less competent student but amusingly it merely suggests the secondary option of cardiocerebral resuscitation (CCR). This technique is simply chest compressions without artificial respiration. My rather camp instructor at St John described certain situations where one might struggle with mouth-to-mouth, for instance if the lifeless person was abhorrent to the eye or smelt!
Actually, although I am being a little facetious here I suspect that we would all have to search our consciences if put on the spot. The good news is that research has shown that both the gold and silver standards are equally effective in almost all cases except for incidences of drowning or drug overdoses where mouth-to-mouth is essential.
On Sunday morning I braved the elements and rode to Horsham to join my team-mates at AD Cycles for a training session. It was quite a ride. In all, between the nine of us, we managed to conjure up seven different mechanical breakdowns i.e. four of us punctured at various times (yes I was one of them), one of us had a saddle problem, one had a loose front mech and another suffered a broken chain. Being experienced cyclists we all relied on each other to have Alan keys and chain tools and such like but to a man none of us had anything!
On Tuesday I attended a quiz at The Guildhall in London as a guest of Grahame Harding, the Chairman of First City Care. Grahame is a splendid fellow and founded Children in Crisis in 1993 with Sarah, Duchess of York and Paul Szkiler. The charity is an investment in the future of our world and every pound raised sees 98p go directly to the various projects. If you would like to support a child or buy Christmas Cards etc please phone 020 7627 1040.
Anyway, last year Grahame and I had our mutual friend Jeremy Beadle on board for this most prestigious quiz but despite our valiant efforts we narrowly missed victory but ended a gallant fourth. We vowed then that we would win the quiz this year in Jeremy’s honour. We had a terrific team and everyone contributed from Steve, the chief accountant to Paula, Grahame’s good lady wife, and especially the three young glamorous ladies who were indispensable in the pop culture area. We led all the way and were eight points clear going into the last round, in which we scored a maximum 10 points. But alas we managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as the second-placed team of Smith and Williamson scored a magnificent 10 also but had their score doubled by playing their joker! Drat and double drat!
Well we all trundled back to The Ritz, oh yes I forgot to tell you that Grahame very generously puts us up at the world’s most famous hotel, and sipped the manager’s complimentary champagne whilst conducting the usual post-mortem.
Quite honestly we really were quite awesome and I defy even my friends, the celebrated Eggheads, having much of a chance against us that evening – it can only have been Jeremy’s little joke that we lost : )
The seemingly never-ending grind of researching my books becomes a far more lovingly undertaken exercise during the dark winter nights. Although I had the disappointment of having my A to Z of Britain and Ireland put back a year it has been a joy to update and review and now at least I have the prospect of looking forward to its publication next Autumn.
And so December beckons and the Christmas furore begins. I’ve never really been a fan. My mum died on Christmas Day and this brought home more than ever that it is a time for family togetherness. This year, for the first time in many, I have hope of something approaching a family Christmas. My dear brother Kevin is home from Ibiza and with him comes hope that other members of the family might get together as in days gone by.
As soon as the leaves start falling I know the long cold trek begins and it will be three or four months before I dare to look forward to the smell of freshly-cut grass or the sound of the dawn chorus.
Of course there are always sporadic bouts of winter activity to break up the tedium and temporarily ignite the burgeoning passions but for me it is a war of attrition until I see that first snowdrop.
I booked myself on a St John Ambulance life-saving course last week and my certificate arrived today. I am now officially competent to perform CardioPulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) to gold standard i.e. compression-ventilation ratio (30:2). To the layman this means if I come across someone who is not breathing I can try to stimulate them back to life by compressing their chest 30 times (in approximately 18 seconds) followed promptly by two goes at artificial respiration, and then repeating this process continually. One might imagine that the silver standard described a less competent student but amusingly it merely suggests the secondary option of cardiocerebral resuscitation (CCR). This technique is simply chest compressions without artificial respiration. My rather camp instructor at St John described certain situations where one might struggle with mouth-to-mouth, for instance if the lifeless person was abhorrent to the eye or smelt!
Actually, although I am being a little facetious here I suspect that we would all have to search our consciences if put on the spot. The good news is that research has shown that both the gold and silver standards are equally effective in almost all cases except for incidences of drowning or drug overdoses where mouth-to-mouth is essential.
On Sunday morning I braved the elements and rode to Horsham to join my team-mates at AD Cycles for a training session. It was quite a ride. In all, between the nine of us, we managed to conjure up seven different mechanical breakdowns i.e. four of us punctured at various times (yes I was one of them), one of us had a saddle problem, one had a loose front mech and another suffered a broken chain. Being experienced cyclists we all relied on each other to have Alan keys and chain tools and such like but to a man none of us had anything!
On Tuesday I attended a quiz at The Guildhall in London as a guest of Grahame Harding, the Chairman of First City Care. Grahame is a splendid fellow and founded Children in Crisis in 1993 with Sarah, Duchess of York and Paul Szkiler. The charity is an investment in the future of our world and every pound raised sees 98p go directly to the various projects. If you would like to support a child or buy Christmas Cards etc please phone 020 7627 1040.
Anyway, last year Grahame and I had our mutual friend Jeremy Beadle on board for this most prestigious quiz but despite our valiant efforts we narrowly missed victory but ended a gallant fourth. We vowed then that we would win the quiz this year in Jeremy’s honour. We had a terrific team and everyone contributed from Steve, the chief accountant to Paula, Grahame’s good lady wife, and especially the three young glamorous ladies who were indispensable in the pop culture area. We led all the way and were eight points clear going into the last round, in which we scored a maximum 10 points. But alas we managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as the second-placed team of Smith and Williamson scored a magnificent 10 also but had their score doubled by playing their joker! Drat and double drat!
Well we all trundled back to The Ritz, oh yes I forgot to tell you that Grahame very generously puts us up at the world’s most famous hotel, and sipped the manager’s complimentary champagne whilst conducting the usual post-mortem.
Quite honestly we really were quite awesome and I defy even my friends, the celebrated Eggheads, having much of a chance against us that evening – it can only have been Jeremy’s little joke that we lost : )
The seemingly never-ending grind of researching my books becomes a far more lovingly undertaken exercise during the dark winter nights. Although I had the disappointment of having my A to Z of Britain and Ireland put back a year it has been a joy to update and review and now at least I have the prospect of looking forward to its publication next Autumn.
And so December beckons and the Christmas furore begins. I’ve never really been a fan. My mum died on Christmas Day and this brought home more than ever that it is a time for family togetherness. This year, for the first time in many, I have hope of something approaching a family Christmas. My dear brother Kevin is home from Ibiza and with him comes hope that other members of the family might get together as in days gone by.
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
But you sent me away, Oh Mandy!
This week’s correspondence wasn’t quite as thrilling as last weeks but some interesting stuff all the same. It is always nice to get feedback from readers of my books and I have to say they are always so complimentary. That’s the marvellous thing about the type of books I compile. It might be considered a little churlish to criticise my style when my main criterion is to impart knowledge so almost all correspondents begin by telling me how much they love my work before gently adding the inevitable “however”.
My favourite one this week was from a Mr Leese from Grantham in Lincolnshire who enquired as to why the Caspian Sea was not so much as mentioned in my list of Seas of the World in the A to Z of almost Everything. I am always grateful when correspondents add their telephone number as it saves me the time and trouble of constructing a letter and suggests that they may actually prefer to discuss the matter. So I rang Mr Leese to inform him that despite the rather misleading name, the Caspian Sea was in actual fact a mere lake, albeit the largest in the world. The gentleman was a sheer delight to talk to. He explained that “they all” refer to Everything on a daily basis and he knew there would be a good reason. The thing is I feel Mr Leese had a valid point in some ways as I could have at least added an entry in “Seas” cross-referenced to “Lakes”. This will be remedied for the next edition.
Two other pieces of correspondence reflect the ups and downs of being an author quite graphically. The first letter advised me that the sales of my A to Z of Sport had slowed to the extent that, although remaining in print and fully available, the intention was to sell 3,796 copies at a mere 35p over cost (I availed myself of 30 such books).
The second correspondence from my publisher informed me that my A to Z of almost Everything had not only had the largest response ever for a single advertisement in the Reader’s Digest but had subsequently become their best-selling book ever. Wow! I think I can live with that.
Another correspondence was an email from the Prime Minister. You know, one of those personalised texts that I imagine all Labour supporters receive. It was a very nice email on the whole thanking me for all my efforts and outlining the reasons for his latest Cabinet reshuffle.
I don’t dislike Gordon Brown. He is personable and clearly doing the best he can in very trying circumstances. I had the good fortune to be invited to my local MP’s home earlier this year to meet Sarah Brown, and she too was very personable and eager to do all she could to further the cause. Between the two of them I thought they were probably best equipped of any couple to replace the very able Tony and Cherie, although I do not believe that in a democracy anyone should be able to hold a post they have not been elected to. A further belief of mine is that the best Prime Ministers have a supportive partner and that’s probably why I struggled with Ted Heath so much; I just wasn’t happy that a bachelor could make good decisions on issues that affect families.
I still feel Gordon and Sarah are well-equipped to steer this country out of the present gloom and possibly even ward off the threat of recession. I say threat because the technical definition of recession is when a nation's economy shrinks for a second successive quarter as has already occurred in my mother country, Ireland. Of course in actuality we have been in recession for some months. However (you see I learnt the best use of this phrase from my correspondents), I felt I had to reply to the PM’s email in a very negative way as I simply could not understand why he would bring Peter Mandelson back into the Cabinet given his very controversial previous attempts to toe the party line.
Mr Mandelson is a very charismatic chap and undoubtedly has a good intellect, although he tends to use it to scheme and manipulate rather than for more positive machinations. He has impeccable political breeding , being the grandson of Herbert Morrison, but even with all those firm Labour roots he managed to defect to the communist party in a fit of pique in his youth. Mr Mandelson's first Cabinet post was as Trade Secretary but he resigned in 1998 after it was revealed that he had borrowed money to buy a house from Geoffrey Robinson, a minister whose affairs were under investigation by Mr Mandelson’s department! Tony Blair then brought Mr Mandelson back into the Cabinet in 1999 as Northern Ireland Secretary, but dismissed him in 2001 over allegations – later disproved I must add– that he intervened in the passport application of an Indian businessman. The thing here is that even if he were to have somehow turned around his life and there was never another controversy it is still bound to end in tears, mark my words. It is quite apparent that the ravenous wolves will be out to get the errant Mr Mandelson as he no longer has the support of the media cognoscenti I alluded to in a previous blog.
My favourite one this week was from a Mr Leese from Grantham in Lincolnshire who enquired as to why the Caspian Sea was not so much as mentioned in my list of Seas of the World in the A to Z of almost Everything. I am always grateful when correspondents add their telephone number as it saves me the time and trouble of constructing a letter and suggests that they may actually prefer to discuss the matter. So I rang Mr Leese to inform him that despite the rather misleading name, the Caspian Sea was in actual fact a mere lake, albeit the largest in the world. The gentleman was a sheer delight to talk to. He explained that “they all” refer to Everything on a daily basis and he knew there would be a good reason. The thing is I feel Mr Leese had a valid point in some ways as I could have at least added an entry in “Seas” cross-referenced to “Lakes”. This will be remedied for the next edition.
Two other pieces of correspondence reflect the ups and downs of being an author quite graphically. The first letter advised me that the sales of my A to Z of Sport had slowed to the extent that, although remaining in print and fully available, the intention was to sell 3,796 copies at a mere 35p over cost (I availed myself of 30 such books).
The second correspondence from my publisher informed me that my A to Z of almost Everything had not only had the largest response ever for a single advertisement in the Reader’s Digest but had subsequently become their best-selling book ever. Wow! I think I can live with that.
Another correspondence was an email from the Prime Minister. You know, one of those personalised texts that I imagine all Labour supporters receive. It was a very nice email on the whole thanking me for all my efforts and outlining the reasons for his latest Cabinet reshuffle.
I don’t dislike Gordon Brown. He is personable and clearly doing the best he can in very trying circumstances. I had the good fortune to be invited to my local MP’s home earlier this year to meet Sarah Brown, and she too was very personable and eager to do all she could to further the cause. Between the two of them I thought they were probably best equipped of any couple to replace the very able Tony and Cherie, although I do not believe that in a democracy anyone should be able to hold a post they have not been elected to. A further belief of mine is that the best Prime Ministers have a supportive partner and that’s probably why I struggled with Ted Heath so much; I just wasn’t happy that a bachelor could make good decisions on issues that affect families.
I still feel Gordon and Sarah are well-equipped to steer this country out of the present gloom and possibly even ward off the threat of recession. I say threat because the technical definition of recession is when a nation's economy shrinks for a second successive quarter as has already occurred in my mother country, Ireland. Of course in actuality we have been in recession for some months. However (you see I learnt the best use of this phrase from my correspondents), I felt I had to reply to the PM’s email in a very negative way as I simply could not understand why he would bring Peter Mandelson back into the Cabinet given his very controversial previous attempts to toe the party line.
Mr Mandelson is a very charismatic chap and undoubtedly has a good intellect, although he tends to use it to scheme and manipulate rather than for more positive machinations. He has impeccable political breeding , being the grandson of Herbert Morrison, but even with all those firm Labour roots he managed to defect to the communist party in a fit of pique in his youth. Mr Mandelson's first Cabinet post was as Trade Secretary but he resigned in 1998 after it was revealed that he had borrowed money to buy a house from Geoffrey Robinson, a minister whose affairs were under investigation by Mr Mandelson’s department! Tony Blair then brought Mr Mandelson back into the Cabinet in 1999 as Northern Ireland Secretary, but dismissed him in 2001 over allegations – later disproved I must add– that he intervened in the passport application of an Indian businessman. The thing here is that even if he were to have somehow turned around his life and there was never another controversy it is still bound to end in tears, mark my words. It is quite apparent that the ravenous wolves will be out to get the errant Mr Mandelson as he no longer has the support of the media cognoscenti I alluded to in a previous blog.
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