We can’t choose which dead servicemen to honour

Having read Dizzy’s post about the petition on the No 10 website calling for the Prime Minister to resign, I went on to said site and added my name.   That led me to look at some of the other petitions with huge numbers of signatures, and I came across this one to change the rules about ramp ceremonies for the bodies of servicemen and women killed on active service.

Most of us will have seen TV pictures of coffins being brought home to England from Iraq and Aghanistan, and the dignified ceremony when the aeroplane lands and the coffin is carried down the ramp by a bearer party in front of the waiting families and dignitaries.

This petition was started because of what happened to the bodies of the two soldiers killed recently by terrorists in Northern Ireland.   They did not get a ceremony when their bodies were flown home.   The initiators of the petition found out that the bodies of these two soldiers, who were murdered by dissident republicans, were shipped home as freight.

Fellow servicemen said “We have been told that the soldiers were not allowed to have a ramp service because of political reasons. We were told the Government didn’t want anything that would look like the Troubles had restarted.

“As far as we are concerned these soldiers were shot dead in uniform by terrorists and they should be treated in exactly the same way as if they were killed in Afghanistan. To send their bodies back to the UK as freight is outrageous.”

I find it hard to believe that even this government, or its representatives, would be unfeeling enough to send soldiers’ bodies as freight with no recognition of who or what they were, and even more so that they would use the words “as freight” when telling the soldiers’ colleagues.    For once, I really hope that this  is not quite an accurate report.

If it is, I have to agree that it is completely crass.   We cannot choose to honour some service people who have been killed in the course of doing their duty, and not honour others just because it is politically inconvenient.

The petition asks for the government to amend the rules on ramp ceremonies.

 

More state terror – elderly lady snatched from daughter’s home by social services and police

Horrified to read the story about how social workers snatched an elderly woman from her daughter’s home and insisted on taking her back to the care home where she had previously lived.

As reported, the story is that the daughter, Rosalind Figg, had removed her elderly mother from the care home because she was worried over her health and the way she was being treated.   She took her to her home intending to look after her personally.

But social workers in Coventry did not like what she had done, and they used an obscure piece of bureaucratic power to get their own way.   They went to a magistrate and got an emergency warrant under the Mental Health Act on the grounds that a

“person believed to be suffering from a mental disorder is being ill treated and neglected”.

And the next thing was Mrs Figg found the social workers on her doorstep, along with police officers who brought their door smasher, charmingly called the enforcer, with them all ready to snatch the old lady back.   Mrs Figg had to hand over her 86 year old mother.   The social workers stuck a blanket over her head, put her in a car and drove her back to the care home.

Mr Plod meanwhile made one of his usual cheerful statements:  “Police were asked to assist social services to remove an elderly woman to a place of safety.   A warrant was granted and an enforcer was taken in order to gain access to the property if needed.   The enforcer was not used.”

Of course, we have to make the caveat that we don’t know the background to the case.   We don’t know in what state of health the lady was.   Was she suffering, perhaps, from Alzheimer’s?   We don’t know.    Where was she living before she entered the care home?   Was her daughter unable to care for her then?   Why did the social workers think her daughter’s home and her daughter’s care were not suitable?   Why did social workers, the magistrate and police think a care home was more a place of safety than her own family’s home? 

But apart from all of that, there are some very serious concerns here.   The warrant was issued because the lady was being ill treated and neglected.   What?   She had only just gone to her daughter’s home, and the reason Mrs Figg took her out of the care home was because she thought her mother was being ill treated there.   What about putting a blanket over the old lady’s head?   She must have been terrified.

Assuming that there was no solid reason for thinking her daughter was unable to care for her, it is always better for an elderly person to be living with their own family rather than vegetating in an institution.   In any event, unless she is suffering from severe senility, the lady should be able to make her own decisions about where she lives.   It is quite wrong to treat her like a child.   If she wanted to leave the home and live with her daughter, and her daughter could take her, then that is her right.  

Already, because of the current social services regime, the elderly are assessed and allocated to a home regardless of their own wishes.   Often, after a spell in hospital, they are told they will only be released if they go into a home.   It is time we treated the elderly with dignity and recognized that they are adults with a life-time of experience.

And in this particular case we should be pleased that the lady was able to go to her daughter’s home.

Lessons in hand washing at the National Trust

I’ve already mentioned this in a comment on a thread at Conservative Home, but it really is worth writing here.

This weekend I visited a rare breed farm attached to a National Trust property.   Obviously safety on a working farm has to be a big priority.   But the thing that was emphasized over and over again, with notices everywhere, was the need to wash one’s hands after touching farm animals, and there were lots of hand washing points with levers operated by the knee to turn on the tap, soap and paper towels.    So, a good service.  Well, that’s right and proper, a very wise precaution.   In fact, it’s a pity dog and cat owners are not as careful in their own homes;  I hate seeing pets eating at the dinner table with the family, or being given the family’s plates to lick.   Hands should be washed after touching animals, not least because many of them at the farm were coated in their own excrement.

But I think the National Trust have taken it a bit far.   The leaflet handed out with the farm ticket,  as well as containing a map of the site, etc, gives instructions on how to wash your hands.   There is even a six stage picture guide taking you through the process.   These are the highlights, “Rub your palms together like this to make lots of bubbles”, “Rub the backs of your fingers in the palm of the other hand with fingers curled in like this.   Then do the same with the other hand.”   “Rub around each thumb with the fingers like this.”

You’d think washing hands was pretty easy – an admonition to wash hands thoroughly with soap, and rinse and dry should have been enough.   As it is, it is mildly insulting that it implies people don’t know how to wash and haven’t  taught their children how to do it.

Greer’s spiteful piece on Thatcher

What a particularly unpleasant, bitter and spiteful piece in  The Guardian today by Germaine Greer, which she has called “The Making of Maggie”.

She has dredged up every bit of gossip and innuendo which she no doubt hopes will look bad for Margaret Thatcher.   She suggests that the former Prime Minister has little intellect and is not well educated:-

“The notion that Thatcherism is 30 years old may be beguiling, but it is essentially misleading.  Thatcher’s job was to present strategies that had been tried before in a way that would make them acceptable to a new generation of voters.  She was not herself an economist, and her understanding of the how of what she wanted to do lagged way behind her understanding of the what, but even that was never more than superficial.”

and

“She was fond of saying that she knew her own mind, but that was really all she knew. Certainly she mastered her every brief in astonishing detail, but she used the data as ammunition, pelting her adversaries with assertions they couldn’t counter.  She used the same technique to discomfit her civil servants, ambushing them with searching challenges of her own devising.  She never defined an overall strategy, developed no theory of the state, had scant regard for democracy, and no scruples whatsoever.  Thatcher’s Thatcherism was whatever worked.  Thatcherism is now being vilified throughout the English-speaking world as an evil ideology that exalted greed and selfishness to the point of unstringing the sinews of the body politic. It was never anything so systematic.”

Ms Greer even accuses her of not being well read.   But this is the woman who was a qualified industrial chemist, a qualified barrister, and who became the first female leader of the Conservative Party and the first female Prime Minister back in the 1970s when such a thing was almost unthinkable.

Germaine Greer goes on to make some amazing assertions, when viewed against the current political climate.   First, she says that from her first days in power Thatcher developed and refined ways of circumventing political protocol and procedure, partly because hers was usually a minority opinion.  She liked to forestall opposition by making statements to the media that had not been agreed in cabinet, and she would sidestep cabinet altogether when she could.    Now does that remind you of anyone ?  -  Blair perhaps, who appeared to find the idea of cabinet government completely contrary to his own way of behaving, and Brown who seems much the same.

Then she actually claims that “For years it had been clear that whoever ruled Britain was going to have to deal with the problem of failing industries, excessive public spending, and the power of the elite trade unions.  Heath tried to do it and was defeated by the seven-week miners’ strike in 1974, called an election and lost to Labour who pursued similar policies with a similar lack of success.  By the time Thatcher was elected in 1979, the public was out of patience with the unions.  She had a mandate to deal with them”.   -  Surely she does not expect us to believe that a Labour government would have had the courage to take on the unions in the way that Margaret did.   Experience shows that Labour is gradually backtracking, and is under pressure from the unions all the time.

Finally she states that if socialism had been in better shape, Lady Thatcher would not have been able to turn it into a dirty word or confuse it with totalitarianism and state monopoly capitalism.    Sorry, but that’s just what it is.

Ms Greer ends by saying “it is justice of the most poetic kind that Thatcher’s is now the evil empire and Thatcherism a dirty word.”   What a sad person Ms Greer must be.   I have not liked any of the Labour Prime Ministers.   I think the way Attlee nationalized, rationed and controlled this country in the 1945 to 1951 period was appalling.   I hate what Blair and Brown have done and are still doing to this country.   But I wouldn’t need or want to write anything about any of them as hateful as this nasty diatribe about Margaret Thatcher.

A worker on a hospital ward should be able to understand and speak English

It’s a bit late to post on this story, but something I was told yesterday reminded me of it.

It’s the one about the postmaster who refused to serve customers unless they spoke English:-

“A postmaster who refused to serve customers unless they spoke English is set to stand for election as a Euro MP for UKIP.   Sri Lankan-born Deva Kumarasiri told customers at his Nottingham post office they had to speak the language so he could understand them.   But he was forced to leave his job after going public with his demand.

“Mr Kumarasiri has now revealed his ambitions for a political career after meeting UKIP leader Nigel Farage.   The 40-year-old father-of-two said:  ‘Nigel got in touch and invited me to London for a chat and we very quickly found that we had lots in common.’”

Mr Kumarasiri says that saving the pound is one of his priorities  -  hear, hear to that.

But I really wanted to write about the speaking English thing.   I’m all for integrating immigrants and foreign workers, but I have to agree with Mr Kumarasiri about speaking English.

A friend of mine was telling me about her father-in-law who has been in hospital for about two months following a stroke.   The first hospital he was in was very unsatisfactory in just about everything, but she commented in particular that the wards were absolutely filthy.   Dirty bedlinen was left on the floor in the wards, near the beds;  used syringes were left lying about;  and surfaces were sticky.   Now he has been moved to a different hospital for physiotherapy, etc. There are still problems, not least that his son has to fight every day to get physio for him.   As soon as he can walk, he can go home.   You would think they would want to help him get to that position so they would have another bed available.   But my friend did say that this hospital is very clean, and the ward is cleaned properly every day.

She went on to say that a very friendly cleaner had been telling her about the difficulties with her co-worker  -  a Russian who doesn’t speak a word of English.   So the supervisor can’t give her instructions;  they can’t tell her in which part of the hospital they want her to work.   The job interview must have been very interesting, and presumably that’s one way to get round all the elf ‘n safety nonsense as she wouldn’t have a clue what she was being told or what all the warning notices meant.

Seriously, though, it can’t be right;  surely learning English should be a condition of getting the job.   A ward cleaner in a hospital is in contact with patients.   They might see something happen that would require immediate medical attention  -  they wouldn’t be able to tell the nurses.   A patient in distress sees a member of staff and asks for help.   In their panic they don’t distinguish between the cleaners and nurses;  it’s just a member of staff and they need help.   But they wouldn’t be able to tell the cleaner what they wanted. 

It is difficult to fill these jobs, of course, but English classes should be a top priority for new recruits.

Clegg wants to play with the big boys

Apparently Nick Clegg, leader of the wannabe Liberal Democrats, is upset because he didn’t get to meet Obama.   He said as it wasn’t a State visit he hadn’t expected a meeting, but was then very angry when he found out the Queen and David Cameron had met him.   Well, lots of things to say about that.

1.   How dare he include the Queen in this whinging moan.   Comparing himself with her;  he isn’t fit to lick her boots.

2.   If it is right that he would have been included if it were a State visit, then why?   He is one party leader among many.   See below.

3.   Why should the leader of the Liberals be included in this visit or any other?   After all, there are other parties in the House of Commons, like the SNP, Plaid Cymru, Respect, and the Northern Ireland parties.   Perhaps their leaders should also be included, then Obama or whoever is visiting could spend all day with them.   Cameron is Leader of HM Opposition, a position recognized officially and paid.

4.   Why was Cameron picked out specially?   Perhaps because Obama’s advisers can read the press, watch the TV, and look at blogs to take the temperature of the British electorate.   Perhaps they can see that Brown is distrusted, disliked, has not an ounce of charisma, is bad-tempered, and has just messed up, and that Cameron is likely to be Prime Minister before very long.   Perhaps they told Obama.

Hat tip:  ThunderDragon

Is the new Archbishop really Father Mac?

Not having any religious beliefs myself, I always think it isn’t my business to comment on what the various churches are getting up to, but I just have to say something today about the announcement of the new Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster.   This from the BBC website:

“The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Birmingham, is to become the new Archbishop of Westminster, the BBC has learned.    

The 63-year-old will take over next month from Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor as leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.”

He will be following two class acts.   Basil Hume was much admired;  the former monk was an unassuming, “holy” man, and I heard some good stories about him from a friend to whom he was related.   Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, despite the mouthful of his name, seems to be a pleasant man and has provided strong leadership, unlike the shaggy pixie of the C of E. 

But what I really wanted to say was has anyone noticed the Archbishop of Birmingham’s uncanny likeness to Father Mac of Ballykissangel?

Wellies gets off to a good start

Update to my 12th March post on Wellworths in Dorchester.

I watched the  BBC1 programme on “How Woolies Became Wellies” last night.

I enjoyed it, but Auntie just couldn’t resist turning it into yet another reality show.   We had hapless Dan, bossy and eccentric Tricia, and the bumbling Town Crier who wanted to help, offered to renew the paper in the gents’ loo, and got mocked for his trouble.   Up against the deadline of Chris Evans coming to do the official opening, there were problems with new stock arriving, with the computer stock control system that wasn’t registering a lot of the lines, and just before opening time rows of shelves had stock with no price tickets.   Actually, Chris Evans was very restrained, for him, and said just the right things.

And above it all owner/manager, Claire Robertson, (the former manager of the Woolworths branch), sailed serenely along, showing very few nerves and dealing with local and national media as if she had been doing it all her life.

Opening day brought in bumper takings as people flocked in to see Chris Evans, to have the chance of being on the telly, (loved the lady identical twins  -  at one point I wasn’t sure which one of them or both was/were talking), curious to see the new store and to be in at the start of something.

I’m delighted they did so well, and just hope that it will continue.   Claire has only a short time to prove the store is viable, and convince her landlord it was worth taking a risk on her.

Once again, well done to Wellworths, and all the best for the future.