MacAskill & Alex (the spiv) The Merciless SNP Jailers.

The SNP can always be relied on to periodically show their incompetence and arrogance; in the case of the Libyan Abdelbaset al Megrahi they are now demonstrating a callousness and opportunism which is nauseating. If as the medical experts tell us he has been terminally ill for 2 years and his deterioration has been closely monitored all this time then there can be no reason for the sickening game of cat and mouse being played out by Kenny MacAskall Alex (the spiv) Salmond and the SNP Government.


At the time of his diagnosis he still had approx. 20 years to serve yet here we are 2 years on apparently still unable to take action when he is nearing death; quite frankly Alex (the spiv) this is a sick cynical stunt too far; we have watched over the years as you shamelessly stitched yourself to the Dunblane massacre; the drowned fishermen; the dead Scottish soldiers and their families. Even stitching yourself to an annual charitable donation from your other unearned wage using your late mother’s name, it would appear that no one is sacred to you are they? Or maybe people in your constituency didn’t make the link between you and the name Salmond on the charity, as Billy Connolly once said about another charitable fellow; " he gave money away as quietly as a waiter falling down stairs with a large tray of drinks" What’s the point of donating to charity if people don’t know you are doing it right?


We have had more than enough time to work out what should happen to Mr. Megrahi without this grubby 3 ring circus designed to keep you; MacAskill and the SNP in the world news. There is no excuse for your actions and you are bringing shame on all of us. The question of Megrahi’s guilt or innocence is no longer an issue here; precedent has it that a prisoner who is terminally ill and has in the opinion of doctors less than 3 months to live should be released on compassionate grounds, Megrahi ticks all the boxes; this should have been prepared long ago; he should have been released by now, you have no excuse for perpetuating this cruel charade; no matter how much Salmond (the spiv) MacAskill and the SNP enjoy the feeling of importance which comes with world wide publicity, the stain on their characters and on the character of Scotland will haunt everyone of us for a long long time.

SCENE - DOCTORS SURGERY - WOULD SIR LIKE THE $1,000 - $2,000 OR THE $3,000 PROCEDURE - HAVE A NICE DAY Y'ALL.

I recently posted on how I felt about Americans and how I was often misunderstood when I spoke about them; my point was that I regarded America as a beacon of hope and their people as having great potential for progress; well they are testing my patience big time again. President Obama was recently elected by Americans and one of the reasons for this was his promise to reform health care in such a way that the 47 Million Americans without health insurance would be included. To most of us here in the UK this seems a ‘no brainer’ should all citizens have access to health care when needed without having to pay? It seems like a simple civilised way for any society to behave but; not in America it would seem. All hell has broken loose with right wing republican groups protesting against the reforms, the protests are angry, violent and; sinisterly they are clearly orchestrated.

Suddenly and without any apparent preparation large mobile groups of foaming Republicans are everywhere accusing Obama and the Democrats of being Nazis and leading the country to communism; you might conclude rightly that Americans are not big on history. They stress that this will lead to appalling standards in health care and atrociously bad practice, the evidence for this outrageous assertion is; believe it or not provided according to them by the British NHS.

If you look at American TV news and current affairs you will witness people making the most astonishing accusations about our NHS; so completely erroneous and false that you could be forgiven for thinking that Monty Python had reformed but; even their bizarre sense of humour would not fit the bill. The big problem which seems implausible to us and the thing that Obama has to counter is that Americans in their millions buy this garbage; they elected Ford, Reagan and GW Bush right? 65% of 18 to 24 year olds can’t find Britain on a map right? 70 % looking at a photo of Margaret Thatcher a couple of years ago confidently identified her as the queen right?

Sarah Palin who is incredibly enough still listened to by Republicans said “ America is not the kind of place where my elderly parents or my Down’s syndrome child will have to stand in front of Obama’s death panel to be judged worthy or unworthy of health care” nice eh? They have also ran TV adverts claiming that Britain’s NHS doesn’t do heart ops. on over 60’s and dentists advise the elderly to repair their dentures with super glue, they claim that stroke victim Senator Edward Kennedy 77 would not get treatment if he lived in the UK, this and a whole lot more, go find.

It is common knowledge that the money for these scurrilous campaigns is coming from vested interests in health care, that is private hospitals and doctors, drug companies and health insurance companies. This is the deeply ugly face of America which is truly despicable; providing health care for Americans who are unable to afford it is branded as communism so that those who are milking the system can continue to do so; these people are in my opinion ‘Un American’ this is the America that I rage against. When opinion polls are showing 62% still in favour of Obama’s health reforms why are American TV screens and news papers full of the anti reform protestors? money that’s why; nothing to do with what’s best for Americans it’s what’s best for share prices.

I don’t think I’m in any way unique when I say that our NHS is one of Britain’s greatest achievements, an example to the world of how a civilised country should provide for it’s citizens; all of them that is not just those with money, I would urge everyone to follow what is going on and the things that are being said about our NHS by the American money grabbers.
I hope that we will always have a system where we are treated by a service which is there because it wants to help us rather than one which wants to make as much money out of us as it can, I hope that the good American people; that 62% I mentioned earlier will prevail.

WANTED ! APPLICATIONS FOR HOME SECRETARY, QUALIFICATIONS? COURAGE AND DECENCY, PRESENT AND PAST INCUMBENTS NEED NOT APPLY.

Jack Straw the ex Home Secretary is a self serving coward, and simply one of a long line of failures to hold that office, all of whom suffered a failure of nerve and resorted to self preservation when the chips were down. When high profile and controversial cases are presented to the home / Justice secretary his position and the position of far too many of his predecessors is that he and they knew what the right and decent thing to do was/is. That consideration however comes second to what will public opinion be? Or put another way ‘how will it play with Rupert Murdoch’ that is what concerns Straw and that is what makes him unfit for office.

‘Janus faced Jack’ has ‘previous’ his ambition first came to my attention when he very publicly reported his own son to the police for smoking cannabis. Most parents would have dished out a rollicking and a lecture but Jack saw an opportunity to curry favour with the reactionary press. Had this been a genuine matter of conscience he could have done this with no publicity but it was of course an opportunity to portray himself as an honest; tough but fair politician, so somehow the press found out about it; quite devious and disturbing actually. Not unlike ex President Clinton interrupting his campaign to fly back to Kansas surrounded by massive publicity to sign a death warrant for a man with a mental age of 12 nobody was going to be allowed to call Clinton soft on crime right?

Jack then progressed upward and later he set free the beast Pinochet; not on compassionate grounds as he claimed but because he feared the war criminal Thatcher’s clout with the gutter press and on he sailed. Just recently Ronnie Biggs was judged by him too dangerous to release; again his fear of Rupert. But then he realised that the man he described as too dangerous was indeed about to die in prison and that would make his description of him look stupid and false so he’s now out , right decision wrong reason, more deceit from Jack.

Abdelbaset Mohmed al Megrahi now haunts Straw; the Libyan remains in prison despite being terminally ill; is he a danger to Britain? The question is rhetorical, a new born child would be more of a danger. The question now for Straw is not what is the right thing to do, the decent compassionate thing to do; it’s what is the best solution for Jack Straw. Rupert and his press army are salivating, the reactionary followers of Rupert’s papers are waiting to pounce. He knows what the right thing to do is, so would all the other Home Secretaries; they also knew what was the right thing to do in the Myra Hindley case but not one of them had the courage to release her and she died in jail. Just like tough guy Clinton (another President like Bush who managed to dodge Vietnam) who was not prepared to risk damaging his career by being labelled soft on crime. He can display what would be in my opinion courage and compassion worthy of his office and release him or; he can play the tough guy for the sake of the mob being orchestrated by Rupert, what do you think? As I’ve said before he’s got form and he’s a coward, my money’s on the latter.

In a similar way the proposals from the Scottish Govt. to reduce prison sentences and increase community punishments is the right one; it’s another right decision for the wrong reason. McCaskill and the SNP couldn’t care less about prison reform they simply want to save money but the opposition main parties are wrong to oppose it; I don’t know anyone in the Labour Party for instance who does not support an increase in community service and a reduction in prison sentences, that’s why their protestations are feeble sounding. Proper prison reform takes courage and long term planning; we simply haven’t yet found a Home Secretary with the bravery to do it.

COMRADE MIKIS THEODORAKIS

Real Politics kicked in for me in the active sense in the sixties; Civil rights, Apartheid; CND and of course Vietnam. Politics always played a part in the lives of me and my brothers and our friends but it was usually talk and opinion and debate to the background of protest song and folk music. When you left school and went to work you joined the union and you started to learn about active politics. We were going to change the world and the enemy was America, Marches, Protests and Boycotts etc. were constantly on our minds and the villain always seemed to be the biggest; richest capitalist country in history the USA. "Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive," wrote Wordsworth about the French Revolution; and that’s how that generation felt, America and capitalism needed tobering and we were just the kids to do it; it was a long time ago right.

The antagonism to America still exists but it seems to be less ferocious, certainly in terms of the American people and that goes for me also, I still see America as the cause of most of the worlds problems but it is not fair to blame individual Americans who are just the same as us, some good some bad. Some people who read this site will be surprised at this because I am usually regarded as against all things American and I admit that I can be very antagonistic toward them, I have always struggled to explain the difference between my feelings for their people and my hostility to the elite corporate crooks who dominate their society.

A couple of weeks ago I found myself sitting on the deck of the MV Emerald in the harbour of a Greek Island called Patmos; the weather was glorious the beer was cold and I was in heaven because my wife had found a newspaper called The Athens News which was in English. I was having withdrawal symptoms after a week without a newspaper; what has this got to do with this article? I hear you ask, well here is an excerpt from the paper, A great man was being honoured for his contribution to liberty and human rights at Deree College of the American College of Greece, he said the following.

“I thank you warmly; firstly for your efforts in serving the students in their educational, learning and cultural needs in Greece; secondly you represent a great people; the American people have given new momentum to the patriotic, political, scientific and cultural elements that comprise civilisation internationally; to such an extent that freshness and renewed vigour has been lent to humanity’s struggle for prosperity; education and human rights. I know that I am often considered anti American, in reality it is the opposite, my admiration for this country and it’s people is so great that I suffer and protest every time that someone or some group of people acts in such a way that I consider to be anti American . Because I consider America to mean freedom; progress, good intentions, peace, educational solidarity, the cultivation of science and culture”

The fact that the speaker was also a hero of my youth and a great socialist was also a help, he put my feelings about America far better than I ever could, I agree with the sentiments expressed by him, he is Mikis Theodorakis the great Greek musician, composer and freedom warrior, a man who faced the Greek Colonels and went to prison and was expelled from his country, socialism never had a greater fighter and he declares his love for the USA. Most people of my generation will remember one of the all time great film scores for a movie called Zorba the Greek starring Anthony Quinn, the theme tune is one of the most popular tunes ever written by his pen and is impossible to ignore when it is played, everyone reacts, whether it’s by foot tapping or shoulder swaying or when the night gets late and drink has been taken as the say in Ireland; the stage/floor becomes the beach where the scene is set for lots of drunk; mainly men to display their version of “Zorba’s dance”

He is still alive and campaigning and I thank him for the music and his inspiration; not least for helping me to better understand my feelings toward my American comrades.

BOBBY ROBSON RIP - EVEN THE TARTAN ARMY LOVED HIM.

It’s another one of those time marches on moments; football matches today started with a minutes applause; this was introduced to prevent fans from spoiling the traditional minutes silence by breaking the silence and behaving badly; today they needn’t have worried; from the UK to Holland; France; Spain; Germany and anywhere else the beautiful game is played and loved any mark of respect would have been scrupulously observed. Bobby Robson a man who represented everything that is good not only in sport but in life was paid tribute to after losing his 5 year battle with cancer.

I am old enough to remember him as a mid fielder with England or right half as it then was; he was the engine of a team which boasted Greaves; Haynes: Charlton etc. he scored against Scotland in the 9-3 disaster and was one of the first truly modern players. A fine talent in his own right his job was to do the donkey work for the sublime skills of those mentioned above and before them players like Tom Finney as well. He typically recalled his first international as a nervous debutant when the Great Finney spoke to him thus before kick off, “try not to be nervous son and if you get tired give the ball to me and I’ll keep it until you get your breath back” Finney by the way was not boasting as many ex international full backs would tell you.

He brought success to unfashionable Ipswich and won them trophies as well as European success; went on to manage in Europe including the mighty Barcelona as well as England. He appears to have done all this without making any lasting enemies which speaks volumes for the kind of man he was particularly in the highly competitive world of football. Behind the slightly unworldly persona and a certain awkwardness with the media lurked a football mind which was equal to any he jousted with and matched the best in the world, a true football man and a great loss.

I never met him but thought somehow I knew him and I would have trusted him implicitly and I don’t think that makes me in any way unique. listening to ex players and managers talk about him gives an indication of the affection in which he was held; one of the things which endeared him to everyone was his sense of humour and his apparent confusion which I’m sure he put on a bit like he was always doing two or three things at once and it would all come back to him eventually.

On exiting a lift at the team hotel and bumping into team Captain Bryan Robson he said “Hi Bobby” to which the team captain replied “I’m Bryan Gaffer your Bobby” while discussing world cup winning full back George Cohen’s erratic distribution he once said “ George has hit more photographers than Frank Sinatra” He used to tell the following story about himself; organising sprint training at Ipswich a lone spectator was watching as he lined up the first players with the stop watch and said “ready steady” and “go” shouted the bloke watching, Robson called them back and said to the guy “OK very funny let’s get on with it; ready steady” “go” he shouted again; some of the Players were having a laugh at this much to his annoyance, he threatened them and called into question their professionalism while trying not to join in what was now unstoppable infectious laughter; the more he threatened the worse they got and some players were now rolling about while the villain looked on unblinking. He abandoned the session and stormed back to the changing rooms where one of the players on entering the showers later than the rest told them to be quite and they all listened to the uncontrollable laughter coming from the manager’s room; the guy was identified by the police as a local worthy known to everyone in Ipswich.

Like most others I will always have fond memories of Bobby Robson, his interviews were hilarious and reminded me of an entertainer of the time whose stage name was Professor Stanley Unwin those who remember him will know what I mean.

On an even more somber note I watched an interview last night which made me want to put my foot through the TV. Some enterprising young female TV journalist had managed to track down Paul Gascoigne and persuaded him to do an interview; he was clearly the worse for drink and he was distraught at Robson’s death calling him his second dad and how he was like Robson’s son. Gascoigne was in a terrible state and sobbing uncontrollably; this was car crash television but like the modern journalist that she obviously is this vicious cow went for him unmercifully with highly charged and highly emotional questions, it was pitiful and cruel; she will go far.

SEE YOU JIMMIE, IS YOUR NAME F*****G CAMPBELL?

The Year of Homecoming finished I think at the gathering in Edinburgh on Saturday; the vast majority of people didn’t know it had started which tells you all you need to know about this manufactured disaster of a celebration. It was based on a model of Scotland and her people which portrays us all as descendents of Harry Lauder who was of course a forelock tugging music hall caricature; an image which most Scots. do not recognise and find embarrassing, not a lot to build a culture on is it. Still you can buy a full highland rig out from about £800 so some people are happy with it; anyone who wanted to estimate it’s success should have taken a step back and considered the annual fiasco known as Tartan Day in America.

Scotland has long envied the success of the Irish in America and Tartan day was an attempt to emulate that success; it has been an unmitigated disaster; a complete flop; Americans don’t want to know because they simply don’t buy the story. The whole thing is without substance and will not grab America; as ‘Rick’ said in Casablanca “it don’t amount to a hill of beans” and no amount of political spivs like Salmond or washed up ham actors like Connery will change it.

The whole circus and one event in particular made me think back over the years to an event which I attended with my great friend Davie Speirs during the ‘Folk Revival’ years; as was normal there were a group who always stitched themselves on to these events with the intention of hanging a kilt on everything that went on. These people were tolerated and treated as a source of fun and most of them were harmless; in the bar Davie who was a singer and guitarist as well as a great raconteur was among the bravehearts and he had them hooked on a story. Bonnie Prince Charlie was on the run from the evil English and they were close to catching him; the brave highlanders stole him away in the dead of night and hid him in a field where they carefully covered him with stones and rocks etc. the evil English failed to find him and he survived; Davie embellished this hokum as only he can and they loved it; until he said that this incident had been immortalised in a famous highland song called “ Bonnie Chairlie’s noo awa” ( Bonnie Charlie’s now a wall ) well if looks could kill he would have been deid.

What made me think of this old chestnut was the attitude shown by some people at the gathering on Saturday; all kinds of bogus Scottish activities were afoot and the crowd resembled a special Ladies Only Day at Ascot with the proviso that only tartan be worn and the more outrageous the outfit the better; the chaps easily outdid the girls here. Guffaws and braying gubs were everywhere and the biggest collection ever of upper class clan chiefs were assembling their troops for a “Clan Parade” or was it a “Clan Charade” anyway if they can do this kind of parade in Disney Land why not here in Scotland. Off they went looking splendidly silly but; it was fun until the Campbells led by a Duke and Duchess hove in to view this caused a chorus of boos and abuse which were genuine and malicious it destroyed the Campbell marchers day, seriously it did.

People wondered about what could cause such terrible behaviour; some rather cruelly speculated that it was the legacy of Alistair Campbell the “spinning piper” others blamed a build up of resentment over the years because of the ‘minging’ soup which they sell but no; incredibly enough it was because they proved to be dirty fighters some couple of hundred years ago when all these clans were painting themselves blue and nicking each other’s cattle. They ambushed the McDonalds or was it the MacDonalds these things are important; anyway it was by all accounts a “right steam in; with blood and snotters everywhere” and the Mc/ Mac Donalds took a right second prize but; a couple of hundred years later wow! This is how Scots. treat their country men and women based on a load of old bulldung. Does it not make you wonder what their attitudes are to the Germans who were bombing us 60 odd years ago must be or; even worse the Engurlish but lets not go there just now.

Modern Scotland right; what a farce maybe it’s time to look again at all this c**p when was the last time you saw a guy in a housing estate wearing a kilt or creating a bloody racket with bag pipes? It’s a false and embarrassing picture, we need to think again about what we present to the world, a giant enema for the whole country would be a good start and then a dose of the truth.

DID YOU KNOW THAT SOME OFFICERS WERE SO LOATHED AND SO INCOMPETENT THAT THEIR OWN MEN SHOT THEM DURING BATTLES?

People who read my blog will be aware that; notwithstanding those who actualy fight; I am not a fan of the British Military; there are reasons for this; some historic and some; like leadership or the quality of it or the complete lack of it have always been with us. To the long list of privileged chinless oafs who have traditionally made their way from Eton; Harrow and the Guards most of them because they were too dense to be hidden in the office of a city bank; we discover today a true champion of the type, step forward ex C.O. Parachute Regiment Colonel Stuart Tootal. This guy has come out with a statement that would make me very nervous about giving him responsibility for anything let alone soldiers lives and guns and stuff that is dangerous.

It’s populist; it’s apparently compassionate; some people will embrace it unthinkingly; some will say he thinks about his men and very few will latch on to the fact that he has a book out about his career in the Army so; what did he say? He reckons that Military casualties should receive preferential medical treatment; that’s sure to have them flying off the shelf; I would buy a copy just to see the kind of total clown who got to become a Colonel and a C.O. during a time of conflict, the mind boggles at what his men must have thought of him.

“Brave soldiers should not be sharing wards with geriatric patients” says the Colonel so there we have one of his pearls of wisdom, wounded soldiers are de facto brave and there is something wrong with being a geriatric even if you are a geriatric with a Victoria Cross you should not be near a “brave soldier” I could have invented this clown but honest I didn’t, he demands Army only hospitals as well.

If someone joins the Army Colonel Tootal can they request a post where they won’t get hurt? Do they know that they can get hurt? “You there! you with the cancer; pick up that bleeding child and push that wheel chair with the crash victim out of the road, make way for this wounded soldier” This guy was in charge of men in battle; can you believe it? Everyone and I mean everyone should be equal when it comes to the provision of health care, being a soldier or a millionaire or Monarch should not come into it, we know that it does but it shouldn’t. Am I the only one who is getting fed up with these retired generals and colonels kicking up a fuss when they leave? If it’s not to sell a book it’s to cover their own backs, they are a disgrace to the men and women that they commanded.

No matter who or what you are it’s medical need that should count not anything else, this means treatment should go to who is first for medical reasons even if that person is a villain and someone else waiting is a wonderful human being. It’s a difficult concept but its right; it means Hitler before Ghandi and Thatcher before Mother Theresa if their need was more urgent. Sometimes I don’t have to do too much to highlight the shambles that is the Hierarchy of Britain’s Armed Forces a dangerous self serving clown like Colonel Tootal will come along and do it for me, pity the troops.

Perhaps Colonel Tootal should ask his troops how they feel about leap frogging sick children or pregnant women to get treatment because they are soldiers, I wonder what kind of response he would get.

THE BEAUTIFUL GAME WILL SOME DAY PAY THE PENALTY.

The beautiful game looms again; in a short time we will be off and will no longer have to put up with tennis; golf; cricket and other less satisfying sporting pursuits; we can concentrate on the beauty and skill of the greatest game ever devised and no longer have to concern ourselves with sporting headlines which relate to some South African rugby baboon trying to gouge out an opponent’s eye; you need proper training and skill for a manoeuvre like that. Don’t get me wrong I like watching tennis when the players are evenly matched which is rare; golf can be exciting over the last couple of holes of a tournament if the score is close and cricket has redeemed itself as the choking grip of the traditionalists slacken, but they are not the same.



I was lucky to see some great players in live action; earliest memories are of Di Stefano; Puskas & Gento strutting around Celtic park to a 3-1 victory, Pele at Hampden and the precocious 18 year old Maradona at hampden swaying past two Scottish players and sending the goal keeper the wrong way for a goal which made us all think about the future of this kid with the sublime skills, Dennis Law’s reflexes and Best’s speed and skill were memorable. The greatest? My money goes on Charlton probably unpopular with some but I couldn’t see a flaw in his game; I have never seen him play badly and the standard he set himself was tremendous. I saw him many times; too many some might say as he always caused the Scottish fans so much misery but he was uplifting; fast, fit and strong with great skill and immense power and accuracy in each foot, the nearest I’ve seen to the complete player.

The game has gone a bit daft in financial terms and Scottish Football has never been in a more serious position; teams could go under and the financial gap between us and England and the continent is huge, it could be some considerable time before we see a Scottish team compete in the later stages of a European competition.

The only long term way forward is coaching and rearing our own players but when Wigan can take a kid like McCarthy from Hamilton it looks like a long hard struggle, whether you favour Celtic here is not important but when they lose out to Wigan it is serious; the kid can’t say he chose Wigan to win medals or to play in Europe and that is grim for the future of our game. Money talks and when it comes to Football it shouts and bawls; perhaps it requires legislation to bring the game to its senses; is Alex Ferguson for instance a great manager or is he a very rich manager? It can’t go on like this for ever surely. I would urge the smaller teams to threaten to strike unless there is a redistribution of wealth all over the game; what would Man. Utd. Real Madrid or Juventus do if no one agreed to play them? Just a thought.

CELEBRATE THE CUBAN REVOLUTION IN GLASGOW JULY 26TH. 09.

The approaching 26th July sees the 56 th. anniversary of the Attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago led by a guy called Fidel Castro (the big guy with the beard) He went to jail for his part in the abortive revolution; the Americans thought that would be the last they would hear about him. They could have had him shot in jail but didn’t, you could say they lived to regret that and that would be one of the greatest understatements ever made. 56 years and 11 USA presidents later he has stood down and now sees the great imperialist Satan America making friendly overtures to his revolutionary country.

I remember the election of Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs invasion which left us distraught; we supported the revolution and also the first Irish Catholic President of America and didn’t know which way to turn. Kennedy lived long enough for me to become more politically aware and see him without the sentiment and “Oirishness” I remain to this day a supporter of Cuba and an admirer of Fidel as well as a trenchant critic of America’s treatment of their tiny neighbour for all these years.

Cuba remains a beacon of hope in a world where greed is king; the idea that human beings can live in harmony while looking after each others interests is the cornerstone of Socialism which remains the hope of the planet.

Celebrate the Cuban Revolution by going along to Buchanan St. Glasgow outside Borders Books between 12 – 4 PM. On the 26 th. find out about Cuba from those who know and join in the celebrations while protesting against poverty and exploitation.

A FAST TRAIN AND A SLOW SHIP = A GOOD HOLIDAY.

I am sitting on the upper deck of a train approx. 20 ft off the ground travelling at speeds up to 150 mph across France from Lille in the North to Marseilles in the south. The carriage has every facility and the train is smooth and almost noiseless; the scenery is lovely and we learn that to take it in you must look several hundred yards ahead of your position or all you get is a sore neck and blurred vision. This is the fabled high speed French bullet train and I am very impressed, Glasgow to Kings Cross was torture compared with this. My Labour colleague Jim Sharkey who is something of an anorak when it comes to rail travel informs me that the Japanese do this kind of thing considerably faster; the mind boggles.

We join our ship “The M.V. Emerald” at Marseilles and she is a beauty; 50 years old and on her penultimate cruise before being decommissioned she is noticeably slower than today’s ships but she oozes charm and style; all oak and brass, very relaxing after the fascinating madness of 150 mph overland. We find our modestly priced cabin to be large and comfortable with TV; phone; radio etc and two large windows or ‘port holes’ as we seafaring types call them; we gaze out as we set off on a flat calm sea, these conditions were to prevail until we docked again at Marseilles on the way back with the exception of a couple of hours in the middle of one night.

Having booked our holiday through a British Newspaper advert we were rather naively surprised to find that there were Approx. 50 English speaking passengers on board with the other 700 made up of Italian, French and German the crew though were all multi lingual and the Filipinos spoke better English than me. I quickly settled in to an ‘at sea’ regime of being out on deck with my books, mags, and papers, mainly in whatever shade I could find because the heat was intense; this made it necessary to drink lots of cold beer to stay hydrated, the Filipino waitresses quickly started greeting me with a shout of “meester Terree, large beer” they did this on shore as well which was a scream although the boss didn’t always think so.

We went to Genoa; then Naples; Athens and various Greek Islands; Patmos, Santorino and others, my father had been in a lot of these places during the war and it was quite poignant being there and imagining him there as a young man some 65 years ago, he described to us once a terrifying journey where his troop ship sailed through the Straits of Messina between Sicily and the mainland of Italy which was occupied at that time; this was done in the dead of night with the soldiers lying on deck whispering to each other about who could and who couldn’t swim and afraid to light a fag; the narrowest point is only 3 miles apart.

It was a really nice Holiday and I would definitely do it again but not in July; we saw some beautiful places and met some lovely people. On the last leg of the sea journey back to Marseilles in the middle of the night I woke and went to the bathroom and found myself gripping the side of the bed as I realised that the boat was rolling from side to side, these were big swells but not rough; the boat swayed as I looked out to see the water come up to meet us and then recede, this lasted about 2 hours and was quite enjoyable after about 10 minutes or so once I was sure we were in no danger.

I realised again that I am quite happy to sit on deck and read while at sea and visit churches and museums when on shore or put another way I am getting older; I’m now 60 and half my life is gone.

"WHEN WILL THEY EVER LEARN, OH WHEN WILL THEY EVER LEARN" (WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE) PETE SEEGER.

How long will it take before the public decide that the people who lead our armed forces are running out of excuses? A cabal of senior army officers and retired ex soldiers backed up by anti govt. newspapers and populist politicians have been telling us for months now that the reason for our lack of success in Afghanistan is Gordon Brown, I don’t buy it.

Our soldiers are ‘the bravest’ ‘the best trained’ ‘the most professional’ ‘they are second to none’ etc. etc. you can pick and mix from any of these bombastic claims and even add some of your own; then sit back and consider the following; do you really believe this stuff? who decided these things? what criteria was used? Do you trust the opinions of right wing newspaper editors and retired colonels when it comes to a conflict like this, I don’t; would they use the deaths of soldiers for political ends? Cameron and Clegg already have; Salmond doesn’t count we already know that he is capable of using anything, to him nothing is sacred.

I feel that I am being lied to by the Army leaders; I admit up front I’m not a military expert but neither are thousands who are joining the argument; most of us only have the Army’s word for things and someone once said that “the first casualty of war was the truth” Our Army enters Afghanistan with the world’s best personnel (everyone agrees on that) we have Planes; Helicopters; Tanks; Armoured cars; Sophisticated computer technology; Smart Bombs; Big Bombs; Wee Bombs and every other hellish method of killing people devised, oh and did I mention that we are fighting a 3rd. world rag bag force with soldiers who could be some of our troops grand parents.

Is it not valid to say to Sir Jock Stirrup, General Dannatt, Lord Guzzle Gutbucket and the rest of the top brass who are making excuses; why can’t we beat these people/ the odds are overwhelmingly in our favour; they are fighting us with home made bombs and ancient rifles, what is your explanation? I have a feeling that some of these brass hats want to make sure that they can shift the blame for their ineptitude and lack of candour on to Brown to protect their own reputations. “We only have 30 helicopters that’s why we can’t win” is their cry; hold on here; the Taliban don’t have any helicopters or tanks or planes, what is going on? Something is not right about this we need to hear the truth.

Meanwhile the grand lies continue and war is glorified by hypocritical pomp and flag waving; today’s news suggests an upsurge in young male recruits; what does this tell us? The truth might sound something like this and it wouldn’t help to recruit anyone.

“Today two 18 year old British Soldiers were killed in a Taliban ambush, we don’t really know how they faced death and we are not going to make up any stories; they might have been brave and heroic and they might have died in terror we don’t know but we grieve for them and we will no longer send youngsters; not long out of school to meet such a fate” they wouldn’t dare would they?

We need to draw a line under this ASAP and stop the fighting; also in Iraq; my belief is that if we started telling the truth about war and armed conflict we would take a big step towards ending it; we might start by agreeing that in future when America suggests any adventure to us we say F**k off, and then clean out the military hierarchy. When I see a coffin containing a dead soldier and witness his distraught family and friends I am enraged; when I hear and see the propaganda machine swing in to action I despair; reacting with pity and sorrow is natural and heartfelt but it’s not enough we all must resolve to put a stop to it.

THE PEOPLE V THE SNP - YES IT'S SOUTH SCHOOL AGAIN !

The weakness of the SNP argument over the closure of South School continues to haunt and embarrass them. The humiliation started when the public meetings were called as night after night the parents destroyed the arguments of the education officers and the SNP administration; their organisation and resilience were very impressive as they fought every inch of the way with very well researched arguments. There was no doubt that the meetings were overwhelmingly won by the parents; the council had to hold on grimly and display great intransigence in the face of this force of angry and determined parents and friends of the school, it looked more and more as if the parents would have to knock their council opponents out to get draw.

The council’s mortification was seen repeatedly as they prevented the children from putting on a display of their work; by forcing the parents to remove signs and balloons etc. from the gates and fences; then in a display of indecent haste they started removing desks etc. while the children were still in the school, they couldn’t get it over with quickly enough to avoid any further discomfiture.

What does this tell us about the SNP led council? Well you might conclude that they did not have a great deal of faith in their own argument over the school such was their attempts to get it out of people’s minds; this lack of confidence in their position was also shown up by the almost total absence of SNP/Lib.Dem. Cllrs. at the public meetings, they all went in to hiding rather than face the parents, definitely not the actions of people with a strong argument. These were more the actions of a bunch of cowards who took a wrong decision and then ran away from the consequences but; as the great boxer Jack Dempsey said when told his next opponent was a fast mover “they can run but they can’t hide” and so it will prove at election time when the boxing ring becomes a polling booth.

Today saw another wretched exhibition of council blundering and callousness; throughout the campaign there has been a couple of banners in support of the school hanging on the gable of a house close by; the council workers showed up to take them down; perhaps a last pathetic attempt to make the South Primary and their turbulent children and families disappear for good but; yet again the SNP council blundered as the guy who owned the house told them to leave them alone as it was his wall. The council acting on the old truism that there are very few situations so bad that the SNP led council can’t make worse decided to tell the guy that he needed planning permission for these banners; honestly I’m not making this up. The man concerned then said that the council should write to him advising that he needed such permission and he would give their letter due consideration, well done sir.

This is not the behaviour of an organisation that have confidence in their position; they are now frantically trying to make the whole thing go away and in carrying on like this they are managing to make themselves look more cruel and stupid than ever. I can also advise that the parents are now pursuing their argument by calling on the audit commission to look at the detail of the council’s procedure which they insist has been badly flawed so; “the fat lady hasn’t sung yet”

If ever a council administration deserved to lose and suffer humiliation it’s this bunch of municipal vandals A.K.A. Renfrewshire Council SNP/Lib. Dem. Administration.

Meanwhile the children suffer.

IF WE CAN EXPEL MEMBERS FOR EXPENSES CLAIMS; WHY CAN'T WE EXPEL JACK STRAW FOR BRINGING THE PARTY IN TO DISREPUTE?

As is my wont occasionally I am holding up my hands and apologising for a decision or rather two decisions made by the Labour Govt. both mistakes and both very damaging and embarrassing to the party members who believe in justice and fairness.

The Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs is on his last legs; he is almost blind; confined to a wheelchair and has to be fed artificially; along with his family he is pleading to be allowed home to die with his family around him.
"Whilst the medical evidence indicates that your ability to commit further acts of violence has reduced to a very low level, I am concerned that you might incite and be involved in such acts of violence." (Jack Straw; Home Secretary) With these words Straw shows us “Man’s inhumanity to man” he even has the arrogance to expect us to buy the crap that Biggs could be a threat to public order. This is the man of straw flexing his muscles for the press to show how tough he is, a pathetic charade; he couldn’t look tough sitting in a tank.

I am no fan of Biggs or his like; he is a self confessed career criminal and as such; given different circumstances could have been a Tory front bencher, an amoral thug who chose to live outside of society’s rules and was rightly imprisoned. Does this mean that he should die in jail without sight and wheelchair bound in his eighties, the answer to that is no, emphatically no.

Unfortunately for the coward Straw some of us have good memories; good enough to remember his more gentle side when he released a man responsible for the murder and torture of thousands of innocent people, the fascist beast Pinochet, one of Thatcher’s great heroes. Gentle Jack deemed him so unwell that he could not stand trial despite the fact that he flew here to see his friend and fellow criminal Thatcher and was shopping in Oxford St. prior to being released. This is a disgraceful slur on the Labour Party. Straw is a disgrace, he plays to the reactionaries over Ronnie Biggs and releases Thatcher’s pal Pinochet; a despot and blood soaked tyrant right up there with Hitler, Mussolini and Franco.

All Jack Straw has done is demonstrate that we have a Labour Home Secretary who is no better than the two others in this tragic farce; Biggs and Pinochet; a low life pair and an even worse Home Secretary. I know you won’t listen to me Jack but; I will tell you anyway.

No amount of power justifies sinking this low.