THE CHOICE IS CLEAR #VoteLabourActually

Having spent 9 or is it 10 years taking the country back to the Victorian Age, Boris Johnson is now promising a new beginning with investment in the NHS, the police and the public services.  The reality, even if he fulfilled his promises, which he won't, he will merely be replacing a fraction of the services his heartless government cut.  

Boris Johnson defended the greedy bankers who brought about a world depression, and he has used his time in power to recoup those massive losses from those who had nothing to do with it, and could afford it the least.  We weren't all in it together, the tories' driving force, 'austerity' made the rich richer and the poor poorer.  No magic money tree they said, as they stood by and watched people die on our streets from lack of basic food, shelter and medical treatment.  Like Joe the crossing sweeper in Bleak House, Johnson, May, Rees-Mogg and the entire odious mob of them, would step over his dead body in their desperation to keep all the riches to themselves.

The tories have taken us back in time, and not in a good way.  All across the UK, shops are boarded up, all the traditional working class jobs are disappearing.  OK, not entirely the tories' fault, but they have refused to acknowledge that times they are a changing.  Being hellbent on austerity at all costs, they have to failed to invest in, or even acknowledge the changing needs of society in the 21st century.  People are living longer, single person households are the fastest growing demographic.  

It's the economy stupid, as Clinton famously said.  Creating jobs boosts the economy, because people with a wage have disposable income with which to boost industry.  The more they earn, the more they buy luxury goods and services, thus boosting the retail and leisure industries.  Our high streets have boarded up shops and tumbleweed blowing the streets, because people, ordinary people, don't have any money to spend, and those who might have started up new businesses have no incentive in times of austerity.

The truth is, we need more hospitals, we need more schools, we need more doctors, more nurses, more teachers, more care workers, and that need is not going to go away.  The population is growing, and it's like the tide that disobeyed King Canute, nothing can stop it.  The tories have, this past 10 years gone with the idea that a firm stand and punishment, I think some voted for the Cat-O-9-tails, has not stopped the feckless poor increasing in numbers.

The other way in which the tories have dealt with our evolving society is to simply cut the services available and pile twice the amount of work onto existing employees.  A kind of two for the price of one gift to themselves and their supporters.  It is essential that they feed the mentality that no-one should get something (eg food) for nothing.  They must do something in return, even if it is breaking rocks with a hammer for the sake of it.  Ideally, they are a source of free labour to pack shelves for unscrupulous get rich quick tycoons who are friends of the Conservative party.  Used to threaten existing workers with how easily they could be replaced. It depresses me, as a life long slacker, to see the workers in supermarkets doing manual work non stop without a break.  As a short sighted shopper, my Smart Arsed Son calls me Mrs Magoo, I fear interrupting them to ask where anything is.

Life doesn't have to be this way.  For the first time in history, we have all the facts and (pretty much) all the information available to us.  We can, on Thursday, choose a bright new future, we all have the power to immediately lift the pressure on all those NHS workers, all those policemen and firemen and all those vital community services that were sacrificed to pay for the bankers' greed.  Imagine waking up to a country that actually cares for all it's citizens with a government, ready, willing and able to invest in the needs of the majority.  A government that embraces and caters for our changing needs.  A government that invests in science and technology, why don't we have a 'Silicone Valley'?  We have the talent, we have the enthusiastic young, we would have talent coming in from all over the world, if we didn't have a stop sign at the border.

The Labour Party are not blurry or unclear in any way on their proposals for the country and for Brexit.  They are promising a new deal, a huge leap forward in this country's evolution, a programme as radical as that of the Clement Atlee's Labour government after WWII.  And Labour are the only ones offering the people another vote on Britain's future.  Labour are offering the nation another referendum on leaving Europe.  Those who voted to leave can vote to leave again. Having seen what Brexit entails, many may have changed their minds, and of course, vice versa.  Everyone gets another vote, there is nothing 'blurry' about that.

The self enriching policies of the Conservative Party have brought this once proud country to a crippled ship caught in a storm and heading towards the rocks.  Imagine waking up on Friday morning to learn that a strong and stable leader has taken the helm of the good old ship Brittania and is steering it right back on course.  Both leavers and remainers can breathe a big sigh of relief.  That period for buyer's remorse has been reinstated, phew, now everyone can think again.


A Christmas Poem  :)

Twas Christmas Day in the workhouse
the season of good cheer
the pauper's hearts were merry
their bellies full of beer

The pompous workhouse master
as he strode about the halls
wished them a merry Christmas
and the paupers answered 'balls'

This angered the workhouse master
and he swore by all the gods
he'd stop their Christmas pudding,
the dirty rotten sods

Then up stood a bald head pauper
his face as bold as brass
he said you can your keep your Christmas pudding
and stick it up your 'arse'.

HOW JEREMY CORBYN BROUGHT ME BACK TO LABOUR

I was curiously told on my last blog by an anonymous poster, that I hadn't voted Labour for as long as they had.  My response.

LOL, how do you know you have voted Labour for longer than moi? I remember campaigning for Neil Kinnock and I had a little dabble in Militant Tendency (they threw great parties). 
Tis true, at the tender age of 18, I was a conservative - for which I blame my convent indoctrination. But I was terribly naïve, I thought Margaret Thatcher was a feminist!  By the age of 21 I had strong socialist leanings, but I worked in a tory environment for tory bosses (lawyers).  Happily I was gorgeous and very charming, so many of those said bosses would take me out to lunch to change my opinions.  Whilst my heart lay with the picket lines, I also developed a penchant for fine dining at the Wig and Pen.  Of course, they didn't succeed and I even managed to 'turn' a few of them, one gave up the Law and went off to Indonesia to become a Buddhist Monk.  I still feel guilty about that.

So I have voted Labour since about the late 70's, early 80's, unless you are an Octogenarian I doubt you can beat me.  For the sake of truth (honesty and integrity), I confess I went right off Labour and politics generally after Tony Blair's betrayal. My usual head buried in the sand practice when anything stresses me.  It's a terrible coping mechanism, but one I am sure that will be familiar to sufferers of depression.

It is Jeremy Corbyn who has re-awakened my interest in politics.  Sounds cheesy, but he is kind of a Messiah, he is speaking the kind of words my disillusioned socialist soul has been waiting to hear for so many years.  Finally a Labour leader who will stand up for the masses, the employed and the unemployed. A leader who doesn't take account of the millions he could make for his mates, but who's sole objective is to make life better for the many, not the few.

The Tories are taking this nation back to the Victorian Age where there was a massive divide between the very rich and the very poor.  It is shameful that those very same conditions are prevalent now.  Any sane, logical person, knows that you cannot berate, beat or starve another person into submission.  History has shown, it never works.  The tories, for the past 9 years have berated (multiple TV shows about benefits scroungers), beaten (work capability assessments) and starved (sanctioned), the lower classes - basically, anyone who is not a tory btw.  Have they achieved what they wanted?  Well yes, zero hours contracts are the norm, and there are agencies all over the country filled with lists of manual/menial units (people) who can be forced to work for nothing for tory donors. The working classes have effectively been crushed.  Laws designed to protect people at work will be swept aside without the oversight of a European Court.  Longer hours, inhuman tasks, danger created by the demand for increased targets.  And here is the even better news, for employers, every employee knows how quickly they can be replaced if they don't follow orders.

At the turn of the last century, the aristocracy were suffering the effects of the industrial revolution, in that they 'couldn't get the staff'.  Their usual supply, the starving and desperate had options other than domestic servitude.  They could work in the factories, the offices, the schools that were springing up and any of the multiple new trades that were becoming available.  Parliament actually brought in a law at that time, stipulating that working class girls could only be educated enough to prepare them for domestic servitude.  I had a terrific book about, but it has been sadly mislaid.

Why do I throw in this snippet of information other than I love throwing in snippets information?  Because I think it demonstrates how a ruling party can manipulate the workforce (the units) in whatever way they like.  And they have.  This tory government has the working class on it's knees.  Those in work have no protection, those not in work are fodder for their show trials for those who think those without a wage, just don't suffer enough.  They have been merciless in their treatment of the unemployed, the sick and the disabled, if they win again, they will have a green light to take all that cruelty up a few more notches.

In your response to your argument that I should be campaigning for Labour rather than being fixated on Jeremy Corbyn.  As mentioned earlier, yes I do see and hear him as a voice coming out of the wilderness.  Oops, terrible English there, points to anyone who spots what I did wrong, lol.  He has always been against austerity because he has the intelligence to see how it benefits no-one but the super rich.   They are not affected by waiting lists, homelessness, or having that magic £400 available in case of emergency, but millions are.  Millions are just £400 away from destitution.  Crazy huh?  And I just checked, yep it is 2019.

I now it appears to be leitmotif throughout my political blogs, but if the post war Labour Government could build (from scratch), the NHS and the Welfare State, the education system, housing etc, etc, with literally nothing in the bank, imagine what a creative thinking new Labour Government could do now?  We are literally on the brink of a new Golden Age, one which immediately addresses poverty and homelessness (for shame tories!) and raises the expectations for every child in this country.  Imagine a government that invests in every town and every community.  A government that will tackle the problems of antisocial behaviour and crime at their very root.  The Nigel Farages in the Dog and Duck knocking back large gins, cannot and will not, accept that most crime starts with poverty.  Steal a loaf of bread because you are hungry and it's off to the colonies for you.  Destroy an entire eco system and we will give you a knighthood!

Imagine a post tory Britain relieved from the deliberate stress inflicted by a rabid, far right (and going further right) tory government.  Imagine your boss being told 'hey cut it out, you can't treat people like that'.  Imagine your local hospital (5 hour waits, even for kids), getting the money it needs for more staff and more facilities?  The tories believe that if they starve a service of cash, the need for that service will go away.  For example, let's stop looking after the elderly, that will teach them to get old!  Let's stop them reproducing kids, limit them to 4, that they have already done, probably because The Sun ran a series of articles on single mums with multiple kids.  Just one of many examples of how The Sun stirs up the hate.  Terrifying how much impact the views of Rupert Murdoch, or indeed whoever gives him the nod to target a minority, can have on public opinion.

But let's get back to the imagine scenario, imagine a Prime Minister and a government not in cahoots with foreign millionaires and oligarchs?  A government that cannot be bribed, extorted or pressured to put the needs of individuals above the needs of the many.  Yet another, may come in handy one day snippet, the super rich are never happy.  Yeah they have loads of mansions, but where do they go from there?  Gold toilets?  How much luxury is too much luxury?  Or, heaven forbid, when is it too much?  For greedy bastards, the answer to that question, is never.  That their greed causes others to suffer is irrelevant.

True happiness, as multiple sayings from the Dalai Lama will tell you, comes from serving and helping others.  The smile, the appreciation, the knowledge that you have done a good deed, is reward in itself.  I think most people discover this along the way. Praise a mean person when they have inadvertently done something kind, and see their face light up.  I always think people who are angry at people other than themselves, are deeply unhappy.  The accusations they throw out are projections of feelings they are battling within themselves.  But I wandered there.  Jeremy Corbyn has no need for gold toilets, multiple homes and self indulgent (golf) hobby.  He exudes hope, happiness and contentment.  He has an allotment.  He makes jam.  No castles to maintain no desire for personal enrichment.   That alone should win this election.

JEREMY CORBYN'S NEW DEAL

Franklin D. Roosevelt is best remembered, well by me anyway, for rescuing America from the devastating, crippling, financial depression that followed the crash of the stock market in 1929.  His plan, his New Deal, was summed up by three 'Rs' -  Relief, Recovery and Reform.  He built new roads, new homes, new hospitals, he invested in science and education and he brought in social security.  He took America from the dustbowl days of mass unemployment and food queues, to a new golden age of growth and prosperity.  In a nutshell, he invested in the Nation and he invested in the people, he spent taxpayer money to improve the lives of everyone.  And it worked.  Not only did American citizens live well, the rest of us around the world, could see how well they lived on the Silver Screen.  We all aspired to be just like them.

What Roosevelt did in the USA, Jeremy Corbyn wants to do here in the UK.   We have had 9 years of Depression,  9 years of Tory inflicted Austerity.  All to pay back some imaginary debt that we all owe yet did not benefit from.  So has this debt been paid back? No it's tripled, so too the number of billionaires, ha ha millionaires, you are now the poor relations.  The tories, to be fair are still stinging from the fact that poor people, who don't do an honest day's work, breaking stones for the sake of it will do, receive any cash at all.  Even those lying prostrate on a hospital bed could use their free hand to paint portions of a wall.  Putting every benefit claimant on trial was a stroke of genius, I mean, who doesn't moan about their job, drink gin and complain about scroungers having large screen TVs?   At one time the TV networks churned out nothing but 'benefits' programmes.  And just for anyone's information.  I was one of the kids who had to queue up for 'free' dinner tickets. I'll just leave that there, because I know there will many other '60s' kids out there who know how that felt.

For 9 years we have all been indoctrinated to believe that we are still suffering the effects of the world bankers' greed that kicked off the last depression.  I don't even know when that was, because Depression is now the dominant ideology.  We can't get a GP appointment, we have to wait hours in A&E, our kids are in classes that are way too big, all our services and communities are decimated.  My heart goes out to those good and kind souls who keep all our emergency services going so smoothly, but more and more is being put on their good and kind natures, it's like the mistreatment of poor old Boxer in Animal Farm, who's remedy was 'I must work harder'.  They are too noble to withhold their treatment and services, we must fight for them.  

Great Britain is desperately in need of refurbishment - it looks tired, worn and run down.  If the UK were a house for a sale on a street with a house representing each of our European neighbours, the UK would be the one with an overgrown lawn, chipped window frames, and a plumbing and electrical system held together with gaffa tape and poor quality glue.  Johnson like his predecessor has no shame at foreign leaders seeing on English streets the tragic human consequences of his heartless, greedy, grasping policies that have for 9 years been targeting society's most vulnerable.  Gandhi said it better 'A Nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members'.  Right now, the UK is looking pretty shoddy.

How sad that we have become a nation so terrified of change that a kind, decent, non racist, non anti-Semitic, genuinely nice guy creates more fear than a proven liar/ self serving, racist, misogynist, bloated elitist, who has never hidden the fact that he prefers bankers and billionaires to ordinary people with whom he has absolutely zilch in common.  Boris Johnson, let's just call him Johnson, has been part of a government that continually cuts vital services that keep communities going.  Literally, lifelines to those who need them most.  Now, after all these years, weeks from an election, he promises to restore that which he took away.  

In Jeremy Corbyn I see hope for the future, hope especially for the up and coming new generations.  Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor, are not taking a leap in the dark.  They have done their homework, they have done their sums.  Economists will have recognised the Keynsian economics of Jeremy Corbyn's New Deal. His policies are not too dissimilar to Relief, Recovery and Reform. All over the country there are people, agencies and community projects that are in need of Relief.   So many people's lives have been devastated by the cruelty of the Tories cuts and the Tories manufactured spectacle of putting the most vulnerable on trial to justify their need for assistance.  How shameful that in a civilised country, in the 21st century, people are having to queue at foodbanks.  That the United Nations are calling Britain's sanctions policies inhumane.  Of course they are inhumane, they are resulting in actual deaths.  

Recovery.  We are evolving so quickly with technology etc, that the lives of future generations will be totally different to those of us over a certain age.  We went from school straight into jobs, secretary, hairdresser, builder, plumber.  Retail, a major employer.  Traditional jobs are disappearing fast.  Newspapers for example, the print industry is under major threat.  Nothing we can do, say the Conservatives, that's life, tighten our belts.  But they are Conservatives, they dislike change, they also dislike philanthropic ideas designed to make the lives of the plebs, easier/more comfortable.  Their philosophy is, make the blighters work for it!

The reality is, we have evolved, and are constantly evolving.  If we had the same spirit of adventure of the great Britains of the 1900s (I have the book), we would be investing in exploration, science and technology.  A more luxurious life for all, not just a few.  And, it is often the case, that being philanthropic, can also be profitable.  It is not necessary to screw or hold hostage to cash, those who need the products most.

We have more leisure time.  There are some among us who like to proclaim that their diaries are full and they don't have a free moment.  Actually, I would say the majority.  Maybe it's because we learn at a very young age never to volunteer our free time, you never know what kind of situation it will get you into.  Instead of celebrating this free time by dossing on the couch binge watching 'The Crown'  and eating Ferrero Rocher (I only buy them in months that end in 'er'), we feel we should justify those lost hours by proclaiming we got a good job done, as in 100 sit ups, repainted the bathroom, served a meal with 15 vegetables, scrubbed the doorstep.  Leisure time is an industry that has not yet been tapped, mostly because we still feel guilty about it.  But in saying that, I should specify, it could be just be me and my accursed catholic upbringing.

So we don't have many of the traditional working class jobs anymore.  A good thing because they were mostly boring repetitive and soul destroying.  This is where we need an imaginative government who can create the jobs for the future.  A government who will invest in education, science, technology, the Arts - what good is woodwork is 2019?  How about 'Green' issues, ways in which to save the planet?

Reform.  Everything needs updating.  From building facilities that keep up with the demands of the population, to fine tuning existing public services and ensuring they have enough staff to cope with the growing needs of every school, hospital and public service.  People are ready, willing and able to fill these desperately needed posts, it is shameful that the tories are unwilling to pay for them. 

The 'need' is there, and it is growing.  We are living longer, those of us who should have popped our clogs are still here.  The care industry must grow in order to keep up with the increase of those in need.  Employing more people by the way, doesn't lead to a drain on our resources.  It means more people have an income and spending power and are thus able to boost other industries, luxury goods for example.  That is the gift of the New Deal, it has a knock on effect.  If you spend on the youth of today (I'm hoping all kids will get free meals), you will reap the rewards in the future.  In the sense that they will be healthier, happier and fully enlightened. 

 And here is what should be deal breaker, especially for those of us who grew up in our allotted place in society.  Working class kids are indoctrinated to accept mediocrity, they are not taught to aspire to greatness, that is the domain of the public schools, like Eton.  They are educated to be leaders, regular kids are educated to accept their menial roles in life.  We may not have an overt class system, but it is still alive and well.  

The thing about Jeremy Corbyn's New Deal, is that we finally have a government ready, willing and able to make life better for everyone, even potential millionaires who have had few opportunities during all these years of austerity.  The England of Harold Wilson saw the rise of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, working class heroes and rebels.  John Lennon especially, who had the audacity to talk about Peace as if it were a good thing.  'Imagine' is the most subversive song ever written!

Jeremy Corbyn is a man of peace.  I am sure John Lennon would have heartily approved.  A Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn would take us onto the next 'huge leap' for mankind, the choice of the majority to make things better.  Young people get it, it's their future, they like the freedom to travel, the friendship and camaraderie of their European friends and neighbours.  Where Johnson is a blubbering heap of upper class noises when dealing with our friends and allies, Jeremy Corbyn is crystal clear and erudite, he offers the hand of friendship and reasonable statesman like talks.  Johnson is incapable of agreeing anything acceptable to the vast majority of British voters including Northern Ireland who he is about to ditch, with the European negotiators.  First hurdle, he can't be trusted.  And that should be reason enough not to vote for him.  

There is nothing confusing, duplicitous or unclear about Labour's intentions.  They are offering the country another chance to vote on leaving Europe now they are fully aware of what it entails.  And they are the only party to offer this.  The Conservatives, Johnson, if he will wins the General Election will take the UK out of the European Union of January 31st.  That's it.  The Defcon 1 situation where the military guard vital resources and the body bags come out.

Jeremy Corbyn wants, first and foremost, Defcon 1, No Deal, off the table, basically because it is insane.  He wants to take the referendum back to the people - the only logical thing to do where parliament have failed to reach an agreement.  People can and do change their minds, especially when new information comes to light.  Not only is JC offering hope for the future, he is also offering everyone another chance to vote on the most important issue of our lives, this time around with all the information in front of us.

LEADERS' DEBATE, HANDY ANDY and Oh yeah, I'm fine (a pic)

For the concerned, and those wishing me misery and fear, as you can see above (today), I am fine.  Some might be relieved to know that I do a lot more joking about drinking than actual drinking, adding a 'hic' after an outrageous statement can soften the blow.

As for the Prince Andrew interview, I did indeed watch it and my first reaction was 'oh my gaw'd'.  It was indeed so much more than car crash TV - a plane crashing into a petrol tank kicking off a tsumani and an earthquake as one commentator put it.  I don't particularly like to watch a person squirm, nor do I like squirming on their behalf, but there was a small amount of satisifaction in seeing the most twattish of the Windsors hoisting himself up by his own petard.  His arrogance clearly knows no bounds, he went right ahead and said what he wanted to, in the firm belief that he (with his royal honourable blood) knew best.  I say that because I can't believe any lawyer would have told him the 'not being able to sweat story' was a good idea.  His pretend surprise at 'new revelations' was excrutiating to watch, we would laugh out loud  if it were a 6 year old, not so much with a 59 year old prince of the realm.

The Debate!

Was absolutely delighted that tory suck up Jo Swinson wasn't give the opportunity to waste everyone's time.  Borish Johnson.  A boarish oaf as usual goes for attack, attack, attack.  If he had any ground breaking ideas and policies, that's what he would have used his time for.  Note, that's what JC did.  After years of crippling the British Economy with draconian austerity policies that targeted public services and the poorest among us, Boris suddenly has a magic money tree and for the first time in 9 years he promises to invest Great Britain.  That this magic money tree has appeared just in time for the next election is pure coincidence.  Any suggestion that it was just sitting there as every public service went from crisis to crisis and people were starving and dying on the streets, is unfair to the privileged elite.  They always throw coins at the bundles in the doorways on their way to the Opera.  Ultimately, Boris Johnson had only one line, 'let's get Brexit done' (my life depends on it), anything else for him is fluff.

Jeremy Corbyn on the other hand.  JC is, I think, a prime example of why the tortoise beats the hare in the race.  He doesn't need signature ruffled blonde hair or the stature and blustering demeanour of an overstuffed tory landowner demanding his right to an extra pie.  JC is the embodiment of 'speak your truth, quietly and clearly'.  He is where he is through hard work and perseverance, he gets knocked down, he gets back up again, and he returns stronger every time.  He has devoted his life to public service, stood up against injustice, and stood side by side with the oppressed.  He has a beautiful vision for the UK, yes, A Brave New World, where, like the Labour controlled post war Britain, no-one will be left behind. Nine years of tory austerity has left Britain divided and neglected, many of our cities look like ghost towns with rows of boarded up shops and run down buildings.  We need not just a new broom, but a complete refurbishment.

Trump

Apologies to non Trump watchers, but I am completely enthralled by the antics of the buffoon in chief and the gripping testimonies of the impeachment witnesses.  Something I am struggling to get my head around is the way in which Trump announces everything, straight forward losses, such as governorships in towns where he held rallies and devastating impeachment evidence, into an out and out win for himself.  It really is straight out of '1984'.  Truth is lies, war is peace, love is hate.  You can kind of see why his form of leadership 'works', in that those sucked into it his madness, where bad is good etc, must become as mad as him in order to survive the bat shit crazy environment.  On a bigger scale, North Korea, where the population must cry, laugh and applaud to order.  

I think I have mentioned, once or twice, lol, that I have spent a lifetime trying to discover what evil is.  I began with, perhaps something happened in childhood? a dysfunctional home? An unhealthy belief, a form of defence, the questions are unending.  Is there a trigger?  Perhaps it is genetic, nature rather than nurture?  I still don't have a definitive answer, maybe there isn't one.  Trump is a compelling study on the whole 'evil' question, I don't think he has one single redeeming feature.  From a psychological perspective, my first question would be 'what the hell happened to him', but I think I already know the answer.  He is plagued by jealousy, and my guess is, it has been lifelong.  He was the fourth of five siblings, so was usurped as the youngest.  I imagine if he were grilled by Freud (Sigmund not Clement), he would eventually break down and accuse the youngest sibling of stealing his mommy.  

FINALLY, THE ANTITHESIS (HOPE) IS IN SIGHT

How the heck do you get across the message that Jeremy Corbyn is a genuine, decent, kind and compassionate man who has devoted his life to fighting injustice and inequality.  How on earth does the mainstream media convince those who need Jeremy Corbyn's compassionate policies the most, that wealthy old Etonians are their best bet for the future.  

The tories did not suffer under austerity, the working classes did.  And it began with a systematic negative, propaganda campaign against the disabled and the unemployed waged by the right wing press who can take a bow for all their 'benefits' programmes and the highlighting of the undeserving poor.  Oh and the tories.  The word 'scrounger' came back, claimants were assumed to be pulling a fast one, unless they could prove otherwise. 'Make them work for their benefits' cried the hang 'em and flog 'em brigade, we can get them do all the menial stuff we now have to pay £10 an hour for.  And we don't have to call them people anymore, they are now units.

They took away EMA, the £30 a week students got for attending classes, a lifeline for students from poor families, and an incentive for them to get an education.  They slashed SureStart, a vital service for young families offering friendship and advice, having been a lone single mum, I know how vital such a helpline can be.  

The Nasty Party slashed benefits and put every claimant on trial, building on the negative energy they created.  They made the poorest in our society pay for the financial crash they caused, and by they there, I mean the bankers.  Yet somehow, they convinced the majority, that our economy was being drained by benefit cheats and the unemployed.  They created a climate where it became acceptable, normal even, to send desperate families to food banks, rather than give them the cash they need to feed themselves.  Less than 0.5% of benefit claimants are actually cheating the system, and the amount lost is miniscule in comparison to tax that should be paid in the UK, but isn't.  And it is sad, but true, that it is easy to persuade the average taxpayer that they would have more in their take home pay, if a certain demographic had less.  It is not a very altruistic way of looking at your payslip, but we all do it.  We have a little moan, then accept it as the price we pay to live in a civilised society.  A society where our children are educated, our rubbish is collected, our fires are put out, our illnesses are treated.  We do not fear being bankrupted by medical bills.

If I were asked to sum up what socialism is, I would say it is about raising the standards for everyone.  Whilst I get that there are those who would like a two or three tier system, they should be able to use their hard earned cash to 'get to the top' - wouldn't life be less stressful if there were no difference between the top and the bottom? Just putting that out there.  

After years of 'austerity', more accurately punishing the poor and dismantling all the public services put in place by previous Labour governments, Boris Johnson et al are now pretending (some aren't) that they care about the NHS, the Police, and the Fire Brigade who they are currently trying to blame for Grenfell.  Don't forget the tenants of Grenfell were warning the tory Council that the cladding was a tinderbox, long before the tragedy occurred.  

The tories have lied to us again and again.  Just like their predecessors they have us fighting among ourselves instead of fighting them.  They now have the working classes and the middle classes exactly where they want them.  Those in work, and further up the class scale, are now hostage to their employers.  Zero hours contracts are the norm, zero protection of workers rights, means that those who live paycheque to paycheque (most people) have no job security or means to secure a loan or a mortgage.  It's an employers' market.  Do as you are told, or you can easily be replaced.  The UK is already violating human rights with benefit sanctions, once the European Courts are gone, employers can do exactly what they want.  

In decades and centuries to come, students will look back on these times and wonder at the mentality of the first generations to be blessed with enlightenment.  Access to all the information we could ever want or need.  History repeats itself, we have seen what happens when a population blames a designated group for all that is bad.  It becomes dictatorial and cruel and it never ends well.  We are now at the thesis stage of the dialectic, finally (after 9 fffing years), the antithesis is in clear sight.  Forgive me for comparing 9 years of tory austerity to the war years, but these tories have run Great Britain into the ground.  The antithesis is long overdue, a rebellion against the the heartless policies of the Eton front bench. Cameron, May and Johnson have zero shame that other world leaders see the number of homeless people sleeping on the streets of London.  Thatcher wanted to take us back to Victorian Times - her spawn have achieved it.

By contrast, Jeremy Corbyn wants to end homelessness, food banks and the degrading ATOS assessments.  He understand economics, he and John McDonnell, have spent a lifetime studying.  The New Deal worked for Roosevelt, and JC and JM have worked out in detail how it will work here.  They will do the opposite of the conservatives.  That is, they will plough money back into the economy by investing in infrastructure (we really need a lick of paint), public services, education, the sciences, the arts, all those industries that will boost the public's spending power which will in turn create new jobs.  Britain at the end of World War II needed a boost to revive the country's morale.  Winston Churchill, the hero of WWII, was still a tory, and the UK were crying out for change.

We are crying out for change now, just as much as we were at the end of the War.  Our country is dragging behind our more progressive European counterparts.  With tories at the helm, we are on the outside, Brexit or no Brexit, old imperialists who cannot accept the world has evolved.  Of course, JC and JM are not spring chickens, but they are woke and listening to the movers and shakers of the future.  They want to bring in the kind of major changes that their predecessors brought in in the 1940s, changes that made England swing like a penudulum doo, in the 1960s.  My generation grew up with dozens of jobs to choose from and homes that were affordable.  Something the present generation have never known, or will ever know under the tories. 

The world has changed.  The kinds of jobs available to me, are not available now.  That is, 9 to 5 in an office, shop or factory.  Instead of punishing people for not working in jobs that do not exist, a government should be creating jobs.  I don't mean out of thin air - but out of the growing need for more care/health workers, we have an aging population,  investment in education, science, technology and yes, leisure.  We really need to get past the mentality that breaking rocks or scrubbing your doorstep is more morally sound that bingewatching the Walking Dead.  We all have leisure time now, even the undeserving poor.   

Jeremy Corbyn has devoted his entire life to improving the lives of others.  He is not looking to enrich himself from leading the country, he has no businesses to prop up or gold toilets to upgrade.  His lifestyle and tastes are modest, cyclying, an allottment and homemade jam.  No playing tennis with the wives of Russian Oligarchs for £250,000.  No allocating of public funds to attractive female pole dancers.  He doesn't even fiddle his parliamentary expenses, unlike most of his colleagues, nor does he appear in Parliament coked up to the gills, yet still the British public think he is untrustworthy.

For those future generations, it is our duty to show that as the first enlightened population, we choose a government that is progressive and forward planning.  A government that will genuinely represent the majority and who will genuinely act in the majority's interests.  A government that will put climate change, poverty and homelessness at the top of the agenda. And a government that ensures every citizen, employed, unemployed or disabled is treated with dignity and respect.  It doesn't have to be this way.

Please can we choose a Brave New World

It is very hard for me to comment on the state of British politics right now, because it's too close to home and too personal.  In Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, I see a brave new world in which these two good men steer the good ship Britannia onto a whole new course towards a brighter future for everyone, as their predecessors, the Labour Government who took control after WWII.  

After 9 years of austerity and the tories running down our NHS and public services, not to mention their crazy idea to make Brexit a billionaires free for all, we are again at a point in history, where we need adults and genuine experienced and diplomatic Statesmen to step in and sort out the mess.  JC and JM have prepared for this moment their entire lives, their ideas and policies have evolved from years of research and discussion, not the cocaine fuelled cabinet meetings of old Etonians who still think they are in the Bullingdon Club.

The pain for me lies in the 'hope', which rightly deserved to stay at the bottom of Pandora's Box.  Hope gives a tantalising glimpse of what might be, what could be, a final last peep before the lid closes down forever.  I remember being mightily moved by John Cleese in the movie Clockwise, wearing a monk's habit and with every chance of his dreams rapidly disappearing, complaining profusely that it was the 'hope' that hurt the most.  I hear you Brother.  

As much fun as it is watching the odious Boris Johnson rightly hated throughout the UK and losing (almost) every vote, I can't rid myself of a niggly feeling that the snidey git will find a way to the pull the UK out of Europe on the 31st and clean up at the bookies.

We are living in a bizarre age, where lawlessness and deception at the highest levels are practiced in plain sight.  'Get over it' says Mick Mulvaney, White House Chief of Staff, 'I'll just lay across this parliamentary bench as if I were in a opium den', says Jacob Rees-Mogg.  We are not even going to try to pretend we are working for and on behalf of the people.  

Unfortunately, the alt right sickness, appears to have hit everyone who has never picked up a book or read a newspaper.  All those who think their lives will be mightily improved if others are made to suffer.  The kind of people who believe the NHS should not treat people in need unless they are a British taxpayer.  That's so unkind I will refrain from commenting.  But I should add, the same applies to public housing, everyone needs a roof over their heads.  

Housing shortages, queues in the NHS, are all down to lack of investment.  If the government doesn't invest enough money to keep up with needs of the population, the government is at fault. The NHS needs massive investment, not fewer 'customers', more homes need to be built.  These 'desperate needs' that have been ignored for so many years by the tories, but will be immediately implemented by Labour, will not only provide the services that should be available to everyone in one of the richest countries in the world, but it will boost employment and boost the economy.

As a child of the 60's, I enjoyed the massive transformation of working class life brought about the Labour government of the 1940's.  A full nutritionally balanced meal every day at school, albeit with free dinner tickets and the shame that entailed, and a bottle of milk in the afternoons.  And yes, I too chanted along to Thatcher, Thatcher, milk snatcher, when the old witch took away our free milk, I believe it was popular in most playgrounds.

But England, in the 60's, was buzzing like a pendulum doo, whatever that is.  It was the 'in place', not only for the glitterati, but the illuminati, the literati, the papparati and all the 'atis' that were popular at the time. 'Arold Wilson' who I'm not sure had an 'aaati' bone in him, turned England into the legend of Austin Powers, it was all about the Jaguar E type, Carnaby Street and the Kings Road, Baby.  On the drama front, 'Cathy Come Home' hit the heartstrings of every liberal, and indeed, every tory, kindness began to replace the cruelty of 'undeserving poor'.  Pop stars, like John Lennon began highlighting novel ideas like kindness, peace and no religion and immediately went onto the FBI's most wanted lists.  Who the fuck wants peace when there is so much money to be made with hostility?

But we are still in the 'hope' phase, but I am scared to look.  I applaud all those warriors out there every day, they are brave and focused.  I am especially cheered by the young 'woke' (not quite sure how to use that word yet) new generation who are making such tremendous waves with Momentum.  Finally, the right wing do not have total control of the airwaves, literally everyone has instant access to the truth.  Gone are the days when Rupert Murdoch could tell the UK masses how to vote via the front page of the Sun.  There is hope.  Which brings me back to where I began.  

I'm over 60 now, I get knocked down and I get up again, becomes tougher and tougher.  Where I used to think 'nothing's gonna stop us now', I now think, yeah, it probably will.  I even, kind of, accept that I am powerless to stop it.  I haven't felt this level of powerlessness since I was a young teenager in the care of demons.  I couldn't change the nature of the people around me then anymore than I can change it now.  Not a happy place to be.

But we are on a precipice, we don't have to be rushed towards the cliff's edge.  Safety switches and dead mans handles are all in place, the masses can see right through Boris Johnson and his get rich quick backers, everything is stacked up for a glorious revolution, I'm just too scared to look.

THE MADELEINE CASE NOW

I have lost interest in the Madeleine case, it would be true to say, but it is not a forbidden topic.  I happen to think most people would understand the 'McCann Syndrome' reference quite easily.  Gerry and Kate have not quite got off scot free, they have become almost an urban legend for child neglect, and offloading responsibility.  In many people's eyes they will never be cleared, and I guess they will just have to live with it.

I think all hope I had that Operation Grange would clear this matter up once and for all, is gone.  Not that I particularly wanted to see retribution against the McCanns, but I did want all those who interfered with the course of justice brought to account.  Unfortunately,  as Goncalo Amaral once said, it will only be solved when the political will is there.  I am not so bothered that the parents will never be charged, in all sorts of ways, they have suffered so much more than if they had, for example, just 'fessed up' to an accident. I doubt any one of us would want to be in their shoes.  I personally, could not live one day without the freedom to be myself. That is the freedom to say, do and write whatever I want.  If you are trying to deceive people, you do not have that freedom. For my sins, I spent my formative years in a convent where lying was essential in order to survive, not just to protect yourself, but to protect your friends. I remember lying in my bed at night trembling in fear that my 'lies' would be found out.  It scarred me mentally, I never wanted to feel like that again.

My honesty has got me into trouble my entire life, see my McCann blogs, lol, but of course, it far precedes the Madeleine case.  Not that I am ever blunt or coarse, heaven forbid, but I would rather be alone and ostracised than join a herd.  But forgive me, I have gone back to my favourite subject, me, ha ha, but only to accentuate how imprisoning it can be having skeletons in the cupboard. I am of course speaking metaphorically and generically here should Carter Ruck still be looking in.

I did however take a quick peek at 'latest Madeleine news' as I saw the subject revived in a few posts, and there isn't any.  It would seem all those I spent so many years arguing with, were right, Doh!  That is, this case will never be solved.  Irks a bit, as it means handing victory to those ghouls in the cesspit, but ce la vie, I'll get over it.  

My interest in the Madeleine case, stemmed from my interest in human behaviour, and with Gerry and Kate McCann, and several characters within their inner circle, there are endless resources.  It almost never happens that you have a subject who has given so many videoed interviews plus a blog and a book!.  Like many students of psychology, I am interested in spotting deception.  I speak as one who often has been, and occasionally still is, deceived.  Again doh!  Probably because I prefer to look for the good in people, even if they are lying to me.  I feel pity for them if they have to lie, and I take no pleasure in seeing them squirm.  That's what I mean about freedom, it means you never have to squirm.

When people lie on a national and global scale however, the sympathy comes to an abrupt end.  It is one thing to save your own skin, another thing altogether to make a profit out of your own irresponsibility.  Every parent who loses a child blames his or herself, even when it is obvious they are completely blameless. The McCanns have always done the opposite, they blamed everyone else from start, beginning with the Portuguese police.  I don't know what alerted everyone else, but for me it was the uncomfortable feeling of being manipulated, not only by the parents, but by every 'get rich quick conman', and indeed, news agency, out there.  

My eyes were opened by going into higher education, but my mind was blown when I started to look deeper into this case.  That quaint English sense of justice and fair play was, to my disgust, long gone, that lovely 1960's world of the Carry Ons, was some kind of mythology that I was carrying around in my head.  'I say old chap that's just not cricket' no longer applied.  The Madeleine case was as a much a learning curve and water shed, as my quest for a degree.  It gave me deep, deep, insight, not into into psychopathy, narcissism, forensic linguistics, but also micro-expressions and of course duping delight!  But more, it also led me delve much deeper into the dark side of corruption within our so called respected public agencies, institutions and charities.  All a tad too dark for me, but plenty there for the young and enthusiastic journalists and psychologists who still want to put the world rights.

Sadly though,  all blockbuster, film or book, potential in the Madeleine case is now gone - the interest simply isn't there, the world has moved on.  Students of psychopathy, narcissism, sociopathy, media manipulation, conspiracies, etc, etc, have the far more entertaining (and terrifying) antics of the US President and the UK Prime Minister.  Madeleine would literally have to turn up 'Anastasia' style and be recognised and blood tested to grab the front pages.  Sightings and ex detectives opinions just aint gonna cut it.

For now, in the spirit of Maya Angelou, when someone tells you how this will end, believe them.  Ok, not verbatim, but when a police commissioner and an ex police commissioner suggest the case may never be solved, that's the option they want to stick.  Maybe too many reputations are on the line, on both sides of the aisle, too many big names who would be humiliated if the parents turned out to be involved.  VIPs who pulled strings here and there to help the parents and their friends avoid justice?

It is not a proud moment for the UK, but in an era where we have a corrupt far right government leading us all towards the cliff at Beachy Head, it is the least of our worries.