Monday 22nd August

Maybe we have always been, maybe every nation is – who knows?  There has never been a shortage of stupidity. Every time I return to England I become more and more disillusioned.  Walton is full of pissed up holiday makers, lairy and rude and oh so British. There is litter everywhere, can’t wait to leave. Up until quite recently I always thought that however our adventure in France turns out, I would spend my last few years back in my home country; now I am not so sure.  I still cheer for England or ‘Team GB’ as the BBC would have us believe when I catch them on the Olympics, but my heart does flutter a bit if France are doing well too.  It isn’t that I do not love my country, it’s History, it’s Natural Beauty, it’s Achievements – I have simply become disenchanted by the English.  Maybe it is just the case that the Thatcher Revolution, carried on stealthily by John Major and triumphantly by Cameron and unchallenged by Tony Blair has succeeded.  The majority of the population seems to be complacently happy with the status quo; as long as house prices are rising and interest rates are disappearing fast down the plug-hole of credit-happy heaven they refuse to see the failure all around them.  Not that those who are suffering the most seem to realise what is happening either; cheap supermarket beer and buy one get one free offers and Celebrity gossip keep them in a comatose state.

And even when they are roused by a suddenly passionate Media they fall for the buffoonery of Boris and Nigel rather than thinking things through.  Not that that will bother Mrs. May as she considers exactly how she will approach the coming Brexit.  There are rumours that Britain may be allowed some sort of Special Status; not quite outside and not quite in Europe either.  If she can pull this particularly stubborn rabbit out of the hat she will be rightly lauded as a prestidigitator of extraordinary skills.  But I fear she will fail.  If only it were that easy; besides Europe will want to stop others doing the same thing, so we will have to abide by the decision of a nation of idiots I am afraid.  What is certain is that the genie of Immigration cannot be stuffed back into the bottle; any trade deals we might hope to achieve outside of Europe will undoubtedly include more visas for those from other countries.

And the Labour party is on the verge of breaking up.  The latest idea is that if Jeremy succeeds in securing the Leadership then many M.P.s will try to join the Co-operative party and if enough do, then they could become the official opposition – a recipe for continued Tory rule for many years I am afraid; a nation of idiot M.P.s too it would seem.

Co-oncidentally I am listening to a cassette recording of Roger Water’s The Wall live in Berlin, sung as the Berlin Wall had just fallen.  The song is “The Tide is Turning” – how apt is that?  The tide is not turning at all, it is battering our shores with ever-increasing ferocity and there is no King Canute on the horizon to stop it.  We only have ourselves to blame – a nation of idiots.  But cheer up, we keep winning medals at the Olympics and ‘Strictly’ will soon be on the telly again – so nothing to really worry about then