With her dire prophetic warning that there is no such thing as society, Margaret Thatcher ruined Britain. Winston Churchill, every Tory’s hero, once said that ‘democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others we have tried.’ What is democracy exactly? According to the Oxford dictionary, democracy is ‘Government by the people; that form […]
Monthly Archives: December 2021
Tristan and Isolde – Myth, Magic and Murder
The great love story Tristan and Isolde was written in the 12th century with lashings of love, sex, adultery, magic potions, betrayal and murder. Retold and embellished through the Middle Ages, Tristan and Isolde inspired Shakespeare, the Arthurian legends, Richard Wagner’s opera and every romance writer who ever lived, whether they realise it or not. If […]
Dylan and Orwell Light the Way
Dylan and Orwell. Different times. Different genres. But both were lighthouses beaming out shimmering brilliant words to light the way. I was in hospital aged 14 with a cracked skull after a tree fell on my head during a lightning storm in Epping Forest. My dad gave me a copy of 1984 while I was […]
Saturnalia is Only Christmas by Another Name
Saturnalia for the Romans was a time for stuffing themselves until they were sick and drinking until they fell over. Romans during Saturnalia hung their morals in the cupboard for a week and moved in sodden gangs of friends from door to door singing bawdy songs. When they got home, they stripped naked and enjoyed an unshackled orgy. The […]
Boris Johnson is Unfit for National Office
“Boris Johnson is unfit for national office.” These are not the words of an enemy, but Conservative supporter and former Daily Telegraph editor Max Hastings. When Boris Johnson was preparing to seize the crown from Theresa May and redecorate Downing Street, Hastings wrote: ‘The Tory party is about to foist a tasteless joke upon the […]
Far-Right Johnson Seizes Control
The mechanic doing the MOT on my car said in passing that he was proud of being a Tory on the ‘far-right.’ I asked him why. ‘It’s only the far-right that’s got their heads screwed on the right way,’ he replied. ‘I don’t have kids. I don’t like kids. Why should I pay for them […]
Best Country in the World
Britain is the best country in the world. This constant claim by Boris Johnson and his Cabinet does more to undermine the fabric of our society than bind it together. We hear on the news every day that the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccination programme was quicker than anywhere else in Europe. It is […]