Musical reunions

I note with passing interest today that hysteria has been reborn with the release of tickets to see Take That. Quite why, I can't imagine because to the best of my knowledge they weren't that good first time around and, in the musical instrument stakes, Led Zeppelin appear safe for the time being.

I can understand reunions for the sake of generating more money but frankly, this motive has gone past the point of boredom and has now sneaked into the ominous territory of tiresome. The reunions which interest me are those where money is of no consequence and the only issue revolves around the resolution of artistic difference. So, if Pink Floyd were to reform properly and more pertinently record new material to augment their legendary back catalogue, I would be very interested. The death two years ago of Rick Wright, their keyboard maestro would however render any proper reunion rather shallow.

Therefore, I started thinking about the potential reunions out there which could be made with all previous personnel, with no financial need and where the group in question was highly significant. It becomes difficult. The Who are missing their entire rhythm section, The Jimmy Hendrix Experience is now called Noel Redding, The Beatles are now Paul and a somewhat garbled Ringo, The Faces are minus Ronnie Lane and the Small Faces are minus Ronnie Lane and Steve Marriot. Led Zepellin would now be confined to being acoustic, The Doors would be an instrumental trio and God Bless them, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band would have to take to the stage minus Vivyan Stanshall. The latter would be unthinkable as evidenced when I went to see them three years ago. Phil Jupitus is many things but Viv Stanshall he is not and never will be. Incidentally, viewing rare footage of the original Bonzos performing Little Sir Echo for German television is a glimpse of Stanshall at his very best.

The sad passing of Pete Quaife in June this year put the skids on any potential Kinks reunion and the passing of Brian Jones at the House At Pooh Corner in 1969 put the kybosh on any serious Stones revival. There is one from the sixties which is theoretically acheivable; Deep Purple. Whether Ian Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore could be persuaded to inhabit the same county again is open to debate.

I think perhaps the Sixties holds no remaining possibilities worthy of consideration. However, from the 1970s two outstanding examples have indeed reformed quite recently and sadly I wasn't able to see either; The Police and The Specials. Thankfully no such reunion is on the cards for Scotland's finest - The Bay City Rollers!

Both sides now

It is said that the Canadian folk singer Joni Mitchell penned the lyrics for her song "Clouds" as a mere teenager. If you've ever heard this song, you will appreciate how astonishing this is. Well, like Joni, I too have looked at life from both sides now. As I embark on my clinical training interviewing and examining patients in a hospital setting, I still see each patient as myself. Let me explain. When I found myself in hospital in the New Year of 2005 I didn't know what had hit me. Finding myself with failed health in hospital did not fit with my life plan. However, I had to adapt to that environment and, as best as I could, accept it. I was lucky to have a loving family and many friends who showed me how much they cared. I encountered a wide variety of compassion in the medical professionals. Some were indifferent to me. Some were just too busy to have the time to show any compassion. Some were born to be in that profession. I was the patient and they left me in no doubt about it. Despite the fact that they were very busy, they still found the time to talk to me as a person - not as a patient. This is surely the greatest gift of all and the one to which I aspire. I have great compassion for those whose conditions leave them with little or no function but I have even greater compassion for those who have nobody in the world who cares for them. Surely this is the saddest situation of them all. We all need to be loved and to know that somebody cares irrespective of their relationship to us. As a society, how can we have come so far in so many ways and yet receeded so far where it really counts? I would rather be working in a run down hospital where every patient had at least one visitor who came to see them because they cared rather than a new hospital where patients languished anaesthetised by the effects of no love. I have just bought a pharmacy text-book laden with a plethora of weird and wonderful drugs but it seems to me that the most important drug of all is not listed.

Long live the amateur!

As Liverpool football club come to the end of their search for a new owner to pay off their reported debts of about 237 million pounds, I sit and wonder what became of the amateur tradition. Liverpool, in truth, are less seeking a new owner than a benefactor. I deplore the way in which professional sport has descended into such an economic mess. If you went to a casino to play roulette, and the croupier offered you 2 to 1 against an individual number, you wouldn't even waste your money. But this is not far away from the absurd chances facing the vast majority of professional football clubs and particularly those in the premier league. Of course, it is not only football which has descended into this unsustainable financial format. Cricket is slowly dying and too few people can even see it. I read today that Lancashire have elected not to play Andrew Flintoff in a second eleven fixture against Yorkshire this week. Of all the non stories swimming around in this the proverbial "silly season", this one takes some beating. Andrew Flintoff was finished as a top player about three years ago. The only reason he is retained as a county player is for the potential to cash in on him as a marketable commodity. However, while he lies by the side of his swimming pool in Dubai drawing his hefty salary for doing nothing, I can only hope that a young talent who will appreciate the opportunity will make a name for himself in this Roses match.

It is remarkably only 57 years since England appointed their first professional captain in the shape of the late, great Len Hutton. Can any of us now imagine an amateur being appointed again? Can we even envisage an England cricket captain actually being at least born in England?

Last week, I went to watch a local football match. In the Vale of Clwyd where I live, there is an annual inter village football competition involving about a dozen villages. There is a season long league followed by a knockout cup competition. It is about as amateur as you can get. Any rolling around on the floor to try and attract the attention of the referee will go unnoticed and if you persist, a chap will run run on to the pitch with a sponge and a bucket of water and just throw the water over you. No prima donnas here! No half hearted tackles either. Tackles are enough to make a surgeon purr with anticipation and those with a delicate constitution are best advised to look the other way. Afterwards, all and sundry retire to the pub and all animosities on the pitch are forgotten about. With the sole exception of a local business sponsoring the shirts on their backs, this has nothing to do with money and is so much more real and enjoyable as a result. The passion in the players is palpable and the only prize at stake is to be able to say that your side won. This is sport at its best and I feel that too many people have lost sight of this. If Liverpool owe 1 million or 200 million pounds, it means nothing to me as I am not in the least bit interested. As far as I'm concerned, the best result would be for one of these so called "big" clubs to go under and cease to exist thus creating a knock effect to the rest. The whole model of the modern professional game is unsustainable, boring and frankly, vulgar.

I can only hope that the pendulum begins to swing back in the amateur direction again for the good of sport everywhere. That way both the participants and the spectators will be all the richer for it.

The Hurricane Has Left The Building

From time to time, sport throws up personalities who demand our attention. Riddled with inner demons and an other worldly talent, blessed with good looks and a twinkle in their eye and able to fluctuate between moments of sheer brilliance and moments of utter stupidity in the blink of an eye. While they are with us, we are painfully aware of their fragility and take every day of their lives as a gift from the Gods. They have all the gifts which we all wish were ours and use them with casual indifference. We would give blood for such gifts but such gifts are not meant for the likes of us.

How amazing then that between May 1946 and March 1949, the city of Belfast spawned not one but two such talents. To be blessed with one is the stuff of dreams but to blessed with two is riches beyond compare. On Bloody Friday in 1972 the provisional IRA detonated 22 bombs to mark one of the low points in the recent history of Belfast. 1972. George Best's star was beginning to lose its glow in a mire of alcohol, tabloids and celebrity. The 23 year old Alex Higgins was winning his first World Snooker championship and the future augured well for the future of snooker. The celebrity culture is not a new thing and George and Alex were two of its earliest darlings. In the news today, football clubs are reputedly lining up bids in excess of 50 million pounds to secure the services of 26 year old Spanish striker Fernando Torres. At 26, in 1972, George Best had been there, done that and got the t shirt. Heaven knows what Goerge might have been worth in today's hyper inflated, globalised market. But it is easy to forget that football in 1972 was only ten years into the era of negotiable wages. A decade earlier, Jimmy Hill, then the chairman of Fulham, had fought and won the battle to abolish the maximum wage for professional footballers. From that moment on, the writing was on the wall for football. The balance between playing the game for the sheer love and playing for the money had been irreversibly tipped. It is thus that George Best was one of the last true professionals. Just seven years later in 1979, Trevor Francis was sold for 1 million pounds and the final nail had been hammered into the coffin of the beautiful game. Likewise when Alex Higgins won the world snooker championship in 1972, while he may have only won buttons for his efforts, his explosion onto the scene of a sport hitherto confined to smoky back rooms assured its financial future but paradoxically ushered in the modern professional era which has spawned players of the ilk of Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry.

George Best and Alex Higgins were both from humble working class origins from a city drowning in social problems. It is little wonder then that two lads from such a background as this should be tempted by life's vices as soon as their talent brought in the money. It would have taken enormous strength of character to resist temptation given the experiences of their formative years. It is not coincidental that the most comparable modern snooker player to Higgins is Ronnie O'Sullivan. Ronnie has come from a rough background and his father is serving a lengthy prison sentence. But there the comparisons end. Ronnie earns more now for winning a tournament than Alex won in his career. Enough said. Alex and George were both blessed with genius and knew it was their only passport to escape their native Belfast. Thank God they both escaped and we were privileged to witness their God given talents. An era has passed and more is the pity.

The Big Society

Although the big society is an unfortunate expression doubtless generated by a group of well meaning PR men, it is nevertheless a dream to which we all need to aspire. Already. I can all but smell the deep and meaningful theses being written with wonderful interpretations of what it means.

Its roots are twofold and really quite simple. In the first instance, the Public Sector in this country was allowed to grow into an out of control monster during the last 13 years. Out of control and financially unsustainable. However, what the Labour proved once and for all is that if a societal problem exists, merely throwing money at it is not the answer. The second major thrust of the big society therefore looks beyond money; it looks at people. As sure as people got us into this mess, it will be people who get us out of it. Whether they are voluntary, paid fairly or paid unaffordable amounts, the people must come together and seek a new philosophy. Are people really so dependent on the state doing everything for them? Unfortunately, a lot of damage has been done going back to the inception of the welfare state and the NHS. Today, our society boasts families whose entire membership takes their income from the state and are treated gratis by the NHS. Step back a minute. That sounds too good to be true doesn't it? Well, it very obviously is too good to be true. It perpetuates dependency, it inhibits engagement and it costs in monetary terms more than we can afford. Something has to give.

Already, the new government has indicated its committment to make large cuts sooner rather than later. However, this is only the first step. They have done their bit and now the people must do theirs. The big society wants us to get out from in front of our televisions and chat to our neighbour, help the old bloke across the road, put something back and offer a few hours of our time to a good cause. Above all, we must start to help ourselves and seek what we can do for the community around us. I hear many people who are all too quick to pinpoint what is going wrong where they live but I see all too few doing anything about it. The fact is it will not fix itself. David Cameron is very brave in launching this because I am certain it will take at least one generation to bear fruit. However, he has done the most important thing; he has sown the seed and set the ball rolling.

St. Swithin's Day

Today is St. Swithin's day and any rain today is thus believed to herald forty days of more rain. From a scientific standpoint, this is stark nonsense but from a perspective of great British eccentricity it is irresistable. So far, this summer has certainly been one of the best which I can remember. As I approach my 42nd birthday in November, I and my fellow quatrogenerians remember the endless sultry days of the summer of 1976. That summer, I can not honestly recall seeing any rain albeit I was but a young lad of seven. 1984 was a good follow up with no shortage of heat or sunshine. By coincidence, both of these summers saw the West Indians touring Englnad and the ensuing cricket was as one-sided as I have ever witnessed. England barely even made up the numbers in the face of some of the finest fast bowling I have ever seen. The sight of Michael Holding gliding towards the wicket will stay with me as one of the most aesthetically beautiful visions in the history of sport - I am only glad I was not the poor batsman on the receiving end.

As a nation, we are famously obsessed by the weather and this has much to do with the subtle regional variations which we boast. The lake district will always have its fair share of rain and the East coast counties such as Norfolk will always have less. Ours is a country where travelling small distances can yield large temperature and weather differences. In addition the recent temperatures of 32 degrees in parts of Kent contrast starkly with the recent January lows of minus 15 degrees. Its a wonder we grow any fruit with such massive seasonal swings. Anyway, whether or nor the curse of St. Swithin strikes again, I intend to enjoy the rest of the summer come rain or shine!

Today, I attended a graduation ceremony in North Wales to support my sister in law who has just successfully completed a degree in education. The event took place in the seaside town of Llandudno to a packed auditorium and the special guest was Lord Ellis Thomas, the incumbent speaker of the recently formed Welsh Assembly.

The Welsh Assembly came into being with a majority so slender that Rizla ought to have sponsored it. However, a majority is a majority irrespective of its magnitude and as such deserves respect. One of the corner stones of its legislative intent has been the promotion of the Welsh language. This is a situation riddled with anomalies. The proportion of the current Welsh population who speak Welsh to any degree is approximately 20%. Of these, roughly half are deemed fluent. All schools in Wales are now required by legislation to teach Welsh to at least a basic level with the hope that all children brought up in Wales will have had at least some exposure to the indigenous language. More than any country in the Union, Wales is easily the most reliant on the Public Sector for its employment. Given that the Public Sector is about to be slashed in the years to come, Wales is about to lose its largest employer by some distance. It has been in this workplace that the edict "Ability to speak Welsh essential" has been most prevalent. However, the same edict can't as easily be applied in the private sector. Since we are told that the private sector must grow to sustain our economy, ability to speak Welsh is likely to hold less value in the years ahead.

The graduation ceremony today took place to the backdrop of an audience wearing earphones so that the speeches in Welsh could be understood. In my youth, I attended a Welsh primary school and I can assure you that no such earphones were provided. Thus, I learned the little Welsh I have by just listening to people speaking the language. As far as I know, this is the way most languages are learned. The point I make here is that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. So for all the efforts to give Welsh precedence in its own country, it will not alter the natural tide of its slow regression. Events such as today are therefore puzzling to me. The majority of the audience were denied access to much of what was said because they didn't particularly want to don earphones in their own country. I do have sympathy for those whose efforts attempt to keep their language alive and imagine it must be a frustrating process to see their language being slowly eroded.

On the same day, a test match series in cricket commenced at Lords in London between Pakistan and Australia. It is the first time since 1912 that a test match has taken place in England between two foreign countries. On this occasion, Pakistan are the home side on account of security in that country being considered too risky. In 1912, the British Empire was at its zenith and England, Australia and South Africa contested a triangular tournament in the mother country. Now, ninety-eight years later, much has changed and the Empire is but a distant memory. It is now only a matter of time before Australia seeks and attains independence. However, Pakistan being the home side in London is not as daft as it sounds. One legacy of the Empire is the proliferation of immigrants to Great Britain from the former colonies - many of whom still claim membership of the Commonwealth. Mnay of our towns and cities have substantial populations of Pakistani origin and it is only natural that those with such roots should support their mother country. Thus, it seems that culturally, relationships have been turned on their head in the last hundred years. While the support for the Pakistani national side is fervent and passionate, it is not motivated by the effects of alcohol - it does not need to be. The national pride is genuine and does not require a belly full of beer to stir the emotions. Players representing Pakistan must also be aware of how privileged they are compared to many of their fellow countrymen many of whom live in abject poverty. I don't think England players have quite the same feelings of privilege and humility!

I spent many years in sales career surrounded by people who swore that money and wealth was their biggest motivator. I remain amused by this facile belief. Neither has ever motivated me. Personal pride, targets and sheer challenge have always been my best motivators - oh and anybody daring to suggest that I can't! Never fails. Although Australia will be the favourites to beat Pakistan, home advantage for the Pakistanis may hold the key and I wish them well.

A Transport Of Delight

During the recent general election campaign the twin themes of austerity and repairing our society were at the forefront of political debate. I contended at the time that rather than being broken, our society simply needs to get to know itself again. The best strategies to acheive this are the very simple ones. Yesterday, I paid my £3 to buy my Route 76 bus ticket and for this small amount of money I was able to participate in a day of social remodeling.

I live in the old market town of Denbigh in the vale of Clwyd. Denbigh boasts at least ten pubs and most of these are "wet" houses which don't offer food. As such, most of these pubs are struggling to remain open since many are tied to breweries whose exorbitant rents and beer prices make earning a living virtually impossible. This is also the plight of the pubs in the surrounding villages. By contrast, however, many of the latter are owned by the landlords and also have varying standards of food provision. The Achilles heel of the country pubs though is a combination of low local populations and the drink driving laws.

So yesterday I paid my £3 and participated in a brilliant piece of innovation. In conjunction with the local council, a group of six country pubs organised a "mobile" beer festival. The bus route is tailored to drop off and pick up at these six pubs for the duration of the day. The narrowness of some of the country lanes requires a smaller bus to be employed and each bus had a bouncer aboard just in case revelry got out of hand.

The first bus to go past my bus stop was full to bursting so couldn't stop! The second one not far behind, I managed to board. From the outset, the atmosphere on that bus was tremendous. Any talk of a lack of community spirit or social cohesion were way off the mark. The high spirits, people talking to their neighbour, laughter and courtesy were a joy to behold. In all honesty, I felt so privileged to part of it, I would have gladly paid double. At one point, at a bus stop in Hendrerwydd for the White Horse Inn, a random dog hopped on and promptly alighted at the next stop to the delight of all the passengers. We had singing on our bus and as we came to stop at the town bus stop in Ruthin, the strains of "Calon Lan" were so loud that the expressions of those waiting to alight were an absolute picture.

I began my festival at the Three Pigeons at Graigfechan because it was the furthest pub from Denbigh. It seems my cunning plan had already been thought of! The Three Pigeons was heaving and it took nigh on half an hour to buy a drink. But nobody cared about waiting because the atmosphere was so friendly and happy. As I wove my way home bumping into old acquaintances along the way, each pub was absolutely full and many had live bands, hog roasts and the like.

Far from having a sore head this morning, I feel enlivened and have witnessed what can happen when heads get together to solve problems. I also reflected how many of those revelers of yesterday on those little buses will be back behind the wheels of their cars on Monday morning with no company except for the radio. Yesterday I caught a glimpse of community spirit and it first depends on people getting out of their cocoons and sharing time with each other. To the organisers of Route 76, my sincere congratulations - do it again soon!

By Jingo!

What a wonderful gift it is to be English. We go crazy for Wimbledon and for the past decade have harboured unusually realistic hopes of a champion from our shores. We love beating the Australians at absolutely anything but especially cricket, whatever the newly contrived format. We reassure ourselves that our football team is star-packed and capable of anything. For culture we attend the Proms, Glyndebourne and local productions of Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera. We have Elgar to provide the soundtrack to our Englishness and Kipling to put it into words. We once ruled the world and are slowly coming to the realisation that is all in the past. We go all pagan for the summer solstice at Stonehenge and still crave a good broadsheet to keep abreast of world events. Embracing technology and keeping up with the world around us we have learnt to browse and tweet. Secretly, we all wish we had been to Eton or Harrow and to Cambridge or Oxford. I miss the England described by Waugh. The England which braved the new world in the aftermath of the Great War and braced itself for the onset of the next. The England which saw the ascent of Socialism and the demise of the stately home and its denizens. The England of true rustic beauty of Larkin, Laurie Lee and Thomas Hardy. Thank God, there'll always be an England and thank God for Vaughan Williams and Pimms and evensong. Blessed are the English for they shall bask in their great country - wherever they may be!

What a sham!

Germany 4, England 1. Surprised? Well, yes, actually. I'm very surprised that England had the opportunity to play in the last 16 of this World Cup. In the group stages, England were at best mediocre. That they did not get beaten by Algeria was down more to good luck than good management and the draw against a lively and skillful USA was fortuitous. To reach the last 16 and then expect to progress to the quarter finals, you really need to stamp your authority on your group. England have rolled over like a frightened puppy. I keep hearing about the Premier League being the richest in the world. That may be but wealth does not correlate with skill, passion and raw talent. The fact is that England don't play as a team, are far too short on basic footballing skill, are grossly over-rated by our jingoistic media and frankly, don't really have an incentive to play. Their salaries at club level preclude them from ever winning anything of international importance. I hear about too much football being played and have to laugh really. For God's sake, this is their job! I salute Jamie Carragher of Liverpool for at least having the common decency to admit that playing for his club is more important to him. I don't agree with his admission but I respect him for being honest enough to come clean. Finally, reputations of individuals never win tournaments - tournaments are won by cohesive teams who would walk over broken glass for each other. Ask anyone to name any of the Greek team which won the European Championships and you will have a long wait. Ask anyone to name the current England "team" and most people will reel off half a dozen - I rest my case. If egos ever count towards winning tournaments, England would be nailed on favourites. Too many players just couldn't be bothered. If the "too much football" argument held any water, none of these prima donnas would perform for their clubs come the start of the new domestic season in August. But of course they all will perform for their clubs because their clubs are their masters - not their country. Personally, the idea of a foreign coach is laughable. How can a Swede or an Italian possibly assume the requisite national pride to covet these trophies? In sales there is an old adage which states that you are only as good as your last week. In sport, you are only as good as your last game. A good manager would have dropped Rooney to the bench during the Algeria game. Lampard ought to have made way sooner as well. The defenders he was stuck with unfortunately. Defenders used to adopt a "they shall not pass" mentality. This bunch went more for the "after you sir" approach. The whole goal keeping issue was a farce for about the last six months. Inexcusable. The issue of the captaincy was likewise a farce. You want a captain to be judged by his performance on the pitch not in his private life. I will never understand why Theo Walcott was left behind but David Beckham went. I will never understand why Emile Heskey went and Adam Johnson didn't. Had they been rightly knocked out at the group stage, England would have been delivered a much fairer assessment of their current worth. Lastly, why would anyone seriously want to travel half way around the globe to follow that lot? Beats me...

The Day Of The Jackal

The Frederick Forsyth book, "The day of the jackal", is a wonderful thriller and along with "Where eagles dare" is the best I have read.

Yesterday, the local news in North Wales reminded us of a shop-keeper from Llangollen who just disappeared twenty years ago. I pondered the reality of any of us being able to just disappear. Why not? If you can keep your cards close to your chest and accumulate a cash fund to initiate your escape, I still think it is possible to disappear. Of course, Europe would be out of the question as would the United States or Canada. However, lesser countries in Africa, Central America or South America would be good candidates. The only thing you need to survive is money. In the places I have cited, there is still the scope to earn money on a cash in hand basis without the need for formal identification. The perfect arena within which to escape is catering. Here, people can slink away quietly into a busy kitchen, do their job competently and go largely unnoticed. You rent a small flat for cash and no landlord with rent in his hand will ask any questions. In the day of the jackal, the jackal had several identities but who says you even have to have an identity - the less identity the better!

But who would want to escape? Someone with massive debts or someone who has committed a heinous crime perhaps? Most of us would never entertain the notion because we have a baseline of happiness within our lives. However, there are many others whose lives offer little in the way of aspiration, hope, fulfillment or happiness. Of course you would normally need some form of social interaction but somebody seeking to remain anonymous would have to ditch such a luxury.
In the day of the jackal, the backdrop to the story revolves around the French resistance movement who disagreed with Charles De Gaulle's decision to grant independence to Algeria. The Algerians against the odds had proved to be a thorn in the side of the far stronger French army and had showed what can be achieved against a supposedly stronger opponent with sufficient desire and planning. Tonight, an England team dripping in millions of pounds of Premier League talent will face the part-timers of Algeria. In that the match is being played in Africa, Algeria will be more at home than England. I suspect the final result will reflect this.

Well deserved MBE

I saw on Saturday that Graham Nash of the Hollies and Crosby, Stills and Nash has finally been recognised for his charitable work and lifetime contribution to music. Well done Graham and richly deserved.

Surely one of the most genuine people in an industry hardly noted for such qualities, Graham has been performing and writing music now for nigh on 50 years. Of all the absolutely beautiful music he has blessed us with, one song in particular stands out over the rest.

It is the song which proved to be the catalyst for his exit from the Hollies to California in 1969; Teach your children. The Hollies didn't want to perform this sort of music so Graham departed to find somebody who did. So a big thank you to the Hollies who inadvertently gave the world Crosby, Stills and Nash with their soaring melodies and lyrics to stir the soul.

Forty years after the song was first released, we have just endured an election in which the "Broken Society" became a popular theme. I'm not sure that our society is broken, but I do think it is badly in need of getting to know itself again. Graham's lyrics in Teach your children would be a great starting point:

You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.

Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

And you, of tender years,
Can't know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.

Counter Melody To Above Verse:
Can you hear and do you care and
Cant you see we must be free to
Teach your children what you believe in.
Make a world that we can live in.

Teach your parents well,
Their children's hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

How prescient is the lyric "Must have a code that you can live by"? Whether we are atheist, religious or agnostic, we all need a basic code to guide us in our lives. This code is equally as important for the teenager starting out as it is for the 65 year old coming up for retirement.

In a world obsessed with image, marketing and popularity, the lyric"And so become yourself" is the most simple, appropriate advice in the book for everybody.

But the most clever aspect of this wonderful song is that while it is solidly based on the truth of love, it begins by imploring the parents to teach their children well but finishes by reminding us all that actually the parents don't have all the answers and the children can help us just as much as we can help them. So true.

Had more people just heard and thought about these lyrics forty years ago, I'm damn sure we would not have half the problems currently facing us.

When our beautiful daughter Thea died at the tender age of just fifteen months, this song played at her funeral service. I couldn't bring Thea back but I could share this song with as many people as possible who make a difference in my life. If only one person left the funeral with these words in their consciousness, then there is hope for the future.

The Silly Season

Well, here we are again. It is the season for fantasists to speculate on whether England will win the World Cup or whether Andy Murray will win Wimbledon. In a way, I suppose people almost have to ask these questions - even though they already know the answers.

In both cases, the answer is no. Albeit, Andy Murray has a pig's chance on the basis of his talent and desire. Unfortunately, we are now in the professional era and this means that success for British representatives in the most lucrative events is nigh on impossible. If tennis was still predominantly an amateur sport, then we may have a chance of producing a champion. As it is, in the professional era it comes down to sheer committment. A good analagy is a concert pianist. To be at the top, he or she is estimated to have to put in somewhere in excess of 10,000 hours practice on the way after which time they may be rewarded reasonably well. Reasonably well. Not disproportionately well. They actually love playing the piano and would probably do so for the sheer enjoyment and challenge.

It is this loss of the Corinthian spirit heralded by the demands of Jimmy Hill for the abolition of the minimum wage in the 1960s which signalled the death knell for the success of sport in this country.

Let's take football as a case in point. In the 1960s, the notion of a foreign player coming here to play would have been treated with derision. It is now de rigeur with the result that British players are now distinctly in the minority. Those that do play are paid so much, most couldn't give tuppence about playing for their country. Some, such as Jamie Carragher, even have the temerity to openly admit it - and then come back to play for the sheer hell of it. What absolute nonsense! He should never have been called back to the ranks after the comments he made. However, the point is made and others now know that for a pampered Premier league player on a weekly wage in excess of the average national salary, there is always an open door...

Put simply, the manager is foreign, at least one player would rather be playing for his club and the rest are paid so much domestically, South Africa and the World Cup is meaningless to them. Aside from this, there has not been an English player at the top flight with the experience of World triumph for over thirty five years now - unlike Brazil, France, Italy, Germany...

For me, the endless speculative copy churned out by the dear old fourth estate just provides some welcome amusement - I really can't believe anybody is naive or foolish enough to still buy into it.

Where to go on holiday?

We are committed to taking three weeks holiday to conclude in the middle of September. As I prepare to embark on the clinical years of my medical school training, I am aware that it will be quite a while until we will all be able to holiday for this sort of duration again. So what are the options?

To avoid the Euro zone and its perceived reduction in value for money, the top contenders are Croatia and northern Cyprus. The former affords the more brief air-time with us having a young three year old. Last summer I drove down the Adriatic coast of Italy which faces Croatia and if what I saw on the Italian side is a good indication, then I am sorely tempted.

Staying in Euro zone my favoured destination would be France because I am a bit of a Francophile.

Words of wisdom

It was sometime in the summer of 1982 that I first heard a sound which had a profound effect on me. I was bowling to my older brother (as is the social role of the younger brother) when the next song came onto the tape on the tape recorder. The song was called My Generation and I was listening to it for the first time fully seventeen years after its UK release. It blew me away with its sheer energy and menacing lyrics. The juggernaut rhythm section of Entwistle and Moon constituted the most amazing sound which I had ever heard. This solid bass line being cheekily punctuated by the unpredictable interruptions of the most precocious drummer I had ever heard was led by the gravel voiced Roger Daltrey fairly dripping with testosterone. To cap it all though came the incomparable defiant lyric,"I hope I die before I get old". This was the catchphrase of youth everywhere in every society in every age.

Last week a musician who shaped the music of the sixties and far beyond turned 65. It received very little in the way of press coverage which surprised me. I am referring to Peter Dennis Blanford Townshend of The Who. The chief songwriter and group leader since 1964 can now board buses for free. Along the way, his foot soldiers Keith Moon and John Entwistle have lived by his famous lyric and left us fans wanting more and wishing they were still with us. Such was Townshend's penchant for excess over the years in between, the only surprise for those around him is that Moon and Entwistle have beaten him to it! So the man who wrote:

1. I hope I die before I get old,
2. No-one knows what its like to be the bad man,
3. An entire rock opera regarding a deaf, dumb and blind boy,
4. A rock opera based at least semi-autobiographically on a young mod called Jimmy,
5. Meet the new boss - same as the old boss,
6. Teenage wasteland,
7. Too much of anything is too much for me,
8. Who's Next - in my very humble opinion the very best studio album ever made, and,
9. I can see for miles

is now a pensioner - against all odds. So, Pete Townshend, my profound and most sincere thanks to you for all the great music which you have given us over so many years.

Ultimate supergroup

If you've been watching the recent TV programme narrated by Mark Radcliffe, you may, like me prefer your music with a bit of balls. I've found the series interesting and arguments such as these make for stimulating discussion.

So to start off with, its a bit like picking a great football team - you start from the back and work your way towards the front. Traditionally, the back means the drummer. But, I would maintain that you would have to pick the drummer alongside a quality bass player who played in the same group because this constitutes the rhythm section and will underpin the entire sound of the group. This makes it a bit of a two horse race; either you go for Bonham and Jones from Led Zeppelin or you go for Moon and Entwhistle from the Who. Other applicants need not apply! The best bass player on show here is Entwhistle, comfortably. While Bonham might just shade Moon for technique, Moon is the only choice for the complete package and he and Entwhistle do create the mother of all rhythm sections. However, I think to do this properly, they will need a keyboard player to complement them. This is not so easy as several great players spring to mind. Lord, McLagan, Emerson and Manzarek are the obvious front runners. With Moon in the band, I don't want anyone too showy so this rules out the wonderful Keith Emerson. Manzarek is too used to having to supply the base sound so is surplus to requirements in the company of the legendary Ox. So which sound is the most appealing? The harder rock sound of Jon Lord or the bluesier style of Ian McLagan? Keith Moon wouldn't go for the latter because he nicked his wife so Jon Lord it is. I now have a rollicking good rhythm section. Being really cheeky, I would recruit a good backing vocalist to supply rhythm guitar and can think of nobody better than the late great Steve Marriott. For lead guitar I want someone really special who has the whole bag of tricks. For me, Jimmy Page from about 1968 to 1974 was without equal so he gets the gig. Would you really want to try and sing with that lot behind you? Well, I suspect that not many would be able to. The only candidate who I would deem capable of competing while at the same time shining would be Ian Gillan. So there is my band although I would urge those of a nervous disposition to keep their distance...

The voyage away from Marx

When the last Conservative government commenced in 1979, it did so against a backdrop of militant trade union activity when strikes were called in even the most spurious contexts. The greatest acheivement of Margaret Thatcher was the crushing of the trade union movement. She saved the country millions in both money and jobs. As we enter the first tentative days of this, the latest Conservative administration, the challenge facing the country is rather similar. Today, the last remaining union of any relevant power or size is threatening to bring British Airways to its knees. It is imperative that Willy Walsh holds his nerve and stands firm against them. If he does not stand firm, they will bankrupt his company with their unrealistic demands. If he holds firm, the outcome may be the same, only in spite of them rather than because of them.

On a national level, George Osborne and his colleagues in the treasury know that they must face up to the looming battle with the public sector. I observed with interest yesterday that one of his first strategies is to include the effect of public sector pensions on the balance sheet for the national debt. And about time too. Let us start to see the whole picture rather than the doctored version to which we have been subjected for the past thirteen years. It is high time that people realised the full extent of our behemoth of public services on the state of our national finances.

Of course, what is already accepted is the need to make cuts in the number of people currently employed by the public sector. We need to be able to properly evaluate what we get back for every job currently being financed. Without question, many of these jobs are absolutely vital. The rest need to be held to account and ditched in the absence of sufficient evidence of their worth.

However, the real challenge facing Mr. Osborne and his colleagues is to address the way that public sector pensions are currently financed. A member of the public retiring today with a money purchase scheme has to scour the market for the best available annuity deal. Currently, the best deal doesn't even top 2%. Public sector pensions by contrast are final salary schemes so are completely recession, inflation and interest rate proof. Given that the latter make up by far the greatest proportion of those retiring, it is now time to have another look. The current model by common consent is absolutely unsustainable. Also, the age old argument that public sector employees sacrificed greater salaries for the later security of a safe pension no longer hold true. While there are still some public sector employees on the lower eschelons of the earning ladder, the vast majority are much better off than they were twenty years ago and the gap between salaries in the public and private sectors has been steadily narrowing for a number of years now. Also, let us not forget the very damaging advent of the minimum wage which will now be here to stay - another unmeasured guarantee bestowed by the squander politics of "New" Labour.

This is a battle which has to be fought and will pale into insignificance the current union battle with British Airways. The trouble is, if you leave groups of people in clover for too long, they sart to expect it as a given right. It is not a given right but quite how George Osborne will sell this will be very interesting to watch. Not least because the very economic future of this country is dependent on the outcome.

On his side is the news today that John Cruddas, the only viable left wing contender for the Labour party leadership, has declared that he will not run. This means that the only declared candidates are the centre ground Millibands with the expected declarations from the like minded Burnham and Balls. It is quite likely that the capacity of the Labour Party for in fighting will leave them squabbling with each-other for the next three or four years. More than enough time to set in motion the real, pertinent and pressing reforms of the public sector. Hold your nerve George and get ready for a bumpy ride.

Electoral reform

With every passing day, Nick Clegg is making the prospect of change to the electoral system less and less likely. The waiting and dithering and uncertainty of the last five days will linger in people's minds. Who wants to go through this every time we have an election? Why don't we have fixed five year terms with the first year being taken up by a three way political soap opera with the the least popular party assuming the greatest importance. This really is a load of nonsense and it is the British tax payer and the Brititsh economy which will be the loser by it. Last Thursday, David Cameron looked comparitively weak with just 306 seats. Thanks to the indecisiveness of the Liberals, David Cameron now carries the whip hand and will absolutely walk the next General lection. Remember, with all their committees and deference to the Unions, Labour won't have a formal recognised leader until almost Christmas anyway so there is nothing now standing in the way of the Conservatives. Ironically, theye are now better off for having faalen short in the Election. Clegg is the definitive child in the sweet shop. You can have chocolate or sweets. But you have to make a decision Nick! Otherwise you get neither...

Let's have another go!

It now seems likely that Nick Clegg is standing in the way of a new government being formed. He has 52 seats and about 6 million votes. Meanwhile the country is immersed in its worst deficit since the second world war, unemployment is rising, inflation is rising, fuel prices at the pump are rising and the stock markets are becoming more jittery than my insides following an Indian takeaway. After both his public denouncements of Labour and his party's antipathy towards Labour (the last time they got cosy with Labour, Labour welched on the deal; no surprises there then), it is difficult to imagine a Lib/Lab coalition. Should they pursue this route, David Cameron will undoubtedly reclaim the upper hand immediately by siding with the Ulster MPs. In the event of the latter, the Liberals may well lose this opportunity to at least be discussing PR at a level of Government. Nick Clegg appears to be looking the gift horse in the mouth. He may not prefer the idea of the Conser vatives, but it is Hobson's choice. In poker you can only bluff so far and I feel Clegg's cards have run out. Time to face reality and choose your partner Mr. Clegg.

An unlikely marriage

If, as expected, a coalition of Liberals and Conservatives ensues from this Election, I believe the country will be the winner by it. The Liberals will have to cede dominance to the sheer number of Tory seats while at the same time having, for the first time in almost a century, the semblance of a voice in Government. A semblance is better than no voice at all and at least represents a rung on the ladder and an opportunity to turn 90 years of pledges into actual actions. For David Cameron, this is a golden opportunity to put his country first and be remembered as the saviour of Britain from the thirteen years of Labour squandering. He really can't lose and is surrounded by acumen on all sides. Now, will Gordon Brown finally have the decency to just go and leave the running of the country to those chosen by the people!

This was the day we were warned about

The result of the election is as predicted by most opinion polls: A hung Parliament. Disaster. The mechanics of the seats and vote shares present a most confusing picture. The Conservatives look to be falling about 16 seats short of a working majority. Labour can only hope to carry on with a complex coalition involving at least two other parties one of which has to be the Liberals.

For the latter to happen with Gordon Brown remaining in charge would represent the absolute nadir of British politics. How can a current unelected Prime Minister seek to carry on when 71% of the electorate have shunned him and his party? However, this looks to be the intention of Brown. Previously, I have found this odious man to be a two-faced power freak. My sentiment toward him has now advanced to unabated loathing. Clearly, he is bereft of dignity and self deluded to a Hitleresque degree.

So, what happened? Well, in hindsight it all now begins to make sense. The Scots and Welsh have been most faithful to Labour. Why? Because their dependence on the Public Sector to feed their economies has assumed the levels of life support. Brown is absolutely culpable in this. England, by contrast, has become staunchly Conservative.

I voted Conservative for the first time because when it came to putting my cross next to the Liberal candidate, I couldn't live with returning Brown to power. Simple as that. No complex policy assessments. No deep analysis of the TV debates or the manifestos. I just didn't want to see Brown continue. I only wonder how many others voted likewise?

Clearly, Cameron also polarises people only not to the same extent as Brown. The result? The Liberals were squeezed out in the middle. If anyone would like a taste of what PR would bring, this morning's result of nobody having a majority should present a more clear picture.

My birthday is on November 5th. I would be amazed if we haven't gone back to the polls before then. With even a modicum of dignity, Brown would resign forthwith and go now.

The changing weather

I awoke this morning with great surprise to see the weather had changed. On Election day. A theory exists which states that fine weather will see the incumbent government returned whereas a change will point to a change of government. For my final political blog before results start to come in, therefore, I predict a Conservative majority of between 10 and 30 seats with the Liberals accruing between 75 and 100 seats. Labour, I predict, will be seeking a new leader, and Balls will be unseated to preclude him from such considerations. Adios!

Yesterday, today and tomorrow

Yesterday I paraded around the Medical School, where I am a student, resplendent in a figure hugging latex and spandex body suit with the dermatomes painted on it. The idea was to provide a free learning resource for my colleagues whilst raising money for a cause close to my heart. Meningitis UK hopes to raise £7million to fund research into the development of a vaccine for meningitis C which sadly claims thousands of unsuspecting lives every year. Our daughter Thea was one such life and she succumbed with frightening speed on June 5th 2010 at the tender age of just 15months. On a positive note, I raised nearly £230 yesterday so the humiliation of being attired in the said figure hugging suit was well worth it so a big thank you to all at Keele medical school who donated so generously.

Today I have just paid the latest installment of £600 to clear my tuition fees for another year. Yes, medical students such as myself who have a prior 2:1 science degree have to fund themselves through medical school. Some would say that future earnings will render such an expense meaningless but at the age of 41, it will still be another three years before an income starts to come my way. It seems rather churlish to make someone jump through the hoop of attaining a 2:1 degree to be able to apply to study medicine before then hitting them again for the full cost of their tuition fees. However, such as things are in Blighty, I fear this situation is unlikely to change in the near future.

Which brings me tomorrow. With allegedly 40% of voters still undecided as to which direction to vote, the outcome of tomorrows General Election is intriguing. My reading of human nature is this: We fear change. This will be borne out in the result. I predict that half of those undecided will plump for Cameron (safe change) with 30% going for Clegg (radical change) and the remaining 20% going for the Bigot Denouncer himself. As such, I predict a slight Conservative majority with a sharp reduction in the number of Labour MPs and the Liberals finishing close to but not quite higher than 100 seats. The post election bickering and finger pointing will not chnage the outcome. Cuts, austerity, belt tightening and an increased awareness that those striking Public Sector employees demanding their rights to their pensions in Athens could soon be British. Britain has to decide whether to give in to them or take the brave decision. All public sector pensions need to be changed to money purchase schemes with immediate effect. In other words, you will retire with an income relative to the fund of money which you have accumulated - with no guarantees. People must be encouraged to take greater ownership of their own affairs which is where David Cameron is absolutely spot on. Goodbye Nanny, hello DIY..

You read it here first

As predicted recently, the unleashing of the blundering Brown among root and branch ordinary folk has today heralded the banana skin moment which this Election has been crying out for. Any voters hitherto still considering a Labour vote have just had their minds made up for them by Gordon Brown. Here are the facts. The man who wishes to become our democratically elected Prime Minister has seen fit to label a woman as bigoted. A few points to note. It is he who has sought the views and opinions of the electorate. We are not asking him to like our views but he can at least extend us the courtesy of respecting them. He has apologised though. Not for genuine reasons of course but because it has since become clear that he inadvertently left his microphone on. This man is about as genuine as a fairy at the bottom of the garden. He is a disgrace and the truth is now out in public for all to see. Labour had their chances to replace him but blew it again and again and again. Now they must pay the price for standing by this arrogant ignoramus. Projected share of national vote for Labour on May 6th: 24% maximum. He has probably just given Nick Clegg and David Cameron 2% each and with that a comfortable Conservative majority. What an absolute idiot. The man is a walking disaster incapable of a humble action or thought. This country needs and deserves much better than this man. GET HIM OUT!!!!!

Will a coalition reach Christmas?

I feel the time is right to humour the statisticians. Every day we are assured that a hung Parliament remains the most likely outcome of the Election. So what will happen? The outcomes are numerous and the permutations, although limited, throw up some interesting options. For instance, should the Conservatives garner 300 seats, they would be 28 seats short of the required target. However, without having to resort to either of their main rivals, they may be able to make up the shortfall with the various nationalists. Of course, fundamentally, they could hardly cosy up to UKIP without losing credibility. However, as soon as the number of Conservative seats falls in the 250-300 bracket, the Liberals come into play. Tricky. Although these two do share several policies broadly within spitting distance of each other, their differences are surely too big to overcome. Specifically, the Liberals want to join the Euro and also demand a referendum on electoral reform. On neither of these could the Conservatives possibly negotiate. Thus, a Lib/Con coalition is an absolute non-runner. So, in short, anything less than 300 seats would almost certainly preclude the Conservatives from sitting in any coalition.

So let us consider the alternatives. Could Labour reach 300 seats and seek the support of the Nationalists? No, definitely not. First of all, I can hardly see Labour reaching 200 seats - never mind 300. They will be judged on their legacy and where we are now. This will be their downfall. Inflation is starting to rise. Ditto unemployment. Ditto government borrowing. The spectre of Greece appears uncomfortably close. I read a story a few months ago about a chicken which fell down a well in rural Egypt. One man climbed in to rescue it and drowned. Another man drowned trying to save the first man and so on. Eventually, several villagers lost their lives and yes, you guessed it, the chicken against all odds, emerged unscathed. When I think of this story, Gordon Brown and his cronies always spring to mind. Namely, in spite of the poor historical outcome, if you keep persisting with the same strategy, it will have to work eventually! Wrong! Advice to New Labour in the form of a famous saying: "Sometimes its better to just stand there and look stupid rather than open your mouth and remove all doubt".

So a Labour haul of at least 250 may put a Liberal coalition on the table. This assumes a Liberal haul of at least 90 seats based on current data. Even joining together, their collective majority would be paper thin. The differences between them seem too great although one wonders what Gordon Brown wouldn't do to cling on grimly to power. In short, such a marriage would only be short lived and I doubt whether it would even reach Christmas. Six months of a dithering, bickering Lab/Lib coalition would see the Conservatives returned with a stonking majority of at least 150 seats. By contrast, should the Conservatives realise a majority now, it is unlikely to exceed 20 seats. This would be too slender to go into a second term. This would be necessary to have a fighting chance of undoing the carnage wrought by Labour.

So, which would you rather. A doomed coalition with a short shelf life or tiny majority which would lead us back to where we are within four years. Looking at it like this, it seems that the Lib/Lab coalition would be best in the long term. But, should Labour come third in the popular vote, Clegg has stated publically that he could not endorse Brown to continue as PM. On what grounds? My understanding is that he feels that a party coming third does not have the right to provide the leader. Do you see where I'm going? I really believe Clegg aspires to be PM himself! With approximately 150 more seats, Labour won't wear that. So a compromise will have to be made. Who are the alternative Labour candidates? Johnson has already talked himself out of it when previously touted. Milliband wants it desperately but is respectfully waiting for the nod from the Dark Lord. Balls has made no secret of his ambition but I ask you, Prime Minister Balls? Now that really would be the icing on the cake. Who could take seriously a bickering coalition of Balls? Bring back Lord Sutch!

Doctor O'Dell

I've just seen a BBC news headline which puts me in mind of an old Spike Milligan limerick:

Doctor O'Dell fell down a well
And broke his collar bone,
But doctors should attend the sick
And leave the well alone

The headline I read was: "Peach mown down by police".

As it happens, Peach refers to a civil rights protester killed in police skirmishes in 1979. However, if I did not know this, I would wonder what the police would be up to next. It is bad enough that we no longer see police outside the creature comfort laden confines of their top spec cars but to start bullying fruit - well its all getting out of hand.

If you ask me, fruit have rights to and I think the police here have exhibited blatant fruitism.

Speaking of the unusual, it was brought to my attention today that the prospective Parliamentary candidates for Leeds Central count a rather unusual member in their number. They have the marvellously named "We beat the scum 1-0" party. As a lifelong Leeds Utd. fan, this is the most interesting thing I have seen to do with the Election so far. Bring back the eccentrics to politics - now that's what I call change!

A quick nod to the late Screaming Lord Sutch before I depart. In one of his last manifestos, Lord Sutch espoused the merits of metricating time. Ten seconds in a minute. Ten minutes in an hour. Ten hours in a day. Ten days in a week. Ten weeks in a month. Ten months in a year. You do the maths....

Pay your money and take your choice

This Thursday sees the final TV debate between "See No Evil", "Hear No Evil" and "Speak No Evil". It is also on the BBC and likely to attract the largest audience. Its subject is, I believe, the most likely to decide people's minds: The Economy. Fundamentally, we are faced with a stark choice. Start making the cuts to the Public Sector now (Conservative) or delay the same action for a few months (Labour and the Liberals). Given that everybody is in agreement about the current perilous state of our national finances, savings will need to be made to repay the spiraling national debt. So, we can either face up to it now and address the problem sooner or we can stick our head in the sands and hope it goes away. Cameron needs to score big on Thursday. He will have the biggest audience, the point upon which he has the biggest support and, most importantly, the last say. If people really are being swayed by these debates, I would expect the first post-debate polls to show the Conservatives back on 38-40% of the vote. Anything less than this will be disastrous and will signal the political end of David Cameron. If the polls come in showing 40%+, he will storm this election and garner a majority of between 30 and 80 seats. Unfortunately, the bad news is that whoever succeeds to power will have the unenviable task of dealing with the current mess - a task that will realistically take at least ten years. But will they be afforded the ten years needed?

A hung Parliament with more Brown will surely be an absolute disaster for the UK fiscally. I hope and predict that Labour will recede to about 25% of the vote and the Liberals to no more than 27.5%. Other outcomes do not bear thinking about!

The route to success

With the election looming in less than a fortnight and the three main parties separable only by a cigarette paper, it would be easy to imagine a hung parliament as being the most likely outcome. I would have been inclined to go along with such a forecast - until today. Today, it has been announced that Gordon Brown will henceforth assume a more vocal role in proceedings. This is the best Christmas present ever for the Conservatives and the worst possible news for the Cleggsters. Until now, the puppeteers at Labour HQ have succeeded admirably in deftly steering Gordon out of the way knowing full well the depth of public loathing for him. However, you can't keep a despot down and especially when his hunger for power is on a par with Gordon. What I don't understand is this: They recognise that electorally Gordon is a disaster and a liability and yet they fight tooth and nail to keep him as leader. Were they able to get away with it, I have absolutely no doubt that Labour would have Mandelson in the live TV debates instead of Gordon.

As I write the average of all the current polls points to a Tory lead over Labour of approximately five percentage points. The more public efforts of Gordon will make all the difference and push the Tories to the eight or so points which they will need to form a majority government. Also, I sense that the novelty of the TV debates is already on the wane. More pertinently, people seem to be coming around to the reality. Labour are finished. The Liberals can't win a majority. There is only Hobson's choice left and evrything now points towards it. I can't believe that a Party can have a majority the size of the Tories in the past two years and not get elected. The romance of Clegg has been an exciting addition to this election but it will not affect the inevitable conclusion.

Surge In New Voter Registrations

It is interesting today to note the apparent flurry of last minute activity principally in the sub25 age group to vote.

Historically, it has always been the domain of the young to effect change and so it is again. While I am not a fan of live television debates, I welcome them if they have effected this late surge. Ultimately, any elected government is only a reflection of those parts of the electorate who have voted. Given that the influx of registrations is most notably that of younger, often first time voters, we may rest assured on one outcome. It will not be good news for Labour. As to which of the other two main parties they will plump for, that is less straightforward.

An eighteen year old voting for the first time will only really have known this Labour government so should not need to much persuasion to cast their vote elsewhere. So what are the fundamental differences between the Conservatives and the Liberals? The former wish to involve the people more and the latter less. The Conservatives will also wield the axe on public services almost immediately whereas the Liberals are in the wait and see corner. The Liberals are pro Euro and the Conservatives anti Euro. The Conservatives wish to scrap the proposed NI increase whereas the Liberals want to introduce a minimum tax band of £10000. If only from a purely monetary perspective in terms of what is left in their pocket, it will be the latter which will woo the younger voter. The minimum tax band will have more appeal than a measly 1% difference in NI. The young are also far more likely to embrace the lure of the Euro zone being generally less traditional in their view.

I would therefore predict that for every 100 new votes garnered as a result of this last minute activity, 15 will go to Labour, 35 to the Conservatives and 50 to the Liberals. So it looks as though the Liberal band wagon is gathering momentum. The next debate covers the thorny issue of immigration where the difference between the parties is stark. So how important is immigration to us all? Well, by Friday morning, the picture will be a lot more clear. I suspect that in the main people are becoming rather cheesed off with it what with 2.5 million now frequenting the dole queue. Consequently, I expect the opinion polls by the week-end to look something like this: Conservative 35-39, Liberal 29-33 and Labour 22-26 - remember that many thousands of our number are returning home from their "holidays" having been delayed by the volcano. But they will not vent their anger against the volcano. It will be the blame magnet Mr. Brown who will be punished. Incidentally, should such figures in the opinion polls result and remain constant by the time of Election day, the Conservatives will command a slender working majority and do well to keep the Liberals close to coin the advice of Marlon Brando's character in The Godfather.

The Great Economically Inactive

Listening to the news today, I have just learned that the numbers of economically inactive people have reached a record high of over 8 million. Presumably, this figure includes only those people legally old enough to work. If true, this figure is huge. Or is it? I am a full time student and house husband reliant on a student loan and my wife for any income - although we do own our own home. On a serious note, I would dispute this term on the following grounds: I shop locally to support local jobs. I service our car locally for the same reason. I buy diesel for our car which is taxed (undersatement). I still pay council tax, car tax, car insurance, all of my tuition fees, utility bills and the TV license all of which are either direct or indirect forms of taxation.

Here is my point. Thanks to the judgement of Mr. Brown we now proudly boast the highest percentage of Public Sector workers in Europe - yes, even higher than France. Its a bit like Alex Bogdanovich beating Roger Federer on centre court at Wimbledon only the former is actually true and has regrettably been acheived. Who pays this ever growing mass of Unison loving, final salary pension guzzling, holidaying, striking "workers"? Tax payers. Whether direct or indirect, it is tax payers who facilitate this expansion and existence of Public Sector jobs. Thus, to be described as economically inactive when I give so much and care for a pre-school son is a little hard to swallow.

On the latter point, this country has an NHS which is existing in no small part due to millions of carers nationwide who go unpaid and largely unrecognised. You don't see them striking because morally they can not just walk away from their obligations. If Public Sector workers wish to strike, let them. But don't have them back and more importantly, don't replace them. Huge swathes of them are simply unnecessary and burdening us all in so many ways.

As we enter the final fortnight leading up to the General Election, I have a request for the political parties. I am not interested in your opinions of the proposals of your opponents. I only want to know what you are proposing to do about the mess the country is in. Message to David Cameron. Be bold and spell out exactly what you are going to do and you will take the Election with an absolute landslide. Don't be afraid to say where you will make the cuts - you will be far more popular than you may imagine.

The irremovable object?

Are you one of the minority of the Great British public who wants Gordon Brown to stay? Are you in the minority who admires his track record and acheivements? Sadly, I am not. However, apart from him being our unelected Prime Minister for the past three years and apart from him being in charge of the public finances for the ten years leading to their gravity-outstripping demise, it is his apparent unwillingness to listen to the very public opinion of his colleagues which gives me the greatest concern. Granted, Margaret Thatcher always had Michael Heseltine lurking in the background but hindsight shows that she dealt with him very professionally. I am aiming to limit the word count of this blog to 1000 so I don't have sufficient room to name the entire back catalogue of Mr. Browns opponents - from his own party!

Meanwhile, an Icelandic volcano spews forth its ash of revenge thus closing all the UK airports and keeping thousands of potential voters stranded in Euroland. How ironic would it be if the absence of these voters on May 6th made the difference between a hung Parliament and an outright majority for the Conservatives? Ironic or just miserable. My worry is that history points toward a 30 year trend in Britain for hung Parliaments and coalitions. Churchill headed one in 1940 and Wilson in 1974. On this somewhat crude measure, we are about due another taste of indecision. And potentially another five years of Mr. Brown! There exists for many voters, myself included, a cruel dichotomy. I prefer the policies of Nick Clegg and the Liberals but daren't vote for them for fear of five more years of Mr. Brown. If my logic is correct, and I believe it must be, a Conservative win is now signed, sealed and delivered. They don't even need to spell out any policies beyond their stance on Europe which is the main differential between themselves and the Liberals. Given that this very subject will be brought to the forefront in the next episode of Who Wants To Be Prime Minister?, I predict that by this time next week, the opinion polls will have swung back in favour of the Conservatives. However, I also predict that their lead will be no more than five points over the Liberals with Labour in a solid third place.

So, it may be that even a Scandinavian volcano can't dislodge Gordon Brown - not directly anyway.

The Final Furlong

In politics as in sport, the final furlong leading up to the winning post is often peppered with a minutae of sub-plots, ebbs and tides. It would seem that this year is no different. In football, Chelsea have been most people's bet for the title since before Christmas. The same applies for the Conservatives in politics. Is it just a coincidence that both are associated with the colour blue? After a week-end bursting with surprises, Chelsea's impregnable position at the summit of the Premier League now appears precarious and the Conservative lead is no more. The difference here is that Chelsea have surrendered initiative to their main rival, Manchester United. The Conservatives, however, have surrendered their initiative to the Liberals. Unthinkable surely? Well, not really. Consider the evidence. The incumbent party of government have made themselves completely unelectable a long time ago. Had Brown gone to the country three years ago when he should have done, had the Labour party ditched Brown when it should have done (God knows they have created more than enough opportunity to do so!), had the government dealt promptly and properly with the business of MP expenses and the out of control behemoth that is the banking sector, they may have had an outside chance. That they did none of these things is their own folly. Which leads us on nicely to the only two viable parties left; The Conservatives and Liberals - seems quite like old times. However, herein lies the difference: At his manifesto launch, David Cameron presented the Conservative approach of involving the people more in Government whil Nick Clegg outlined in graphic detail what he intended to do if elected. While the latter may not have appealed to everybody, it was at the very least clear. The trouble with the Conservative message is that although I felt involvement of the people is long overdue, the British people now expect to be spoon fed. Ridiculous really. On the one occasion the people are offered a proactive role in the government of their society, they would rather stick with the current system and continue to whinge and whine when the politicians get it wrong.

We are only just into the final furlong at this stage, but I hope that David Cameron sticks to his guns. A hung Parliament may well be looming -but I doubt whether it will last. After we have all got the concept and taste of a coalition out of our system, the Conservative prposals will be seen for what they are: Long overdue and the only viable way forward to address the majority of the problems facing us today. For my money, I would back Cameron's Disraeli against Clegg's Gladstone. Lets see how the play unfolds.

Cold water and low CO2 emissions

I took my soon-to-be three year old boy to the swimming pool this morning. It is a subsidised session designed to encourage children to learn to swim. I know the value of this skill so I'm only too happy to pass it on to my son. However, when we arrived at the pool we received a shock - when we dared to venture into the water. In the fact that it had not yet turned solid, the water was not yet ice. Not quite anyway. Now I'm no cissy, but I do think this approach to selling swimming to the under fives is a trifle Dickensian. After Rueben had braved the water for almost half an hour, I joined the other parents who had long since vacated the pool for the relative comfort of the changing room. A lot of shivering little babies and toddlers whose latest experience of swimming is hardly likely to endear them to their next.

As I write, the powers that be have deemed UK airspace to be unsafe for commercial flights for the fourth consecutive day. This is on account of the aftermath of ash emanating from an Icelandic volcano eruption. A question I put to you: Is the CO2 saved from grounding all these aeroplanes greater than that emitted by the volcano? Also, is my local swimming baths attempting to reduce its footprint by simply not turning on the heating for the water. I would guess that there is a net CO2 gain from grounding the aeroplanes and of couse, subjecting pre-school children to Scandinavian levels of masochism...

How Do You Solve A Problem Like PM?

First of all, let me admit that I watched fully five minutes of the first live TV debate on Thursday evening. A few points here. I walked away after five minutes because I was uncomfortable with the idea. In short, it was like a balloon debate crossed with a Simon Cowell sponsored popularity contest. Because there were three participants, a few problems were obvious. While the Welsh, Scottish and Irish Nationalists are not going to win a majority in Westminster, their views have their place and deserve the same right to be aired. However, the format on Thursday means that one candidate had to be in the middle. I did a lot of debating when I was younger and I can tell you that being in the middle in a situation like this is anything but an advantage; infact, you are all too often caught in the cross-fire of the lateral candidates.

However, while as a lifelong Liberal supporter I am thrilled to see that support for the Liberals has apparently sky-rocketed, I would much rather it was not as a result of a popularity contest. I am not criticising Nick Clegg - I have been an advocate since he succeeded Sir Ming. My problem is that the majority of the Liberal policies have been crystal clear for some time. In addition, unless I have been the only one watching TV and listening to the radio for the last eighteen months, Vince Cable has won the economic arguments hands down since the global and localised corruption first came to light. We can hardly claim Vince to be the pin up boy can we? However, he is dripping in common sense and not afraid to espouse it. Therefore, in the event of a hung Parliament, I put Vince Cable forward as Chancellor. Sometimes the numbers used to describe the scale of National debt seem like they are from another world. They are not. They are frighteningly real. It is all very well to say we need new hospitals, new schools, new helicopters and the like. However, beggars can't be choosers. What is done is done and what has been spent has been spent. But we have to adopt strategies to reduce the debt or pay the consequences tomorrow. The latter should not even be considered as a viable option.

When the Election was called, I predicted that the Liberals would surprise the general view and grow their number to about eighty seats. I stand by this view and predict that the gulf between Labour and the Conservatives will grow between now and Election day. Not enough for an outright Conservative majority. Not quite. So, my advice to Labour and the Conservatives would be to take a good long hard look at Nick Clegg and Vince Cable because they have been steadfast in their message for quite some time now. Put short, now is the time to pay their court. Who Nick Clegg chooses will be very interesting. Choose Brown and you have one of the least effective and competent PMs for a long time. Choose the other option and the truth is nobody knows what we will get. Interesting times.

Desert Island Discs

If like me, you have a wide and seemingly endless back catalogue of music spanning decades, the prospect of choosing just eight records to take with me to a desert island would be very challenging. Of course, this is very subjective as we all seem to fluctuate in our tastes with the passage of time. As the youngest of four siblings, it is inevitable that my earliest exposure to music would be influenced by my brothers and sister. As such, I began seriously to take an interest in music from about the age of eight. I recall my earliest interests included groups like the Boomtown Rats and Squeeze. My sister being older than I was an avowed devotee of disco. I was not. My brother on the other hand was close to the New Wave groups which had began to displace punk music. Then, out of nowhere, Two Tone arrived. The Specials were the best with raw, edgy songs like Monkey Man, Concrete Jungle and The Man at C and A. This was music that had something to say and was overtly political. The reggae influenced sound just topped it off for me. The Selecter, the Beat and others were all enticing but the Specials left a big hole when they disbanded three years later.

While my peers at Boarding school were all keeping up with the synthesiser based music of the early and mid 1980s, I was now taking an interest in the Rhythm and Blues music of the 1960s and had grown very fond of the Animals, the Yardbirds, the Spencer Davis Group, the Who, the Stones and most of all, the Small Faces. Even now I think the Small Faces are the group I dip into the most when immersed in this genre. Sometimes a group is assembled and everything just looks, feels and sounds right. In particular, I think Tin Soldier is a fine effort with the late, great Steve Marriott at his matchless best.

During this time I also developed a lifelong passion for Classical music. This interest began with Tchaikovsy ballet music and some Beethoven symphony music. However, even though I continue to frequent the ballet at least once a year, my real loves in the classical world are now the quartet of Schubert, Liszt, Mendelssohn and Mahler. If I could be granted any wish it would be this: to be able to play note perfect Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.

In the last ten years or so I have discovered the first two albums of Crosby, Stills and Nash and these have left an indelible mark on me.

So to my choices of eight records:-

1. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, Crosby, Stills and Nash
2. Seventeen Come Sunday from the English Folk Song Suite by Ralph Vaughn Williams
3. The Autumn Stone by The Small Faces
4. The waltz from Les Sylphides by Frederic Chopin
5. Say You'll Be Mine by Colin Blunstone
6. Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt
7. If I Ruled The World by Tony Bennett
8. The Nocturne from A Midsummer Night's Dream by Felix Mendelssohn

Nothing too heavy or too rocky but no shortage of melody of clever lyrics. What do you think?

False Dawn or Brave New World?

Yesterday I listened to the launch of the Labour manifesto and today I have heard the Conservative version. At last! A choice. Whether or not people choose to vote Tory or not is up to them. However, one thing has emerged loud and clear. We can either have a continuation of the politically correct Nanny State with New Labour continuing to spoon feed us what they deem to be best for us or we can start to engage and become involved. For me it has to be the latter. I do not want to still be moaning and whinging about waste, corruption and broken promises. If I have a say and an involvement in local and national issues, I will feel more included.In simple terms, to copy a well known saying: "Give a man a fish and you feed a man for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life". I don't want to become dependent on political masters deciding what is best for me. However, the only way I can hope to effect change in policies to which I don't subscribe is to become involved. Apathy is the biggest cop out and always will be. Do nothing and nothing gets done. Guaranteed. Get involved and you might play a role in change. We all have to be in it to win it and it amazes me that millions of people venture out religiously every week to buy their lottery ticket but millions don't vote or become engaged in the very system which dictates the quality of their lives. I want a say. I didn't want my country to go to war in Iraq or in Afghanistan. Nobody asked me. I don't want to be a part of the European Union. Nobody asked me. I don't want a Prime Minister who has not been democratically elected. Nobody asked me. I didn't want Welsh devolution but at least I was asked. The latter is the exception. I want it to become the norm. When I hear people express themselves as being fed up of hearing about the Election, I wonder if they have ever really stopped to think of the potential outcomes. Imagine a BNP MP. Well, I wouldn't bet against it unless people start to put their feelings into the ballot box. A hung Parliament will only be a reflection of the views of those who have voted - not those who haven't. This is criminal. For God's sake everybody, get out, get involved, engage, join the debate but most importantly, VOTE! I know it was J.F.Kennedy who first said it, but David Cameron was quite right to say it again: Think not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country. Six hundred MPs in Westminster will not make this country great again but sixty million people nationwide will. That choice belongs to each of us.

Something funny

I have just recalled an incident which took place about ten years ago. The latter part of my sales career involved spending a lot of time with chefs. An unusual breed. On this particular occasion I was visiting a chef at one of the bigger hotels in the most popular seaside resort in Wales. The chef hailed from the North East and was fully twenty-five stone in his socks. He could not be accused by his demeanour or behaviour of angling for an invitation to a Buckingham Palace garden party. At this time, many of the hotels in the region were just beginning to employ people from other parts of Europe. The kitchen of the hotel was situated in the basement and was vast but with an unusually low ceiling. As I chatted to the chef, a very pretty Spanish waitress appeared from upstairs and proceeded to walk away from us towards the store room to find some napkins for the restaurant. As she walked away, the chef emitted the loudest fart I have ever heard. The acoustics in the kitchen amplified it enormously and all of the commis, sous and second chefs turned around to source the origin of this explosion. The pretty young Spanish waitress turned around and directed an expression of utter disgust at the chef. Nonchalantly chewing his gum and leaning against the long suffering door frame, the chef then uttered the following immortal words to her: "Howay pet, you might have the nicest arse in the building but I bet you canna do that with it". I had to leave and sat in my car for ten minutes crying with laughter. On my return to the kitchen, most occupants were still laughing uncontrollably. I don't know what became of the waitress but I doubt if she will ever forget that day.

A different view

It was rather sobering this morning to listen to the news and reflect on the reaction of the Polish nation to the loss of 95 of its most influential politicians in the tragic aeroplane crash. Seemingly, candles are being lit in large nubers and adorn the pavements adjacent to the Presidential palace in Warsaw. Either this is attention seeking on a completely new level or the Poles really do value the lives of those lost and their contribution to Polish society. As I lay in bed I mulled over what the British reaction would be if 95 of our top politicians died in the same way. I don't know if political corruption exists in Poland, but here in the UK we have apparently been leading the world with expense claims and so forth. We are led to believe that the festering public anger over the MP's expenses revelations will have a major bearing in the forthcoming General Election. So I suppose that a similar plane crash here would depend more on whose lives were lost. As for candles lining the pavements. Well really. Street parties perhaps. A week of national mourning? I think not.

In my twelve years in sales I encountered a plethora of cliches with seemingly one for every occasion. One said "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got". This I feel should be the mantra of the Liberal Democrats. I see the choices facing us as being akin to tossing a coin; Heads for labour or tails for conservative. But of course there is always that third rather less obvious option. The coin lands on its side for the Liberal Democrats. Well, I can but hope. I remember fondly the time I spent in Barnsley when I was younger. Preparing to go out to a few pubs with a friend, he being local gave me the following advice: Don't mention Geoff Boycott or cricket, don't mention Arthur Scargill or the miner's strike and for God's sake don't mention politics. Why, I asked? Well they're passionately divided about Boycott, they revere Scargill above all else and politics is a dead end. What can you mean I asked? Well, if there was a candidate with a blue rosette, a candidate with a yellow rosette and a donkey with a red rosette, they'd vote for the chuffing donkey. You can't argue with that can you? In the years since I have come to realise that the attitudes to voting have not really changed much. Rather than make people change their voting choice, I fear that the expenses scandal will merely persuade more people to just not bother.

The third day

I took my little boy to the short Holy Eucharist service at church this morning. Beforehand he had a banana and I nothing. Such are the demands of juggling the need to attend church with the voracious appetite of a soon-to-be three year old. Today, the vicar briefly recalled the story of Jesus appearing to his disciples on the third day following his crucifixion. This seems unbelievable but then so do a great many things in life today. I can't believe that people continue to smoke tobacco knowing full well the likely consequences. Neither can I believe that despite not getting round to buying a lottery ticket for the third successive draw, still nobody has won. I delude myself of my chances but I still have to do the right thing - BUY A BLOODY TICKET! My son has since gone to Sunday School with his maternal grandmother. He seems to be resisting the experience a little less each week but you never can tell. I think that as long as they have food he will probably continue to attend - quite right too.

The Insanity Of Tradition

On behalf of two family members I today ventured bravely in to the local bookmakers. Today was the occasion of the Grand National. The numbers present therein would suggest that this race is popular for placing bets. I would have thought that the Bookmaker would have known this too. Not so. Three tills stood at the far end of the shop to place bets. The till on the left was occupied by the branch manager and had "gone down". In a previous generation, this expression was employed to convey the fate of a ship or a fighter plane. But in Denbigh in 2010 the till on the left had "gone down". The till in the middle was far more entertaining. A man somewhat the worse for wear resplendent in track suit bottoms and sporting jacket was trying to establish to the cashier that a ten pounds each way bet should only cost ten pounds. Now I am hardly a devotee of the bookmakers but I do know that such a bet is so called for a reason the total of which is twenty pounds. I was not alone. The queue which had by now graced the high street with its presence was in agreement with me. To describe the man as unpopular at this stage would be a gross understatement. But no. He soldiered on with his own particular brand of drivel for fully forty minutes. In the nonsense stakes Edward Lear could have learned a thing or two. The remaining till was, shall we say, doing a rather brisk business. Whatever that girl was being paid was clearly not enough. When at last I reached the front of the queue, I was told that the slips which I had filled out could not be accepted and that special slips for the Grand National were available at the entrance to the shop. I walked past the leviathan of a queue to fill out the preferred slips and returned to the cashier to place my bets. At this point it occured to me that people today are neither courteous nor forgiving. I really felt like I had just walked the plank. I placed the bets,vacated the shop and went home to enjoy a blissful day in the garden punctuated only by watching the race. I had placed an each way bet so stood to win something if my selection placed fourth or better. My horse duly finished fifth. Some you win....

Curious observation

I've just glimpsed the top of the BBC website to see a picture of Gordon Brown above the headline "New human-like species found". What can I say? Is this new human-like species unelected and if so does it pucker in its bottom lip after every sentence in a somewhat painful manner? Is this new species prudent or does it squander money with gay abandon? I wonder if this new species works in the public sector? If so, is it of Eastern European origin? If you've seen Lord of the Rings, you will recall the all seeing eye at Mordor. Not a bad analagy...

Will this nonsense never cease?

This morning I switched on the TV for the first time in a week. I watched Peter Mandelson conduct a press conference to rubbish conservative plans with Brown to his right and Darling to his left. I endured five minutes of the expected slime and vitriol before switching off and bemoaning the annual cost of a TV license. Which one is the Prime Minister? It felt a bit like watching Play School as a child; the round window, the square window or the oval window? Who knows.
I then dejectedly switched on my computer to do some exam revision. The BBC website showed the face of the Manchester United football club manager with an expression which put me in mind of that James Bond film: The World Is Not Enough.
The day started with the peerless John Humphreys trying to interview Gordon Brown on the Today programme. Here's how the game works. I ask you a question about your ideology, track record, mistakes, errors of judgement etc. and you reply by saying that the Conservative proposals hold no weight. Oh, and by the way, you are the Prime Minister.
I sense a British mentality here. If you've failed to succeed in a task, all you have to do is rubbish those around you.
We used to have a dog who was a small terrier. If given a bone, she would drag it under the front door mat quite content that nobody could possibly notice it. Very British I'm sure.

Middle Aged Medic