Just another year?

As we bid farewell to 2013, I take a few minutes to reflect on what has been and what is to come. It seems as though the UK has emerged from recession for now. It was always going to be painful and for many, it continues to be. This or any other Government was faced with the unenviable task of executing decisions which would be unappealing to voters. And so it has proved to be. The decisions have been made. The arguments have lingered. The country is now financially better off and there have been losers on the way. That is always the way of these things.

The festive season was dominated by power cuts amid the storms while arguments raged against immigration. To the horror of many, the year kicked off with the discovery of horse meat in ready meals. Whatever the rights and wrongs of this, one fact remained beyond dispute. We weren't talking about starvation. We were talking about a meat to which we were hitherto less accustomed. That we ate it at all was almost entirely due to our growing dependence on the ready meals of the big supermarkets. You pay your money and you take your chance.

It was rightly newsworthy when two men murdered Lee Rigby in broad daylight in London. In Syria, this would have constituted normal behaviour. In Syria, horse or any other meat would have been welcomed. In Syria, their understanding of austerity remained rather different to our own.

While our NHS continued to dominate the headlines for many of the wrong reasons, it also continued to serve us well in so many ways. It remains free at the point of access for every man, woman and child. It continues to be operated by ordinary men and women who, being human, are fallible. It is not perfect but that is the stuff of Utopia. That is the aspiration. For certain, it can improve though.

A debate began questioning whether the UK is full. I've seldom heard such rubbish in my life. It is far from full yet does remarkably well to provide for the growing millions who live here. We now have an increasingly multi-cultural society and the country is all the stronger for it. The reaction to the news of Nelson Mandela's death should remind us all of the benefits of multi-cultural society. We have something approaching the sort of society which he spent his entire life fighting for. It's not perfect but it's heading in the right direction.

Arguments over our membership of the EU continued as strongly as ever and the cast iron intention of UKIP thrust Nigel Farage on to our political landscape. Until we have a referendum, he will remain there. Roll on the European elections and roll on the 2015 general election. The latter will be make or break for the UK. We can either take one step forward or two steps back.

Something happened this year which I never thought I'd see. A British man won the men's singles at Wimbledon. Andy Murray did not receive a knighthood in the New Year's Honours list and rightly so. His career is not yet over. When it is, it will be one of the more deserved Honours amid a sea a questionable favouritism. When asked whether he considered himself Scottish or British, he replied "It depends whether I'm winning or losing". After all the abuse in the years before his singles win at Wimbledon, he was more than entitled to that remark. But then, few countries can lay in to their top sportsmen and women like the UK can.

In 2014, the Scots will have the opportunity to undo over 300 years of history. Should they do so (and I for one would not bet against it), Murray will most definitely be Scottish. The Union will be in tatters and the Tories will be all but guaranteed victory in 2015 because Labour continues to rely heavily on it's share of the vote North of the border. As for the Welsh, they will either seek to do likewise or hang on to the English more tightly than they've ever done. Interesting times.

2013 in many ways became the year of the comeback. The Rolling Stones were surprisingly good in their 50th year. Fleetwood Mac reminded us of the tunes which came to dominate the sound of the mid 70s and even the Garbo-like Agnetha Faltskog returned to our radios. It's fair to say some of the comebacks were rather more worthwhile than others.

Margaret Thatcher left the scene as divided as when she was alive. She was the marmite of UK politics in life and continues to cause great division in death. Her legacy though is undeniable. We marked 50 years since the passing of JF Kennedy and were reminded of what might have been. In a country where the gun continues to hold sway, his assassination was in many ways the beginning of the gun culture which has now come to define them. The guns of course are seldom the problem. It always takes a person to pull the trigger.

The departure of Pope Benedict while still in office must rank as one of the biggest surprises of recent times. His successor has been a breath of fresh air. Unlike his predecessors, Pope Francis has been as notable for his deeds as for his words. Long may he reign. I hope he continues his crusade against materialism and consumerism. I suspect he enjoys the support of far more people than he may imagine.

The birth of Prince George provided a tonic to the Royal family and he has much to live up to. If he can go on to have a fraction of the wisdom of his Great Grandmother, the monarchy will be in good hands. His parents have been a credit to their positions and have restored credibility to our Royal family.

At some stage during 2014, I hope to graduate as a doctor and take up my first post in Ysbyty Glan Clwyd or the Wrexham Maelor hospital. It has been a long road. It was in the late summer of 2004 that my wife asked me what I wanted to do. My first answer was to be a lawyer. I thought about it for a few minutes and changed my mind. What I'd really like to do is to be a doctor. My first degree entailed going back to Liverpool Polytechnic (now assuming the rather more grandiose title of John Moores University). That was hard thing to do. I had turned my back on education in 1990 and had been out of the loop for 14 years. At 35 years of age, I questioned my own mental capacity. I stick to it like glue despite losing a year on dialysis and remain eternally grateful for the kidney transplant which I received in 2005. But for that, the journey would have ended before it had begun. I have enjoyed Medical School but can't wait to put my learning in to practice and start to give back to the NHS which has served me so well. I have enjoyed incredible support along the way and realise how lucky I've been.

I hope 2014 is the year when we all get a bit closer again and take a bit of time out of our busy lives for the really important things like family, friends and community. I hope the year is as kind as it possibly can be to anybody reading this and pray that the world can learn to embrace peace and understanding. Happy new year to you and yours. Love the one you're with.
    

Volgograd

The recent events in Volgograd have been heartbreaking for all concerned. For any man or woman to voluntarily take their own life in the name of a belief or cause is difficult for me to comprehend. The suicide bomber has now become the weapon of choice for many extremist organisations. As we prepare to remember the Great War in which human life was afforded little or no value, it looks as though that trend has survived.

When countries such as Russia and Qatar secure large International sporting competitions, it is a boon for their Governments but not always welcomed by their people. The fact is that most counties have sections of their populations who remain disenfranchised. The fall of communism in Russia was always going to result in a prolonged period of disintegration and the events in Volgograd appear to bear this out. Without knowing the full facts yet, the current thinking suggests the involvement of Islamic groups from the former Russian states who are fed up with being under the watchful eye of Moscow. President Putin seems intent on maintaining his vice like grip on the Russian states.

Volgograd was formerly known as Stalingrad. Stalin took power control to new levels and even now, his influence is still felt by many. Even dead dictators leave legacies. Putin appears to be seeking a similar grip on power but the people seem to have had enough. It was Voltaire who wrote that if you want to know who is in power, seek out the person or organisation who you are precluded from criticising. The group PUSSY Riot did so and paid the price. As did Mikhael Kordokovsky. Putin appears to have adopted the strategy of Don Corleone. He keeps his friends close but his enemies closer. Stalin was not dissimilar.

Winter sports of course are great fun and enormously popular so made a prime target for the extremists. I'm sure the Winter Olympics will proceed as planned but it is clear that they will not enjoy the blessing of all the Russian people. The same was probably true when the Summer Olympics recently came to London but opposition to them was rather less extreme. For a man or woman to take their own life is very hard to understand. For them to knowingly take the lives of innocent civilians in the process is despicable. It is both a reflection of the perpetrator and those who would sponsor and promote their actions. In truth, such actions are the continuation of the 9/11 atrocities and serve nobody.

Once more, faith appears to be grabbing the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Just as the UK witnessed the sad case of a Methodist Minister bringing his faith in to disrepute as the head of the Cooperative bank this year, the events in Volgograd provide yet more fuel for people like Richard Dawkins. That is a big regret because Dawkins and people like him are only interested in a Godless society governed by the avarice and greed of consumerism. Faith has enormous benefits and we must seek to co-exist more happily. I respect all faiths and those with no faith. Why do others find this so difficult? I pray for those affected in Volgograd and hope that tolerance and understanding can emerge through dialogue.

The Ghost of Christmas Future

2014 will understandably be the year which heralds a number of commemorations of the Great War. I don't presume to cast judgment on the rights and wrongs of whether the anniversary is a cause for commemoration or quiet reflection. Everyone will have their own way of approaching this time. It was a brutal conflict with millions of losers and no winners of whom I'm aware. Enough said.

In 1914, political ideology gave rise to the war to end all wars. So much for promises. 2014 looks likely to bring more of the same. On September 18th, the Scots will decide on their future within the Union. Since 1707, all has been well but all that could change with a neatly choreographed period of political persuasion (of which Alex Salmond is well capable).

In 2013, the Turks fought for greater European integration while their Government fought for traditional Eastern values. The Ukranians fought for greater European ties while their Government returned cap in hand to Moscow for political favour. All the while, UKIP gained impetus in the UK with their promise to gat us out of Europe. The grass is seldom greener..

In 2013, Syria just fought. Human life became a painfully cheap commodity and the world looked on wondering what to do. As the year draws to it's close, a story emerges to give hope for the year to come. Stranded Russian sailors are waiting to be rescued from the polar ice cap by Chinese and Australian sailors. In the end, we are all human beings who care for one another. It is that simple.

2014 will mark the bicentenial of the first cricket match to take place at Lord's. Sport is a great leveller and cricket has continued to forge friendships between men of different faith and culture. It would be good to imagine that an end could be sought to the conflict in Syria as millions contemplate the anniversary of an even more senseless war. There is always hope. The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Makes you think doesn't it?

Glossing over the cracks

As England maintain their relentless progress towards a 5-0 drubbing down under, many may wonder how they have fallen so quickly from grace. Those with a more pragmatic approach may not be quite so confused.

Earlier this year, the young Arsenal football player Jack Wilshere started a debate regarding the nationality of those representing their country. The England cricket team has recently featured more players born in South Africa than in England. This suggests a number of possibilities. It might be that the coaching structure in South Africa is better then in England. It might suggest that young South Africans have a greater hunger for success. It might also suggest that English players just aren't as good as we'd like to think they are.

In recent times, we have had Andrew Strauss (now retired to pursue a lucrative political career), Jonathon Trott (recently departed Test cricket due to long standing mental health problems), Kevin Pieterson (who invariably plays for himself rather than England) and Matt Prior (recently dropped following a poor run of form). The current English batting now just features Pieterson as it's sole South African. Based on his performances thus far, it is debatable whether his presence constitutes an advantage or not.

England are now laid bare with just English born players (Pieterson excepted). Putting aside the superiority of the coaching regimes of other countries, the real issue is one of passion and desire. The opposition was no less competitive when Ray Illingworth took an English side in 1970 or when Mike Gatting took a side in 1986.

England now find themselves in a crossroads situation. They have been forced in to picking young players of limited experience. They will clearly incur defeats along the way. To persist with Pieterson therefore makes little sense since England know they are now embarking on a period of significant transition.

For the people who continue to advocate the inclusion of Kevin Pieterson, I would like to point out a few facts. He is not a great batsman. His compatriot Jacques Kallis has just announced his retirement from Test cricket. Kallis has been a great batsman. Kallis averages over 55 runs per innings after 166 matches. He has also been one of the very finest catchers the game has ever seen and has also taken the small matter of 292 Test wickets for good measure. Pieterson by comparison has averaged a modest 47 runs per innings after 102 Test matches. The difference between 47 and 55 in Test cricket is the demarcation between good batsmen and great batsmen. Make no mistake, the big difference between Kallis and Pieterson is that Kallis knows the value of his wicket and never gives it away. After over a hundred Test matches. Pieterson has still to learn this basic rule of batting. Suggestions that Pieterson would have walked in to the South African batting line up are frankly fanciful. For one thing, they play for their team.

Putting Pieterson aside, the current England Test side looks wobbly to say the least. The Captain is short of confidence and looks incapable of a decent score, his opening partner is a stop gap solution and Ian Bell looks a shadow of the player who has batted like a super star leading up to this series. Stokes is very young and a great weight of expectation has been placed on his young shoulders.

Then there is the bowling. Broad is currently our best bowler and remains aggressive but does not look like he's going to bowl a side out. The departure of Swann was a hammer blow with Panesar offering a mere shadow of Swann's talents. Anderson is on the wain. Every bowler has his day and I fear Anderson's best days are behind him. In short, England are a work in progress to put it kindly. To be rather more blunt, they are in a mess and in desperate need of leadership. Being 3-0 down in Australia is not a good place to be if you want to feel good about yourself and get your confidence back. Roll on the summer and let the revolution begin. Better to have a Test side with eleven English born players and a true picture of our ability.

I like to inject balance in to pieces like this and do so now. The last English batsman to dominate our batting with a South African connection was Walter Reginald Hammond. Born in Dover, Hammond was the pre-eminent English batsman from the late 1920s until the visit of Bradman's Australians in 1948. Hammond averaged over 58 each innings for England and made runs against everyone on uncovered pitches. He also took 83 wickets and was arguably the finest of the inter-war fielders. He died in Natal at the age of 62. How I wish we had one player who was even a patch on Hammond now.

Au revoir KP!

The claim by Kevin Pieterson that he intends to carry on batting in the same manner which has cost England so dearly in this Ashes series is hardly the stuff of news. He has batted for his own ends throughout his career. If this latest outburst isn't enough to cost him his place in the Test side, I don't know what is. It is clear he considers himself to be more important than the team. That is all well and good but the statistics of his career don't bear this out.

He has made a handful of innings with his back to the wall and a great many when England were winning anyway. These are hardly the credentials of a team player and do not bode well for camaraderie. His solitary fifty in six attempts thus far down under do not speak of a world class player. A world class player gets his head down and grinds out the decent scores with self discipline. After over a hundred bites at the cherry, Pieterson does not yet seem to have grasped this.

Since England now find themselves three down with two to play, the case for change is now compelling. He has to go now since he is offering us nothing new. We know what we'll get with Pieterson and it will unforunately always be on his terms. There is no "I" in team and he has failed to take this on board. The fringe players with less talent must now be drafted in to show the advantage of good old fashioned application and self discipline.

To my mind, Pieterson has come to epitomise the worst excesses of the modern game in which the star player has superceded all else with his agent frequently calling the shots. If somebody like Brian Close were the captain, Pieterson's Test match career would have ended before it began. Great players average over 50 in Test matches. After over a hundred Tests, Pieterson falls well short of that mark. Adios!

The times they are a changing

On the 5th June 1963, the Minister for war admitted to Parliament that he had lied to the House. In many ways, the story of John Profumo heralded in our current age. He differed from the current crop in his willingness to just tell the truth. He knew he had transgressed and faced the music. He spent the rest of his life as a volunteer cleaning the toilets at Toynbee Hall, a charity based in the East End. He also reserved the right to keep his counsel. He never again referred to or discussed the events which led to his political demise. The Tory party would not achieve lasting power again until the ascent of Thatcher in 1979. The Profumo affair was the final nail in the coffin for the doomed Government of Lord Home.

Twenty years later, the Thatcher Government appointed a new Chancellor. Like the current leader of the Opposition, Nigel Lawson was of Eastern European Jewish ancestry. He had succeeded the man who would ultimately serve the coup de grace to remove Thatcher. Lawson resigned because of his opposition to Thatcher's refusal to join the Exchange Rate Mechanism. Lawson was duly replaced by the man who would go on to replace Thatcher as PM, John Major.

In recent days, Lawson has seen his daughter dominate the headlines for most of the wrong reasons. Irrespective of the truth of the allegations levelled at his daughter, the saga of Charles Saachi, Nigella Lawson and their erstwhile employees is a salutory lesson in what happens to people when money ceases to have value. As our current age continues to be dominated by the ever increasing divide between the haves and the have nots, the recent law suit has reflected badly on all concerned. It will be interesting to see if Nigella Lawson seeks to resume her career as a high profile TV cook. In the current age, I would expect her to front it out and carry on regardless.

A lot has changed since the time of Profumo. The former Government Minister Denis Macshane was today sent to prison for doctoring his Parliamentary expenses. He did so long after the expenses scandal first hit and has now paid the price. It was interesting if not entirely surprising to observe that Harriet Harman had stood as his character reference. This is not a Party Political point. I just want to illustrate the palpable lack of decency and honour in our public servants. They are either all dishonest or just become immersed in a culture of dishonesty. I hesitate to suggest that the latter remains the most likely explanation.

Our current political system is on the brink of major change. People will only tolerate such arrogance for so long. The times are indeed a-changing. That song was penned by the mouth piece of the counter culture, Bob Dylan. Written within weeks of the departure of Profumo, the song warned about the impending reversal of the existing political elite. The last lines have an undeniable biblical overtone,"The order is rapidly fadin'/ And the first one now/ Will later be last/ For the times they are a changin'". 

I wish I could write lines like that. Our current political regime lies on the brink of collapse. Morally bankrupt, it stands on the brink of revolution. Revolution occurs when people have reached the limit of their tolerance. Denis Macshane will be released in three months but the system will be as corrupt as ever. It really doesn't matter who is in charge now because public trust has been eroded irreparably. 2014 promises to be a very interesting year.

Farewell to the old fashioned spinner

The decision by Graeme Swann to retire from all forms of cricket is to be applauded. Few professional sportsmen have the nerve and the insight to recognise when it's time to go.

Swann has been a breath of fresh air to fans of my generation. The last old fashioned off spinner was undoubtedly John Emburey of Middlesex. Like Swann, he could also be an obdurate and effective tail end batsman. Both were great exponents of flight variation to deceive even the most astute players of spin. Emburey lost six years of Test Cricket due to his participation in the rebel tour to South Africa. He took 147 Test wickets in 64 Test matches. When compared with Swann's 255 Test wickets in 60 matches, Emburey appears decidedly inferior. Sadly, the figures don't tell the whole story though.

For much of his career, Emburey was forced to play the role of the stock bowler whose principal function was to keep the runs down. He played in the late 1970s and 1980s at a time when the West Indian fast bowling machine steam rollered over all comers. The West Indians seldom felt the need to play a spinner and on the rare occasions when they did, they would play the Roger Harper whose fielding prowess was second only to the legendary South African, Colin Bland. Batsmen would go after Harper because he was their only respite from the fast bowling assault of Holding, Garner, Marshall and company. Thus Harper acquired a decent haul of Test wickets.

Had Emburey been allowed to bowl like Swann in Test matches, we can rest assured that his haul would have been far greater. During his playing years with Middlesex, Emburey would usually be complemented by the guile and craft of the slow left arm bowler, Phil Edmonds. They took wickets for fun when bowling in tandem to prove that for the last two generations, few batsmen have been very good at playing the spinners. We are told that one of the reasons for Swann's demise on this tour is the decision by the Australian coaches to adopt a different tactic against him. They have reminded their batsmen that you can't be out caught in the car park. Ergo, try and hit the ball in to the car park. They have done so admirably and heralded a decision which can't have surprised too many. Swann has never been afraid to toss the ball up. Such bowlers either bowl sides out or get taken apart. After seven years at the top, Swann has been worked out. There is no shame in that. For years, top batsmen have plotted the downfall of many a spinner by comparing notes and devising strategies to counteract their effectiveness. If Swann had the benefit of a top class slow left arm bowler with whom to bowl in tandem, I believe he would not yet have retired. His decision has been made because he was carrying the slow bowling duties on his shoulders for too long. Even the great Jim Laker had to call it quits in the end and only a brave man would point to a greater England off spinner. Laker took 193 wickets in 46 Test matches and played his entire career on uncovered wickets. That gave rise to famous Old Trafford Test in 1956 when he secured all but one of the twenty wickets for just 90 runs.

I suspect it will be some time before we have the luxury of an old fashioned spinner like Swann again. He will be sorely missed by England and not least for his brilliant slip fielding skills. On the day our only old fashioned spin bowler departed the great game, one of the last great old fashioned sports commentators did likewise. For people of my generation, David Coleman will always be associated with his many years as compere of the BBC quiz show "A Question of Sport". His enthusiasm was natural and spontaneous. You can't teach that. David Coleman had it in spades and it was barn door obvious to anyone who watched or listened to him. He was a peer of people like Brian Johnston and Bill McLaren. These were people with a genuine passion for the sport they covered. They would doubtless have done so for free. Their motivation was not the money they earned but rather the pleasure they gave.

All great teams have to face the day when the party is over eventually and the current England cricket team is a case in point. I read a great article by Geoff Boycott yesterday echoing my own thoughts. Whomsoever is captain or coach for the next Tests needs to dispense with Pieterson. His presence is divisive and as Boycott pointed out, "You can't make runs when you're back in the pavilion". Pieterson's show boating has cost England too often and we now need to seek a grafter in his place. England fans from the early 1960s will recall the late Ken Barrington. Ken didn't have an ounce of Pieterson's talent but he adopted an "over my dead body" approach when it came to his wicket. In 82 Test matches, Barrington amassed 6,806 runs on uncovered wickets at an average of 58.67.  In 101 matches, Pieterson has scored 7,988 runs at an average of just 47.83 on covered pitches. Barrington might not have been the prettiest batsman to watch, but he didn't play to look pretty. They said you could all but see the Union Jack on his back when Ken when out to bat. That is precisely the type of player we so desperately need now. Unlike Pieterson, neither Barington nor Laker received the MBE. They didn't receive any recognition but then they didn't play for recognition. They played for England.  

Anjem Choudary: Welcome to the United Kingdom

The conviction yesterday of the two men responsible for the murder of Lee Rigby in Woolwich was bound to arouse strong emotions on either side of the debate. In truth though, a quick glimpse at media coverage this morning shows the debate to be reassuringly on the side of the innocent, defenceless victim. Reassuringly but not exclusively on the side of Lee Rigby.

As I always do, I tuned in to the Today programme on Radio 4 this morning and listened to John Humphreys interviewing Anjem Choudray. Mr Choudray is an avowed proponent of an Islamic State in the UK. As a co-founder of the now banned organisation al-Muhajiroun, Choudray has long called for Sharia law in the UK. For fear of boring anyone further with the minutiae of detail, the central point is this; Choudray is in a minority. He is an Islmaic extremist by his own admission and this morning refused to condemn the daylight murder of Lee Rigby in Woolwich. Irrespective of his agenda, his refusal to condemn such a vile, inhuman act confirms beyond doubt the extent to which he is resistant to our culture. That is his prerogative. To my mind, the BBC was quite right to let him express his views however odious. The expression of his views will only serve to strengthen the conviction of the general population regarding the UK they want to live in and the culture they want to live in.

Extremism is nothing new and a quick glance through history tells us that while they've always been around, they just don't last. Oswald Mosely was the facist who led the brown shirts in the 1930s. Despite considerable support, the British Union of Facists failed to gain a single seat in Parliament. That was during the great depression. It is frequently at such times that extremists prosper. In recent times, we have witnessed the rise of the British National Party. They too have garnered considerable sympathy in certain areas although they remain reassuringly distant from a first seat in Parliament. It is a sign of the real leanings of UK society that the most recent maiden breakthrough to our Parliament has been made by the Green Party through the efforts of Caroline Lucas in Brighton.

This is not a coincidence. Choudray and people like him can rant all they like but they miss several crucial points. First of all, nobody is even remotely interested in his views so he can take up all the media time he wants but it will not sway people in the slightest because of their sheer indifference. Furthermore, he speaks of Islam against non-Islam. His argument here is based on religion. In this he is badly misguided because the UK has now become a largely secular country. Thus, his aim of creating an Islamic state in the UK is just about as impossible a task as you could feasibly make up. I wish more people today did have a faith but I also accept that for the vast majority, it is not something of any great importance in their lives. Here is the point. In the UK, people have a choice and it is incumbent on the rest of us to respect the choices they make - provided they don't seek to ram that choice down our throats. The latter is rightly unacceptable in UK society.

Choudray argues against British involvement in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. He would surprised if he knew how many British people agree with him. By common consent, the motives of Blair in taking us in to Iraq were dubious. Many would choose stronger words than dubious. Whether or not we are right to have engaged in the affairs of Iraq and Afghanistan is ultimately a matter for the history books. Either way though, we are slowly realising that ours is not to police the world. It never was and it still isn't. The gradual shrinking of our military capability is the inevitable consequence of our realising how our place in the world has changed.

So what do we do about people like Choudary? The knee jerk reaction would be to advocate the death penalty or life imprisonment. These or similar reactions would only play right in to his hands. As vile as he is to the vast majority, we must not fall in to the trap of descending to his level. If we espouse democracy and free speech, we must bite the bullet and afford him his say. It does not follow that we must listen or agree with him.

As we enter the countdown to the Christian festival of Christmas, let's remind ourselves what it's all about. It is a time of hope and a cause for great optimism and happiness. Even if you don't have a faith, it is a time for family and friendship. This Christmas, spare a thought for the less fortunate people in your lives and remember the family of Lee Rigby who will face a Christmas they didn't ask for and didn't deserve. Choudray can achieve one very important function. He can strengthen the resolve in all of us to remain firm and remember the code by which we all live. As the United Kingdom, we must stay United and cherish our democracy warts and all.    

Miliband's Millions

Having led the opinion polls for most of 2013, Ed Miliband might be forgiven for feeling just a bit complacent about his prospects come the election in 2015. A quick glance at his current policy announcements and the history books would warn him against such thoughts.

As the 2015 gets ever closer, we may rest assured that the Tories will rightly be reminding us that Ed Miliband and Ed Balls were two of the chief lieutenants in the doomed Brown Government. Of course, some would argue that Brown was doomed from the moment Blair sidled off too sunnier climes safe in the knowledge that the British Economy was about to hit the proverbial ice berg. Be that as it may, it was Brown who put the ice berg there in the first place. As such, Miliband and Balls will find it very difficult to distance themselves from being associated with the horror show of Brown from 2007 until 2010.

So what did create that ice berg? Put simply, we spent in considerable excess of our income. Speculation is one thing but waste and profligacy are another. It is surprising therefore to see that one of Miliband's current policies is to embark on a sustained period of house building with the creation of several new towns. He also wants to expand local Government and increase their power. It's hard to say which of these two policies frightens me the most.

True to core Labour values, he doesn't divulge where the money is going to come from to finance such a massive house building project. Of course, he points to the job creation but that just about sums up the short term thinking being employed. When the houses are built, the jobs go. He points to the report this week that many in their 40s and 50s like myself will be worse off than our parents' generation. That is relative. Our parents' generation had a pretty good deal when we look back. Student grants, final salary pensions (index linked and inflation proofed), numerous public share floations in the 80s and 90s, the biggest sustained period of housing equity growth since records began and I could go on and on. If my generation is going to be slightly worse off than our predecessors, we will still enjoy a standard of living which remains a dream for billions around the world. Our generation has also become rather more conscious of waste than our parents' generation. Theirs was the generation which had too much too soon and, like the first big winner of the football pools in the 60s, embarked on the creation of the "me generation".

Building new houses will not sustain the British economy. It will provide a quick fix which will take us back to the events of 2008 which very nearly bankrupted us all. Giving more power to an already out of control Local Government would be lunacy. That sector remains unaccountable and continues to operate like a Stalinist Gulag. Relative to the size of communities they purport to represent, they are massive. It was not always like this. If Labour plans to build masses of houses are frightening, the ceaseless empire building in Local Government is more so. How many businesses do you know which could sustain a cut of between 5 and 10% and continue to operate effectively? That is what has happened to the majority of Local Government budgets since the Coalition took power. My point is that if you can manage with that much less in your budget, what was happening to all that money before hand?

Throughout the Parliament of the Coalition, Labour has continued to advocate it's failed policy of uncosted spending and paradoxically remain top of the opinion polls. History shows us that this is actually quite normal behaviour. When it comes to election day, people tend to vote more with their heads than their hearts. Like the Richard Prior character in Brewster's Millions, Miliband and Balls appear in a rush to spend outrageous sums of money which they don't even have. Does that worry you? It scares the living daylights out of me! Are people really considering returning these gamblers to power? Time will tell but after three years in opposition, Labour has yet to make one policy announcement which demands my attention by it's originality or by it's intellectual novelty.

The Coalition support for the housing market may yet see the bubble bursting again but at least they have attempted to control the growth. The growth in the economy under the Coalition has been steady. Under Labour in 1997, it was stratospheric but much of that was due to the foundations laid down by John Major. The speed of growth was instrumental in the size of the collapse in 2008.

And then there's the small matter of Europe. While many in his own party urge Miliband to back an EU referendum, he remains vehemently opposed. If there is one policy which will exert a huge effect on the outcome of the election in 2015, it is undoubtedly Europe. Nigel Farage has the contest sewn up as I write because he alone has been honest with the electorate. Cameron has tied his promise up with too many ifs, buts and maybes. To address the current housing shortage, building new houses fails to identify one of the biggest causes. By it's own admission, this Government and all of it's predecessors, have absolutely no idea about the scale of immigration to the UK. Immigration is fine by me along as we know how much we are getting. How on earth can we run our country form Central or Local Government when we don't actually know how many people there are?That is absurd. If he chooses to distance himself from the EU debate, Miliband will be the loser by it. This is not a subject the UK electorate are prepared to ignore any longer. Just as the Ukrainians demonstrate to seek greater EU involvement, the people of the UK are seeking the precise opposite. The choice for Miliband and the other party leaders is this; get involved with the debate or get left behind.

Father Christmas: Exactly who is he?

The lack of main stream news stories today prompted a debate exploring the identity of Father Christmas - and very interesting it was too.

The number of claims on him are almost endless with the Germans, the Russians, the Scandinavians and the Coca Cola company all jockeying for position. It's a good point though because the Father Christmas as we now know him has not always been around. An aggrieved member of the public in the USA has reportedly complained at the depiction of Father Christmas being white skinned. Being black, she had always considered him to be black. That sounds entirely reasonable to me. I think the point here is that Father Christmas is one of those conceptual figures such as God which we all visualise in our own way.

Whether or not we think of him as black, white, big or small doesn't matter. He is merely symbolic of a figure who ushers in the Christmas celebrations. I suspect his historical origin was probably far more religious than the commercial version to which we have become more accustomed of late. One though though. Since there are thousands of different people dressed up as Father Christmas at this time of year, perhaps we need to think of him as being of an appearance more consistent with the times we live in. On this basis, I would guess that yellow would be a reasonable colour because that is the colour of alcohol induced jaundice. That said, yellow wouldn't be as pleasing to the eye with the colour red as white is - or indeed black for that matter.

One aspect of the Father Christmas which most of us think of is his size. Being decidedly rotund, he certainly fits in to the modern society. He is also thought to be very jovial. I would attribute that to the alcohol and as Raymond Briggs suggested in his book, he might be a bit grumpy in the mornings. Our children are reminded daily at this time of year that he won't come with gifts if they are naughty. Given that the residents of the UK are about to spend an estimated £40 billion this December, we must surely boast the most perfect children anywhere in the world so that does give cause for optimism.

Just last week, a man dressed as Father Christmas crashed his car in to a hedge in Dundee and fled the scene. Police are continuing their search for the elusive Father Christmas. Since he was dressed like him, is it reasonable to assume it really was him? If so, why did he flee the scene? It's surely too early for him to be delivering presents just yet. Why was he driving a car when he has so many capable rein deer? Might he have been over the limit for alcohol? That is normally why people flee their vehicles following a car crash with no witnesses!

Either way, I hope he comes to see you - provided you've been good of course...  

Denbighshire: Blame your way out of trouble?

Over the weekend, news broke that the not-for-profit company charged with running three major leisure facilities in Rhyl and Prestatyn had announced the potential loss of 77 jobs. Because Denbighshire county council announced they would issue a press release today, I refrained from writing about this pending their response. I needn't have waited.

Having had their budget cut by £50,000 (the total budget is £275,000!), Clwyd Leisure (the not for profit company involved) announced that it was just not financially viable to continue. Predictably, the council has responded with it's customary strategy of finger pointing. In addressing the announcement by Clwyd Leisure, the council cites the cuts it has had to accomodate elsewhere in it's leisure sector. If Clwyd Leisure goes in to administration, Denbighshire County Council has said it will support the redundancy threatened workers. That is a reassuring response for workers living in one of the unemployment hot spots of North Wales.

There is of course one aspect of this story which the council chose not to address. If the Clwyd Leisure administration is full of so many bad managers as the council would have us believe, why was the running of these facilities not managed by the council themselves? In their statement, the council referred to the great job they are doing with leisure centres elsewhere in Denbighshire. Why then have they selectively chosen not to assume control at the three sites in Rhyl and Prestatyn? Could it be that they knew that these facilities faced unsurmountable financial pressures?

The use of numbers to demonstrate the council arguments do not stand up to scrutiny. They refer to the £400,000 budget to run the other seven facilities within the county as against the colossal £275,000 to run the three sites in Rhyl and Prestatyn. Unless they really do believe us all to be even greener than we are cabbage looking, I feel the need to point out a few technical points. Rhyl and Prestatyn have the highest population in Denbighshire so I'm only surprised their budget has been so low. Rhyl and Prestatyn are also the main tourism draws for Denbighshire. Tourism brings in money to the county. It would be normal to invest more in these areas since they will play the biggest part in regenerating the economy of the county.

The bigger picture here is summed up by the comment of the council employee charged with the running of these facilities. "We do not fund failure" was his response. That comment is worthy of analysis. In truth, the three sites in Rhyl and Prestatyn are failing because they haven't been adequately funded. To say they don't fund failure when they have underfunded to cause the failure is actually laughable. In the private sector, such a response would not see out the day.

It is quite obvious here that the council has been harbouring a hidden agenda. Their counterparts in Wrexham have just announced the closure of two massive leisure facilities. Conveniently, they intend to replace them with one facility. That's fine but it will mean that people living on the Plas Madoc estate will be the losers since they will lose their leisure facility. This is a real shame because like the West End of Rhyl, Plas Madoc boasts one of the most socially deprived areas in the UK. Is there a theme here I wonder?

Rhyl has been systematically let down by the local council for a long time now and so the landscape on the front looks like it can look forward to another great site of dereliction in the near future. With the Rhyl Sky Tower (which can't ever be used again for health and safety reasons), the Sun Centre and Pavilion Theatre look set to augment the eye sore on the front at the West End as planners continue their interminable dithering about what to do.

Let's just stop and consider a really important point here. Why were there so many hotels and guest houses along the front in Rhyl and Prestatyn? Believe it or not, it is because they boast a long tradition of providing holidays for UK tourists. Actually, they still do although the business owners now have to contend with the decisions of the local council as well. Did I forget the Children's Village? Forgive me. If you take your young family there, prepare to be disappointed by the anticlimax and pray that you don't need to use a toilet because the local Council wants you to pay for the privilege. That's sure to have the tourists flooding in.

Rhyl and Prestatyn both continue to boast fine weather and fantastic beaches - not that you would know it from the way they are promoted by the local Council. The demise of Rhyl has broadly coincided with my life time. As a child, Rhyl was always packed with holiday makers and a vibrant town centre. The decision by the Council to allow a shopping centre with no toilet facilities just about sums up the decisions taken by the Council.

It is therefore clear that the Council will be quite happy to see the back of the Sun Centre, the Nova, The Pavilion Theatre and the North Wales Bowling Centre. My advice to the residents is to forge ahead without the Machiavellian Council. Use local fund raising. Apply for Big Lottery funding. Do what you have to do but do it without the Council because you will have a much better chance of creating something sustainable and enjoyable. I pray that the communities in these towns get together and react collectively. If they do, they will wonder why they ever came to rely on Council involvement in their affairs.

While this is a very sad day for all involved with the sites it must also be looked upon as a golden opportunity to break away from the Council whose prime function appears to be self preservation and blame.

Changing of the guard?

Barring a miracle of biblical proportions, England have surrendered the Ashes. It would be really difficult to remember a more pitiful effort and I'm afraid many of the senior players need to embark on a sustained period of soul searching. At the beginning of this series, I warned against the real possibility of them emulating the England side of 1958. That side boasted names whose reputations on paper were second to none. All thay had to do was turn up and the Ashes were theirs. Unfortunately, all they did do was to turn up and the Australians helped themselves to a 4-0 victory. Many would argue that the then England captain Peter May was never the same player again. He was widely believed to be the best England batsman since the war and had a galaxy of talent at his disposal on the pitch.

Surrendering the Ashes in so feeble a manner is one thing. Being let down by all of your senior players is another. You expect the odd one or two to have a below par series once in a while. Thus far, only Carberry has displayed any sort of consistency in the top order and he hasn't exactly sent the scorers scurrying for the record books. Cook, Bell and Peterson have been abject and some of their dismissals have been due to school boy shot selection. That is unacceptable and none of them should be feeling confident of their place in the test side. That is not a right - it is earned. You are only as good as your last match.

Going in to this series, Anderson was being hailed as the best strike bowler in the world. If he had stuck to his bowling he might be worthy of such an accolade. Instead, he has become sucked in to the trap of verbal exchanges at the wicket. I never saw Richard Hadlee do that because he didn't need to. When you're that good, you just need to let your bowling do the talking. For all his reputation as an opinionated Yorkshireman, his team mates will tell you that Fred Trueman just got on with his bowling. He knew how good he was and didn't need to threaten batsmen verbally. He certainly wouldn't have let himself get tonked for nigh on 6 runs per over on the third day of an Ashes test match.

I like Bresnan but he really shouldn't be playing. He was selected because none of the three reserve fast bowlers were up to the mark. That is not good enough. Bresnan will bowl his heart out for you but he won't bowl a team out at Test level. Before this match, I asserted that Swann had to be rested. Nothing has changed. They would have been better served by another seamer in Perth because that ground is only worth a leg spinner if you have one - and we don't.

The whole series has been a debacle and it would be wrong to blame it all on the withdrawal of Jonathan Trott. Geoff Boycott said that Peterson had bottled it when needed to get his down and graft. Boycott was right but then Peterson has been picked for too long for what he can do rather than what he does do. I belive the real bottler has been Bell. As the best batsman in the side, he should have stepped up the minute Trott left the tour and said, "I'll bat at three". Instead, we have seen Root put in a position wholly unsuited to his batting style. They would have been better served keeping Root at six to farm the middle order and bring in Gary Ballance at five. Ballance is a lovely batsman who has been in great form. Stokes has done alright but has only been selected due to the lack of faith in the front line bowlers. The injury to Broad has just been the icing on the cake. Unfortunately for England, they can't come home yet because they have to go through the ignominy of a 5-0 whitewash first. I can't see any other outcome.

Leaving cricket, I note that Liverpool have once more emerged as genuine title contenders having thrashed Tottenham away from home. Love him or hate him, Luis Suarez has been in scintillating form and the goals are flying in. While the money men at Manchester City remain favourites for the title, Liverpool are certainly sending out a strong message. Manchester United will just be grateful to reach the end of the season having finished in the top four. At present, even that looks somewhat optimistic. Their reliance on Ryan Giggs at the age of 40 largely sums up their predicament.

Meanwhile, the people of the Ukraine demonstrate en masse in an ideological fight between continued ties with Russia or moving more towards the EU. The toppling last week of a giant statue of Lenin was testament to the strength of their intentions. As the Ukraine seeks closer ties to the EU, the UK can't cut them quick enough. Where the Ukraine seeks to choose between one master and another, the UK seems hell bent on having no master. Rather like the truculent teenager intent on seeking greater independence away from the stifling involvement of their family, the UK is about to be introduced to the vagaries of the big, wide world. No man is an island.

The Russian revolution which for so long dominated Ukrainian life, was beautifully captured by the late David Lean in his iconic film Doctor Zhivago.
http://betweendenbighandkeele.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-legacy-of-pasternak.html
A few years earlier, he shot Lawrence of Arabia and cast Peter O'Toole in the title role. The death of O'Toole was a sad prelude to the festive season. Aside from his arresting good looks, he was a very fine actor who never quite achieved the recognition he really deserved. He was one of the last of that great generation which produced so many incredible films in the sixties. Money alone dictates that we will not see films of that scale again. So if you're at a loose end this Christmas and have the time, tune in to Doctor Zhivago or Lawrence of Arabia and watch them in their entirety. You may not want to watch a new film again though because you will not believe how good they are.

 

In the fast lane

As Australia ended the first day on 326 for 6 in Perth, the scale of the task facing England's top sux is now clear. They will have to accumulate a total well in excess of 500 to have a realistic chance of holding on to the Ashes. Based on recent batting performances, the chances of such an outcome are unlikely.

Looking back through previous Ashes contests down under, such a feat would not be without precedent. In 1986, Mike Gatting's team nearly reached 600 thanks to hundreds from Broad (162), Gower (136) and Richards (133). That said, the Australian bowling attack in 1986 did not possess the pace of the current crop. This is the key. If England are to put recent batting performances behind them, they must face up to the quick stuff and take the body blows if they need to.

Ominously, their last showing at Perth did not make for great reading as they twice failed to reach 200. Of course, should England come away from Perth with a draw, they would still technically have a chance to hold on by winning the final two tests. Best not to hang on to that outcome though.

The pressure is now well and truly with the batsmen and Cook and Bell both have experience of making decent scores there. Both are also overdue big knocks on this tour. It's time they stood up to be counted and let the Australians know what they're all about. If they don't, five days won't be needed at Perth and the Freemantle Doctor will be blowing with a vengeance.

Food Crime in the UK

The intention to establish a UK food crime agency is an interesting development. The realisation that we have been fobbed off with horse meat in our ready meals has created the mother of knee jerk reactions. In a country which can lay claim to being the ancestral home of the knee jerk reaction, this is quite a story.

The horse meat had been identified in a processed meal the nutritional content of which is probably not too different to the packaging whence it came. I wonder how many of us could honestly hold our hand up to being able to differentiate with any reliability between horse and beef?

A few years ago, I was holidaying with my wife and we decided to sail over to Sardinia for a few weeks. I was rather surprised when I first encountered the meat counter in the butcher's shop because it was more difficult to find meat which wasn't horse. Hence, as stereotypical carnivores, we gorged on horse for a fortnight and jolly nice it was too if a trifle sweet in comparison to beef. In a lasagne though, I would defy anyone to spot the difference.

The late, great Sir Clement Freud who had the most extraordinary of lives, opened a restaurant after the second world war which prospered for a number of years. In the immediate aftermath of the war, things were tight to put it mildly and people made do with what they had. On one of the first nights, one of the diners complimented Clement on the meat and asked what it was. In his trademark laconic style, Clement informed him that the meat was horse. Because everybody always assumed that Clement was joking, the diners roared with laughter and continued with their meal. It was horse.

The saddest part about revelations which show that Tesco has thrown over 30,000 tonnes of food away in the last quarter is that I wasn't even remotely surprised. Certainly I was appalled but I wasn't surprised. The trouble is that this has been allowed to evolve over many years as Tesco has continued its obscene domination of the UK retail sector.

In these posts, I have long advocated the advantages and strengths of localism and this news just adds more weight to my argument. To understand these revelations better though, it is instructive to analyse the details.

We are told that one of the biggest items thrown away is bags of salad. There are two sides to this. Not everybody shops at Tesco so they will always be faced with buying challenges when stocking up their fresh produce offerings. That said, Tesco have Clubcard. Not so much to reward your custom as you may mistakenly believe, but rather to track your buying patterns and seek to supply them accordingly for the maximum profit. Therefore, they can't even predict with accuracy how much stock they need on their shelves even when armed with the buyinf patterns of their customers. They either have a sub-standard buying department or an over ambitious growth forecast.

Aside from the obvious point that we have increasingly become a nation of salad dodgers, the other possibility here is simply that people have seen through the Tesco vision and returned to the riches of localism to be found on their own high streets. Recent market research data would appear to confirm this view.

The Tesco disclosure also asserts that its customers also continue to waste large amounts of the food they purchase. The latter is well known and should be highlighted as a national disgrace. It is immoral that we complain about austerity while throwing so much food away when people in other parts of the world really are starving to death daily. While Tesco are quite right to point to household waste, I would remind them that the latter is made possible by companies such as themselves using every marketing tool in the book to squeeze every last penny out of its Clubcard clutching customers. Just this morning, their Commercial Director of Group Food asserts that Tesco is seeking to reduce the average £700 per annum currently being thrown away by their customers so that they have more money in their pockets - so that they can spend it in Tesco of course! Is it just me or is the strategy of this and its equally nauseous friends at Asda, Morrison's and Sainsbury's barn door obvious. Their entire business models are based on continued expansion to fund even more stores and rest assured, they couldn't care a fig how they do it just as long as they can show a profit to their share holders. Frankly, its a bit rich for a company like Tesco to be pointing to the amount being thrown out by the British consumer. They really should seek to get their own house in order first. They can't have it both ways. They want everybody's custom and to eradicate the competition but woe betide you if you buy an extra bag of salad from them (which they promoted in the first place) which then gets thrown away.

Nationally, our waste of food is morally repugnant. It is utterly inexcusable. If there was a huge snow storm today which meant that everybody was confined to their homes for a couple of weeks, do you think many would starve? Of course, there would be some that would but the majority have freezers and cupboards stocked up to the brim. We all need to just take a step back here and take a look at the people in the world (of whom far too many) who genuinely don't know where their next meal is coming from. Shame on Tesco and shame on us. This problem belongs to all of us. It is immune from Nimbyism and we all have some soul searching to do.

Wherever possible, my family now spends its money on our local high street. This supports local jobs. The local shopkeeper knows me and know him. I don't have a Clubcard but I have a fair price and buy only the food which I need. I also know that much of the food I buy has been reared and produced locally so it hasn't travelled far. The Tesco apples being thrown away have been flown half way around the world and sprayed with sulphur dioxide to give the impression of freshness. My local grocer doesn't need to do that because my local apples are just that - local and fresh. Yesterday, we ate some rocket lettuce which will thankfully never see a plastic bag. We picked it fresh from our garden and it tasted like, well, rocket lettuce - as you would expect. As the saying goes, "you pay your money and you take your choice"....

As for horse consumption, this only came about in the first place because too many people resorted to ready meals instead of buying and cooking their own food from scratch. I am not convinced that anyone's life is so busy or so affluent that they can't do this. As millions throughout the world continue to wake up to another day wondering if another meal might occur, there is something distasteful about this whole story. I think history shows us that during the war, the people of the UK and other countries would have been fighting over the prospect of horse meat. Quite what they fought for is sadly becoming rather less obvious.

Help for our loved ones?

A recent article suggested that people in the UK will vote for the party which promises to help their children and their elderly parents and relatives. I don't doubt the truth of this assertion but question the realism underpinning it.

Would these same people be so keen to cast their vote if they were told the true cost? I suspect not. Of course, from a purely Socialist angle, we should be looking to the State to provide for those in greatest need of help. It is true to suggest that the State has failed successive generations in education. Education of the parents and education of their children. Socially, we have become less socially cohesive as more and more of us have sought to own our homes and seek work away from our families. This has been caused by a variety of factors.

In Wales where I live, the Assembly Government strives for every child to be taught the Welsh language. When they leave school, the majority seek employment in England. If they return, their proficiency in the Welsh language has become eroded. While they have been away, their families have become divided. The parents they leave behind get older and with age comes illness. Illness demands care. Where once the parents might have been cared for by their own children, this is increasingly becoming the ideal rather than the reality. So why is it that there are no longer the jobs in places like Wales. Why is it that the Public Sector has been allowed to become so big while the private sector in Wales has become something of a novelty? There are many reasons for this. The real growth of the former was ushered in by the prudent Chancellor of Tony Blair in 1997. The reason why the private sector has become so negligible is that Wales has become too unattractive for business. With a poor transport infrastructure and more regulations than you could shake a stick at, Wales has effectively been closed for business for a couple of generations now. Take a walk down your local high street if you don't believe me. Take a look at your local farming community because the evidence is there for all to see. We gleefully welcome supermarkets with open arms knowing full well how much of their produce is imported from abroad.

So what about the care of our elderly because the headlines today have revolved around the burgeoning problem of dementia. Dementia is not new. Granted, there is much more of it but that is because people are living longer more than any other reasons. Historically, many would argue that dementia care was better in the past than it is now. Granted the medical side of care is more advanced but I wonder if the same could be claimed for the actual human care? Before it's closure in 1995, the former North Wales Hospital had become a centre for care of the elderly with dementia being a big part of it's work load. Although it had started life as a mental asylum, it had evolved to become a 1700 bed hospital with a large focus on care of the elderly. This had the additional effect of freeing up vital bed space at the local district general hospital. It is not hard to imagine what happened when it closed in 1995. The effect on elderly care in North Wales has been further exacerbated with the closure of a a succession of community hospitals. It seems that in Wales, the State has absolved itself from caring for the elderly. It certainly puts a lot less in to this are than it did 20 or 30 years ago.

The problem now is that for all their headline grabbing promises, none of the political parties have the necessary funds to supply the care of children and the elderly which people are looking for. In the same way, they no longer have the funds to allow people to retire at age 65. Maybe we've got to the point where the State has admitted that it's capacity to help us is limited in spite of the amount we pay in tax. Whoever promises us the earth in 2015 will not be able to deliver it so we would be better served seeking the answers to our problems within. An old saying goes like this, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day but teach a man to fish and you feed him for life". That is where the education comes in. It is not the sole responsibility of the State. It is far more the responsibility of the family. In China, an old saying claims that it takes an entire village to bring up a child. We are no different to China. The only difference is that for a variety of reasons we have lost touch with our families and communities. Until we re-connect with the latter, we can call for the Government to help us all we like but the onus will remain firmly with ourselves. I doubt whether this would garner any votes but at least it's a more honest approach than that being drawn up by the political elite.

Old Age: A thing of the past?

News that a generation of children are being neglected through being denied exercise is possibly the most chilling indictment yet of the Nanny State. If proof were needed of the dangers of State reliance, this story seems to sum it up.

Where do children get their exercise? Broadly speaking there are two avenues. The first is at school and the second is under the care of their parents. The rising levels of childhood obesity should shock nobody. Our society has relentlessly embraced a culture of over eating carbohydrate rich diets and at the same time has found a multitude of excuses warning against the dangers of going outside. How this is handled from here is critical because a failure to address this will have far reaching effects. For one thing, an entire generation will fail to enjoy the old age of their grandparents, many of whom were born during or immediately after the war. More worrying still is the extent to which these people will impact on the NHS in their adult lives.

A lot of discussions currently taking place on various social media seem obsessed with bemoaning a State which is failing people whereas the real problem is often that people are failing themselves. Why do we think or expect that the State can look after us any better than we can look after ourselves. This idea seems to be in vogue and for the life of me, I can't see why.

Is it so outrageous to raise the State pension age to 68? I understand the arguments. People assert that they have paid in to the scheme for long enough to expect a return as they approach their old age. Reasonable enough on the face of it. Exactly how much have they paid in though? And does this equate to the income they will go on to receive? The whole model of our State pension is flawed from top to bottom. This was clearly identified in the late 1980s. The real crime is that the State has done nothing to address this since. This is why the retirement age has been increased. Put simply, there is not enough money in the pot because the current crop of pensioners are legion and living to hitherto unforeseen grand old age.

The current crop of under exercised children will surely redress this injustice in due course. All of us with children have a responsibility to give them the best. The best opportunities for play. The most healthy diets. Plenty of exercise. None of these would have even needed to be pointed out to the parents of our grandparents because there was no alternative. Our generation is courted by an array of marketing whose capacity to repel exercise and promote poor diet is without precedent. So are today's parents guilty of neglect when it comes to the health of their children? Well, for those parents with under exercised children who are obese, the only question really is whether they are aware of the dangers. Is it the responsibility or indeed the job of the State to tell them?

Remember, this is the same State which has progressively given the green light to the growth of the supermarkets which ply us with their cleverly marketed junk food. So can we really trust the State to take on such an important role? I don't think we can but I do think the State could and should be doing a lot more in the way of awareness campaigns and public information. Given that the NHS famously free at the point of access to every man, woman and child, the State really has no choice but to get involved. If they turn a blind eye and just let this madness continue, the results will become apparent over the next generation and they will not be pleasant for anyone.

If the decision by the State to stretch the retirement age to 68 has attracted an outcry, I ask this; Why have they not extended the retirement age for Public Sector employees to the same age? The latter pay in to a guaranteed, index linked, final salary scheme which currently begins to pay out from the age of 55 or 60 depending on which branch of the sector you are in. You just don't need to be a mathematician to see the flaw in this. The truth is that the State is too fearful of the Public sector backlash if they do because it has been allowed to grow to gigantic proportions. So why have we got a country where the State outranks all else? Largely because we voted for it. Red or blue, a succession of governments have put the State at the heart of our lives. In reality, we need to be seeking to claim back our lives and take responsibility for our own futures. I for one, don't need the State to tell me.

This and previous governments have overseen the sale of thousands of playgrounds to build houses. This has been a real scandal and once again provides us all with a great advert for the State. If the State really understood the implications of poor health, they would have been seeking to expand the existing playing fields as opposed to selling them off. I could go on but the point is plain to see. We have our lives in our hands and the sooner we recognise this, the better off we will be - perhaps not financially but definitely from a health standpoint. If we seize the opportunity, 68 might not seem too unreasonable after all..

Surprised by Australia?

The recent success of Australia in the opening two Tests of the current Ashes series has been entirely predictable. During the summer series in England, Australia lost 3-0 and I said at the time that this margin of victory flattered the England team. The summer series was much closer than that. The recent batting performances of the England team have been brewing for some time now so nobody should be overly surprised.

For the past few seasons they have become dangerously dependent on the performances of Cook and Trott. This is alright when they are batting well and making big scores but it becomes a real problem when they aren't. Bell is head and shoulders the best technical batsman in the side. I fail to understand why he has remained at number five in the batting order when everyone saw that he needed to replace Trott at number three. Joe Root is a highly promising young batsman but was not ready to open for England in the summer and is not ready to bat at number three now. I'm aware of his 87 in the last match but that aside he has done little in the series so far.

The England selectors have got a real job on their hands for Perth and I suggest that dropping Swann ceased to become optional the minute the last wicket fell in Adelaide. In effect, the only strategy left to England now is to try and fight fire with fire and go all out for pace in Perth. Bresnan needs to return urgently because we need his sort of attitude on the pitch. He will be ready for a scrap and will not give his wicket away. Of the top six in the batting, only Carberry has achieved any level of consistency so far and he is very much the new kid on the block - even at his age. As often happens, Pieterson has flattered to deceive and continued to play millionaire shots at inappropriate times. Alistair Cook should go on the next series of Strictly Come Dancing in an effort to get his feet moving again. He looks bereft of confidence and needs to get some runs under his belt quickly.

It is the margin of victory in the first two tests which should give England the most cause for concern. If they continue to bat as they have been, they can expect more of the same at the WACA. Australia have taken a fair bit of baiting over the past few years and have never been shy at giving it back. The expected backlash against Stuart Broad has barely been needed because his contribution has been disaapointing and you don't really need to have a go at the opposition when you are thrashing them so convincingly.

Mitchell Johnson has bowled well with passion and aggression. But England have made him look considerably better than he is. The father of Broad toured Australia in 1986 and how England must wish they had someone of his calibre now to deal with a bit of pace bowling. The likes of Broad, Gooch and Lamb would have torn Johnson apart but the current crop doesn't appear to have a batsman capable of playing genuine pace.

I don't know what the odds of an Australian whitewash are but it's beginning to look like a fait accompli.

Ambulance

While we all have a fair understanding of what constitutes an ambulance, it is a good idea to remind ourselves of the derivation of the word. Ambulance comes from the latin ambulare which means "to move about". Recent revelations appear to show that some ambulances are being made to wait for periods of six hours or more outside A and E departments. The patient inside the ambulance is thus stationary and not being moved about.

There are reasons why this is happening. The main reason is the legal one. The patient only becomes the responsibility of the hospital at the point when they are taken over the threshold of the front doors. They therefore remain the responsibilty of the ambulance crew for the time they are kept waiting outside A and E. But why are they being kept outside for so long?

Contrary to the popular myth, it is not always due to a lack of hospital bed space although this is often the main reason. Sadly, this has become something of a political football as hospitals seek to demonstrate how stretched they have become. In a recent story in North Wales, ambulances were being turned away from one of the DGHs and diverted to other units 40 minutes away. Ultimately, this will move to the front pages when a patient actually dies while they are waiting and it seems likely this will happen before too long.

The closure of many of our Community Hospitals has undoubtedly played a part in all of this and still can't understand the rationale for that decision. It seems as though warnings of bed blocking have come home to roost and the ambulances are being used as pawns in a battle of political ideology. The poor patient inside is the real loser though.

Tough at the top

In sport as in life, supremacy is seldom sustained. The England cricket team are nearing the half way mark of a Test series against the Australians having been installed as the pre-tournament favourites. As they prepare to go two down with three to play, it is instructive to examine the effect of such expectations.

Jonathon Trott returned home after the first Test match citing a stress-related illness. Until recently, he had been the solid, dependable number three batsman on hand to dig deep and provide solidity to the England batting line up. His departure has left the England team in disarray. As the Australians score runs and take wickets for fun, England look a shadow of the side which has been ranked number one in the world until quite recently. From captain Cook downwards, they all seem to have suffered a crisis in confidence as a hitherto laughing stock of a bowler has proceeded to tear them apart.

Since the inception of the Premier League, Manchester United have finished in the top two in all twenty-one seasons bar three. As the reigning champions they entered this season with high hopes of adding another title to their impressive collection. Such expectations were dashed though when their erstwhile manager Alex Ferguson elected to retire at the end of the season. His successor David Moyes has been in a no win situation from the moment he left Everton. The irony of losing to his former club in the week can't have been lost on him. His new club are performing like a mid table club thus far and the impact of Ferguson's departure continues to exert it's aftershock. All the while, Ferguson looks down from the stands as his successor lurches form one crisis to another.

The news this weekend has of course been dominated by the death of Nelson Mandela. It is a mark of his influence on the world stage that he continues to dominate discussions even after death. In truth, those who succeeded him in the new South Africa always had a tough act to follow and for Mandela achieved, progress since his retirement has been slow.

Putting aside the Mandela story, one story has emerged to dominate the political debate in the UK. The decision by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority to recommend an 11% pay rise for Members of Parliament has met with a predictable outcry. Predictable because the media has honed in on the headline figure rather than attempting to analyse it in context.

Until recently, MPs in the UK were happily fiddling their expenses en masse and would still be doing so had it not been for the investigative journalism of the Daily Telegraph. The rest were happy to run with the story and MPs, for a time, occupied a place in society on a par with bankers, estate agents and lawyers. The proposed increase would still see their overall pay at about the same level as it was when they were fiddling expenses. We have to ask ourselves why they were fiddling their expenses in the first place. Were all MPs just dishonest on was their existing salary inadequate for the purposes of living in London and working in Westminster? I don't believe they were all dishonest but neither do I believe their salary was inadequate for the job they do. They did what most people do in most walks of life if given the opportunity. They sought to gain as much advantage as they could out of the system imposed upon them. This does not make them right or wrong. It just confirms their human nature.

Since the 2010 election and the arrival of the coalition, UK politics has been dominated by the cutbacks imposed to try and address our burgeoning national debt. I don't think the coalition had a choice in this although various parts of the media seem to suggest they did. As one Labour minister said to his coalition successor when leaving office in 2010, "Good luck, there's no money left - we've spent it all". It would funny if it weren't true but sadly it was true. Since that time, we have a succession of calls to spend more money on the NHS, on local Government, on education, and on a host of other departments. The problem remains. There is only a finite amount to go around.

For all that, I remain vehemently opposed to the HS2 project when there are so many areas so badly in need of financial investment. I am instictively against us becoming overly reliant on the State to provide and do everything for us but equally recognise that certain quarters will always rely on the State.

It has just been announced by the Welcome Foundation that there are a record number of people in work unable to make a living. Social security dictates that we are expected to survive on roughly £50 per week while the minimum wage currently stands at £6.31 per hour for those over the age of 21. The two biggest drains on the salary of those on the minimum wage are undoubtedly heating costs for their homes and transport costs be it fuel for their car or the fare for public transport. Undoubtedly, food inflation has also contributed hugely to their outgoings.

The anomaly which concerns me the most is that many people expect the State to intervene in such matters and yet they are loathe for their MPs to earn a salary which is lower than many of the professions. There is a well known mantra which asserts that we get what we pay for and the danger here is that we will forfeit a large number of MPs for a new batch who may not provide such value for money. They may well prove to be more cost effective and particularly if they come from business backgrounds in the private sector. It is the latter which must be re-ignited to achieve lasting economic growth again. Ploughing money in to the State will only serve to further expand the already top heavy Public Sector. We need a smaller State, not a bigger one. For lasting jobs and employment opportunities we need to grow manufacturing, industry and the business sector.

Thus for the MPs of today be they members of the coalition or not, they are caught between a rock and a hard place. They are chastised if they earn too much and chastised if they fail to provide enough State support for general society. It has always been tough at the top and seldom  more so than now. Opposition parties always aim to criticise the strategies of the incumbent but should do so with caution. Unless they have viable alternatives of their own, criticism fails to provide solutions. As much as Ed Balls must be galled by the recent upturn in the economy, he does not suggest a better alternative. In fact, he continues to espouse the levels of spending which landed us here in the first place.I repeat, I am no fan of the proposed HS2 project but I do support the measures implemented by the coalition.

When Harold Macmillan claimed, "You've never had it so good", he was right. Since he said that in 1957, his claim has remained valid. Compared to what our forebears had during the first part of the twentieth century, we have had an improved quality of life. Improved, not perfect. Perfection is an aspiration but improvement is a welcome compromise. We still have a health service which continues to treat us come rain or shine. We still have an education system which continues to provide us with the opportunity to make the most of ourselves and we continue to enjoy relatively low levels of personal taxation.

Since Macmillan's day, we have become accustomed to having more. More of us run cars. More of us own our houses. More of us have holidays abroad. The progress is comparative. We are not rolling in money and it's true that food banks are now a part of everyday life as indeed are charity shops. Their is no shame in that. Charity is not a new phenomenon and has always provided for the less fortunate in our society. There is undoubtedly much to which can aspire, but there is equally much for which we have cause to be grateful.

When Dvaid Moyes succeeded Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, it would not have reasonable to expect the success to continue. When England departed for Australia, they had no right to expect to just turn up and win. When the coalition came to power, they had no right to expect their policies to be embraced and loved but then neither did they have much choice. Yes, it remains tough at the top. Some of their policies such as HS2, the sale of the Post Office and their massaging of the housing market have been plain wrong and history will bear out this assertion. Many of their decisions though have been forced upon them and history will bear this out too.

Take it to the limit!

What a week it's been. Of course, events were dominated by the death of Nelson Mandela. It would be churlish not to recognise the magnitude of his achievement. Like Gandhi and Martin Luther King before him and like Aung San Suu Kyi after him, Mandela fought the human injustice in front of him. It takes strong characters to effect such change and all these people carried themselves with immense dignity. That is the key. Bluster and bravado seldom achieve change. We are ultimately judged on the way in which we conduct ourselves and each of these titanic characters has done so with admirable restraint. That two of them were assassinated merely illustrated the extent of the hatred which they had to contend with.

Prison can achieve a certain amount but it is irrelevant in the face of a strong will. I can remember with clarity debating the release of Mandela in 1984 while at Debating Society. I recall few debates which invoked such passion. It seems to strange now to look back and consider that Mandela was still in prison, apartheid was still the normal way of life and the Berlin Wall stood strong and proud. In one generation, much has been achieved. All the people to whom I referred at the start of this piece strived for equality and all achieved great progress in that direction.

Equality though remains a largely Utopian ideal and while we all applaud the demise of apartheid and the Berlin Wall, the world remains a very unequal place. As we descend on the shops in our droves to celebrate a festival whose religious relevance is fast receding, millions starve. Millions also remain homeless with not a penny or a possession to their name.

Any change is gradual and without the efforts of Gandhi, Mandela et al, we wouldn't even be where we are today. This week, we have reacted with uproar to news that we will be expected to work until we are 68. We should think ourselves lucky we have work to go to and an income with which to live. We take all this for granted because we have come to expect a certain standard of living. In truth, we have no right to such expectation because the expectation is not based on anything other than what went on before our time.

Gandhi was a giant among men yet his beloved India still remains a country of enormous wealth and crippling poverty. For all she has achieved, Aung San Suu Kyi remains in the minority in the face of a military regime in Burma and poverty continues. While Dr King did much to end racial segregation in America, racism continues. Mandela was quite right to point out that nobody is born to hate; it is their upbringing and the society around them which teaches them how to. In the end then, it is right and proper to celebrate these remarkable people but equally pertinent to recognise how far we have to go. The actions of Anders Brevik in Norway were a stark reminder of the work which still needs to be done. The BNP continue to garner votes in the UK and facism is dangerously on the rise throughout many European countries. A climate of financial austerity is historically the petrol upon which the bonfire of facism thrives. The challenge is to foster stronger community cohesion to repel such tendencies.

In the early 1980s the UK was in a much worse state than it is today financially and that was the atmosphere in which Jerry Dammers wrote the song, "Free Nelson Mandela" which became the anthem for a generation. He was part of the musical genre two tone - the name speaks for itself and the music was wonderful.      

Populism or Realism?

In his Autumn statement today, George Osborne has announced that the UK economy is growing. Whatever happens from here, he will forever be remembered as the Chancellor who made the cuts and tightened our belts. What we need to ask though is what his realistic choice has been?

When the coalition came to power, I seem to recall one outgoing Labour minister informing his successor that there was no money left. That government featured Ed Milliband as Energy secretary and Ed Balls as Education secretary. Both served as willing lieutenants to the Viv Nicholson of British Politics, Gordon Brown. The man who espoused prudence could spend money like few others. Judging by the comments made after meeting a Labour supporter during the last election campaign, it would also be fair to suggest that he didn't take kindly to the views of others either. It would seem that his protege Ed Balls has a similar tendency based on his responses today.

As a nation we have been allowed to become too dependent on the concept that the State will always be there to bail us out if we get in to trouble come what may. That has been a dangerous promise because our available resources, by definition, are always finite. Few seem to remember just how close we were to financial disaster in 2008. The current coalition literally had no choice but to make cuts. The welfare budget had long since got out of hand. The strain on the Health Service was also a huge problem which we continue to deal with today.

The news that our 15 year olds have done so badly at school is possibly the biggest of all indictments of the 13 years of Labour. This does not augur well for our future prosperity. It would serve us well to revisit an old mantra which praised the ethos of saving money rather than spending it. The latter was the problem with the last Labour government and it got ugly when there was no money left. If we are to be truly prudent (albeit that is now something of a toxic word in the light of it's abuse by Labour), we need to realise the merit of having something in reserve for days when we might need it. Having 33% unemployment among those leaving school is not surprising but it is avoidable.

I do think that George Osborne has missed one big trick in this announcement though. Capping small business tax is not enough. He really did need to cut it because small business will drive a bona fide recovery - not home buying. The latter is probably the single biggest factor which did for Brown and co.

As a country we do need to start taking the bull by the horns in terms of fossil fuel dependency so freezing the fuel tax escalator for petrol and diesel is not exactly progressive. This is just fire fighting. Far better to actually promote electric cars and renewable energy and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

As tempting as tax cuts might have been, Osborne has been right to resist doing so. We need to continue the reality check of making do with the essentials rather than reverting to back to a "have it all" mentality. Compromise is not that difficult if we all want a strong country.

It's also easy to forget that although our recent economic performance has been encouraging, we are not out of the woods by a long chalk. Now is not the time for complacency. We have to maintain the fiscal attitude and carry it in to and beyond the next government. Provided the latter doesn't feature anyone with the name Ed, this should be achievable.

8 Pieces for Advent

As we approach the beginning of the Christian year, I share with you the eight pieces I turn to for the festive period:-

1. Silent Night - the Simon and Garfunkel version for it's clever use of a poignant news story in the background of this most peaceful of songs. As ever their clever harmonies leave you in awe.

2. I Believe in Father Christmas - Greg Lake wrote this as a protest against the commercialisation of Christmas in 1975 but it was ironically adopted by Sainsbury's supermarket to promote a Christmas sales campaign. The music is based on a piece by Prokofiev and seems somehow to capture the festive spirit better than anu other. The underlying message in the song is timeless and alsmost Dickensian, "The Christmas we get we deserve".

3. In Dulce Jubilo - Mike Oldfield created this masterpiece and drew on the influence of a traditional Christmas Carol from the middle ages. A multi instrumentalist, Oldfield was ideally placed to demonstrate the innate beauty of this song. The tune first appeared in 1305 so proves that a good tune really does stand the test of time! Oldfield was in good company with this tune because it had previously been used by J.S Bach and Franz Liszt to name but a few.

4. Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel - The definitive song for Advent. This is the song which spells out the significance of Advent in the Christian calendar and reminds us in our busy lives what all the fuss is about. It's slow pace allows us to reflect while we sing.

5. Christmas - the late poet laureate John Betjeman arguably captured Christmas better than anybody with this timeless poem. This piece demonstrates the brilliance of Betjeman and keeps us hypnotised with familiar images taking us on a journey of rediscovery.

6. It's a Wonderful Life - There were recently rumours afloat that plans had emerged to make a sequel to this 1940s classic. Please don't. James Stewart plays George Bailey in a story which restores your faith in human nature. This needs to be in black and white and is compelling from start to finish. If one film epitomises what Christmas should be all about, this is most definitely it.

7. A Christmas Carol - There is little to add here. Dickens' story set in Victorian London with the immortal Ebenezer Scrooge is the ultimate story of redemption and reminds us all that a second chance is always just around the corner.

8. The Nutcracker - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky had to go back to the drawing board with this ballet. It was initially panned by the harsh Moscovite critics in 1877. Not one to be deterred, Tchaikovsky thankfully returned with it in 1890 and the magic was born. A timeless story which takes us all in to another world of fantasy. A welcome escape from everyday life which I recommend to anyone.

I have included dance, song, film, poetry and literature so there should be something for everyone.

The pitfalls of difference

As the Scots embark on a last push for independence, the other members of the union look on wistfully. The Welsh in particular make no secrets of their desire for more autonomy. This is all well and good up to a point. Unlike the Scottich, the Welsh have the added complication of their language. As a badge of cultural identity their language has become something upon which to dangle incentives. A new £ 8.5 million Welsh medium Primary School is scheduled for Mid Wales as I write. I wonder whether planning would have been granted if it had been English?

I make this point because we are today reminded of the gulf in standards between Wales and the other members of the union. Education is being delivered poorly in the Principality if the latest figures are anything to go by. We need to question why that should be. Bringing children up with two languages has known benefits to the future acquistion of languages. That is not in dispute here. What the extra language happens to be is of less relevance. The current drive to rekindle the Welsh language comes after the recent census demonstrated it's continued decline. The powers that be in Cardiff are aware that a vibrant Welsh language promotes a separate Welsh culture thus strengthening the case for independence.

While England could weather life without Wales, I'm not so convinced the opposite could be claimed. The over reliance on local government in Wales continues to compromise their progress. They need to grow their private sector if they are to achieve this. This starts in the class room. There are never going to be enough public sector jobs for every Welsh speaking child so the Welsh Assembly needs to start supporting the private sector. Otherwise, the existing trend of a Welsh education which ends up with a working life in England looks set to continue.

The Welsh education system may well be ticking the boxes on language but they are lagging behind in the skills which will secure employment. Numeracy, science and reading skills are the worst in the country. This is no coincidence. The existing obsession with the Welsh language is starting to cost the Welsh in the areas which really matter. The figures don't lie. As laudable as cultural identity is, jobs are more practical for a country seeking to forge a stronger identity. 

Llangattock: The alternative to the Big Six?

As the energy debate rumbles on at Westminster with opposing parties squawking at each other in a vain attempt to cury favour with a weary electorate, a project has been announced which proves that the alleged monopoly of the Big Six is not quite as definite as we have been led to believe.

A Mid Wales community has pooled their resources to raise the £273,000 to build to micro hydro electric turbines to be housed on two local streams. The community at Llangattock and surrounding area is well aware of the benefits of green fuel having won an award last year. The community has already installed solar panels and radiator panels at the school with an air pump heat source. Amazingly, the 43 homes have thus far installed 655 energy saving devices ranging from insulation, solar panels, a biomass boiler and multi fuel stoves.

The community at Llangattock have merely done what the Scandinavians would consider the norm. What is notable is the number of communities which have done little or nothing. Government incentives help of course but people don't need Government help to achieve their dreams. If the people of Llangattock can do this, why are so many other communities not doing likewise?

Every penney invested now by Llangattock makes them a litle bit less reliant on fossil fuels and a little bit more sustainable. Whichever way we look at this, it just makes so much sense. It beggars belief then to observe the present Government ditching some of the green subsidies to try and save Joe Average £50 of his annual fuel bill. If this is the best our Government can do, we really are best off going it alone and seeking the solutions ourselves as done in Llangattock. They have done nothing space age. They have just maximised what they can do for the benefit of their entire community. The "have it all generation" has been taken literally in Llangattock because the entire community will benefit from their investment.

This story should be held up by this Government as a shining light. It should be used to illustrate what people can achieve if they work together in the common interest. It is schemes like this which will render irrelevant the profit margins of the Big Six. Yes, the latter need more competition but we all know that their sheer size makes competition a bit of a nonsense. Don't wait for the Government to advise you, seek the solutions yourselves and relish the independence.