8 December 2019

I started this blog 11 years ago. We were living in a tiny medieval village in Tarn et Garonne, SW France, so I wrote about our experiences as English expats in a foreign country. Then Brexit happened which, along with other things, forced us to return to the UK. Things changed, so I faithfully recorded, week by week, how I felt about the news around me. Two days ago my birthday encapsulated the good and bad of the very social media I relied upon to write this blog. On the mantlepiece: 2 cards. On FB, hundreds of greetings, gifs and videos from lovely, kind people I’ll never meet. But, social media also has a dark side, particularly in the run-up to Thursday’s election. It gives a voice to all the illiterate, ignorant trolls in the world who waste no time in spouting venom to all who voice literate, informed opinions counter to their own. Lately I’ve been victim to some particularly vile accusations, one which even mentioned a terrorist organisation. Social media fanned the flames. So, after 11 years and hundreds of thousands of global blogpost reads, I’ve decided to stand down. A big thank you to all my regular, loyal readers. I appreciate you all.

1st December 2019

December. Dark days. Terrorism on London Bridge, the very spot I visited a few weeks ago. And still the General Election rumbles on, both main parties offering trillions of cash to the gullible public. Re Mirvis’s fears, the Labour leader promises to root out antisemitism, despite being totally blind to his own subliminal racism, using anti-Zionism as his own form of ‘acceptable’ antisemitism. By his own rules, he should kick himself out along with most of his Cabinet. He also plans to force on all employers the return of flying pickets, interfering in disputes that do not directly concern them. Like the ‘70s, the whole nation would be on strike. Yet again no gas, no electricity, no burials, no rubbish collections. Another winter of discontent then if Labour win. Running a country requires great intellect. Do you really want a leader who only managed EE at A level and left his Trade Union studies in his first year because he couldn’t cope? I don’t care about personalities. I will vote for the most educated candidate, someone best able to cope with all the global troubles ahead.