Last night I watched colour footage of VE celebrations around the world, ahead of the 8 May anniversary. People looked so happy. Life would be better for ever and man would respect man. But yesterday, I had read a FB report of a man on a local bus who refused to give up his seat to a heavily-pregnant woman. What was striking were the comments, the majority applauding the man’s ‘rights’! In the 40s, despite deprivations, I remember being taught to respect older people, our parents, those in authority and especially those in need. It was a way of life that worked and no-one questioned it. When a child reported being reprimanded at school, the family would support the teacher. But now? Despite today’s previously-unheard-of home ‘luxuries’ like hot showers and central heating, selfishness has taken hold. Personal ‘rights’ have overridden respect for others. In nearly 80 years since one war ended, another has begun. Society has lost its way.
18th April 2021
Yesterday the world witnessed what Britain does best. The weather agreed. Wall to wall blue skies reflected on an English scene glorious in its majesty, dazzling in its ancient ceremony yet replete with dignity. Simple touches brought a personal feel to the solemn occasion. A specially-adapted Land Rover vehicle, true to Philip’s humour and humility, made his last journey. An honour too for Birmingham, where it was made. And, amongst it all, sat an old lady in black, small and lonely on a wooden pew, something with which everyone all over the world is familiar. Yet, for me, it was a perfect example of the essential differences in style between England and other nations. Yesterday showed England’s majesterial excellence. My two, soon-to-be-reprinted, non-fiction books about living in France and America show how two different nations deal with ceremony. Wherever you live, may peace be with those currently experiencing shared grief.
RIP Philip.
11th April 2021
I noticed one news item that Harry would return home for his grandfather’s funeral. Whilst the media seized on speculation, I was more struck by use of the word ‘home’. He may think his home is California, but the media infers otherwise. Philip’s mother also understood the meaning of home. In the ‘40s, when Germany invaded Greece, Princess Alice heard of the desperate straits of a Jewish family and offered to shelter them at her own home, where they stayed until liberation. Despite being questioned by the Gestapo, Alice used her deafness to pretend not to understand their questions. Just before she died, Alice expressed her wish to be buried in Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives, a spiritual home. In 1993, the Yad Vashem Museum there correctly bestowed the title of ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ on Philip’s mother. On Thursday, the Jewish people will celebrate their just return to their ancestral homeland. When Harry lands in London after his own journey, he - like the Jewish people - will have much on which to reflect.
4th April 2021
Sometimes I get exasperated with the NHS. I know, I know. The concept of a universal health system is wonderful, something other countries like the US look on with envy. I clapped along with everyone else to thank the Covid staff who’ve worked tirelessly over the past year. And, how we dealt with the Covid crisis exposed the differences in how this small country is able to move so much faster than the over-bureaucratic, ponderous EU. Indeed, whilst our vaccination programme is going really well, France is now entering its 3rd lockdown and Germany’s introducing yet more restrictions. But, in other ways, the NHS is still in the dark ages. Last week, as a pre-diabetic, I had a blood and MSU test but to date have been unable to get the results. When I call up, I’m told that my dr is ‘satisfied’, therefore my result’s been filed! In France, the lab automatically pings the result to both the patient’s and doctor’s cell phone , the same day. Correct. It helps local doctors enormously. Even our garage gives me a written report on our car! So, yes, even though our NHS is a wonderful concept, for general day to day medical treatment, it needs to modernise its services, enter the digital world and stop being condescending to patients.
28th March 2021
21st March 2021
Things are changing. Over the last year, more than a million foreign-born people have left the UK, a larger number than the population of Birmingham, and the greatest amount since WW2. But, others are now arriving to fill the empty spaces, including visa-waving Hong Kong residents. When I wrote my best-selling Pensioners in Paradis, things were very different. Twenty years ago, we all hankered after the sunshine of France and Spain. It was so easy to up-sticks back then and become expats. But, rather like my book, which has just run out of contract (my publisher Crooked Cat Books has now closed), the momentum has now completely reversed. As predicted, Brexit proved too difficult. Removal companies in the Costas report that they’ve never been busier. British expats don’t want to apply for Spanish citizenship, can’t afford extortionate private health insurance, and legendary bureaucratic EU dithering over Covid vaccines is the final straw. 150 years ago my grandfather, fleeing from E. European pogroms, was welcomed here. TG for the legendary welcome he received in Britain.
14th March 2021
Mothers Day here. One woman who’ll never be a mother is Sarah Everard, murdered by a serving policeman this week in London. In the past after such atrocities, posters everywhere would urge women to stay home, and not to wear provocative dress etc. All too easy for the police to target innocent victims when really the curfew should be for testosterone-driven men, the perpetrators. So what can be done? Mass castration’s hardly an option, its result anyway the end of society. Certainly there’s too much internet porn available. Page 3 girls may have disappeared from the tabloids, but society’s still awash with females feeling the need to ‘attract’ men in ever more alluring ways. Schools could help by teaching boys how to treat girls but I’ve another idea. 25 years ago, the BBC’s Today programme asked for suggestions to be turned into law. My entry was a finalist: “mandatory pre-natal classes for all new parents-to-be on how to rear their children, including respect for others and good citizenship, a certificate to be awarded on successfully passing the course, which would then need to be presented to obtain child benefit.” Women could then have gone out at night in safety. Pity it didn’t win.
