Michael Collins - The best of America

Yesterday, the death of Michael Collins, at the age of 90, was announced. He  was  one of the bravest and was a shining light, and puts to shame some of the US leaders that that dared to undermine the American nation and its constitution.

In my mind he was probably the bravest of the Apollo 11 crew but by a narrow margin. Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong  were never completely alone during their mission. If something went wrong they could at least rely upon each other, if only for reassurance,  if they were cut off from communication with mission control or Collins in the command module. 

Whilst Collins was orbiting the Moon, on the far side, he was completely isolated, and he could not even see the Earth. He was the second human to be in this position. This was complete isolation hundreds of thousands of kilometers from the Earth and his family and friends. He had to hold his nerve and solve problems alone. He was a key member of the team to ensure the safe return of his comrades to his command module, when they arrived back from their mission to the surface of the moon.

I have no doubt that Collins was carefully selected for his task; the mission directors would have to be certain that Collins had an  exceptionally strong and stable character and was able to think rationally at all times. They would need to be assured that despite the isolation he would have, at all times, concentrated on the safe return of his team mates. He was a truly brave man along with his comrades.

The strength of his character comes across in his wonderful book "Carrying The Fire". His book also charts the progress of one of mankind's greatest achievements.

Soon a team of brave people, probably Americans, will land on the Moon again. I hope I am alive to see this landing for a second time, for it will be just as great an achievement but probably without someone being totally cut off from their home.

The Brexit " bum steer"

 Last week my shiny new British Passport arrived and it looks great and reminds me of my old but much more substantial one. It was meant to be one of the benefits of  Brexit, it emphasises Britain's sovereignty where holders can feel proud to be part of a sovereign and global thinking nation again.

I compared it to my not so shiny French passport. It is almost exactly the same. It holds exactly the same information as the new British one even the microchips are the same. Why is this? By international agreement passports are standardised  to provide easy and secure crossing of borders.

Because of Brexit we have just changed the colour of the passport to make it look different. In reality, the British passport no longer affords the holder the same power as the pre-Brexit mauve one. Before Brexit, a British passport holder could go to live and work in the 28 member states provided that they were not a burden to that state, Britain and the Republic of Ireland were exceptions to this as the Common Travel Area between them allows for complete mutual freedom of movement.

Pre-Brexit Britons were entitled to have their marriage partners from anywhere in the world live with them, and likewise their children and grand parents. Not so anymore,  as marriage partners from abroad have to apply for expensive visas and likewise the children and grand parents. They could be denied residence if they do not qualify financially.

Brexit has removed a whole  raft of family and working rights from British people, who enjoyed more or less freedom of movement in 27 other countries. Britons are now limited to enjoying those rights in the Republic of Ireland. That holiday job in Greece is now denied to British young people. British young people will have to go through mountains of bureaucracy to get a  permanent or contract job in Berlin. An individual Briton who wants to set up a business in Denmark will be faced with a mountain of paper work. The blue British passport won't make anyone's life easier when dealing with the EU nations.  Brexit has made things worse.

I am a great believer in human rights and this is why I eagerly applied for a French passport as soon as I became French on the strength of being married to a French woman: it cost me 55 Euros and some time swotting up "French life" facts and I had to prove that I could speak French to an acceptable level. To become British my wife will have to pay at least £1,300 and that £1,300 is forfeited if she makes a mistake on the application.

 Formerly, one of my British friends married a French woman; she only had to go to the Home Office and show her marriage lines to be awarded British citizenship and a passport. This is  the way it should be in every  nation, close relations should be granted citizen's rights upon marriage and this right should include their children - it's now a much sadder world.

Brexit, has only provided an illusion of power and sovereignty. Gibraltar has been forced by practicality at the borders to join the Schengen agreement. It has allowed EU border guards to operate on Gibraltar territory: so much for British power and sovereignty. Flashing a blue passport won't get you anywhere to avoid this.

British sovereignty over Northern Ireland  has been much reduced because of the Good Friday Agreement and Brexit. Northern Ireland  has to remain in the Customs Union and Single Market to maintain the the Good Friday Agreement in good working order as part of the Northern Ireland Protocol. This means there has to be a custom border control between Britain and Northern Ireland to ensure that British goods just destined for Northern Ireland do not accidently get into the EU uncontrolled.  The UK agreed to sign the Northern Ireland protocol within the last year, it now wants to renege on this agreement. The Europeans and Americans will sanction us if we do, so we won't do it: so much for our sovereignty.

British exporters to the EU are now lumbered with burdensome paperwork, so much so that small companies are having to set up operations in the EU and employ more staff in the EU just to trade more easily: so much for our sovereignty. 

Whilst our people and exporters have been burdened with forms and tariffs to move to the EU, our money has not. £1 trillion pounds of assets have been transferred to EU capitals by the financial industry, this money is most welcome in the those financial capitals, there was no blue passport needed to move it: so much for our sovereignty. There is precious little coming the other way.

The Brexit situation will get worse; there are no unicorns over the hill to flash any sort of passport to come and save our sovereignty, freedom, human rights, trade and financial assets. You voted for a bum steer.

Does politics have to stop because of the Covid 19 virus?

 Today we find out that the leader of the UK opposition party, does not want the UK to re-apply for membership of the EU and that it is a dead issue? Of, course it is, and does anyone think seriously think that the EU would want the UK back? 

Given that the EU is no longer a discussion point, I would like to know what the Labour party is going to do about poor housing, the badly funded NHS, the badly funded school system and international trade, as just for starters. Most of all I want to know what the Labour party is going to do about the billions of pounds of debt that has been run up because the epidemic was badly managed. I want to know what the Labour party has got to say to the millions of young people who will be saddled with the consequences of this debt.

I want to know what the Conservative and Liberal Parties have in mind for the same issues. The electorate must be provided with a realistic analysis about the problems  that the country faces, and a series of realistic options and recommendations to improve the nation's prospects, given that we are in the middle of a serious health and economic crisis.

Unfortunately, I don't think anything concrete will be forthcoming. We need evidence based decision and policy making, and not just broken promises. Perhaps, it is time for the Greens to be given a chance. We all have a vote let's consider the alternative.