Middle East Wars again

 One again I have to write about war between Israel and Palestine. Is it not time for the fighting to stop? There is a solution to be gained and it is based upon human rights. The Palestinians are entitled to live in peace without their civilians being bombed. Israel has a right to exist as an independent state without their citizens being subject to attack from outside sources. The time for ethnic war and cleansing must stop. Invading and attacking forces on both sides must stop. There should be a two states solution implemented. Surely, the Palestinians have the right o there own state?

I despair for the human race, we are all from the same sub-species and race, but we are divided by religious and ethnic considerations. However, this is no reason for war. Human beings are the worse species of animals on the planet and it seems that not for one minute can we curb our aggressive nature and the desire for revenge. We cannot grow out of the irrational attitude that, " they started it and now we are going to finish it".

There is now a case for a solution to be imposed upon the combattants by the United Nations; so the UN Security Council should give the General Secretary the authority to impose a solution backed up by sanctions and force if necessary. Peace needs to be achieved, and who knows the peace may lead to a rapprochement?

Of course, this will not happen and it looks as though attack and revenge attack will be the continuous  modus operandi of both the Israelis and the Palestinians. I appeal to both sides to stop the killing, wounding and devastation  now.

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.

Yaboo Yaboo Yaboo - The Covid 19 vaccine merry-go-round

 Yaboo, "we have got more Covid19 vaccines than you". Yaboo, "no you haven't". Yaboo "we are better than you". Yaboo "no you're not".

Yaboo, "it's time to stop this nonsense, the virus does not care and it will kill you or make you very sick, if all this Yaboo is not stopped".

Catch22 Immigrant

Trevor Donald is the victim of the most egregious bureaucracy related to the Windrush scandal. He came to Britain at the age of 11 in 1963 as part of the Windrush generation. It appears that his arrival and right to be a resident of the UK had never been documented. When he went to Jamaica in 2010 to attend his mother's funeral he had to travel on emergency documents, but he was given assurance that he would  be allowed to return to the UK to take up his residence again.  Upon trying to return home later in 2010 ,  he was barred from entry and remained stranded in Jamaica for 9 years.  In 2019 he was finally allowed to return home as part of the Windrush correction scheme, but he has been denied the immediate granting of British Citizenship because he had not been in the country for 5 years. This is an insult and Mr Donald has been treated with contempt as part of a "Catch 22" not so merry go round. 

Before, he went to Jamaica  in 2020 he was already a British citizen albeit an undocumented one. He had lived in the country for 43 years since childhood, it was his right to be British. He should have been granted citizenship in 2010 and been given a passport immediately. The same should have been the case when he returned form his illegal exile in 2019.

We now live in a world where personal testimony seems to count for nothing, there were probably innumerable British citizens who could have vouched for Mr Donald and confirmed that he was living in the UK legally , doctors' and dentists' records could have been checked etc. There is no need for endless bureaucracy and computer records for proof of who you are.

The Crown grants people citizenship upon the recommendation of the Home Office. Under international law no-one should be allowed to be a stateless citizen, but  Mr Donald was forced to be a stateless by British bureaucracy, and he still is. The Home Secretary should recommend, to the monarch, that Mr Donald is granted British Citizenship and a passport immediately. The Queen would probably be pleased to do so in order to right an injustice.

Get your vaccine as soon as it is offered

 I had my Astra Zeneca vaccine last Saturday. The jab was painless and 48 hours later I have not felt any side effects. My decision to have the vaccine was not based upon the hubristic recommendations of the government but from my own research of the scientific evidence and the my own weighing up of the risks versus benefits by a personal and community consideration.

The scientific evidence  regarding the efficacy of the Astra Zenaca's vaccine for people aged 65 and over is weak. The vaccine company did not test a sufficient number of older people in their randomised trials to confirm that the vaccine works for older people. However, there is no proof that it does not work, for the same reason. The vaccine works for younger people and this has been proven , my own assessment is that it will therefore work for older people and even if it does not give full protection it will probably lessen the impact of catching the disease. 

The vaccine has also been shown to lessen the risk of younger infected people passing the virus own and I assess that this will be true for older people.

I had nothing to lose by having the vaccine and a lot to gain and so did the community in general, the choice for me was simple and obvious. 

The US FDA has asked Astra Zeneca to run further trials to prove that the vaccine works for the over 65s before they approve its use. Again, I expect  that the vaccine will probably be given approval. If it is proven not to work in the over 65s then, so what?  No doubt I will be given a vaccine that does.

There is some doubt that the Astra Zeneca vaccine is not totally effective against the South African variant but this has not been proven and I expect that the vaccine will at least provide some protection to prevent hospitalisations.

None of the vaccines have been definitely proven to inhibit  transmission of the virus from  an asymptomatic individual to another person. We will all have to watch our step to prevent this from happening. My wife has not been vaccinated yet so I won't be taking any chances with her life; so social distancing is the watchword for me until everyone has been vaccinated and infections can be limited to 1,000 per day, as was wisely recommended by a former Health Secretary. It looks as though a vaccination programme alone cannot suppress this dangerous virus on its own until there an efficient test , track and isolation system is working. And we have not got there yet. 

Many more than 100,000 have died and  many others have been left with long covid. Our economy has also been ruined by the poor performance of the government in mitigating the effects of the virus. Thousands more could die if the government  ignores the scientific advice  to allow another peak. The economy is in danger of being wrecked by coming out of the lockdown too soon again and allowing another peak followed by emergency measures.

The vast majority of the British people are doing the right thing to follow the scientific advice to socially distance themselves and have a vaccine. The government must by wise too and ensure that safety is put first.