tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429300564190739482024-03-13T01:02:02.552+00:00Disaster historyJohn Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.comBlogger1058125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-53233093244635942552024-02-29T17:59:00.000+00:002024-02-29T17:59:33.388+00:00The true history of Brexit Britain: the real coalition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bYPRaRFyE9_B58BLL2DZ4lnRuu2Z-6csVBAeJfkBJdZ-_GGnjA7ApKp1a1RK6TnNYoQOT7d8Udn6x3MMya5o-YRa5p1yRpo3GSuQN6Bqlu6ztxAXLi3QIcQnHtqIIUgMrYG7BUhYBEHBToUaVFJ-Pu1nmkPY7oqhVU_14pUAw8UhS1Hg8yh1PBbiKTWt/s320/Brexit%20history%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="226" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bYPRaRFyE9_B58BLL2DZ4lnRuu2Z-6csVBAeJfkBJdZ-_GGnjA7ApKp1a1RK6TnNYoQOT7d8Udn6x3MMya5o-YRa5p1yRpo3GSuQN6Bqlu6ztxAXLi3QIcQnHtqIIUgMrYG7BUhYBEHBToUaVFJ-Pu1nmkPY7oqhVU_14pUAw8UhS1Hg8yh1PBbiKTWt/s1600/Brexit%20history%20cover.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br /><p> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I've been busy with the glue and paste and I've manged to piece together another section of the <i>New Oxford History of Brexit Britain </i>written some time after 2050. Read it ONLY HERE:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">When people talked about ‘the coalition’ in the 2020s, they invariably
meant the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government that ruled from
2010 to 2015, but the real coalition in British politics was the one between
two ostensibly bitter rivals, the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. And
although, the Labour Party was an enthusiastic participant, this coalition was
fiercely conservative, resolutely blocking the changes that Britain needed, to
solve its deep-seated, long-standing problems.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The Labour-Conservative coalition obstinately defended
Brexit even when most British people had long ago realised it was a terrible
mistake, and that it had been imposed on them by a political process that could
most kindly be described as ‘unsatisfactory’, and which had effectively been
ruled illegal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The Conservative-Labour coalition also fought like tigers
against any reform of the undemocratic ‘First Past the Post’ voting system,
which constantly awarded virtually absolute power to politicians most voters
had rejected. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So more than 63 per cent had voted against the notorious
Conservative government of 2015 that implemented the disastrous Brexit
referendum, while more than 56 per cent had opposed Boris Johnson’s vacuous
‘get Brexit done’ regime in 2019, and in the three supposed Thatcher 'landslides' of 1979-1987 she never won more than 43.9 per cent of the vote. But Labour also
benefited from this undemocracy, with Tony Blair gaining his first ‘landslide’ in
1997 with only 43 per cent of the vote, and his last election victory in
2005 with just 35 per cent. In other words, nearly two-thirds of voters opposed
him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">As the 21<sup>st</sup> century progressed, there was more
and more agonising and hand-wringing from Labour and Conservative politicians
about how voters were ‘alienated’ from the political process and about how
dangerous this was. Yet it seemed to occur to few of them that constantly
imposing on the British people governments they did not want would surely cause
‘alienation.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">As we now know, this fierce conservatism over Brexit and the
electoral system would have severe consequences for both parties, and, sadly,
for the people of Britain. </span><o:p></o:p></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-80022820717891650292024-01-24T13:49:00.000+00:002024-01-24T13:49:04.197+00:00I-Spy Turin! Roman remains + thank you Stanmore!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIzHzGebgGogeRGTlFUHg9w5PLy-Lne9TT3WFVO7dF4QWUhOEhU3kAuQltjGufMBG2n9PRIdScu5VU6cjXCW-zQi4crg1e8sUexVr-RDuB8DTYj3q_K2aMZEryv3pP_R93TaTMM5coDYn5GEXIKbdYuLm9fWaVGwauDnxriqrXxQQtX4RaHfmSfwDeuGVh/s640/Turin%20Roman%20gate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIzHzGebgGogeRGTlFUHg9w5PLy-Lne9TT3WFVO7dF4QWUhOEhU3kAuQltjGufMBG2n9PRIdScu5VU6cjXCW-zQi4crg1e8sUexVr-RDuB8DTYj3q_K2aMZEryv3pP_R93TaTMM5coDYn5GEXIKbdYuLm9fWaVGwauDnxriqrXxQQtX4RaHfmSfwDeuGVh/s320/Turin%20Roman%20gate.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>The Palatine Gate (above) is pretty much what is left of Roman Turin. The northern entrance to the old city, it has been, as you might guess, substantially restored, with extensive works during the 15th century. It was due to be demolished in the 18th as part of a major redevelopment, but an architect and engineer saved it. Fortunately - because it is one of the most impressive sights in the city, and you can see it free. You might even get a nicer day than I did.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">* Belated thanks to Stanmore & District u3a for hosting my talk on my book <i>Assassins' Deeds. A history of assassination from ancient Egypt to the present day </i>(Reaktion books)<i>. </i>There was a good audience who asked some interesting questions.</span></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-42160530710611975912023-12-16T15:42:00.000+00:002023-12-16T15:42:19.845+00:00So Farewell then, 'Question of Sport'. My part in its downfall<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_xCTuHpH9e8uTPtN-IVZCEpPwcAwNHIxVG9wM6tI90sRYAgSngVT00ffnIRD8ffqktfgAo3-tfCETH1OvmISWe3NGnF4KPcVJ1ClAvjMTyZ9prGIiaDZ0qIhSTpA0aMJ2ClhNoO0nTi3l4JiPNKD1CF3MkRs3JqVJpiSAxcID8M_4SqNWcWi0mQ8_xcn1/s711/BBC%20Dickenson_Road_Studios.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="711" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_xCTuHpH9e8uTPtN-IVZCEpPwcAwNHIxVG9wM6tI90sRYAgSngVT00ffnIRD8ffqktfgAo3-tfCETH1OvmISWe3NGnF4KPcVJ1ClAvjMTyZ9prGIiaDZ0qIhSTpA0aMJ2ClhNoO0nTi3l4JiPNKD1CF3MkRs3JqVJpiSAxcID8M_4SqNWcWi0mQ8_xcn1/s320/BBC%20Dickenson_Road_Studios.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>So after 53 years, </span><i style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Question of Sport</i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> is being axed by the BBC because of the squeeze the Conservatives government has applied to the corporation's finances while it let inflation rip.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Back in 1969 or 70, I took part in the pilot programme that led to what was then <i><b>A</b> Question of Sport</i> being commissioned. At the time I was working as a radio outside broadcasts producer in the BBC's North Region, based in Manchester. Out of the blue, I got a phone call asking if I could go to what were then the corporation's television studios in the city at a converted church in Dickenson Road (pictured), which was also the birthplace of <i>Top of the Pops</i>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The programme was presented by David Vine, and among my fellow panellists was the distinguished football reporter Dennis Lowe.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I remember getting a question about a piece of film featuring a runner, who I correctly identified as the great Czech athlete Emil Zatopek and also correctly said that at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki he had won the 5,000 metres, the 10,000 metres and the Marathon in his first ever run over the distance. No one, incidentally, has ever managed to repeat his treble.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In spite of my stunning performance I was never invited to take part in one of the many transmitted programmes, with the producers unaccountably preferring panellists such as Henry Cooper, Brendan Foster, Fred Trueman, Emlyn Hughes and Princess Anne.</span></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-84230065546930981532023-12-11T15:46:00.001+00:002023-12-11T15:55:33.795+00:00Assassins' Deeds: Hit the Road, John!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaLYtb_TN0F_u7JiDG6lkJB5r5LzgaMEnnt2fS3mDFz1Z9EuhrltHuRtxSpz2nwGgRC-dsh6i3002K7tFEoQ3xFr2U55zXwyhstZ_c9aI8dZZ2xEXBPuzOux_L_SHW2imNsBA89Ab5k9O9pigVPMWv5BpswzKGb5nYQ-4Kh7Ee6Wu6dBrzWsxRf1_Ijvfl/s466/assassins%20deeds%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="311" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaLYtb_TN0F_u7JiDG6lkJB5r5LzgaMEnnt2fS3mDFz1Z9EuhrltHuRtxSpz2nwGgRC-dsh6i3002K7tFEoQ3xFr2U55zXwyhstZ_c9aI8dZZ2xEXBPuzOux_L_SHW2imNsBA89Ab5k9O9pigVPMWv5BpswzKGb5nYQ-4Kh7Ee6Wu6dBrzWsxRf1_Ijvfl/s320/assassins%20deeds%20cover.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>The </span><i style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Assassins' Deeds</i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> roadshow reaches Stanmore on 15 January as I talk to Stanmore & District u3a about my history of assassination from ancient Egypt to the present day.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">https://u3asites.org.uk/stanmore/events</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Expect stories about the earliest assassination known to history, the killer in a bear's costume, the president whose bodyguard went for a drink while he was murdered, the near misses that spared Napoleon, Hitler and Queen Victoria, and much, much more.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>Assassins' Deeds </i>is published by Reaktion Books https://www.amazon.co.uk/Assassins-Deeds-History-Assassination-Ancient/dp/1789143519/ref=sr_1_1?crid=WZBLPD8WMXM2&keywords=assassins+deeds&qid=1702309122&sprefix=assassins+deeds%2Caps%2C74&sr=8-1</span></p><p><br /></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-85660278999947253122023-11-21T12:34:00.000+00:002023-11-21T12:34:47.266+00:00Brexitwatch: Leave Planet Earth! How the Tories' "stop the boats" slogans evolved 2016-30<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-nlSLoTI12M4bHKADVO3O9BjmV672gdlGD83TZZyE0KSXh9xoXbLQUlZBMFDtHn4F2AEQQrr27uger6YVu2t2qF8P_nzRWaaW6JEhCMPiEuzCrjHnPc4NfyDllV3cl1bklBQmJ7nbOMAE8W2vKR4PCCp1SSeD7qQI0jKHEHrrGI8OcjsxaynsUWm5D56/s320/Brexit%20history%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="226" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-nlSLoTI12M4bHKADVO3O9BjmV672gdlGD83TZZyE0KSXh9xoXbLQUlZBMFDtHn4F2AEQQrr27uger6YVu2t2qF8P_nzRWaaW6JEhCMPiEuzCrjHnPc4NfyDllV3cl1bklBQmJ7nbOMAE8W2vKR4PCCp1SSeD7qQI0jKHEHrrGI8OcjsxaynsUWm5D56/s1600/Brexit%20history%20cover.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Conservatives pretended, with some success, that the best way of improving the quality of life for the British people was to stop those so desperate that they had abandoned their homes and travelled thousands of miles in constant danger, from trying to reach our country. This seemed all the more bizarre as we had a desperate shortage of workers</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">As each initiative to 'stop the boats' failed, the Tories' slogans evolved:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">2016 Vote Brexit to STOP THE BOATS</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">2023 Quit the ECHR to STOP THE BOATS</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">2030 Leave Planet Earth to STOP THE BOATS</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Leaving the EU failed. Treating its member countries as our enemies proved not to be a good way of getting the help we desperately needed from them if we wanted to 'stop the boats'. Leaving the ECHR was, if anything, even more disastrous, as it resulted in Britain becoming a pariah nation with its trade agreement with the EU torn up. The Conservatives talked up a new deal with North Korea as an alternative, but when mutual trade in its first year amounted to only £22.30, even some Tories began to have doubts. Leaving the ECHR also failed to 'stop the boats'.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The 'Leave Planet Earth' scheme was originally floated by the NatCons, or National Conservatives who were extreme right wingers even by Tory standards, and rejected by the party leadership, but by 2030 it had become official policy in spite of its obvious practical difficulties. Former prime minister Boris Johnson dismissed its critics as 'the woke Green liberal elite Remoaner Blob.'</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">During the early 2020s, incidentally, the Conservative government kept referring to those trying to seek asylum in the UK as 'illegal immigrants'. They were not, because it was not illegal to seek asylum, and the civil service refused to adopt this mendacious terminology, referring instead on official government websites to 'irregular immigration'.</span></p><p><br /></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-9547442855215269202023-09-21T11:05:00.003+01:002023-10-04T08:37:58.699+01:00WORLD EXCLUSIVE!! Sunak's secret global warming speech to Tory MPs!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeYEMnr4TFFgOBjLQCUnfz3hMTUngImVBWBLMtyKOUr5iWmFe7LoWrUwTx83baxhv8fptDXghcGKCoVEXzw8bRWOubRH_R71nMzKa8ZPoCwxHbcgxzZJgjLNKv17RClyJhYVUXczIIOIbuLgYJNzAx7_BiaA9yiY5X5d0o8ayvwU3LtzHTTTP53P_W6L4/s640/Rishi%20Sunak%20stop%20the%20boats.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeYEMnr4TFFgOBjLQCUnfz3hMTUngImVBWBLMtyKOUr5iWmFe7LoWrUwTx83baxhv8fptDXghcGKCoVEXzw8bRWOubRH_R71nMzKa8ZPoCwxHbcgxzZJgjLNKv17RClyJhYVUXczIIOIbuLgYJNzAx7_BiaA9yiY5X5d0o8ayvwU3LtzHTTTP53P_W6L4/s320/Rishi%20Sunak%20stop%20the%20boats.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Stop the boats! Stop the ULEZ! Stop the Green Cr*p! Stop the Woke Climate Blob!</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">That's how we'll win the next General Election!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Now, of course, saving the world from frying and ensuring our children and grandchildren have a planet to live on involves making some tough choices, and I've made them! I've taken the tough decision to delay all the action we Tories promised we would take to fight global warming! </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We know saving the planet is important, it's just that saving my job and the job of Tory MPs is more important!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I've also taken the incredibly tough decision to scrap a whole lot of laws that don't exist! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Now, we can't have action to fight global warming making people in Britain poorer. That's Brexit's job!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And speaking of Brexit, I know some of you have been concerned that my promise to be honest about global warming means that I might start being honest about Brexit! Don't worry. There'll be no nonsense of that kind! And, by the way, I'm not really being honest about global warming either! There will be no backsliding from the Conservative policy of lying whenever it's convenient.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So Stop the Boats, Stop the Ulez and we Tories can rule for another five years, or until the end of the world, whichever comes sooner.</span></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-47865221032384875852023-08-28T16:06:00.000+01:002023-08-28T16:06:38.026+01:00The 'Father of the Netherlands': visiting the scene of an assassination<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitznTHcYBv9vGHdkCaLoKErV6oO7rT3Tuaiv4cLi23v8pLkjPBMmcCnF_uxHc2j221Hvj0zOc56Hf8_HwaPXfvoN00pR4EDu6EcK5ZO6dtj1kCZliSVaP2ATov6a7DdWI6k8qLi_gqmKo2E9v1UyqfNe1JHs_O2JfVeRvILexaiuYhc2FSxtD4AAHEZkl2/s640/Delft%20Prinsenhof.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitznTHcYBv9vGHdkCaLoKErV6oO7rT3Tuaiv4cLi23v8pLkjPBMmcCnF_uxHc2j221Hvj0zOc56Hf8_HwaPXfvoN00pR4EDu6EcK5ZO6dtj1kCZliSVaP2ATov6a7DdWI6k8qLi_gqmKo2E9v1UyqfNe1JHs_O2JfVeRvILexaiuYhc2FSxtD4AAHEZkl2/s320/Delft%20Prinsenhof.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>William the Silent, who led the Dutch Revolt against Catholic Spain in the sixteenth century, is often known as the 'Father of the Netherlands'. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I had written about his murder in my book <i>Assassins' Deeds</i> (Reaktion). How a fanatical Catholic named Balthasar Gerard had wormed his way into the Protestant William's confidence. How on 10 July 1584, Gerard had gone on an errand to the Dutch leader's house in Delft, and waited while William had lunch with his family. And how Gerard hid beneath a staircase and then, as William emerged, shot him dead at point blank range. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So it was sobering and intriguing to stand on the very spot where this dramatic assassination happened. William's house is now the Prinsenhof Museum (pictured), and the hallway and staircase clearly recognisable from the accounts I had read.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Gerard tried to get away, but was caught and executed brutally. The Netherlands would have to fight on until 1648 to gain their independence in what became known as the Eighty Years War.</span></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-32106102800153135542023-08-18T14:57:00.002+01:002023-08-18T14:57:48.444+01:00Memory Lane: interviewing people looking for work in 1975<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Those nice people from MACE, the Media Archive of Central England, have just posted a television report I did for 'ATV Today' (the news programme that covered the English Midlands) on 25 July 1975. Interviewing people in Birmingham looking for work <a class="x1fey0fg xmper1u x1edh9d7" href="https://www.macearchive.org/films/atv-today-25071975-unemployment-crisis">https://www.macearchive.org/films/atv-today-25071975-unemployment-crisis</a></span></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-36533323018394254532023-07-28T11:58:00.000+01:002023-07-28T11:58:04.177+01:00BeatlesWatch: It was 55 years ago today.......................<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXKgqaOuVJxMVT_tMxp83cN6HXm_vt6SRihbmtYP46ZNJIG3qgzYlp41Rf5x3kg-CWgK48sFCsB6ehM6AqRQ4vvCm2fK_UeWVV-02n24Oey_joFzMj8Tbd0znk_oQNgjOnrRRiPjynMJnOACfzyVJOMT2qD3maIjZbUFUXYmuPdDblMJZACAi8tMQ_vszV/s640/Beatles%20bench.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXKgqaOuVJxMVT_tMxp83cN6HXm_vt6SRihbmtYP46ZNJIG3qgzYlp41Rf5x3kg-CWgK48sFCsB6ehM6AqRQ4vvCm2fK_UeWVV-02n24Oey_joFzMj8Tbd0znk_oQNgjOnrRRiPjynMJnOACfzyVJOMT2qD3maIjZbUFUXYmuPdDblMJZACAi8tMQ_vszV/s320/Beatles%20bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>On 28 July 1968,
the Beatles went on a ‘mad day out’ around London with photographers Don
McCullin and Stephen Goldblatt, to generate some publicity pictures. During the
shoot, they visited St Pancras Old Churchyard in Camden, site of a Christian
place of worship since perhaps the fourth century and nestling beside the lost
River Fleet.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">They sat on this
bench – life was so exciting in those days. At the time the band were making
the White Album, or more correctly Double Album, and already on the road to
breaking up. </span></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-75998911332631459972023-07-04T12:22:00.001+01:002023-07-04T14:54:13.045+01:00Brexitwatch reveals the Brexiters' biggest mistake: winning!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2h6uczfcLKfehjwuiA8cL6U_tyuHv0FH4_PLpVOeJbE3EJRKclEMOYSPq0Slr9issyGCoD2Fe0VgKzW8LOW-JkyfmfsCIqlLl7mXhlPSO1BvNVZxCmtd9Il30QbgpWjLJ0LsAmYYq1XgE4jrbkMve8M2PIDOSjqQRLXylp3eAQCsXTLH1Xz91M5dHbbcN/s3509/Brexit%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3509" data-original-width="2481" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2h6uczfcLKfehjwuiA8cL6U_tyuHv0FH4_PLpVOeJbE3EJRKclEMOYSPq0Slr9issyGCoD2Fe0VgKzW8LOW-JkyfmfsCIqlLl7mXhlPSO1BvNVZxCmtd9Il30QbgpWjLJ0LsAmYYq1XgE4jrbkMve8M2PIDOSjqQRLXylp3eAQCsXTLH1Xz91M5dHbbcN/s320/Brexit%20cover.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><p><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p>I've
managed to resurrect another section from the history of Brexit Britain published some time after 2050 - the priceless gift of Sybil, my acquaintance from
the future:</span><p></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">'The
morning after they "won" the Brexit referendum, the leaders of the Leave
campaign, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, looked as though they were going to a
funeral. No celebrations, no 'we did it' fist-pumping triumphalism. Glum faces
all round. The reason was simple.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">In
a project with so many faults and flaws, it seems invidious to pick out one, but
perhaps the greatest was that Johnson and Gove never meant Brexit to win. It was a protest
movement. It was against the EU, and often against it with a visceral hatred, but it
was not really in favour of anything, certainly nothing very coherent and
nothing that its Heinz 57 varieties of supporters could agree on.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">If
only it had lost, Leavers could have gone on happily complaining about the EU,
while the rest of the country got on with its business of being reasonably
efficient and content. Instead Leave won, and found itself lumbered with implementing a pile of undeliverable, often contradictory promises. Soon its supporters were complaining more vociferously than they had when the UK
was in the EU.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">But
to make things worse, those who had understood the benefits of EU membership and had now been robbed of them, were up in arms too. The whole country, Leavers and Remainers, were at
worst furious at and at best cynically contemptuous of a whole English
political establishment they felt had betrayed them. While it seemed the
only people to have benefited were politicians like Johnson, Patel and
Braverman who were promoted way beyond anything their extremely modest gifts
justified.'</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p> </p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-27740847358234458642023-06-25T17:46:00.000+01:002023-06-25T17:46:06.901+01:00I-Spy Penang, Malaysia. A reward for losing America<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3lw316Bfs9zZDjLXeGcf8b8lZI4prRN8OWGRzGsFmNiuiHQ_DAnn0I3AdhymIJu8xo1gfc0uP9rQfVNJ0xLJ9UApImCqrn3YfXfUMTkOsdaCsW2NONQwY1OVmJyWmIjozVBPk-HB2pRY9kuHHbesFsuKXQjHChXkdXNppJC5hD5XFttEGRAjh5gxpEogk/s640/Penang%20Cornwallis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3lw316Bfs9zZDjLXeGcf8b8lZI4prRN8OWGRzGsFmNiuiHQ_DAnn0I3AdhymIJu8xo1gfc0uP9rQfVNJ0xLJ9UApImCqrn3YfXfUMTkOsdaCsW2NONQwY1OVmJyWmIjozVBPk-HB2pRY9kuHHbesFsuKXQjHChXkdXNppJC5hD5XFttEGRAjh5gxpEogk/s320/Penang%20Cornwallis.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); white-space: pre-wrap;">This is Fort Cornwallis, built by the British</span><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); white-space: pre-wrap;"> East India </span><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); white-space: pre-wrap;">Company in the late 18th century to defend Penang against pirates</span><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); white-space: pre-wrap;">. It was named after Earl Cornwallis, who lost America</span><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); white-space: pre-wrap;">. Maybe I should have lost America, then I could have had a fort named after me!</span></span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; cursor: text; line-height: var(--artdeco-reset-typography_getLineHeight); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Actually, that's a bit unfair to Cornwallis. There were plenty of British defeats and disasters in the American War of <span class="ql-hashtag" style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: var(--artdeco-reset-typography-font-weight-bold); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); overflow-wrap: normal; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Independence</span> (see my book <i>Britain's 20 Worst <span class="ql-hashtag" style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: var(--artdeco-reset-typography-font-weight-bold); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); overflow-wrap: normal; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Military</span> Disasters</i>, Spellmount), but the British never recovered from Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown in 1781 and the following year parliament voted to end the war. Cornwallis went on to become Governor-General of India, and Lord-Lieutenant of <span class="ql-hashtag" style="background: var(--artdeco-reset-base-background-transparent); border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: var(--artdeco-reset-typography-font-weight-bold); margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); overflow-wrap: normal; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);">Ireland</span>.</span></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-28592911450011750842023-06-22T12:45:00.000+01:002023-06-22T12:45:24.345+01:00How I became a victim of piracy!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9z3Ln4ze3dUhK6EmeIQKpugjS8iIG6G6qUU23-5H3b_3cpfyom48hoyWTQN3YgcZyC3LRrMbPmGob6LHGyuEnuJhQC2p-ujxgJp15emlMkTnFb15ge6frfg20XMyVv1tnM0aadNRH-JR7Daf3lLcYJCDMUyewV182Re3ZT3GpGNYB61_PGTpAMvDSmCaZ/s750/Assassins'%20Deeds%20pirate%20Persian%20edition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="750" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9z3Ln4ze3dUhK6EmeIQKpugjS8iIG6G6qUU23-5H3b_3cpfyom48hoyWTQN3YgcZyC3LRrMbPmGob6LHGyuEnuJhQC2p-ujxgJp15emlMkTnFb15ge6frfg20XMyVv1tnM0aadNRH-JR7Daf3lLcYJCDMUyewV182Re3ZT3GpGNYB61_PGTpAMvDSmCaZ/s320/Assassins'%20Deeds%20pirate%20Persian%20edition.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">My book </span><i style="font-family: georgia;">Assassins' Deeds. A history of assassination from ancient Egypt to the present day </i><span style="font-family: georgia;">(Reaktion Books) has apparently been translated into Persian without the permission of the publisher or of me, and without, of course, any payment being made for the rights. I assume that is its cover pictured above.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I owe this interesting piece of information to the 'Iran's Book News Agency' which reports that the work has been translated by 'Abbas-Gholi Ghaffari-Fard' and published by 'Tehran-based Negah Publishing'. Apart from that, the 'story' just reproduces a Reaktion press release issued when the book was published in the UK.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">https://www.ibna.ir/en/tolidi/336536/assassins-deeds-throughout-history-considered-in-a-book</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I understand from Reaktion that Negah has form and has pirated other books, and that it ignores communications. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">I hear from other sources that Persian publishers also translate magazines without permission. Rogue-state Iran is not a signatory to the Berne Convention which protects the rights of authors.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-87363643431665253592023-06-21T11:37:00.001+01:002023-06-21T11:44:20.302+01:00The 5 most fascinating assassinations in history - my podcast<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Dr James Rogers has just issued a challenge to me on his fascinating Warfare p</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;">odcast</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> - 'talk about the 5 most interesting assassinations </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;">in h</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;">istory</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;">'. Apparently it's the most popular episode this month.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">We discuss methods, motives, causes, consequences, strange coincidences and weird twists of fate, drawing on my book 'Assassins' Deeds. A history of assassination from ancient Egypt to the present day.' (Reaktion Books). </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Who did I pick? Do you know who was the only British prime minister to be assassinated? Which assassin did John Wilkes Booth quote when he shot Abraham Lincoln? And what role did love play in the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand?</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The answers are here. See what you think of my choice:</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">https://podfollow.com/the-world-wars/episode/bb75567eb5c5c89aad148a90bb15da032ba16f30/view</span></p><p><br /></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-60579435884435871772023-05-23T15:31:00.000+01:002023-05-23T15:31:23.878+01:00Brexitwatch: A warning from the future, for Labour<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyd0VAbsuPAGnT_i6Ob9g8tOZ5K3Lioxuo-FjEb-R-4MM8t__00vqCYVszWyLhIhOdYS5u3RIWXv7kWJmTtd9p4gEtsm5e0N7wrpPssMtglBZfoCNao7hb60nbzXsws1BIuk40z2o2IQYvKkzSrdhmJ9Yt-eYKYEzuxVju-eA6tX9pFotEwgNbEyjw_g/s853/sybil's%20cave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyd0VAbsuPAGnT_i6Ob9g8tOZ5K3Lioxuo-FjEb-R-4MM8t__00vqCYVszWyLhIhOdYS5u3RIWXv7kWJmTtd9p4gEtsm5e0N7wrpPssMtglBZfoCNao7hb60nbzXsws1BIuk40z2o2IQYvKkzSrdhmJ9Yt-eYKYEzuxVju-eA6tX9pFotEwgNbEyjw_g/s320/sybil's%20cave.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Working painstakingly with paper and glue I have managed to
put together another passage from </span><i style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The New Oxford History of England: Brexit
2015-</i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">, presented to me by Sybil, the emissary from the future, in the obscure corner of North London pictured above:</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">‘Labour was in power for 13 years under Tony Blair and
Gordon Brown. It could have brought in proportional representation for electing
MPs, which would have made it impossible for a Conservative government ever
again to win power when the majority had voted against it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Unfortunately, Labour decided that stopping this disaster
was less important than preserving the chance for its own MPs to lord it over
the country even when the majority had opposed them. The result was that in 2010, after
13 years of Labour, the Conservatives were back for even longer, with what was up to then the most
right-wing government the UK has seen in modern times, which took the disastrous
decision to leave the EU.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So when Sir Keir Starmer won the general election of 2024, there were
some hopes that Labour might have learned from this bitter experience, and that
this time it would put the interests of its voters and the country before
narrow party advantage, but history repeated itself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The size of Starmer’s parliamentary majority was
enough to obscure the uncomfortable fact that once again most of those who had
turned out had voted against the government now given virtually absolute power
over them. Hardly anyone in the Labour Party had the courage to point out that
this could not be regarded as democratic, and proportional representation was rarely mentioned.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">While Labour wrestled with the dreadful mess the
Conservatives had left them, their opponents regrouped and ruthlessly attacked the
new government's performance, so that after five years of Labour, the Tories were back again with a
working majority on yet another minority share of the vote, with all the
catastrophic consequences we have seen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-13651296233036337542023-04-30T15:38:00.000+01:002023-04-30T15:38:49.981+01:00How assassins work and does assassination work? My podcast now available<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUcCTUaK3f8teBEDN6P2dZKNnv6-0jj1YDlDcLhVwVwqkLpIhh9vt6PSygrt3s2FlpoSdNpBOykgm7TQnxqhxCColDcGXLgtoKqGDmm_vIgFzXom9fPeCRwh2R1v_CLCtvJSkJg-jKPKQ5j4bLo1my_1whbLufkVJChFSjbZuAVZGWDQlsPsuVxQrk9g/s270/Assassins'%20Deeds%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="180" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUcCTUaK3f8teBEDN6P2dZKNnv6-0jj1YDlDcLhVwVwqkLpIhh9vt6PSygrt3s2FlpoSdNpBOykgm7TQnxqhxCColDcGXLgtoKqGDmm_vIgFzXom9fPeCRwh2R1v_CLCtvJSkJg-jKPKQ5j4bLo1my_1whbLufkVJChFSjbZuAVZGWDQlsPsuVxQrk9g/s1600/Assassins'%20Deeds%20cover.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>What motivates assassins? What are their favourite methods?
What was the first assassination in history? What was the strangest? What was the first terrorist
group? And does assassination work?</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">These are some of the questions Matt Lewis asked me in a
wide-ranging podcast interview about assassinations over more than four
thousand years from ancient Egypt to the present day, drawing on my book <i>Assassins’
Deeds</i> (Reaktion). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Follow the link to access the podcast – mine is episode 7. The series is inspired by the popular video game <i>Assassin's Creed.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://pod.link/1615075257"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">https://pod.link/1615075257</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-2476305289359807662023-04-11T09:13:00.000+01:002023-04-11T09:13:45.121+01:00Brexitwatch: how to talk like a Conservative minister<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb49lB1S3tixajBbr9iGHY535uVE7xl9eZsK1bgN89ygIlOJUBZ2cBhiJ5_n03bNHl8G_kqN4kE7USKlulCZWOsohSJZdalkLNMd94tGXUKcGjjguv2RhOxNy2Jpkb2qZfyM7b-QYlqFoWPZxoDG1oLVkMtLo0tt-ujjKz1CXyUAOVSlCkNPt8_IvK-Q/s640/Rishi%20Sunak%20Cabinet%20first%20meeting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb49lB1S3tixajBbr9iGHY535uVE7xl9eZsK1bgN89ygIlOJUBZ2cBhiJ5_n03bNHl8G_kqN4kE7USKlulCZWOsohSJZdalkLNMd94tGXUKcGjjguv2RhOxNy2Jpkb2qZfyM7b-QYlqFoWPZxoDG1oLVkMtLo0tt-ujjKz1CXyUAOVSlCkNPt8_IvK-Q/s320/Rishi%20Sunak%20Cabinet%20first%20meeting.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><p class="MsoNormal">Ever wanted to be a Conservative cabinet minister? No reason
you can’t be, but one thing you will need is the right speech. So, as a public
service I am providing, free of charge, the Tory Self-writing Speech Kit.</p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Write each of the phrases below on a card, then put on a
blindfold, and arrange them in a random order. Fill in the gaps between with
any old guff that takes your fancy (fact-checking not required).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">These are the phrases:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">evil gangs of people smugglers (put this on 3 separate cards to ensure repetition)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">illegal asylum seekers (again on 3 cards)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">economic migrants<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">a lot of them are young men, you know<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">stop the boats (3 cards)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">abusing Britain’s hospitality<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">proud record of taking in refugees (though not ones arriving
in small boats obviously)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">delivering the people’s priorities<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">activist lefty lawyers<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">opportunities of Brexit<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">global Britain<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I am available to promote any business of your choice in
return for shedloads of money [actually, maybe leave this one out] </span></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-30445641474184867672023-03-31T16:12:00.001+01:002023-05-23T14:56:11.036+01:00How historians will see Brexit. I have been granted a privileged glimpse: the CPTPP<p> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I have managed to
decipher another section of the fire-damaged </span><i style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">New Oxford History of England</i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">:
</span><i style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Brexit 2015- </i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">which was offered
to me by Sybil, an emissary from The Future (see my post of 7 March). This is from what appears to be the
section on the CPTPP.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">‘After a brief attack of courage when he faced down the Brexit fanatics
who wanted the UK to welch on the agreement we had made with the EU over
Northern Ireland, Sunak sadly soon reverted to spineless type, and decided
he had to offer the ‘head-bangers’, as they would become known, a consolation
prize. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Most British people soon saw that even among the multiple absurdities of Brexit, the UK’s ludicrous decision
to join a trade group on the other side of the world in preference to
neighbours 20 miles away, stood out. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It was presented by Sunak as one of those highly elusive ‘Brexit
benefits’, but this argument soon fell apart when it was revealed that, on the
government’s own figures, it would benefit the UK's economy by about 0.08 per cent, while
Brexit impoverished the country by fully 4 per cent, fifty times as much.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Instead it became clear that joining the CPTPP had only two functions:
1. As one of those endless empty gestures designed to fool people into thinking
that there was some upside to Brexit, and 2. To try to put another obstacle in
the way of the UK ever rejoining the EU, so imprisoning the country permanently
in the Brexit disaster.’</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-50995296128698696312023-03-07T16:15:00.001+00:002023-05-23T14:54:23.550+01:00Brexitwatch: A Book of Secrets - have I met an emissary from the future?<p> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">A funny thing happened to me the other day as I was walking
across a blasted heath not far from where I live in North London.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I saw a woman standing by a fire. I was going to write ‘old
woman’ and then I realised she was no older than me, and was possibly a good
deal younger, as most people are. As I approached she held out a book, quite a
weighty tome, and said: ‘I am Sybil. I have come from the future with this book of secrets.
Take it.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Sadly, living in modern Britain has bred suspicion and
cynicism in me, and I quickened my pace and brushed past her. After a few
moments, I heard her shout: ‘Then I’ll burn the book.’ I looked back and saw
her throw it on the flames. Then I went hurrying on my way.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A few hours later something made me go back. There was no
sign of the woman. The fire had gone out, but among the ashes were the remains
of the book. I saw that it was a volume in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New Oxford History of England</i> entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brexit 2015- </i>but the end date of the period it covered was lost, as
was the author’s name and date of publication.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Gingerly I retrieved what was left of the volume, and found
the opening sentences:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">‘We can now see that the Brexit referendum of 2016 was the
real fault line in English history. The previous year, David Cameron, a
friendly, plausible prime minister, had won a surprise victory in the General
Election. Unfortunately Cameron was also shallow, weak and careless, and rarely
failed to put the interests of the Conservative Party before the interests of
the country.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I am now trying to piece together other passages, which I
will post in this blog.</span><o:p></o:p></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-83426395911156954372023-02-28T11:07:00.002+00:002023-02-28T11:18:29.028+00:00Brexitwatch: the Windsor Framework - two cheers for Sunak<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWmVdrkPrsiWjCIhNQ6BVryNCOmwRVd0H9yeeKlY69Os-5l29r7fxjWqDaXzmpWwae-I9E7irhAKRG_6pgTgBzybmnZDBzT-i8nhcbTYduvMUzvcy36fmRQAe_2Se8sOH7_8vhEiLvP_mQe8bWQnRzNMdjrx0QE7e_WMicISS0o7zibnFcEVidwCO1EA/s800/Rishi%20Sunak.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWmVdrkPrsiWjCIhNQ6BVryNCOmwRVd0H9yeeKlY69Os-5l29r7fxjWqDaXzmpWwae-I9E7irhAKRG_6pgTgBzybmnZDBzT-i8nhcbTYduvMUzvcy36fmRQAe_2Se8sOH7_8vhEiLvP_mQe8bWQnRzNMdjrx0QE7e_WMicISS0o7zibnFcEVidwCO1EA/s320/Rishi%20Sunak.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">As a floating voter who has never belonged to any political
party, I'm free to give credit where it’s due. So I say ‘well done’ to Rishi Sunak
for negotiating the Windsor Framework with the EU. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Will the substantial slice of the Conservative Parliamentary
Party blinkered by their irrational hatred of the EU, manage to vote it down? Apparently
Brexit liar-in-chief Boris Johnson did not even bother to show up to hear Mr
Sunak yesterday. So no change there. Will the people-who-like-to-say-no DUP
refuse to come back into power-sharing now they’re no longer Northern Ireland’s
biggest party? Who knows?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The point is Mr Sunak has made an effort to stand up to both
groups, and assert that the EU is not our enemy, and that if this country is
going to limit the damage from the Brexit disaster, we will need a constructive
relationship with Europe. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This, of course, will raise many difficult questions for
him. Yesterday, he was waxing lyrical about the advantages to Northern Ireland
of being inside the EU Single Market. But Brexiters like him are denying those
advantages to the rest of the UK, even though they promised we would stay in
the Single Market when they were conning people into voting for Brexit. Every
day more people see through the Brexit lies, so for how long can this
doublethink survive?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">But perhaps for the first time since 2016 we have a
Conservative prime minister prepared to stand up, to some degree, for the UK. No Brexit is as
good as being in the EU, but the Conservatives have so far chosen a
particularly bad version. If Mr Sunak is prepared to defy the fanatics in his
party and lead us away from the foolish delusions that have dominated the
Tories, he deserves credit for that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the
end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-75311220205270232792023-01-10T13:59:00.000+00:002023-01-10T13:59:20.765+00:00Farewell to the Hardy Tree<p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; cursor: text; line-height: var(--artdeco-reset-typography_getLineHeight); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); white-space: pre-wrap;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs-YcMT6VgsnQXDeIN6W8IqKwkGohbrBzwgbSOhfC3stZtPu0JQpqVFfJU6GyxMlHv1h2bM0i-GQ7GCA8HfW2Q71Zq1cJL6T0T3YrPf_ulFgE7Qk-r27Y9uFvQGPgl_i2n_2ZiV3fsgJ6apwxPhGvoUlmo3FGPorRH77yXgrpenGKFZh2_6IKeaPM_hA/s640/Hardy%20Tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs-YcMT6VgsnQXDeIN6W8IqKwkGohbrBzwgbSOhfC3stZtPu0JQpqVFfJU6GyxMlHv1h2bM0i-GQ7GCA8HfW2Q71Zq1cJL6T0T3YrPf_ulFgE7Qk-r27Y9uFvQGPgl_i2n_2ZiV3fsgJ6apwxPhGvoUlmo3FGPorRH77yXgrpenGKFZh2_6IKeaPM_hA/s320/Hardy%20Tree.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; cursor: text; line-height: var(--artdeco-reset-typography_getLineHeight); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In the 1860s, Thomas Hardy, the famous novelist, was learning the ropes as a young architect in London, and was given the unenviable task of digging up graves at Old St Pancras Church to make way for the railway about to power its way from St Pancras Station to the East Midlands and beyond.</span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; cursor: text; line-height: var(--artdeco-reset-typography_getLineHeight); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">He tried to give a decent burial to the human remains and stacked the gravestones around an ash tree, creating what became known as the Hardy Tree. Sadly, weakened by last year's storms, the tree has now fallen.</span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; cursor: text; line-height: var(--artdeco-reset-typography_getLineHeight); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Two decades later, Hardy wrote a poem about another churchyard where remains had to be dug up and reburied, and included the lines:</span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; cursor: text; line-height: var(--artdeco-reset-typography_getLineHeight); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">We late-lamented, resting here, </span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; cursor: text; line-height: var(--artdeco-reset-typography_getLineHeight); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Are mixed to human jam, </span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; cursor: text; line-height: var(--artdeco-reset-typography_getLineHeight); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And each to each exclaims in fear, </span></p><p style="--artdeco-reset-typography_getfontsize: 1.6rem; --artdeco-reset-typography_getlineheight: 1.5; background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; cursor: text; line-height: var(--artdeco-reset-typography_getLineHeight); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">'I know not which I am!'</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); white-space: pre-wrap;">You wonder how much that was inspired by his own experience of the daunting task at St Pancras.</span> </span></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-78194394565790644812023-01-06T10:18:00.000+00:002023-01-06T10:18:45.722+00:00John Stonehouse: my part in his downfall<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSln0-f6axuw-d8HWW2MHEyebWvDf9wBwiHMn0qh5gtPVy3KcbIp9JtpYKK5mmQfNtJ07p8gSPW7QBtsfQ1RHu8jxmYi3lM7KQjdG8xGrLRDevGxr68sP13KXxYzHnszNQBX9j4boJ0IllxvVNBF5ADzU21UwytZPHSQss4m-7rOHS8GvY3XtJyqSX1Q/s853/John%20Stonehouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSln0-f6axuw-d8HWW2MHEyebWvDf9wBwiHMn0qh5gtPVy3KcbIp9JtpYKK5mmQfNtJ07p8gSPW7QBtsfQ1RHu8jxmYi3lM7KQjdG8xGrLRDevGxr68sP13KXxYzHnszNQBX9j4boJ0IllxvVNBF5ADzU21UwytZPHSQss4m-7rOHS8GvY3XtJyqSX1Q/s320/John%20Stonehouse.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">If you’ve been
watching the ITV drama series </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i style="font-family: georgia;">Stonehouse</i><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><a href="https://www.itv.com/watch/stonehouse/10a1973/10a1973a0001" style="font-family: georgia;">https://www.itv.com/watch/stonehouse/10a1973/10a1973a0001</a><span style="font-family: georgia;">,
you’ll know the Walsall Labour MP John Stonehouse faked his own death in
November 1974, creating the impression that he’d been drowned off a beach in Miami, only to turn up later in Australia where he was arrested. Later he was
gaoled in the UK on various fraud charges.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">At the time, I was
a reporter at ATV, then the ITV company for the English Midlands, and I covered
the story extensively. Shortly after his disappearance, I remember interviewing
(sadly only by telephone) an American detective who told me he thought someone
might have made Stonehouse ‘an offer he couldn’t refuse’ and that the MP might
currently be ‘wearing a concrete overcoat.’ <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The detective
turned out to be wrong, but the most surprising thing about the affair for me
was that I had done a discussion programme with Stonehouse shortly before the
General Election of October 1974 in which he and a Conservative MP had knocked
lumps off each other in the customary manner. I’ve always wondered whether Stonehouse
already knew he was going to fake his death a month later.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I did a number of
interviews with his election agent, Harry Richards. This is one from May 1975:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">https://www.macearchive.org/films/atv-today-06051975-john-stonehouse-affair</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-10974551388015670872023-01-02T14:02:00.000+00:002023-01-02T14:02:04.709+00:00Be careful using Travelex’s ‘buyback guarantee’<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmvr_1LTdKO9imAFM-aPZqmbfvS8H9PEv3n2HuuxnmQkqFqLF7sdbiwIv90B06bSL0q65V6HPc8Ea_R3pbhC57G0RtJIEtmMhq9tg98jdqZHDZEAY1oIFh1rbHM9oqasnSlHDRJ06lrndBxKTqQiNmOAGDPmi45lnxvv_patD7b7-IJKrpvoZbfZnvTw/s640/Travelex%20Logo.svg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="186" data-original-width="640" height="93" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmvr_1LTdKO9imAFM-aPZqmbfvS8H9PEv3n2HuuxnmQkqFqLF7sdbiwIv90B06bSL0q65V6HPc8Ea_R3pbhC57G0RtJIEtmMhq9tg98jdqZHDZEAY1oIFh1rbHM9oqasnSlHDRJ06lrndBxKTqQiNmOAGDPmi45lnxvv_patD7b7-IJKrpvoZbfZnvTw/s320/Travelex%20Logo.svg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Once upon a time foreign exchange company Travelex used to offer a proper ‘buyback
guarantee’ when you bought foreign currency from them. For an additional few
pounds on top of the normal commission charge, you got a guarantee that they
would buy any foreign currency you had left on your return at the same rate you
paid for it. It was a service I often used when changing money at airports.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I hadn’t used Travelex for some time when I went to Denmark at the end of
October. At Heathrow, as I had done so often in the past, I went to Travelex to
buy, on this occasion, Danish kroner. I asked for a buyback guarantee, paid
over the usual additional fee, and was told this would mean I would be able to
change my money back at the ‘spot rate’ on the day. I assumed this meant the
rate might move a bit in my favour or a bit against me.<br />
<br />
Imagine my surprise when I tried to change back my remaining currency using the
buyback guarantee, and found I was facing a loss of 27% (!). When I remonstrated
with Travelex staff, they told me that a thrusting new CEO had moved into the
company and that this virtual destruction of the buyback guarantee was one of
his initiatives.<br />
<br />
I wrote to Travelex to complain and said I felt I should have been warned at the
outset that the ‘buyback guarantee’ no longer protected the customer, but they
dismissed my comments, saying only that they would in future ask staff to
‘clearly communicate exchange rates before a purchase is confirmed’. If this
means anything, it should require staff to say something like: ‘please be aware
that purchasing this buyback guarantee will not protect you from suffering a
substantial loss of perhaps 25% or more on any money you change back.’ <br />
<br />
Has anyone else had a similar experience to me?</span><o:p></o:p></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-61084069505093895242023-01-01T12:16:00.002+00:002023-01-01T12:37:03.333+00:00Brexitwatch: my New Year's honours list<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH8p5Cy64KDpVy73DppTNdr9OpBUiT4BjI1B2gvRXaXu2WCj-I12HLAoenrscM-rIpT8-Pxg5gVXBIPHh-Gqxl_CnbpqN4UGWxv_oFJeaTogM6wBdC3pNzcbM9ThlvxEeGQwWCVEesYRM8YOHRLFoN_cN5c7hS7FnTcDQ2eTszDR5XdkKRNvY_TJSS7A/s640/Brexit%20protest_(49478358738).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH8p5Cy64KDpVy73DppTNdr9OpBUiT4BjI1B2gvRXaXu2WCj-I12HLAoenrscM-rIpT8-Pxg5gVXBIPHh-Gqxl_CnbpqN4UGWxv_oFJeaTogM6wBdC3pNzcbM9ThlvxEeGQwWCVEesYRM8YOHRLFoN_cN5c7hS7FnTcDQ2eTszDR5XdkKRNvY_TJSS7A/s320/Brexit%20protest_(49478358738).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Human Being of the Year Brexit-wise for 2022: my award goes to Chris Grey, author of the blog https://chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/. Though to be honest he probably also deserved the award for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.</span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Emeritus Professor of Organization Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, he blogs most Fridays on Brexit, cutting through the lies, deceit and confusion that have plagued the UK during the Brexit years. He writes authoritatively, soberly and fairly, but also readably. It is consistently the best thing I have read on the subject.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">One of his many illuminating insights is that both Conservatives and Labour are trapped in what he calls 'performative' policies on Brexit. That they constantly advocate courses of action that are not designed to benefit the British people, courses of action indeed that they know will damage the British people, and whose only point is that they appeal to the prejudices of Brexiters and make them feel better.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Leaver or former remainer, right wing or left, if you want to really understand Brexit, invest 10-15 minutes of your time each week in reading Chris Grey.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-82568348853756128692022-12-13T15:01:00.000+00:002022-12-13T15:01:19.972+00:00History of Assassination: my North London talk in January<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIXvkn78dheT38X5jodB3INR4JZVu6QZINOt4s-7F5_vBFHpnTT5E_MFq0EkApFn5KdeoN1XEDybkhPeR1O_vktcTtf71INb7VM29g-594G-mzOTPWwbOLCttUJcrXfm6GEicDpJUP3bOM8NX0NpuJK3HmWv7tMnFf7NRSnh1-BuschLUSzmUHLS9mA/s270/Assassins'%20Deeds%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="180" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIXvkn78dheT38X5jodB3INR4JZVu6QZINOt4s-7F5_vBFHpnTT5E_MFq0EkApFn5KdeoN1XEDybkhPeR1O_vktcTtf71INb7VM29g-594G-mzOTPWwbOLCttUJcrXfm6GEicDpJUP3bOM8NX0NpuJK3HmWv7tMnFf7NRSnh1-BuschLUSzmUHLS9mA/s1600/Assassins'%20Deeds%20cover.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>I'm honoured to have been invited to speak again at the Crouch End & District u3a in North London, this time on the history of assassination.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Drawing on my book <i>Assassins' Deeds. A History of Assassination from Ancient Egypt to the Present Day </i>(Reaktion),<i> </i>I'll be talking about murder by poisoned umbrella or booby-trapped toy or killer disguised as a bear.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The most notorious assassinations will, of course, be there - Julius Caesar, Good King Wenceslaus, Thomas Becket, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, JFK, Martin Luther King, John Lennon, Kim Jong-nam, as well as the ones that got away: Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Hitler, Stalin, Queen Victoria. How might history have been different if their would-be killers had succeeded?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Because dynastic ambition was so often the motive, perpetrators were often spouses, parents, children or siblings. One Turkish sultan had 19 of his brothers strangled. The powerful have always tried to protect themselves, but that can misfire as a dozen or so Roman emperors were murdered by their guards. On the other hand, many victims seem to have been surprisingly careless. Abraham Lincoln had let his bodyguard go for a drink. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I'll also be examining the thorny question of whether assassination works.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The talk is on 19 January at 1030. https://cedu3a.org.uk/monthly-meetings/</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20.6667px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; word-spacing: 0.4px;"> </span></p><p><i><br /></i></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342930056419073948.post-36765654135218478752022-12-10T15:33:00.001+00:002022-12-10T15:33:35.916+00:00The mysterious and terrifying Assassins sect: new article draws on my book<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0na19Hlx9mSwDsfNNPvjBMAIpFv-Li_RVNvCheH0xjtbsA5UtHDU3yhrLmQl_WVPi1_l2d-MEPOMjyn9Sehm10rrA_a7AO-Twq4G7p_d2KY8AlBRl6n0KGH6S9vrSyOwHzkAZMKieAFmbZJadvaPe3Fw-BmeUcxmRAvKtdPUxX4W3fc8Gqwnvsb78Gg/s270/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="180" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0na19Hlx9mSwDsfNNPvjBMAIpFv-Li_RVNvCheH0xjtbsA5UtHDU3yhrLmQl_WVPi1_l2d-MEPOMjyn9Sehm10rrA_a7AO-Twq4G7p_d2KY8AlBRl6n0KGH6S9vrSyOwHzkAZMKieAFmbZJadvaPe3Fw-BmeUcxmRAvKtdPUxX4W3fc8Gqwnvsb78Gg/s1600/cover.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>An interesting article on the history of the Assassins sect, who murdered their way through the Middle East from the late 11th to the 13th century, quotes my book </span><i style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Assassins' Deeds</i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">. </span><i style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">A History of Assassination from Ancient Egypt to the Present Day</i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> (Reaktion).</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A breakaway sect of a breakway Muslim sect, the Assassins killed many prominent Muslims, sometimes in cahoots with the Crusaders then trying to establish a Christian kingdom in the region. Even the great Saladin was afraid of them.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">But they also murdered Crusaders such as Conrad of Montferrat, who had just been elected king of Jerusalem. The Assassins later apologised to Conrad's successor for their deed, and, to make up for it, offered to murder any enemy he chose to nominate. The order was eventually destroyed by the terrifying Mongol hordes led by the descendants of Genghis Khan. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Marco Polo, without any first-hand knowledge, told racy tales of how young men were recruited to the order in a valley like paradise inhabited by the world's 'most beautiful damsels' whose favours could be enjoyed by those prepared to commit murders when ordered. He also said they did their killings under the influence of hashish, a story which led to them being dubbed 'hashishin' which morphed into 'assassin'. There's not much sign that any of this was true, and, if anything, the Assassins' regime was probably rather puritanical. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">You can find the article here: https://history.howstuffworks.com/world-history/order-of-assassins.htm</span></p>John Withingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02208997907356282053noreply@blogger.com0