Lies, ignorance and Stupidity

With every day that passes I become more incensed at the deliberate undermining of our society, and amazed at the utter stupidity, and ignorance, that we see everywhere. People's lack of knowledge of our past, our institutions, and our values, combined with a total lack of comprehension about them, are making it impossible to have a proper debate on how the country could be saved, if that remains possible.

The bureaucratic elite is ensuring that this nation is rapidly ceasing to be a democracy, as arrogant bureaucrats stand in the way of the elected representatives of the people attempting to implement policies of which the former disapprove. When my mother was in the Service in the 1920s, the civil servant's raison d'être was to give advice to elected representatives, while providing an efficient administration. It was never part of their duties, for political reasons, to oppose actively, and even to obstruct policy. The elevation of bureaucrats above elected politicians is of course the basic system operated by the EU, and is why so many of our own officials so love the latter.

Today we see the spectacle of senior staff actively undermining ministers whose policies with which they disagree, most egregiously in the fields of relations with the EU, and immigration. In order to achieve their ends they attack individual ministers personally, alleging that the maintenance of a normal chain of command is bullying, and have succeeded in causing Prime Ministers to back down, thus forcing resignations from those they particularly despise. This happened with Priti Patel, with Dominic Raab, and now they are turning their guns on Suella Braverman, strangely all exceedingly competent Brexiteers. The renewed charge against Boris Johnson, is also being driven by officials taking it upon themselves to report a senior politician to the police, without even contacting him beforehand. The fate of Dominic Raab also makes clear that we now have a PM who is prepared to throw anyone under the bus, rather than take a decisive stand against the left liberal establishment, of which the senior Civil Service is so prominent a member.

This behaviour by unelected, imperious and prejudiced functionaries extends to organisations such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission, whose chairman, Baroness Falkner, hardly a conservative figure, is being subjected to similar attacks by her own officials, alleging bullying and harassment, but clearly motivated by the latter's opposition to her valid views on transgender issues. Unless they are confronted, the so called mandarins will ensure that whatever the electorate may wish, policies unpalatable to them will be sidelined. As far as the transgender lobby is concerned it is past time for ordinary people to stand up to them, and say that they will no longer tolerate their absurdities, which do not reflect the views of the vast majority of the people.

Many of those, such as myself, who lived and worked through the 1970s, must feel that they are experiencing a time warp. We endured sky high inflation, widespread union militancy, failure in many services, and an incompetent political class, which, particularly the Conservatives, was largely supportive of submerging this country in a single European state. The weak, and mendacious Prime Minister, Edward Heath, was obsessed with such a policy, and, by concentrating all governmental efforts on signing away our sovereignty, lost all control over domestic affairs, making constant U turns of which the present incumbent would be proud.

One major lesson so painfully learnt, and only confronted when Margaret Thatcher become PM, was that the cause of inflation is a nation printing money that exceeds that which it obtains in income, thus devaluing the currency, and causing the price of everything to rise. One would have thought that the failure of wage and price controls attempted in that decade would have made clear that one cannot tame inflation by attacking the symptoms, any more than one can tame a boiling kettle by putting one's finger down the spout, but now, in 2023, the government is pretending that asking supermarkets to cap prices will succeed. Edward Heath belonged to that section of the Conservative party which, while neglecting the interests of the country, and lacking true patriotism, were, and are, determined to blame the trade unions for all the ills of the economy, ignoring the fact that it was usually inefficient managements, and selfish employers, who brought so much of industry low. Today we see companies, determined to get the most for the least, supporting almost unlimited immigration for workers, rather than investing in a future based on the training of our own people.

The success of the use, subsequent to the 1979 election, of reductions in taxation, not least corporation tax, to stimulate the economy, is now ignored, as the present Chancellor seems to have adopted the Denis Healey approach of squeezing until the pips squeak, a policy which has always failed in its objectives. The horrors of the three day week, and later the winter of discontent, were largely due to the inept way the government imposed idiotic policies which solved nothing, but provoked an inevitable reaction from those enduring rising costs, rising taxation, and general disruption. The more ideological trade union leaders were treated with kid gloves, until Mrs Thatcher introduced reforms which curbed Marxist and like-minded agitators, while allowing reasonable representatives of the workers to take back control of their organisations. As we watch the constant strikes taking place today, frequently led by those with a very political agenda, it seems as if we shall soon be back in the days of beer and sandwiches at number 10.

Despite the fact that all the lies told by the Europhiles from Heath downwards have been exposed, as the EU continues its doomed attempt to suppress the nation states of Europe, the spirit of those days lives on, the Remainers enthusiastically seeking to reverse any attempt to honour the expressed will of the people. Why on earth have the political class forgotten all that we endured during that deplorable decade, and are now subjecting us to a rerun?

When, in 1936, condemning the appeasers dominating parliament, Churchill declared them "Decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent.", a charge which applies equally to the current government which has proved itself to be weak, vacillating and incompetent. They have betrayed Brexit, pursued exactly the wrong economic policies to achieve growth, allowed a minority of activists to effectively take over the education system, undermining free speech, presided over the collapse of the NHS, and only showed certainty in their idiotic unquestioning acceptance of the dubious claims of the climate alarmists.

All these policies could be radically changed by a determined administration, but disastrously, proposals put forward by the opposition would, if implemented, change this country in ways which could not be undone. It has long been clear that the Labour party is dominated by those who wish to ignore the result of the 2016 referendum, and return this county to rule by unelected foreign bureaucrats, and, if given the chance, will amend the electoral system in order to achieve their ends. To give the vote to sixteen and seventeen year olds, who lack life experience, and have been subjected to indoctrination by so called progressives in schools, while granting the vote to EU citizens, who will inevitably support a rejoin agenda, plus allowing as many as a million immigrants a year to settle in this country, will distort the electorate totally in favour of the Remainers. In addition, their support for the trans, and environmental lobbies, would damage our society probably beyond redress.

This gerrymandering of the electoral system could not be reversed, without removing the vote from those to whom it would have been granted, and an unacceptable expulsion of people allowed to settle in the UK. The Conservatives have betrayed their natural supporters, and reneged on almost all of the promises made at the general election, and since, and will only have themselves to blame if they become a permanent minority in Parliament. They may regard the Prime Minister as a 'steady as she goes' saviour, but in reality, he represents a philosophy of  ‘keep calm as we sink beneath the waves'.

Meanwhile the lunatics of woke continue their uninformed attacks on our history. No decent person would regard slavery as other than an unalloyed evil. However, it is clear that those demonising our past, distorting museums, lying to our schoolchildren, and demanding reparations, are either totally ignorant of history, or more likely pursuing an agenda based on virtue signalling, a hatred of this country, and the hope of obtaining money. Slavery was a feature of every civilisation from classical times until the 20th century, practised by all races, by Native Americans, by every European empire, and by Arabs, the Muslim slave trade massively exceeding the European over centuries. African tribes used fellow Africans as slaves as long ago as Roman times, and when Britain began to enforce abolition across the world they were met with protests by African royalty.

No one denies that Britain was very much involved, particularly in the 17th and 18th century, but what the campaigners ignore is that from the early 19th century onwards it was the British Empire which led the fight for abolition, and used the might of the Royal Navy to drive it from the seas, the dozens of ships on the West African station putting an end to the transatlantic trade. It was the British who forced Brazil to give up the slave trade, as well as stopping such trading to the Americas, and the Persian Gulf, later banning slavery in, inter alia, Zanzibar, Egypt, Nigeria, Indonesia and India. Britain, driven by Christian and Enlightenment ideals, repented of its involvement in the slave trade, and in 100 years, enabled by her position as the superpower of the 19th and early 20th century, atoned by expending vast sums to suppress it worldwide. It has been described as the most expensive example of international moral action in history, and was conducted in the face of opposition from most developed nations of the time.

Historically, the idea that Britain was somehow the most culpable nation in promoting slavery is nonsense, and the activists choose to disregard that, not only is the virtual suppression of this vile trade owed to this country, but to claim that we should now pay reparations to those whose remote ancestors were victims is absurd. If this kind of action is to be taken then where are the payments from Italy to most of Europe, due thanks to the Ancient Romans? Of course, we should give aid to those in poorer countries, particularly those who suffered historical abuse. However, those advocating that vast amounts of money should be extracted from working class British citizens to pay these demands should remember that very many of the ancestors of those to be taxed for this purpose endured dreadful conditions during the industrial revolution, and no one is championing the idea that their descendants should receive compensation. Our Victorian forefathers would be incensed if they knew of the distorted history being used to attack those who did so much to remove the evil of slavery from the world.

I am increasing frustrated by the unwillingness of ordinary, decent people to express their opinions on certain matters, thanks to the attempts of activists to shut down debate. I know from conversations with friends and acquaintances, and indeed those whom I meet in the course of social events, that the vast majority do not agree with those who refuse to recognize biological reality in relation to gender, or with the environmental extremists, who arrogantly claim the right to break the law, and impede others from going about their business, in the name of a dubious climate theory, not accepted by many scientists. I am horrified by the number of people who, having agreed that they do not concur with the causes supported by these demonstrators will then say "But of course one can't say that!". This is deplorable in a nation which, together with our cousins in the USA, gave the world the ideals of free speech and democracy. Instead people should adopt the slogan used by Barack Obama "Yes we can!". It is an absolute disgrace that people have lost their jobs thanks to proclaiming the truth, or have endured threats from these militants for daring to question their actions. Brave souls such as J K Rowling are doing their best to challenge these fanatics, but they need the population to summon up the courage to stand with them, and not to be intimidated by these bullies.Unfortunately the authorities, in the shape of the police, the courts, the universities, and a large number of politicians are either afraid to confront the latter, or worse, actually support them. If this continues the burning of books, as espoused by Joseph Goebbels cannot be far away. We could still defeat the bigots, but if we fail to do so, we shall see Orwell's Thought Police become a reality.

The current government, and indeed the vast majority of the political class, could have given Nero lessons in fiddling while Rome burns, as this country is collapsing, both in the big things, and in the little, yet all they do is talk. At a local level the postal service is a shadow of its former self, one is obliged to drive a chicane to avoid gaping potholes, and retail available in high streets has declined precipitously. Those unable for economic, or other reasons, to own mobile phones, or credit cards, find life becoming increasingly hard, as cash is refused in so many places. Companies, and utilities increasingly hide behind websites in order to avoid dealing with their own customers, often providing no avenue by which one may speak to an actual human being. Those without internet access are just ignored. Civil servants and others are refusing to return to the office, surely a sackable offence, as the tasks they are supposed to carry out are being totally neglected. Knife crime, and the consequent death of large numbers of youngsters grows constantly, while a large part of police resources is used to pursue innocent citizens for supposed thought crimes.

On a national level the NHS, far from being the envy of the world, and despite the best efforts of clinical staff, has become a national embarrassment, with millions unable to see GPs, and waiting lists stretching away for years into the future. The education system is in the grip of activists, who feed children lies about our past, while promoting the claims of those who assert that biological reality is merely a social construct, the universities being no more than propaganda outlets for these extreme minorities. Taxes are being increased, at the very time they should be decreased to stimulate the economy, while the Bank of England, having failed in its duty to control inflation, attempts to blame everyone else.

The ludicrous target of net zero carbon emissions, excused by adherence to a dubious climate theory, is set to deprive us of our cars, and threatens our ability to adequately heat our homes in the future. Despite this the Labour Party has declared its intention to stop all oil and gas exploration under the North Sea, while it would rely on imports to make up for those times when all the so called wonderful green sources of energy fail to deliver. This is insanity, ignoring resources which could yet endure for decades, wrecking our balance of payments to pay foreigners to sell us what we could obtain for ourselves at home, and putting us at the mercy of other, possibly hostile states, who could cut off supplies at will.

In 1936 Churchill, referring to Joel's biblical description of the "the years that the locust hath eaten", spoke of the locust years which the appeasers of the 1930s wasted when Hitler should have been confronted. A similar description can now be given about perhaps the greatest scandal of all, the betrayal of Brexit in the years since the 2016 referendum. The majority of the political and bureaucratic class has deliberately stood in the way of the implementation of the changes for which the electorate voted, and used nonsense about cake to bring down Boris Johnson, who had earned their enmity by actually trying to fulfil the will of the people. As it is we still are subject to endless regulations created by the Brussels bureaucrats, the promises made to control our borders have been totally broken, and the opportunities to make the UK a truly global nation are being ignored. The Conservatives do not deserve to be in power, yet the main opposition parties, with their obvious intentions of gerrymandering the electoral system to overturn the result of the referendum are despicable. Rome is indeed burning.