Barry Cooke's Blog

Now I quite like Wales; it brings to mind women wearing long skirts and those funny tall hats with buckles. You can almost imagine them walking along with those wooden yokes carrying pails of water, clogs sparking upon the cobblestones as they wend their way up steep streets, until they finally reach their destination. Emptying their loads into a tin tub, they prepare a bath for their industrious husbands, whom upon arrival, divest themselves of their coal-dust laden jacket and flat cap and proceed to wash off the residue of the day’s hard toil.
 

Am I in a minority of one, or has anyone else come to the conclusion that the Government’s publicity of the domestic terror threat is a complete load of bollo*ks designed to panic the general population into acquiescing to their ever expanding range of unprecedented and draconian laws…laws that are ostensibly aimed at Muslims, but will, no doubt, before too long be used against the rest of us?
 

Let’s look at some of the Government’s proclamations on the threat so far:
 

I must admit to having been somewhat nauseated by the sight of Gordon Brown attending a ‘white tie’ dinner at London’s Guildhall yesterday. Now I do not bear Mr Brown any personal ill will; it is just that the sight of a British Prime Minister once again making grovelling speeches about our special relationship with the United States and generally ‘kissing American a*se’ was pitiful to watch.
 

Death is good for you…well almost. At least that is what the CO of York Garrison seemed to be saying to us on a cold, dark, rainy and windy day back in 1988. I remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday; I had just volunteered to go on a ‘top rope and abseiling’ instructors course…which actually made little sense for me, as I have always been mortally afraid of heights.
 

The time draws near for Remembrance Day; commemorated on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month…the exact moment of the armistice heralding the cessation of the Great War in 1918. At this time we, of course, remember all of our fallen servicemen whose lives were tragically ended. 

I notice with great alarm, that for some reason, there is a real dearth of people wearing Remembrance Day Poppies this year. To me this is inexplicable …and unforgivable! 

It would be bad enough if this despicable phenomenon were restricted to youngsters, but what seems outrageous to me, is that even the over 25’s have abandoned this simple mark of respect. Now anyone in this age bracket should have Poppy Day ingrained into their psyche. From the age of 4 until I left school, I could always be sure of two events; the annual Poppy Day collection and the annual Queen Alexandra Pink Rose collection. Although contributions were not compulsory, everyone seemed to automatically sense that it was the correct thing to do, to participate in these great traditions…and they were right! 

Recent events in the financial markets and, in fact, empirical evidence from the High Street, all point to a marked slowdown in the economy, if not an impending recession. The main trigger for this turn of events has been the fallout from the sub prime lending fiasco, but at a much deeper level is symptomatic of the buy today, pay tomorrow mentality that has become prevalent in the past two decades. 

Yes it’s undeniably true; the Italians, the erstwhile butt of jokes involving white flags, advancing backwards and tanks with 7 reverse gears, have demonstrated admirable decisiveness and sheer guts this week, by introducing laws that enable them to immediately deport any EU citizen that they deem ‘undesirable’ – they already have a strict policy toward other foreign nationals.
 

This legislation was introduced to specifically target ‘problem’ nationals from the newer EU countries, such as Romania, against a backdrop of rising public anger in Italy at crimes committed by such migrants.
 

I was roused from my customary morning stupor today by the sight of the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on my television set; the perhaps aptly named Ed Balls. As if the unsavoury sight of a Government minister of any description was not an unacceptable enough assault on ones senses at any time of day, the news clip that followed confirmed my initial sense of impending tomfoolery. 

A vile trend has been silently creeping up on us for some years now, a trend so insidious that it threatens to turn us all into a nation of compliant automatons…the nanny state. 

The authorities have at every turn been trying to absolve us of any personal responsibility…and more importantly, of any need to make independent decisions of our own by legislating for stupidity and rewarding ‘victim mindsets’.