Stand up and winge!

I may have mentioned before, but it annoyed me yet again this week how much English people winge about stuff but put up with it. I refer specifically to the impending ban on smoking in all public places, which hardly anyone I know agrees with, whether they smoke or not. Most people do agree that smoking is not healthy and would support a policy where premises such as pubs and clubs were obliged to provide no smoking areas, but to impose a total ban is seen as unnecessary and extreme by the majority of people I have talked to.

It is the fact that more and more, in practically every area of life, we are being told what we can can't do. This week, the 'non-smoking police' came to visit my boss, and the next day, a sign appeared on the door to the premises saying “it is illegal to smoke on these premises”. I felt like writing underneath “not 'til 1st July!” Our offices are already no smoking and people go outside for a cig. I asked my boss why the sign was already up and she informed me that that was the guidance. For a lefty who probably spent time at Greenham Common in her younger days, I found this a surprisingly conformist attitude. Even more so as I haven't seen these signs up anywhere else as yet.

One thing that may not have dawned on a lot of people is that if a professional comes to visit you at home in a work capacity, it is illegal for you to smoke while they are there. Firstly, where do they get off telling you what you can and can't do in your own space, and secondly, what about people that need lots of care at home and people like nurses are there all or most of the time? It really is ludicrous.

The point is though, that nobody ever stands up and says 'no!' anymore. We will winge and but we will comply. Everyone says there's no point actively opposing the ban as no-one else will. This is tru if you have that attitude, but if people stuck together, we could change things, but no-one will.

Someone said yesterday 'what's next?' Well, as reported in the press last week, it's clamping down on people drinking wine at home. Excuse me, but as above this is totally ridiculous. What I do in my home is my business, whether the powers that be think it's good for me or not. Fuck off and stop telling us what to do!

History Repeating

We often use the phrase 'history repeating itself', but do we really think about how true this phrase is, especially when it comes to political shennanigans?

The fantastic series “Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain” puts things frighteningly into perspective. As a child, I was brought up in a household where opinion was largely;y influence by my father, who was a staunch labour trades unionist. I think he genuinely thought that the sun shone out of Harold Wilson's backside. Either he didn't know, or was in denial about, what a two-faced spin merchant he really was!

I watched last week's episode of Andrew Marr's programme with a deepening sense of foreboding as I realised the stark parallels between what was happening then and what is happening now and in particular, how much like our very own Tony Blair, Mr. Wilson was.

Example:
1970's
Q: So, Mr. Wilson, why didn't you tell the Americans where to get off during Vietnam?
A: Err, because they were bankrolling the UK.

2000's
Q: So, Mr. Blair, why are we following the Yanks into Iraq?
A: Err, 'cos they're still bankrolling us. (Actually we just paid off our debt from WW2 so can we pull out now please?)

Sun and soccer equals sirens

It is a constant source of wonder to me that there is such a close correlation between sunny weather and unruly drunken behaviour. The correlation becomes stronger if a. it is a weekend or bank holiday b. there is a significant football match afoot.

All of these factors were present on Friday evening. After the recent bad weather, it had been a lovely sunny afternoon and England were playing Brazil in a football friendly. This brought out the inevitable crowds of blokes to drink copious amounts of beer and shout racist abuse at the pub telly. England narrowly escaped victory through the now-too-inevitably painful occurrence of the opposition scoring a goal in the last minute of injury time. Still, at least they didn't lose so not too much fighting and trouble afterwards.

The next day, however, the fine weather continued and as we meandered through town on a pleasant stroll, the familiar sound of sirens wailing and the sight of emergency vehicles screeching down the main road could be witnessed at regular intervals throughout the course of the day, and into the evening. What's wrong with people ? Why can't they just
enjoy the moment, and sit in the sun with a nice ice cream or pop? It would make for a much quieter life!