Churchillian Boris Johnson

As Boris walks with Angela Merkel, hands clasped behind his back, just as Churchill did, he observes all before him. Reminiscing the defeat of the German’s in the second world war, a war he was too young to have participated in… but remembered through his reading of the history books.

Now he walks with today’s German collaborator Emmanuel Macron. All he wants is the backstop removed… actually, all he wanted was to be Prime Minister, now he has got it he has become a child in the sweetshop.

He is a lucky sod, though,  where he usually would be behind in the polls (because of his toxic/ marmite like character, at least to some), his only serious challenger is a buffoon from the left… a clown that wanted out of Europe, but now held hostage by the European Union flag-waving part of his party. “It was a lot easier in the war,” Boris thought. “Then you could smash them with weapons,” now all he has got is his own words, with no power to back them up. A split parliament and a divided party….

On top of that, the country has gone down the rabbit hole to meet Alice. What a pig's ear he has inherited. A deep sigh, on with the game, which is his only course of action. He might as well smile, while he is where he is… or just enjoy the attention, after all, that is his vocation in life. He knows he can achieve what Trump has achieved, but without the pigshit stupidity, just the charm and words.

UK Prime Minister Mr Johnson has said the backstop must be ditched if a no-deal exit from the EU is to be avoided, arguing that it could leave the UK tied to the EU indefinitely. if implemented, it would see Northern Ireland staying aligned to some rules of the EU single market, should the UK and the EU not agree a trade deal after Brexit. It would also see the UK stay in a single customs territory with the EU, and align with current and future EU rules on competition and state aid.

The puzzle is Boris must find a way out of this maze. Or at least bluff his way past the 31^st October date. But even if he gets over the line, then what? A general election will loom and then anything could happen. We could end up having two main parties that are unpopular, which could see the ascent of the Lib-Dems and the Brexit Party. No end to what Cameron subjected the people of this country to, a total head dive into populism and division.  Where it will end, nobody knows. But one thing is for sure, nobody will come out of it smiling. And with the extreme left of Labour party and its in-fighting, like vultures ready to pick the UK dry, giving the Grim Reaper access to the souls of all that tread on our land.

If a film mogul had written it, it would have been thrown out as a mad and bad script.

From where I sit, it is engaging, the only trouble is… it is not an event that one can walk away from. It could have a devastating effect on our lives. Our children and their children. Will the future generations look back and think “What the fuck have they done”. As they sit huddled around a campfire in a dystopian-helter-skelter-land that the rest of the world has forgotten.

Let us hope that our politicians come to their senses and pull together, not put us in Alice’s Wonderland.

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice said to Boris, as she stepped down off the plane from outside England.

"Oh, you can’t help that," said Boris: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."

"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," said Boris, "or you wouldn’t have come here to England.” Then Boris chuckled to himself, while those around him, wearing their white coats, looked on in amusement.

Don Scully

Ban hands-free phones in cars after rise in road deaths, MPs suggest.

Well, the MPs can go and take a dive. They can’t even organise a piss up in a brewery, or implement the wishes of the British people when they voted to leave, so how are they going to manage to have eyes – or should I say, how will they expect the police to have eyes for something that is basically invisible – where no eyes can lurk?

The police can’t even patrol those that hold their phone while talking, so how are they going to manage to stop motorists or see motorists doing something – hands-free – which is basically invisible to the naked eye?

I do wonder how their minds sometimes work (that is MPs). Do they sit around the table and try to come up with as many stupid things in one sitting, or do they pace themselves? The police numbers have been cut to the bare bones, and even if you had a full complement on the roads they wouldn’t be able to see anything, other than the driver talking to himself… or his passenger. Total madness!

People who hold their phones, I understand it must be stopped, but hands-free-phones is completely stupid. It is unworkable, unmanageable. I prefer if they (that is the politicians) put their minds to something that is possible and workable and linked to the real world. They can’t even sort out Brexit. I think the problem is that they’ve got too much money, not enough focus and probably too much time on social media chest-beating.

You just imagine the scenario. A police car is driving along and he or she spots somebody mouthing something (thinking it could be a hands-free mobile phone they are talking to)… what do they do? Pull that person over in the belief that they are talking on their hands-free?

Police officer to the suspect: “Excuse me, sir, I saw you mouth something and I believe you were talking on your hands-free?”

Suspect: “I was talking to myself, officer.”

Police: “Really, that sounds a bit mad to me.”

Suspect: “Madness isn’t a crime unless we are talking pop group here.”

Police: “Don’t be flippant sir, I am only doing my duty.” He looks the suspect up and down. “Please get out of the car”.

Suspect: “Is it because I am of a shade you don’t like officer?”

Police: “We are not biased, sir, and please get out… besides, you are white?”

Suspect: (still not moving) White, black or blue, they are all colours of the rainbow… that never stops higher authority showing their superiority over the crushed working man… So, you say it isn’t my colour… what about my flash car?”

Police: (getting fed up) “Out, before we nick you for not obeying a direct order. Police officers are kind people, just with a low threshold… especially when you get some clown wasting our time, anyway… “flash” it is a Robin Reliant!”

He gets out of the car and the police officer searches, but finds nothing… no mobile.

Police: “Ok, sir, you can go. Next time you mouth something, talk to yourself or even sing to a tune on the radio, big brother will pursue you. (he pauses a few seconds) Courtesy of your representative in Parliament… have a good day!”.

The driver leaves, shaking his head.

Madness? Or just the thought-processes of bored MPs who have found Brexit too complicated and hot to handle, so they decided to come up with ways to piss off the general public even more. Maybe it is just a distraction ploy!

Don Scully

Brexit: good, bad or ugly?

I started out in life as a Brexiteer or leaver and voted in the 2016 referendum to leave. I also campaigned for UKIP in my earlier life, but now I am having second thoughts.

Before the plebiscite, it was more of a talking shop, but when push came to shove it concentrated the minds (that is afterwards). I, like many of the others, thought that those that wanted to leave would be hammered, but the tables were quickly turned and before you could say Jack Flash we were out… only that we aren’t. Three years on and we are still debating whether to leave, get a deal or just go back in. The MPs jointly stuck their fingers up at the general public and democracy and said, up yours and we will fight with every ounce in our body to stay in (overturn the democratic will of the people). MPs believe they were Gods, amongst the chickens. The bubble had spoken, and the bubble was going to insert itself.

Once we said we were out, it concentrated the mind, as I said. What focused my mind, even more, was when the Iranians highjacked our tanker and we didn’t have a clue what to do about it. We were no longer a power that threatened or could do anything, other than collectively or being America’s poodle. Of course, it wasn’t just the Iranian piracy that focused my mind, it was just one of many self-analyses.

Of course, we don’t know what would happen when or if we leave. We could shine, or we could collapse and end up being nearer to a third world country. What we do know, if we stay in, is that things will be similar as before, with the European Union changing and adapting (to what, is the question). But with us inside we could contribute to that shaping of the Union.

Where I have trouble is if we stayed in, then the split in the country will get worse.  Those that voted “out” will be hostile and no doubt the European Union will continue to be a divisive figure, dividing the country even more (if not the rest of Europe). If we went back in, then the country will never know whether we could have made a success of our independence away from the Union, or not. The only way to kill this albatross would be to get out and see what happens. A dilemma.

It is also telling us something that if we went back in – with a gun to our heads – it would leave a strong message that the EU will destroy anybody that leaves its Empire. What bargaining power does one have if we disagree? Threaten to leave? We would have tried that, only to be forced back at gunpoint.

On top of all that we could end up breaking up the Union (UK). Even staying in the European Union will be an unknown path.

The trouble is, so much is going through my mind that I am not sure what would be the best policy if we had another referendum. Of course, it might be taken out of our hands and the politicians decide for us. A recipe for disaster. The MPs are already a hated group. Even those that voted to stay have contempt for those politicians' arrogance on the matter. They know better as we the public are imbeciles and still need our bottoms wiped.

The clock is ticking and I feel that Boris has one rabbit left to pull out of the hat and, whether a no-confidence vote forces his hand or not, he will take us out and any election will be held after we are out.

Where the marmite character of Boris is lucky is that his only challenger is an incompetent fool who the public don’t even trust, let alone some of his own labour MPs. On the other hand,  we could end up with a coalition/ alliance of Remainers on one side, and those that are Brexiteers on the otherside (a cacophony of radicals from all parties, now there is a thought!). Some may say, “not a bad idea”. After all, British politics needs shaking up, and I agree, but even that won’t solve the issue. The country is split, whatever the outcome (majority is) and can only leave a bad taste in peoples mouths. In fact, in all this, the people could be forgotten (as it is now). So, nothing changes.

Then again, if we are out the country might come together (albeit, on Party lines) and it could be a straight fight between Boris the spider and Jeremy the radical… unless you consider Boris the progressive and Jeremy the dogmatists. Who knows? It is all semantics in the end. We are going into uncharted waters or, as I would say, the Twilight Zone… you can already hear the words: “You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension—a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone of British politics”.

What a Carry on. I can hear the country as a whole shouting “Infamy, infamy, they’ve got it all in for me.” Yes, the entire episode looks like it has come out of a Carry on set.

The drama shall continue, whatever happens on the 31^st October.

By Don Scully

This is a blog on my thoughts of everything and anything.

 Agree, disagree or whatever, but join in on the journey. I am sure that the world needs another mad blogger of a roving observer, amongst the other billions or so blogs out there.

Going back before the days of blogs and the internet, only a select few could voice their thoughts to the general public, either through TV, papers or just shouting their mouths off at Speakers Corner. Granted, there are papers’ that carry readers comments (letter pages), but again, that was for the selected few that got past the editors' censorship or bigoted viewpoint (all in the hope of selling even more papers).

Now we have the blogs that allow all thoughts to be publically aired throughout the solar system and probably beyond. Of course, this is a quagmire of sinking fools, all pushing the others out of the way to get their pound of flesh (or an ounce of breath).

I hope to be different (really!), yes, by adding my own unique thoughts with a dose of humour… (and this hasn’t been done before?), no, not by me. As I said, we are all unique, and I am hoping to be more unique than the others.

I am a journalist, a football journalist and I work/ write for a specific club, before that a worldly journalist (what is that? A Jack of all trades, but a master only in mind). But I have found that as a journalist most write over their readers' heads, trying to complicate things with jargon and cleverness (having grandiloquence ways about them). But for the reader that hasn’t got his or her head in the clouds of political sophistication, then one could feel lost, left out, or pissed. As I said, I am a journalist, but not with the academia mind-set (even though I had gone down that path), thus learnt to write as I speak, not as I was taught (there is something about academia that is social or collective engineering). Society wants us all to think the same way, educationally. Of course, my style won’t please all, but then again we are all trying to find a niche in a swelter of big shit (a cacophony of noise).

God put me on here to shine the light, or try to shine the light on those nooks and crannies that are inaccessible to the ordinary mortal. And I ain’t even religions or a believer, thank God!

So, what do we start with?

………, in my next blog Brexit, good, bad or ugly?

It has been a pleasure, Don Scully