Hi Everyone
We have only been to the Houses of Parliament once and that was without getting a single vote. We went to the House of Lords five or six years ago with our friend and his wife when he got a prestigious community service award. It was a lovely occasion with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. While we were there we could not resist going into the House of Lords shop where they sold the usual souvenirs and presents to remind us of our special visit. It was a quite small shop and we found ourselves the only potential customers. That was until a small man who thought that he was very important came in. He was obviously Lord Somebody as the atmosphere immediately changed with the staff tense and deferent to the man, reminding me of that classic TV comedy sketch "I look up to him while he looks down to me". What brought that incident back to me was a radio interview that I heard this week. The presenter was interviewing a lady member of Parliament who had only been elected at the last election. On starting her work there she was quietly pulled to one side by the Whispering Group who gave her a list of people that they thought she should avoid due to the possibility of sexual harassment and bullying. That such a group existed sounded pretty amazing but then the interviewer asked her how many people were on the list to which she replied "about forty". I find that a depressing statistic when during my working life, I cannot remember any instance of harassment or bullying. What is more disturbing is that these people are supposed to represent us in a responsible and professional way. Surely if they were working in the real world they would be quickly removed whereas in the world of politics hardly anyone seems to be properly punished.
Back in the 1960s when I worked for the bricklayer of dubious ability and the joiner who could not the word funeral, my working week started at 7-30 each morning and ended at 12 noon on Saturday. It was the era of the builder's van or bus with the men picked up at various locations before assembling at the builder's yard to be then taken to the various sites. The two bosses would then have to decide who was getting on which vehicle to travel to which site. That was when the fun started as they would regularly argue about who was going where which on occasions got so out of hand that the exchange would turn physical. One morning I noticed a joiner sitting in a van but with his tools left on the floor outside. When I asked him why he was doing that he said "This is the third van I have been in, in the last five minutes. When they finally decide which site I am going to, I will pick my tools up".
If you follow our most popular British sport, football - don't bother telling me that our most popular sport is fishing as more people watch football on TV than watch people fishing, then you will know that the football World Cup starts this week. You will also know that it is being held in Qatar, a country well known for its human rights abuses and now for the treatment of migrant workers used to build the infrastructure for the event. How and who decided it should be held there will probably be a debate for some time to come. Now a friend is encouraging people who access her Facebook site to avoid watching the games. I want to agree with her but the problem is I will enjoy watching at least some of the games and, in particular, our two British teams, England and Wales. I am also not sure that protesting by switching off my TV will achieve any impact at this stage. What I do hope is that the tournament exposes the way Qatar conducts itself, that enough players and officials will be prepared to publicly criticise, and that the tournament proves to be embarrassing and uncomfortable for football world leaders.
Just a Thought:
Saw an argument this week between a joiner and a hairdresser. They were going hammer and tongs.
What is the difference between Capitalism and Socialism? In a Capitalist society, man exploits man. In a Socialist society, it is the other way around.
Come on England.
Brian
Comments