JUNE 2005
There is no doubt that standards are slipping in the People's Party. There used to be a time, not so long ago, when you needed a minimum of a million pounds to get the Government to push an Act through for you. According to the Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks, 2,000 wind turbines will be erected in the countryside over the next 4 years, even if the owner of one of the largest wind farm companies in Britain donated a mere £250,000.- to the Party before the recent General Election.
The Metropolitan Police is now working on a "customer satisfaction survey" ordered by the Home Office. Everyone stopped and searched by a police officer will be asked to rate the officer on a form in order for the Govermnent to find out if the criminal fraternity is treated with the respect due to them. The mind no longer boggles about these things after 8 years with the People's Party, but one wonders what the rest of the world will be thinking.
And then it was the pregnant woman who reported to the police that her ex-boyfriend had beaten her up and had threatened that he would be back later to kill her. Unfortunately for her the chap was a Portugese, so the police could not arrest him as they were unable to find a registered interpreter to read him his rights. He subsequently went back and finished the job and is now up for murder.
Beverley has got its 5 minutes of fame. On the 10th of June it was the coldest place in the UK with a maximum of 9 degrees Celsius. I also got a revised bill from the gas company on the same day that has sent my bank account deep into the red.
For many Descartes' "Cognito ergo sum" - " I think, therefore I am" has been replaced by "Tesco ergo sum" - "I shop, therefore I am"
The Valuation Office Acency has thousands of inspectors at work trying to figure out how much more council tax you'll have to pay. They will now enter all houses in England to check if any home improvement you might have done has upped the ratable value of your property. The size of your garden, the number of bathrooms and any off-street car parking will be taken into account One way or another the Government will make sure that there is no excess money left in the economy.
A new incinerator is being is being planned near Doncaster in South Yorkshire where the intention is to burn 3,000 tons of creosote-soaked railway sleepers. Predictably the locals are up in arms as creosote is highly carcinocenic. A spokesman for the company stated that: "We can understand people's concern, but we have filled in all the correct forms and are now waiting for the approval of the Environment Acency" So we are now living in the Blairite world where those in authority can do anything they wish "as long as they fill in the correct forms".
On the other hand the different Government Agencies now interfer in each other's business to such an extent that soon hopefully nothing much can be done, and we can all get on with our life
The Health and Safety Executive has given the police guidance in enforcing the hunt ban. They must not go near hounds or horses. They must not confiscate dead animals for fear of infection. They must carry out a detailed risk assessment before starting an investigation. As the Hunting Act does not provide officers with the authority to enter private land, all evidence must be gathered only after they have obtained the landowner's express permission to be on their property. They must not use helicopters in case they cause alarm to horses.
So it seems we can all look forward to this year's hunting after all.
For 15 minutes the heavens opened and poured out a month's rain resulting in a large part of Yorkshire being under water. Lightning took out the electicity, and giant hailstones flattened the crop. The temperature soared above 30C and the humidity made it difficult to breathe. Considering that we had ground frost and drought conditions just a week ago, one can wonder what is going on.
Kiyoko's passport is due for renewal, and as our Japanese guest has never been to London, we decided to take the early morning train down so Michiyo could do some sightseeing while Kiyoko sorted things out at the Consulate. Predictably it was not to be. We arrived at the station at 6:30 in the morning, paid a jaw-dropping parking fee and sauntered on to the platform only to be told that the service had been cancelled. A coach was supposed to take us down to Doncaster to join the East Coast Main Line, but it never arrived. In any case it didn't matter, as we soon found out that that service had been cancelled, too. The next train would arrive in London at about the same time as the Consulate would be closing for the day. Enquiring whether we could take the early morning service down the following day, we were told that as we had APEX tickets they were only valid on that day. Nor could we get a refund at the station as the tickets had been booked over the Internet. Too cap it all, nor could we get a refund on the all-day parking ticket, as the carpark was run by a different company.
I sometimes wish I could reach Smokey's level. The other day I was watching him sleeping on the drive in front of the house when a lurcher suddenly came running, barking like mad. Smokey looked up and yawned The dog went very quiet before starting to whimper, and left with its tail between its legs, while Smokey went back to sleep.
Anyone interested in falconry might want to log on to www.middlekeld.co.uk Marcus Townsend, who is one of the most experienced falconers in the UK, has started his own school. Some of you might recognize the fierce looking Eagle Owl on the front page.
As expected the second reading of the I.D. card bill passed the Commons with a fairly comfortable majority for the Government. Our only hope now rests with the Lords, but as this most undemocratic set of Ministers has shown that they are quite capable of ignoring the Upper House, we are not exactly holding our breath.
One of the great disasters of our time is the alienation of people from the land. At my mother's funeral I realized that I know the valley where I grew up not only from my own memories, but also from the experiences of untold generations of my family, which had been passed down until my own and their lives blurred and meshed with the land itself.
England expects - The recent Battle of Trafalgar commemorations have cost the taxpayers £4m with a further £8m raised through corparate sponsorship and ticket and souvenir sales. At the same time the last surviving crewmember of Lord Nelson's ship, the HMS Victory, who was decommisioned in 1922, a 101 year old Yorkshireman, has just been told that he is on a 12 months waiting list to have his toenails cut. Staff at his nursing home can not cut the nails because of health and safety regulations.
It will be interesting to know how the Labour Government intends to ensure that we all will purchase an ID card. Will the refuseniks have their citizenship withdrawn?
Michiyo was going home to Japan from Manchester Airport on the 29th. We left home at 6 a.m. hoping to beat the morning rush, and apart from getting stuck for an hour or so on the Manchester ring road, we arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, only to find that the flight had been cancelled for "technical reasons". We were told to come back next morning, which meant another 200 miles round trip. Knowing that the airline also flew out from our local airport, which is only 20 miles from Heimbu, I suggested that she could have her ticket changed, but it was appearantly not company policy to change the port of embarkation. At this time Kiyoko looked like she was ready to eat gravel, so I asked the clerk if he would like to explain the situation to the love of my life. He took one look at her, and suddenly company guide-lines went out of the window. So next day Michiyo flew out from Humberside in Business Class. Cheers.