Simon's Blog

62 Days

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Guthlac

In life perspective is everything. This morning is a case in point. I had an appointment at my local hospital because an anomaly had shown up at my latest eye sight test. Now I have had some experience of this department and so I knew what to expect: A lot of people waiting; the organisation was a little shambolic and the care was first rate (probably the best description you are going to get for the NHS and I love it.) As I sat waited for my name to be called I had a wander through the wild lands of twitter and I was surprised to find out that Britain was in hands of crazed zealots rather than the usual bunch of public school Oxbridge educated people. We had suffered a Coup and the people were rising up to….well the world of social media would have you believe.

From where I was sitting the world as we know it hadn’t ended and the people were not in any mutinous mood but rather patiently awaiting their names to be called. It was rather charming and very very British. Of course this being Leicester the names being called would have made Nigel Farage’s blood curdle but again this is the real world rather than some fantasy. Oh and I didn’t feel the slightest bit uncomfortable that people around me were talking in different languages but then again this is the Leicester I had worked in for over 30 years.

I then had a walk through the centre of town and for a country in upraw clearly the people in Leicester city centre hadn’t got the memo…I don’t think there is much material for a modern Sergei Eisenstein here.

I do wish the many people on social media would start to calm down. What Boris Johnson has done is political sharpe practice nothing more. Of course he is lying through his back teeth when he says it’s got nothing to do with Brexit and he knows it (as he uttered those words he had the greatest difficulty keeping a straight face). It is not a coup. As I wrote yesterday getting all het up about this is falling into Johnson’s trap and missing the bigger picture. What world do we want post Brexit Britain to look like? Now that is something to vigorously engage with rather than gesture pointless of shouting at the Houses of Parliament or some form of direct action.

What do these protestors want? The House of Commons has had three years to debate and debate about Brexit and where did that get us? A massive vote to leave the European Union and three massive defeats for the withdrawal agreement. Even if the government were to fall and an election was called there isn’t enough time to hold that election before the 31st of October so we are going to leave and in the meantime we won’t have a properly functioning government on the run up to the 31st October – how is that in the public interest? (I am not going to consider the government of National Unity because it is just absurd! click here to see why I think this is the case.)

Unfortunately we are leaving the EU on the 31st October – I don’t like it but the Brexiteers won that battle. They don’t have to win the post Brexit battle and that is where all the energy should be aimed at not the loss of four working parliamentary days.

Don’t you know you might find

A better…

BTW…my eyes are fine…..

Posted in 100 Days, Brexit, Photography, Street Photography | Tagged Boris Johnson, Brexit, Brexiteers, City of Leicester, Coup, Jubilee Square, NHS, Nigel Farage, Prorogation, Sergei Eisenstein, Street Photography, Twitter | 2 Comments

63 Days

Posted on August 29, 2019 by Guthlac

Taylor: You maniacs! You blew it up!

So the sound we heard yesterday was blind furry with a huge tinge of hypocrisy. “I don’t want to hyperbolic..” as a Scottish politician might have said just before being hyperbolic – I can’t recall amongst all the sound and fury. All I can say is plague on both your houses. Where were all of these parliamentarians when they could have voted for the withdrawal agreement in the Spring? If they really wanted leave with a deal this was the only deal in town and they refused to vote for it – three times. You cannot have it both ways but of course they will do.

Of course the plotters and the schemers biggest fault was that they were fighting the last war. They thought that what happened in the Theresa May era would happen in the Boris Johnson era. I think they have now been disabused by what happened yesterday. All their clever plans that they excitingly feed to lobby journalists have been demonstrated to be hot air. There is no way to stop the executive now other than by a vote of no confidence and I do not believe there is a majority for that because of Jeremy Corbyn who had the temerity of suggesting that as the leader of the second largest party in the House of Commons he should lead any interim government bent on stopping the exit in October – assuming the EU agree which I really think is less and less likely because of the EU’s own short sightedness.

We remainers have been defeated. We need to come to terms with that and work out how to change things after the 31st October 2019. Bollocks to Brexit was fun whilst it lasted but that is now soooo last season. The real fight should be about shaping Britain for its non EU membership future; Stopping the Brexit party narrative that it was Nigel wot won it and making sure that the future relationship between Britain and EU accepts that you can’t fight old wars again and again and instead move forward together to make the most of the opportunities that are on offer.

Posted in 100 Days, Brexit, European Referendum | Tagged 100 Days, Bollocks to Brexit, Boris Johnson, Brexit, European Union, Nicola Sturgeon, Planet of the Apes | 1 Comment

65 Days

Posted on August 27, 2019 by Guthlac

I hate the heat…I know I must be burnt at the stake as a witch but I don’t like the heat. When you say something like this a lot of people look at you as if you are some half wit (which might be true). Weather forecasters insist that we must get out and enjoy all the sun – I don’t and I won’t.

Instead of following this group think I spend my days inside, in front of a fan researching Roman archaeology and plotting them on plans like the one above. Now this really is a very niche activity but I enjoy it.

When the evening comes and the heat is a lot more tolerable I might venture out and capture the odd photograph. At the moment the harvest is in full swing so if can offer some good photographic opportunities.

As for the political world well how can I put this?? Err… fuck all has changed. At least the huge combined harvesters create all their sound, fury and huge dust clouds for a reason. I fear the same cannot be said for our political masters.

I wonder if the harvest will be the same next year after we leave the EU without an exit deal as such (there are already a large number of understandings and gentlemen or women agreements to keep things going in this outcome)?

Only time will tell.

Posted in 100 Days, Brexit, Summer | Tagged 100 Days, Archaeology, Brexit, European Union, Harvest, Heat, photography, Roman, Somerset | Leave a comment

Battling with Sunshine…

Posted on August 22, 2019 by Guthlac

Given the weather from the last few weeks it does seem somewhat contrary to complain when a nice sunny day comes along. Well being ‘ somewhat contrary‘ is a curse I have had to live with for a very long time and I guess getting older isn’t helping matters.

Yesterday I visited one of my favourite garden places, Hidcote Manor, to enjoy the gardens and take in the sun. Unfortunately, as anyone who has tried to make an interesting photographic image of a flower or gardens, the sun is your worst enemy. The colours of the flowers become really harsh and unforgiving as do the shadows. In short it can be a nightmare – yesterday was no exception.

What it does force the photographer to do is to get creative – if you don’t want blown out highlights etc. – and you have to hunt out the dapple shade and the small places where the power of the harsh sun is ameliorated to a degree. Anyway these are some of the images that I hope were not destroyed by the sun.

Of course this is not the first I’ve bitched about this problem at Hidcote and I guess it won’t be the last.

Posted in 100 Days, Gardens, Macro, Summer | Tagged Bee, Flowers, Gardens, Hidcote Manor, National Trust, photography, sunshine | Leave a comment

71 Days

Posted on August 21, 2019 by Guthlac

Is this what post Brexit Britain will look like? Of course not because pre Brexit doesn’t look like this – only in fantasy places such as Hidcote manor. What we do know is that the next 71 days are going to be a bit of an increasing shit storm, Nothing to worry about then.

One good bit of good Brexit news – the 1st of November is a public holiday in France (all saints day). On such public holidays large lorries are not allowed to travel on the autoroutes so perhaps we might all be spared what Brexit has to offer the good people of Kent until Monday the 4th November.

We should be so lucky, lucky lucky lucky….

Now back to those sunny uplands.

Posted in 100 Days, Brexit, Gardens, Summer | Tagged All Saints Day, Brexit, Hidcote Manor, Kent, National Trust, Sunny Uplands | Leave a comment

72 Days

Posted on August 20, 2019 by Guthlac

When lost in a never ending storm it is always worth stating known facts rather than speculation based on speculation when trying to navigate your way out of the maelstrom . So before I start to speculate these are the known facts as they stand:

In 2016 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) voted to leave the European Union (EU) in a referendum;
A General Election was held in 2017 when both Labour and Conservatives promised to honour the result of the 2016 referendum;
The parliament of the the UK legislated to leave the EU on a specific date (European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.) The original date was amended by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2019 to the current one of 31st October 2019;
A withdrawal agreement has been reached between the then government of the UK which, when presented to the House of Commons was defeated three times by a significant margin.

Now, much as I might not want the UK to leave the EU, I can’t argue with any of those facts. The upshot of which means that the UK will leave the EU at 23:00 hours on the 31st October 2019. We might be able to agree some form of agreement with the EU between now and that date but unless the Act of Parliament is amended (by a similar act as the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2019) then we will leave on the 31st of October 2019. I do not believe there is anything in the 2018 nor 2019 Act of Parliament to say that we can only leave with some form of withdrawal agreement but rather we are going to leave…(you get the idea.)

I know the above does sound all very Brexiterish but it is not meant to be. These are the facts and I know I want to stay in the EU but I cannot ignore them, as many of the remain politicians seem to want to (if I hear one more time Parliament didn’t vote to leave without a deal then I will scream! Parliament has refused to approve a deal and nothing was included in the substantive Act nor its amending act to say a withdrawal agreement must be agreed before leaving. The House of Commons has had plenty of opportunity to do so and it has not.)

This brings us to what will happen in the first week of Parliament’s return – will there be a vote of no confidence? If we disregard all the nonsense talk of a government of National Unity lead by Jeremy Corbyn (I can think of no better definition of an oxymoron.) Then should the Johnson government fall in such a vote we will be having a General Election just at the time when we will need our political classes to be concentrating on amiliating any of the outcomes outlined in the Operation Yellowhammer document and also passing all the legislation needed to make sure the statute book is in order by the 31st October 2019. Should the Johnson government fall the argument that the outgoing shouldn’t do anything controversial during the run up to the election doesn’t apply to leaving the EU as this is a substantive Act of Parliament. It would be like saying that an outgoing government shouldn’t ensure that the Theft Act was enforced. So forcing the Johnson government to fall will mean we have no government just at the time we need a government more than ever. I cannot see how that is in the National Interest no matter what I might think about Boris Johnson et al.

I don’t want the UK to leave the EU but I am afraid the time for such a debate has passed. We all now have to prepare as best we can for life outside the EU. We remainers will just have to accept we lost and make the best of what will always be a suboptimal world post 31st October.

One final thought. Should the UK leave the EU without a deal it will be a huge diplomatic failure on both sides. Britain will have increased trade barriers with its largest trading partner and may have soured relations with them for sometime to come. The European Union will have ensured that the one thing they were trying to prevent, a hard border on the island of Ireland, will be a reality by the 1st November 2019 whilst at the same time will have to deal with the huge destabilizing economy at the geographical heart of the EU – if Kent is going to become a lorry park then so is northern France. They will both try and dress it all up as the other’s fault but it is fault on both sides. Nobody will win from this mess and don’t believe a word from anyone who claims otherwise.

Cry Havoc and let slip the dogs of...

Posted in 100 Days, Brexit, European Referendum, General Election 2017 | Tagged 100 Days, Boris Johnson, Brexit, European Union, Hard Border, Jeremy Corbyn, National Unity Government, Northern Ireland, Operation Yellowhammer, Republic of Ireland, Vote of No Confidence | 1 Comment

77 Days

Posted on August 15, 2019 by Guthlac

A new day and a new bit of nonsense – Jeremy Corbyn has decided he is the leader of the Remain side in the House of Commons – he wants to be their Prime Minister and is willing to lead a government of National Unity. Now if you think that Boris Johnson is being disingenuous about Brexit then this is right up their with £350m a week for the NHS. Corbyn has always been hostile to the European Union which is a legitimate position to take – just ask the Brexiteers so for him to suddenly offer to lead this new potential government is just nonsense and of course Corbyn knows this. He also knows that he is also one of the divisive people in British politics at the moment and so the chances of anyone beyond his supporters believing anything he says are very small indeed.

Still it got him some nice column inches and people like me, not that I count, writing about him.

Posted in drawing | Tagged 100 Days, Boris Johnson, Brexit, Government of National Unity, Jeremy Corbyn | Leave a comment

78 Days

Posted on August 14, 2019 by Guthlac

There is one aspect of the Leave case that the Remain side doesn’t have an answer to – legitimacy. They may bang on about Russian interference, lies on the side of buses or xenophobia but the Leave side won the referendum and much as I don’t like it we have voted to leave the European Union and unless another referendum is held, not a a general election as they are always about so much more, and the leave side is defeated then leave we will and then make the most of what comes next. This stinks I know but that is the way our system works.

I was reminded about this when I was listening to Lord Heseltine the other day making more and more incoherent arguments about Parliament not voting to leave without a deal. This is only partially true. The House of Commons had three opportunities to vote to leave with a deal, the withdrawal agreement, and it failed to do so. Also an Act of Parliament says we are going to leave the European Union. As for his attack on Dominic Cummings well all I will say is Bernard Ingham. Every government has their own unelected enforcer/guru/doing his master/mistress’s biding – Cummings is just the latest.

I fear that leaving the European Union is at best sub optimal but leave we are and to suggest that some form of House of Commons chicanery might stop this is about as realistic as there being a government of National Unity without Jeremy Corbyn leading it.

Posted in Art, Brexit, European Referendum, Graphic Art | Tagged 100 Days, Bernard Jenkins, Brexit, Dominic Cummings, European Union, Government of National Unity, Jeremy Corbyn, Michael Heseltine | Leave a comment

79 Days

Posted on August 12, 2019 by Guthlac

Visiting the excellent The Wonderful World of the Ladybird Book Artists at the Leicester Museum and Art gallery for a second time doesn’t diminish the experience. For anyone over 50 in Britain it was like revisiting your childhood. All around you in the is the formative artwork of your childhood. This was the view of the world for Post War children that was safe and reassuring – full of upstanding people going about their lives. Even the well known shits such as King John were given a makeover. It could be described as the British version of the Soviet Social Realism art and those of us who grew up with it have a warm affection for the simple world it portrays. I suspect that might also be the view of our many of our contemporaries who grew up in the former Soviet Union of their childhood art.

Of course for anyone under 50 the attraction is more curio than nostalgia and it was interesting to see the expressions on the teenagers who appeared to be somewhat bewildered by the whole experience and good on them for that. They have their own world view and perhaps one day they too will experience the joys of remembering things past when they are in their 50’s.

As a startling juxta position the next gallery contains one of the finest collections of German expressionist art anywhere in the world. Instead of the reassuring images produced by the Ladybird book artists you find graphic images of war and torment. Under the Nazis it was viewed as degenerate art and was band.

They provide strange bedfellows but should be viewed together. Life is nothing like as safe as the warm world of Ladybird but thankfully for most of us the world isn’t as forbidding as that captured by the German Expressionists. In these crazy Brexit days it is worthwhile understanding that there are many more views than the closed off one you might want to think the world should be. Viewed together that message is loud and clear are well worth the trip to experience.