Barnet Eye Roundup - a busy week

I've had a rotten week. The saddest part was burying my dear mother in law, Margaret. I always felt cheated when the mother in law jokes were made, because she was genuinely lovely and I could never have said a bad word about here. At her wake, there were all sorts of people. Friends, family, colleagues - all their to pay their respects to a lovely woman. Margaret had one vice, she smoked like a chimney and it killed her. When you see the effects of lung cancer on someone you love, you realise why smoking just isn't worth it. God Bless you Margaret.

On Wednesday I picked up a curry from my local favourite Indian restaurant. Had a really interesting conversation with a friend of mine, Lawrence and the esteemed owner. Lawrence is ex army and as you can imagine he was none too pleased with the radical Islamic protesters I mentioned in Luton. His solution - shoot them. He would have been happy to do it himself. Now the interesting thing was the reaction of the owner to this comment. He's a devout Muslim who loves Britain and the English. Did he side with me or my friend. My argument was that they should be ignored? He was firmly in the "shoot them" camp (or at least deport them). His view is that they cause endless problems for people such as him, who love Great Britain and they are totally ungrateful. He vociferously told me that I was talking rubbish. He confirmed what I thought, that this rabble are a tiny and urepresentative group. He also stated that it is high time that they were firmly denounced by the majority of Muslims, as he felt they damage the religion immeasurably.

We also had comic relief this week. To my surprise, given the economic climate, a record amount was raised. I must confess that (unlike the rest of my family), I don't particularly enjoy these shows. Having said that the work they do and the moey they raise is truly amazing. One very interesting thing I saw. Tony Blair was interviewed in the run up. He spoke of his support and the great work. As I watched, it struck me that even after 18 months out, I absent mindedly thought "It's the Prime Minister" when he appeared. Shortly after the news came on. Gordon Brown appeared talking about the Northern Irish outrages. Compared to Blair, Brown just does not seem like a Prime Minister. I remember the same thing when Major took over from Thatcher. If nothing else, Comic Relief shows that the British are probably the most generous and outward looking nation on earth.

God Bless you all !!!!