Whilst buying some gherkins in Marks and Spencers yesterday, I bumped into an avid reader of this blog. When I first started writing it, I was surprised by how many Conservatives read it. I've lost count of the times one has picked me up on something I've written. Yesterday's encounter was a but different. I know the chap quite well, after many a chat over the local whelks and sticky buns. The first encounters, a decade and a half ago, were almost hostile, in a very polite way. Back then, we had a Labour government and a Conservative council. In 2010, the National government changed and we had a coalition. As the sheer incompetence of the local Tories became clear, the conversations became more friendly. You really can't seek to justify the unjustifiable. As the Johnson government imploded and the local Tories got booted out, I noticed he'd dodge me altogether. Recently, he's stopped avoiding me, and started asking me why I am not moaning about the Labour council in the way I moaned about the Tories "What about the Potholes", "why aren't the grass verges being mowed". My response "Same reason as when the Tories were in charge, the Tories ruined the council finances". Anyway, yesterday was our first chat since the Tories got booted out. His greeting "I suppose you'll give up blogging now your work is done!". I asked if he really thought I wrote a blog purely to get Labour, a party I don't support, elected? He was a bit surprised. He'd read my blogs on the subject and said "you seemed pretty happy with the result". I replied "I was happy when Palace beat Man Utd 4-0, but it was no reason to stop supporting Man City, besides which, most of my blogs are not about politics these days". Of course, over the last few weeks, I've written more political blogs than I have done for a long time. The reason was that I felt I had something to say. It is entirely possible that, as the result in Hendon was by a margin of 15, my blogs swung it away from the Tories. I sincerely hope so. The local Tory candidate has shown himself to be a charmless, bad loser, failing to congratulate the winner and whinging about postal votes. Doesn't he see the irony of the fact that his party has run the Post Office into the ground and now it's helped kick him out of Parliament.
In truth, I can't get excited about Keir Starmer. As with Palace beating United, I was an avid Palace fan until the ref blew the whistle, but then it was done and Palace returned to being just another team I don't support. In Barnet, the local Labour party are always friendly when they want someone to bash the local Tories, for electoral gain. As soon as they get in, they all seem to snub and ignore me as best they can. They are quite friendly when they actually bump into me, but that's about it. No real effort to communicate or assist with anything local. To be quite honest, that suits me fine. I am not someone who writes a blog to ingratiate myself with anyone. I am far less interested in party Politics than most readers would think. I am very interested in injustice and hypocrites in positions of power. Whlst I still write a blog, I reserve the right to give any party or local politician a going over on this blog when they let us down. Now Labour have been in power for two years in Barnet, there are a number of issues which have started to fester and which will see some very sharp blogs written in the next few weeks.
It is fair to say that a couple of Labour councillors have really disappointed me. These are ones that I worked with on some issues before the Labour landslide in Barnet in 2022. Quiet phone calls and sharing of information. That all stopped as soon as they got their feet under the door. I think a few local Labour councillors thought I'd rejoin the party or at least become a vocal supporter of their regime when they got in. Once they realised that I am fiercely independent, they decided to cut all contact as best they could. It is a real shame, as if they'd taken constructive criticism on board, maybe they'd have avoided some of the stupid mistakes that I can see them making. But hey ho. That's life.
Over the past couple of years, I've taken the decision to blog less about local politics and more about what amuses and interests me. This has resulted in two things. The first is less people are reading the blog. The second is that I am much happier. I enjoy blogging. It lets me look at all manner of things. It gives me a reason to do reasearch into subjects that fascinate me. It gives me a chance to plug local music and to explore the area. What is not to like? I've no political ambitions. I have never really had them. If I had, I'd have joined a party that guaranteed me a seat and I'd have played the game. The campaigns I ran for the Lib Dems locally in Mill Hill were fascinating, but I was always massively frustrated by the sheer lack of creativity that you are forced to operate under. The main theme in our campaign was bashing the opponents, rather than proposing good things for Mill Hill. More frustrating was that they bashed us back, and told massive porkies, something we never indulged in. What was hilarious was being told I was naive, by people who lived in echo chambers. I've always had friends and acquaintences across the political spectrum. I chat to them and am happy to hear challenging views.Sadly most party loyalists cannot do that. I've come to realise that even when people have repugnant views, there is, somewhere a rational basis for them forming that opinion. If someone has always read The Sun or The Daily Mail and they are enraged by what they read, that is perfectly rational. They are conditioned to not trust alternative sources of information. Is that really a bad reflection on them. If your primary sources of information are really controlled by the Rothermeres and the Murdoch's, you will have a very different view of the world to a Guardian reader. Both will believe they are right and both will have years or decades of digesting very slanted coverage to support these views.
I started writing the Barnet Eye as I believed the Borough of Barnet needed a source of independent analysis of the council and it's decisions. I still believe this is true, but as no one pays me for doing it, I cannot spend my life researching blogs about very demoralising behaviour by Barnet's political types. Now I pick and choose my subjects carefully and intersperse them with other stuff I like. For me, writing this blog has been all manner of things, a chore, a distraction, a labour of love and an inspiration. When I was diagnosed with Prostate cancer in 2011, it helped me get my head around the issue and organise my thoughts in a positive way. When I talk about my dyslexia, it has helped me come to terms and understand a shadow over my life. Writing about Barnet Council has given me a great insight into the use and misure of power and a deep cynicism towards politics. But best of all, writing about music has fully opened my eyes to the beauty of human existence. I really didn't appreciate that before. We often ask why we are here. I think the answer is to make beautiful things in the face of adversity. Just imagine if the Egyptians had not built the pyramids, Michael Angelo had not painted the Cistene Chapel, Wren had not designed St Pauls, Beethhoven had not witten the 1812 overture, Shakespeare has not written Romeo and Juliette and the Rolling Stones had not written Satisfaction. In many ways life would probably be exactly the same, but the world would be a poorer place. I've no idea where this blog fits into all of that, but the fact that over four million views have taken place, makes me hopeful I've added something.
Little things like this comment on the blog today make it all worth while
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