We are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the conception of the Barnet Eye blog next week. On the 20th March 2007, I sent an email to Phil Crowther, who was then the editor of the Barnet Times, suggesting that I write a column in the paper, featuring local music, bands and artists. I said that I felt that this would bring a new, younger readership to the paper and also help local bands to raise their profile. I reminded him of the columns by Kevin Black, Joy Bentley and Clarence Mitchell, that did just that in the early 1980's. I heard nothing. Six months later, I emailed again. I again heard nothing. I'm not one to give up. Three months later (now we are in March 2008), I sent another follow up. To my amazement, I got a reply almost immediately. The answer intrigued me. He said that he couldn't give a slot in the paper for music, but he'd be more than happy for me to become one of their new 'community bloggers'. This meant they'd give me my own page on their website.
I didn't know what a blogger was, odd though that may seem now. My interaction with social media had been a few songs on Myspace and an entry on Friends reunited. So I did what I always do. I reead up on how to be a successful blogger. The website I looked at gave me three golden rules. 1. Post as often as you can. 2. Post about stuff that interests you and you have something to say about. 3. Post things that no one else is saying. I'd 100% intended to simply blog about music. The first blog I wrote was about the dangers of systemic insecticides in the growing of skunk weed on 23rd June 2008, which got little response, as did the second that was about local music festivals but by a strange quirk of fate, the second or third day I started, something a local politician said riled me. I wrote a rather ssarcastic blog, saying exactly what I thought of him. It didn't occur to me that anyone actually read the blog. I'd not posted it on Twitter (as I wasn't even aware of Twitter) or Facebook. Next thing I knew, the blog had dozens of comments and was top of the 'most read articles' table on the website.
This created a momentum of its own. I realised that there was a whole lot of people out there who wanted someone to voice what they were thinking about our local council and it's esteemed councillors. I also learned that the local Tories are a bit thin skinned. Coleman got his PR guy at the GLA to ring up and try and get the offending blog removed. Phil Coleman made the classic error of telling me this. He didn't and thought it was hilarious that (in his words) "A blog read by five people had caused such a stir". I thought it was hilarious. Even more so when I realised that the Times had set my permissions up incorrectly and I could do anything I wanted on their website. I would never breach the trust of Phil Crowther, but I could see the stats and far more than five people had read the blog.
The whole thing inspired me. In October, the Tories running Barnet Council threatened to pull the advertising on the Barnet Times if they didn't give me the boot. This was the papers main source of income and they duly capitulated. Brian Coleman and his henchman Robert Rams reputedly went for a drink to 'celebrate the end of my blogging career'. As I'd never really considered myself a blogger in the first place, this amused me. It may surprise newer readers to learn what happened next. Former local Tory bigwig, son of Baroness Hendon and chair of Friern Barnet Conservatives David Miller was outraged. He saw this as a Stalinist attack on free speech. David agreed with many of my comments about Barnet Council, if not my politics. He persuaded me to set up the Barnet Eye blog and publish the blog that had caused the Torys to lose the plot. You will have to wait until Monday to read that story!
I assumed that no one would read the Barneteye. I called it that as a play on 'Private Eye'. The full name is |"99% is.... The Barnet Eye". This confused many people. They assumed it was because I stood with the 99% rather than the 1% who rule us. It was nothing of the sort. It was an in joke. There was an obscure punk rock song called 99% is Sh*t by the Cash Pussies. Apparently one of our local Tories told Crowther that 99% of what I wrote was just that and they wouldn't stand by and let me get away with it. I doubt any of them got the joke.
For the first six months or so of the blog, I wasn't really interested in whether anyone was reading it. I knew that if no one was, I'd get demoralised and give up. So I didn't look. When eventually I did, to my amazement, I'd had 60,000 views. I realised that I was doing something right. I had no idea that I'd actually achieve anything by writing the blog. I was wrong. Next week I will be picking my five greatest hits as a blogger. I've been giving this a lot of thought. Barnet needs bloggers. You can achieve things if you put your mind to it.
And finally....
It's Friday, so here is the Friday Joke. Have a great weekend!
I've been increasingly irritated by the usage of the term Oligarch to describe Roman Abramovich his mates. The reason? It is a complete misuse of the word. The people who the press describe as Oligarchs are nothing of the sort, according to the classical definition.
"form of government in which supreme power is vested in a small exclusive class," 1570s, from French oligarchie (14c.), from Latinized form of Greek oligarkhia "government by the few," from stem of oligos "few, small, little" (a word of uncertain origin) + -arkhia, from arkhein "to rule" (see archon). An earlier form of the word in English was oligracie (c. 1500, from Old French).
Aristotle, after some preliminary remarks, concludes by defining a democracy to be, when the freemen and those not the rich, being the majority, possess the sovereign power; and an oligarchy, when the rich and those of noble birth, being few, are in possession of the sovereign power. This definition of an oligarchy necessarily implies that the majority are excluded from participating in the sovereign power. It might be inferred, on the other hand, that in this definition of a democracy the few are excluded from the sovereign power: and such in this passage should be the meaning of the author, if he is consistent with himself. ["Political Dictionary," London 1845]
The one thing the likes of Abramovich don't have, it is political power. They are terrified of Vladimir Putin. If they fall foul of him, they are likely to get bumped off. Most, such as Abramovich, have secured nationality of other nations, in his case Portugal and Israel and have bolt holes and superyatchs. I was recently asked why Oligarchs need so many superyatchs. I was amazed at this question. I thought the answer was obvious. If you know that, at a whim, a crazed dictator may order you to be bumped off, the safest place to be is on the high seas.
Putin did a deal with the so called Oligarchs, he let them keep the money they'd robbed from the state in return for them relinquishing all power and control. Abramovich handed over his energy assets in 2004, in return for a few billion dollars. He's kept his head down in the political arena and is still alive. Some didn't and paid the price.
I have a problem with what is going on with Chelsea. Not with Abramovich, but with Chelsea. Two weeks ago Abramovich was deemed a suitable owner. Now he isn't. Nothing in his actions have changed. He is exactly the same bloke who was in charge last year when they won the Champions League. Nothing has materially changed about him since he bought the club. All that has happened is that it suits the British government to pretend he's suddenly become a monster. But what about the Oligarchs who donated to the Conservative Party? Think about the usage of the term Oligarch? When a Russian Oligarch gave Theresa Villiers thousands of pounds, does anyone seriously believe it was because they admired the work she'd done for the cats home?
This is disgusting. In a world where politicians had integrity, Theresa Villieres would immediately offer her resignation, but of course she won't https://t.co/yriYdd9Rs7
I'd personally ban all such donations from non UK nationals. We cannot be sure if the cash was splurged for favours don e or for insurance in future votes. What we can be sure of is that none of these donations were given out of the goodness of the hearts of these billionaires who came across their fortunes by means not open to you or I.
I don't know about you, but I'm horrified by the whole issue of Russian influence in Parliament. I passionately believe that one of the reasons Putin felt emboldened was because he thought all his tame billionaires favours to British politicians would persuade us to look the other way when he invaded Ukraine. I have Russian friends and family and they all tell me that they believe Russia has been completely surprised by the strength of the western economic response and sanctions. You don't have to be a genius to work out that had our troughing politicans not taken the bungs, then Putin would not have felt so confident. All we need now is the Wikileaks style disclosure in the next few weeks, where the whole supertanker full of sleaze sinks.
But returning to my original point. These gangsters have been laundered by being mislabelled Oligarchs, which clearly was a calling card to the top table. If you heard that a "Russian Oligarch donated thousands to Theresa Villiers MP" it sounds far better than "Putins crony and lacky donated thousands to Theresa Villiers MP", doesn't it? As far as I can see from Ms Villiers business expenses claims, she's getting more than enough to run her office. I should make clear that there are plenty of MP's who've taken tainted Russian money, but as this blog is based in Barnet, we look at our local MP's.
The bottom line is that language is important. Whenever we misuse words, it is a sure sign that something untowards is going on.
Do you want to become a million pounds richer and do no extra work? Sounds like a dream, doesn't it? No, it isn't. All you have to do is work the next 23 years (until 2045) if you are earning the average UK salary. In the UK inflation is running at 5.5% and if this remains static until 2045, and assuming that your wages are index linked, they will have grown to £144,908.90 a year and you will have earned £1,101,707 more than if inflation was zero %. Just think about it? You will have earned over a million pounds more. The only downside is that the costs of everything will have gone up by exactly the same amount. So you will be no better off.
Now for the bad news. This year most public sector got 1.75% rather than 5.5%. Just imagine of that is what you get? Rather than £1,101,707 extra, you will have earned £249,677 more. If price inflation stays the same, you will be £851,031 worse off in real terms.
Why am I mentioning all of this? Well it is important, as you can see. And no one is talking about it. We have a government that does not mention bringing inflation down as a priority. We have a government that has actively encouraged inflation with its loose fiscal policies. We have a cost of living crisis that is hitting us hard now, but if wages don't keep pace will leave us all in poverty.
Inflation has been kept in check for a couple of decades now, but under Boris it is letting rip. When you find that you can't afford a holiday, a new car, a meal at your favourite restaurant, remember why and who's fault it is.
Last night I attended the Barnet Council Financial Performance and Contracts Committee, chaired by Councillor Peter Zinkin. I'd submitted two questions. In the good old days, you'd get the responses in a timely fashion to allow you to compose a sensible follow up, if your question was not answered. Yesterday, I was forwarded the responses at 16.12. This was a bit inconvenient, as I had a meeting with the Sacred Heart Church Finance committee at 6pm, the committee started at 7pm, I was working until 5pm and had to walk dogs and eat dinner. As a result, I didn't see the responses until I arrived at the meeting. To make matters even more interesting, I was in such a rush getting from Mill Hill to Hendon for the meeting, I dropped my key getting in the car. I spent ten minutes looking for it, then left my phone in the car when I arrived, so I couldn't tweet the meeting or video it. To say I wasn't overly happy when I arrived is a mild understatement.
I arrived to see Mr Reasonable there. Barnet has a few bloggers. He's the only blogger I've seen at the Town Hall for a while. It used to be that whenever I went there'd be a bevvy of them, especially for any meeting discussing Capita. I thought I'd just do a quick recap on our fine bloggers, so anyone reasonably new to Barnet would have an idea who I'm talking about. I was the first of the bunch, but all have been around for well over a decade and our work has been recognised by everyone from the Guardian to former Tory Local Govt minister Eric Pickles, who commended our work.
If you consider each blogger as a newspaper, I'd probably be The Daily Star, Mrs Angry would be the Daily Mail, Mr Mustard would be Packaging News and Mr Reasonable would be The FT. When I say this I don't mean that any of the bloggers have sympathies with the publications, but in content terms and what we cover, I am very eclectic and being a bit thick, like the Star don't use long words to demonstrate my intellect. I like to put the boot in, but also to cover football, music and all manner of other irrelevence.
Mrs Angry is very much a 'sensible mid market' paper that loves a sensationalist scoop, but decries anyone else who has the nerve to beat her to it. She loves a good old long word, here's a classic Mrs Angry sentence, where I'd say "Lets sling out the Tories in May", she would say "Roll on May: it's time to clear out the Augean stables, and rid ourselves of the rotten stench hanging around this Tory council and their collaborators." Her work is pretty damn good, but a bit too wordy for plebs like me! Mrs Angry seems to have semi retired, only knocking out the occasional blog when the mood takes her, which is a crying shame as she does rather wind up a few councillors who thorughly deserve it.
Mr Mustard started blogging about Barnet Council, but now mostly concentrates on parking issues, he's become very niche and probably is far better for it. He's also moved beyond the boundaries of the Borough, his latest blog being about the parking in Hillingdon. If Parking tickets are your thing, his blog is brilliant. He does other stuff, but mostly transport and roads related these days.
Mr Reasonable is the man who really get stuck into the detail. Whereas I skim the council papers and if I see something juicy leaping out, I blog it, John reads them properly and when he blogs, it is full of detail. His brain works in a different way to mine. He often picks things out that I've missed completely. His latest blog about how Brighton Marina is costing Barnet Ratepayers a fortune is typical. I read the report and missed the detail completely. I was not alone, it seems our Tory councillors also missed this detail. It seems that they miss most of what he blogs about.
Anyway, I digress, last night I arrived to meet Mr Reasonable. He looked more irritated than usual. I had taken a chance. I'd not read the answers, so I may have had a wasted journey. If they'd given me a complete and sensible answer, it would have been a wasted journey. When I read the responses, I was not suprised. Perhaps the most irritating thing about Barnet Council meetings is that they rarely actually answer the question. This was no exception. The nub of the first question was "Please clarify in plain English, what this
means in financial terms to Barnet
Taxpayers." The response did no such thing. I did get an apology, that to paraphrase was along the lines "Sorry you are too thick to understand what we were saying". In my second question, I asked whether the failure to inspect restaurants had resulted in an increase in the number of cases of food poisoning. The answer was "No". I asked for some evidence, as this was not provided. I was told that this would be forthcoming. We shall see.
As for Mr Reasonable. Whilst I'm thick and don't understand words of more than four letters, he does. How did he feel about the responses to his questions? Well this was what he tweeted.
Not sure why I bother going to council meetings. I raised serious questions about call answering, a service Capita are due to retain. They couldn't meet the target to answer 80% of calls in 20 secs so increased it 60 secs then to 120 secs & still can't meet target. pic.twitter.com/JMv5Y6caMl
This blog has been campaigning for sustainable energy and transport from the day we started. Sadly, in the 14 years I've been blogging, there has been little real change. When I started writing the blog, I knew little on the subject. I just had a general feeling that we weren't doing enough. When I got my first regular pay packet back in 1983, I took out a monthly standing order to Greenpeace and have paid it every month since, as I believed we need to be more considerate of the environment, but it was only when I started to write the blog and research the issues, that I got any real understanding of what we can/should be doing and how appalling we've actually been at doing it.
The sad truth is that if the Govt had listened to people who did know, back in 2008, when I started blogging, we'd not be in a position where a war in Ukraine would be sending our energy prices through the roof. The sad truth is that successive governments have preferred to run a high carbon, unsustainable economy rather than invest in technologies that would now be cheap, sustainable and under our control.
Of course there are other nations that have done far worse, but for me the fact that Germany has made a dogs breakfast of its energy procurement does not absolve the UK of having no strategy to become sustainable and independent. There are a whole range of things we could be doing to meet these aims, I've discussed them many times in this series. It is no mystery what we need to do.
1. Reduce our dependence on imported petrol and oil
2. Develop our own sustainable energy sources
3. Develop a national efficient network of energy storage facilities
4. We must add a caveat that this should not be done to the detriment of the environment or important natural habitats.
To acheive the first objective needs to be lead by a proprer local, regional and national strategy to move us out of our cars and on to public transport, bicycles and to walk. It is almost unbelieveable that in the course of my lifetime, we actually lost a railway line in Mill Hill that would have provided quick, non polluting travel between Edgware and Mill Hill East and would have served Saracens Rugby stadium, shifting thousands of people. If you look at how investment in Thameslink massively increased usage of the line in Mill Hill, prior to the pandemic, it should be clear to all that investment does pay.
London has a shortage of decent radial routes. I recently had to get to Ruislip for a football match on a Saturday. The recommended journey involved a bus and changing a tube train. On the way back it was two tube trains and Thameslink. If we are to take modal shift seriously, we should start building proper radial, outer London routes, that would open up travel across the outer suburbs. If you think this isn't needed just look at how busy the North Circular and M25 are. Sadly in the 1960's many lines that would offer sensible passenger routes, such as the link from St Albans to Hatfield were pulled up in the Beeching cuts. We should have a look at reopening as many of these routes as we practically can. When we look at the costs, we should consider that payback will be over many decades. It will help us move away from reliance on foreign regimes for our oil who history has shown are unreliable.
Of course, in terms of short journeys, walking and cycling are the most sustainable ways to travel. We need policies that favour these. I'd like to see a walking/cycling requirement on school admissions, to reduce the traffic generated by the school run and improve the general fitness and wellbeing of children.
The UK needs its own sustainable energy sources. Wind, solar, tidal and other new technologies need to be developed. We have an efficient national grid energy transmission system, which allows us to move electricity around the nation. Now we need to massively increase the amount of energy that we generate using green technologies. It beggars belief that there are people such as Nigel Farage pushing back against this. We should be looking to lead the world, this would bring cash in as the market for such tehnologies will only increase. I once read of a scheme to use the Thames Barrier to generate electicity. It would only be opened at mid tide and then at other times, turbines would use the difference in river height to generate power. I'm not qualified to say how much this could generate or whether it is feasable, but such things need to be investigated.
Energy Storage. One of the problems with solar and wind energy is that sometimes it produces too much energy and other times not enough. The holy grail for sustainable energy is efficient energy storage. Historically this means batteries, but this technology is not particularly sustainable or green. Work has been done on using water reserviors and turbines to store and generate electricity. When there is a surpluss of energy, water is pumped to a higher level and then released as needed to the lower level using turbines to generate electricity in the process. This would help smooth the peaks and troughs of generation.
What we mustn't do is what the UK always seems to do. That is use sites of natural beauty or scientific interest to house new infrastructure. This is usually done as it is cheap and there are not many NIMBY neighbours to placate.
We have to move away from a situation where tinpot dictators can use our energy requirements to blackmail us. It is also an opportunity. If we get good at sustainable technology, we will develop significant export potential. This will only be good for the UK. Five years ago, I installed solar panels at home. I calculated the payback would be 7-10 years. With recent hikes, my sums tell me I'm already in credit and from here on in any energy is free. It is a shame that locally, Barnet Council didn't do the same with it's libraries estate in 2011, when I suggested it. They would have made a huge profit by now.
Firstly an explanation. I didn't do the feature last week as world events were overshadowing what was happening in our community and I simply didn't think I could get the right tone. Although in some ways this is still the case, we have to continue. I pray for peace in the Ukraine and I pray that no more fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters grieve on both sides. It is pretty clear to anyone who has bothered to follow the situation, that this is the work of Putin. I hope that he can find a way to step back and de-escalate. I hope we can fix our broken world. As a race, we will know we've grown up, when we don't settle disputes with guns. We are a long way away from that. But, here in the Borough of Barnet, good things have been happening. Here is my selection.
1. Our local team is in the cup final! Well done to the Hadley boys. A great day yesterday
FT in today's semi-final and it is @hadleyfc who progress to the final with a 2-0 victory over @RoystonTownFC, after extra time.
This is the first time Hadley have reached the final of the HSC, where they will face either @cheshuntfcscore or @HitchinTownFC.
— Hertfordshire Senior Challenge Cup (@HertsSeniorCup) March 12, 2022
2. Nice bit of local history here
Lower Hale Farm, Edgware (1920)
The farm was located on Stoneyfields Lane near to the junction of Hale Lane. The area became suburban soon after the arrival of the Northern Line in the early 1920s. https://t.co/ljiTqor9FN
North Circular Road at Staples Corner on 28th October 1988. The locomotives were parked up in a siding at Cricklewood. Brakes were not applied properly and they moved off, crashed through the buffers and crashed down onto the road. Nobody injured. Both engines were beyond repair. pic.twitter.com/KRMtiKR10F
Yes, the new growing season has started, and we finally managed to put our planting ideas onto paper! We are going with some the usual suspects but would like to try a few newcomers too, like kohlrabi and salsify. And for the first time we will grow a whole bed of potatoes! Yum! pic.twitter.com/cforo7xAKY
— Our Yard at Clitterhouse Farm | Cricklewood (@clitterhouse) March 8, 2022
— Colindale Folk Club (@ColindaleFolk) March 8, 2022
7. Possibly my favourite of this weeks pick. May we wish Carstner the very best of luck.
Love this photo at Tractor Boxing Gym in Hendon of Brenton Watts and his coach Carsten Bergner. Intensity, honesty, and trust. Brenton is in Melbourne this week seeking to qualify for Commonwealth Games. Wish him luck! pic.twitter.com/uPGU1zfp57
9. We really would like to see our parks properly tended to
It’s a shame that @barnetcouncil didn’t sort out the drainage issues when they recently planted trees. We did ask and were assured it would be done pic.twitter.com/zMk0NSzYv8
— A Better Mill Hill 🔸🌈🇬🇧🇪🇺 (@ABetterMillHill) March 13, 2022
10. And finally, a shout out to these wonderful people
Fridges, cones, car bumper, plastic rocking horse among the 3 skip-loads of junk pulled out of the east marsh at Brent Reservoir (Welsh Harp) this week by diligent @CRTSouthEast & @LandandWaterCo.
There is nothing better than a tasty roast dinner. It is perhaps the favourite tradition in our family. The only problem is that my wife and one of my daughters are vegetarians. This presents a challenge, but it is one that I've embraced. I thought I'd share these with you. As they eat dairy, this is used, but there are good non dairy cheese options that can be used.
1. Baked stuffed mushrooms. This is perhaps the favourite option. I get the big flat mushrooms from the Mill Hill Broadway Food Centre. These are ideal. I also get some Shitake mushrooms. I remove the stalks, chop them up with some Shitake mushrooms and fry in olive oil and grated garlic and chopped shallots. I give the tops of the mushrooms a quick fry, to lightly brown. I then put the fried shitake mushrooms, etc, in the and top with some thinly spread tomato paste and top with Parmesan cheese. These go in the oven for about 20 mins.
2. Aubergene steaks. I get really frustrated with the fact that almost no one seems to understand the potential of the Aubergene. Too many of the dishes are slimey and watery. I have found that the best way to cook Aubergene is to slice in to 1cm thick slices fry it until lighlty brown in olive oil, seasoning with smokled paprika, pepper and salt. I then season with pepper and garlic salt, put a thin layer of grated garlic on it and top with cheddar cheese. These go in the oven for 15-18 minutes, until the cheese is nicely melted.
3. Baked Cauliflower. There is a train of thought that Cauliflower is a sort of vegan chicken. It isn't. If you pretend it is, you will end up very disappointed. However if you get away from that silly notion, you can transform it into a magnificent and tasty treat. I get a whole cauliflower and split it into the individual florets. I then fry these in chilli oil for about five minites, to lightly brown. Season with smoked paprika, pepper and garlic salt. Then put in silver foil. I then add Marks and Spencers Deliciously versatile Teriaki sauce, although a good dark Soy is almost as good. I then bake for about 75 mins. It is wonderful.
4. Stuffed Peppers. This is an old favourite. Chop the top off and remove any seeds etc. When you have stuffed peppers in restaurants, they are often dry affairs, with rice etc in. To me this is just a lazy lack of imagination. I like to do them with Puy lentils, chilli, mushroom and shallots. Cook the Puy Lentils in a good stock as per the instructions. Fry up the chilli, Mushrooms and chopped shallots with garlic salt and pepper and add to the lentils. Sear the skins of the peppers in the frying pan, then stuff with the lentils etc. Top with parmesan and tomato paste and bake for 20 mins.
5. Mushroom burger steaks. These are great meat alternatives and really easy to make. Get a couple of potatoes and chop into four pieces and boil for 15 minutes. Drain the water and mash. Add salt, pepper and smoked paprika to taste, leave to cool. Chop up the mushrooms add some chopped chilli, grated garlic, and leave to cool. Then mix in mash and chopped dill. Form the mixture into genrous burger size patties and fry for 3-4 mins a side or until crispy brown on the outside on a medium high heat. Tranfer to a baking tray and cook for 20 mins in the oven.
6. Lentil, cauliflower and onion burgers. These are really good. Cook red lentils as per instructions in a decent stock and drain any excess liquid. Leave to cool. Chop up the onion and cauliflower quite finely, I add chilli flakes. Season with salt, pepper and smoked paprika and fry. Leave to cool and then mix in with the lentils. Form into generous burger sized patties. Fry until crispy on both sides (3-4 mins on medium high heat) and then finish in oven for 20 mins.
7. Battered Haloumi steaks. Haloumi is a really good meat substitute. I quite like it fried in beer batter. Beer batter is really easy to make. 3/4 cup plain flour, 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1 bottle beer of your choice, 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika. Mix until consistant. Dip in the Haloumi and deep fry until golden. If you are vegan, this also works well with cauliflower.
At some point, it is my intention to make Youtube videos of all of these, so that you can follow on a step by step basis.
As is the tradition, here is something to (hopefully) put a smile on your face, from my favourite British comedian Ronnie Barker. I think we all need a little laugh at the moment. IMHO Porridge exemplified the best of British humour, transforming a grim and rather bleak situation into one that is absolutely hilarious, if at times rather dark.
When I started the Barnet Eye, I did so because I felt that the local press wasn't doing its job, in relation to keeping an eye on the activities of Barnet Council. The blog is interested in local issues, generally I leave national issues to others, although clearly I have an opinion and I do on occasion blog about these, as the big issues do impact Barnet. I always try and look at issues from a local perspective.
Which brings me to the crisis in the Ukraine. To me this has been a depressing and devastating war. I had a couple of days when I felt extremely depressed about the situation. I've worried for my children, but over the last couple of days, I've started to gather my thoughts and think about what we can do on a hyper local level. My eldest daughter has left home, so we have a spare bedroom. It strikes me that it is immoral that I have an empty room and there are people who might need a roof over their heads as a result of the crisis. I thought I'd have a look at what Barnet Council are doing to see if there were any local schemes where people can assist. If you read the page, you will realise that the answer is absolutely nothing (apart from putting a page signposting where else to go).
This is a misconception that councils shouldn't get involved in all of that sort of thing. There are two reasons why this is wrong. The first is that London is the Capital city of the world, we have citizens from just about every nation living in our Borough. They need support, help and reassurance. Ukrainians living in Barnet may have relatives who are fleeing the war and who need a roof over their head. Most people on a budget, unlike me, don't have a spare room. Surely Barnet Council should be leading the way in helping these to find a place near friends and family. I'd be more than happy to help someone out for a few months. The only caveat I have is that they must be OK with large (friendly) dogs.
The second reason is that there used to be a concept in the Council called 'civic pride'. It manifested itself in many ways. Barnet Council used to take pride in the way it maintained our parks, swept our streets, twinned with foreign towns, had exchange programs and looked beyond the boundaries of our Borough to say 'Barnet is a wonderful place, come and have a look'. How did that manifest itself? The Council had a museum in Hendon called Chiurch Farmhouse Museum. They would have all manner of exhibitions celebrating our local community and heritage. A few that made a strong impression on me were ones such as the Harry Beck (inventor of the tube map) who lived locally. Then there was the one that really excited me, the Sound of the Suburbs exhibition, which celebrated the Rock and Roll history of the Borough. However, the most interesting of all was a collection of photographs, retreived from a skip, following the death of a local press photograpaher, which chronicled the Spanish Civil War.
Sadly, Barnet Council and the Conservatives who run it, have abolished the concept of civic pride. They closed Church Famhouse museum to save a few pennies. It is now offices for Middlesex University. The argument is always that there is 'not enough cash'. This is complete rubbish. Following the second world war, in 1948, the UK was virtually bankrupt, but we maintanined parks, museums, created the NHS, built council houses. Now we would rather have a cup of frothy coffee or two a week than fund all this. Tax has become a dirty word. Whilst the Barnet Conservatives have given up on 'Civic Pride' and doing the right thing, I don't believe locals have.
I posted this tweet earlier (At the time of writing I've had no response from Barnet Council)
Dear @BarnetCouncil we have a spare room. If there is a refugee who is ok with dogs, we’d be happy to accommodate them. Do you have such a scheme?
There were several replies which pointed me at varous individuals and schemes. I am heartened that we do care. We need a council that reflects this.
I just want to say a few words about the 'spending taxpayers money' charge that the Barnet Conservatives always reel out. I'm an engineer by trade. As such I've made a career by making things work better. That is what engineers do. If you look at your phone or your computer and think what they did 30 years ago and what they do now, consider this. Because they are designed by engineers, they are cheaper and do infinitely more things. Barnet Council is designed by accountants. It does far less and charges you far more than it ever has. Even other Conservative Councuil Tories are taunting the Barnet Conservatives for their huge tax rises, trolling them for having raised tax by over 50% more than Tory Hillingdon Council.
— Harrow Council Conservatives (@HAConservatives) March 8, 2022
But it doesn't need to be like this. I've run a successful business for the last 42 years. I know better than anyone, that the worst solution to any problem is to throw money at it. One of the reasons I want to stand for council is I believe that it is badly run and a better administration would save money and do a better job. Let me give you a simple example.
At the studio, like everyone, we are facing a huge increase in energy costs. This is starting to seriously affect our profitability. So we had a brainstorming session. A few sums showed that replacing all of our remaining non energy efficent bulbs would result in a net saving in six months. We then considered other measures. The easiest and cheapest is simply to turn off lights and heaters immediately that a session finishes. I drove past the buildings of Barnet Council recently after office hours. Maybe a few lights off there would save a few bob?
All across the Borough I see waste by Barnet Council. I see bodged repairs of potholes and pavements. I'm not a fan of candidates who you never see until just before elections, who then wander around pointing at potholes, pretending they care. They don't. What they should be doing is reporting the pothole and then checking the repairs and feeding back to the council if they are not done properly. Contractors should not be paid for shoddy work.
In short, we need civic pride. This starts with clean streets, well maintained parks but it extends to a council that says "We will set an example with how we deal compassionately with refugees and we'll take the whole of Barnet with us".
Here is a little reminder of what civic pride is. This is the video I made the day the Barnet Conservatives shut Church Farmhouse Museum
1938. What does it mean to you? That was the year that Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich with a piece of paper, announcing on his return that he'd secured "Peace in our time". Shortly afterwards, Adolf Hiter invaded Czechoslovakia. Hold that thought for just a second......
I know very little about my father's eraly life. I know he was born in Blackall, in the outback of Queensland. His father was an engineer who worked on goldfields. His mother I know little about. I've heard conflitcing stories. In 1938, my father was 21. To the best of my knowledge, he was working as steam engineer on goldfields in the outback. He told me that he was a pioneer until he was 22, so he wouldn't have drunk alcohol. I knew he was a decent cricketer, playing at a competetive level, but I have no idea who for. I don't know if he'd ever travelled outside of Queensland. I know for certain he'd never been outside Australia. His mother, my grandmother, Catherine Tichborne had passed away in 1937 in a road accident. We know my Grandfather took that very badly. My Dad never, ever talked about it.
I have no idea whether my father was aware of the happenings in Munich as he worked on the goldfield. The place was remote. He told stories of water arriving on a weekly train. Workers were tempted with the offer of "all the beer you could drink", only to find that water was the really sought after commodity. There was talk that he had a fiance, but we know nothing of that, beyond a few wry comments from my mother and an embarrassed silence from my father. What were his aspirations then? I knew he dreamed of seeing the world. He told me he aspired to be test match bowler for Australia. His father was an engineer, who'd settled in Australia, but had been born in Canada. We knew he worked in the oil industry and had drilled wells in Canada, Romania and Australia. We knew he had switched to boring artesian wells for farmers in the outback, disillusioned with the oil indyustry, who he believed to be theives and gangsters. I'm pretty sure he inspired my father with his tales of travelling. In those days, commercial air travel was beyond the means of ordinary people. Travel was largely something you did for work. Getting from Australia to the UK would have involved a six week boat journey. Tourism to Austraila was not even really dreamed of for ordinary people. As Mr Chaimberlain put pen to paper in Munich, I can only speculate what my Dad was doing. Working, playing cricket and dreaming. What does any 21 year old man dream of. Hold that thought.....
Well, I had a wonderful day in Manchester watching @ManCity thrash @ManUtd possibly best City performance I’ve seen. Credit to both clubs and sets of fans for #Ukraine️ solidarity before match pic.twitter.com/ALNxIAmuSH
On Sunday, I travelled up to Manchester with my son. He's 21. He's doing a maths and economics degree at a top London University. He gets his intelligence from my wife (certainly not me). We went to watch Manchester City play Manchester United. We are city fans. We had a wonderful day. We met at 10.30, had a tea and a light breakfast. We arriverd in Manchester at around 14.30, had a couple of beers and a delicious burger in a local pub. We then went to the match, which was wonderful. After, we strolled back to Piccadilly station. I had a pint, he's more sensible and had a drink of water. It was a long trip back, arriving at Euston just before 11pm. We made our way down to the underground. He took the Victoria Line back to his digs, I took the Northern Line to Burnt Oak. As we parted, he gave me a bighug and said "Thanks Dad, I've had a brilliant day". When it comes down to it, for all the things I've done in my life, that is what we really live for. To see our children happy. Hold that thought.....
As I boarded the tube I was quite euphoric. We'd had a wonderful day. We were happy, for a few hours we had no care in the world. In life, there are sadly very few such moments and they slip through our fingers like dry sand. As I'd not had a drink since we boarded the train in Manchester, we had a tea on the train, I started feeling melancholic. In such moments, I often think of my Dad, who passed away in 1987. We never really bonded over anything. He wasn't a football fan. He sponsored Edgware Town football club through his business and took me to see them, but he'd rarely watch, he had no interest in football. He'd buy me a bovril or a lemonade and disappear. A couple of the guys who worked for him played for the team and I'd stand with them if they weren't playing or their friends and family if they were. He took me to Cricket at Lords for a couple of test matches, but I didn't really enjoy it. If I had my time again, I'd have asked him to teach me to fly aeroplanes, he was a qulaified pilot instructor, but he didn't even teach me to drive a car, as he had no patience with me. Don't get me wrong, I loved him, the only thing we ever really did together when I was a teenager was to play the odd game of snooker at the Mill Hill Services Club. I loved it, but I had other interests, so it was a rare occurrance. My Father couldn't understand my lack of interest in travel. I had no interest in travelling. When I finished my A Levels and moved to Sweden, he was gobsmacked. I only went because I'd met a girl there. I had no interest in Sweden, just seeing her. I was out there for six months. When I returned, my parents had gone to Australia for an extended holiday. I stayed at their house for a while. When they returned, I was in the dog house, as I'd had a party and the place had been wrecked. I moved out. Now I appreciate just how difficult I was. As a teeneager, I just thought it was all someone else's fault.
As I churned over this difficult relationship, I recalled the last time I saw my Dad. In 1986, he'd had health problems. I was living elsewhere, we had made up our differences. I'd visited him in hospital and he looked awful. The penny had dropped. This man who I had spent my life in awe of, was in fact mortal. I was convinced he was going to die. I prayed and said "Dear Lord, please let him get better, even if it's only so I can take him for a curry and a beer". He recovered. In November 1986, my mum went to visit her sister. I was working for BT and making good money. I told him Iw as taking him out for a beer and a curry. We met at the club, had a game of snooker, then went for a curry. We ended up at home drinking whisky and sitting up until 3am. It was the only time I had a proper, grown up night with my Dad. It was wonderful. I was so grateful to the Good Lord for the opportunity. My prayer had been answered. Shortly after, my parents went to Florida to visit my sister for the winter, as they did most years. I never saw him again. Be careful what you pray for, God may just take you at your word.
As I mulled on these thoughts, I realised that Dad was 21 as the world plunged into 1938. There are many parallels. The most chilling is that my son is 21. Whatever my Dad thought the future held for him in 1938, I'm sure that even in his wildest dreams he never thought that the world would erupt into war, he'd become an RAF pilot, he'd bomb the very oil wells that his father had drilled in Romania. He never dreamed that he'd end up seeing Bucharest as a prisoner of war, escape and end up married and living in Mill Hill. For my Father, the war opened up a whole world. His elder brother never left Queensland. After the war, my Father worked as commercial pilot until my mother tired of him being away from home. None of this would have happened without the second world war. As with 1938, a dictator has gone mad and has attacked another country. As in 1938, the west sits on its hands. I'm not advocating WW3. No matter how terrible WW2 was, it would seem like a tea party if the USA and Russia start trading nuclear warheads. I thought about the journey my Dad made. In London we are living in a prime target. A single nuclear warhead would wipe out myself and all of my children. All their dreams, aspirations and plans. Maybe if we moved to the outback of Australia, where my Dad was born we'd be safe. No one would bother nuking the outback. But who wants to run and hide.
Mum and Dad on VE Day at Piccadilly Circus
When WW2 ended in 1945, my father was a very different man to the 21 year old who was working as a steam engineer. Seven years. The map of the world redrawn. Living in a different hemisphere. He'd become an orphan in 1941 when his father passed away. The circumstances are not known to me, I've heard all manner of storys. My father told us he'd died in a hotel fire. An Aussie cousin confided that it may have been an accident related to depression and alcoholism, following the death of my Grandmother. By 1945, my Father was no longer a pioneer, smoking 60 Capstan Medium cigarettes a day and with a healthy apetite for a drink. He was married and an RAF Officer.
It made me think of 2029. Seven years from now. Where will my son be? He'll be 28. Will the Ukraine war be seen as a sad, closed chapter or will be the start of the end? Where will my son be? How will this affect him. Will the speach we heard in the Commons yesterday by Volodymyr Zelensky be recalled as defining Churchillian moment, will it be a forgotten chapter? Will we see Putin as a Hitler type figure or a Kruyshev, who blinked in the Cuban missile crises, destroying his own credibility for ever, but saving us all from a nuclear war? If I had a Tardis and could track down my Dad in 1938, if I told him what he'd be doing in 1945, he'd presumably think I was bonkers.
What chills me to the bone is that both my father and my son are living/lived their 21st year against the backdrop of a deranged dictator invading their neighbours as the world stands by. In 2021 we show our disapproval by closing McDonalds in Moscow. I just hope and pray to God that Vladimir Putin really fancies a Big Mac and decides to throw in the towel. It may sound absurd but, perhaps, just perhaps, it is no more absurd than that 21 year old, callow Aussie youth ending up in Mill Hill running his own crash repair business. I wish I could see something positive coming from the devastation we see.
When it comes down to it, the most important thing in life is that moment around 11pm on Sunday night. The hug between father and son. It is devastating that for so many Ukranian and Russian fathers and sons will never again have such a hug. I recall a story my Mother told me about her father. He was an Irishman, a Dubliner, who's family were all staunch nationalists. He left Ireland as the family were getting stress from the British Authorities and ended up being conscripted and fighting in the trenches of the Somme with the Cavalry, as a horseman.
He told my mother and father of an incident, where he'd been insulted for being Irish by an Englishman. My Grandfather, a very eloquent man, asked the young man if he was an English nationalist and patriot. The young man replied "Yes and proud of it". My Grandfather replied "Let me tell you a story about Proud Nationalists. I fought in the trenches in the Somme. In those trenches, there were proud nationalists from England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France, Belgium and America. In the other trenches, there were Prussians, Germans and Austrian proud patriots. Do you know how many died in those trenches, do you know how many were never found, never buried? Do you know how many mothers cried and never saw their sons again. That is what being a proud nationalist does. I am a proud citizen of the world and I want angry young men to put down their guns and live their lives, not die in trenches in the rain. If you'd seen what I have seen you would understand, but I hope you never have to". Hold that thought.....
Here is a song I recorded, the video sums up my view of war.
