Donald Trump and the Ten Commandments

 I had a very strange experience this morning when I woke up. I picked up the Guardian and read a column by Arwa Mahdawi. For those of you not familiar with her, she is a feminist, atheist writer. What was the subject? A staunch defence of Pope Leo in the face of attacks from Donald Trump. It finished with the comment, directed at Vice President JD Vance, who had supported his boss's stance. She said "I know you're desperate for your boss's job, JD, but I think it would be best for American public policy if there were a little less dictating and a little more morality". Before Donald Trump ascended to the throne in America, I would never have dreamed that such a columnist would write such a line. 

It got me thinking about the Orange one and his relationship with the religiously aligned people of America on the Christian right. There are two versions of Christian thinking, that which I subscribe to that leans towards The Beatitudes "Blessed are the Peacemakers", which was Jesus's keynote speech on morality, which differentiated Christian thinking from the Old Testament philospohy of an eye for an eye. 

Then there are the hardliner right, who take a fundamental view based on the Old testament and specifically the ten commandments. I thought long and hard and then the thought occurred to me, what is Donald Trumps relationship with the Ten Commandments. 

So lets have a look at them and see how Donald Trump is getting on - My observations in Red Italics

1. I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other gods before me.

I can't comment on this, I don't really know what goes on in Trumps mind and whether he holds any other Gods in higher esteem than the one mentioned in the Bible.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.

This! One picture says a thousand words.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

Being fair to DT, I've never heard him take the Lords name in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.

This! posted on Sunday April 5th. There are plenty of others on Sundays, but this is perhaps the least Holy tweet I've ever seen by a leader. 

 

5. Honour thy father and thy mother.

I have seen no evidence that DT does not honour his Father and Mother, so well done.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

Prior to the attack on Iran, I'd have commended DT on his anti war stance. Sadly, he ordered the launch of the war and many have died. Blood is on his hands. And he boasts about it

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

DT's extra marital activities is a matter of public record. Why Christian fundamentalists do not mind, I cannot really fathom, but hey ho, life is complicated.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

Greenland, Iranian Oil, The 2020 election, there are many cases of DT trying to get hold of things which are not legally his. Can we give him a pass on this one, because he failed miserably. Many of his businesses have gone bankrupt, leaving suppliers etc massively out of pocket? Can we give him a pass on this? 

Businesses owned or branded by Donald Trump have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009. These filings allowed the businesses to restructure debts, largely related to casinos and hotels in Atlantic City and New York, rather than filing for personal bankruptcy. 

Key Business Bankruptcy Filings:

• 1991: Trump Taj Mahal (Atlantic City)
• 1992: Trump Plaza (Atlantic City)
• 1992: Trump Castle (Atlantic City)
• 1992: Plaza Hotel (New York)
• 2004: Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts
• 2009: Trump Entertainment Resorts 

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness.

This! For the record 457 UK troops died in Afghanistan after the USA invoked the NATO treaty to support the Afghan operation, Hundreds of other troops from Nato countries died in the operation. 

 

10. Thou shalt not covet.

One word. Greenland. 

To sum up. Despite claiming to be a Non Aligned Christian, I can only give Donald a clean bill of health on three of the ten commandments, based on the information I have. I will add that a central plank of Christianity is forgiveness, being non judgemental and seeking reconciliation. I really don't like questioning people's beliefs as non of us walk in the same shoes. However, when people start avoidable wars and we live in a democracy, it is right and proper to question their behaviour. I do not personally blame Trump. I blame all of the people who have facilitated a man who is clearly not fit for the job, to become President. I blame all of the right wing fundamentalist Christians who support Trump, whilst ignoring his morality and character. Arwa Mahdawi's support of the Pope in light of the attacks by Trump makes a very important point. I am sure that she has little time for many aspects of Roman Catholic morality, but even someone such as her, who would never be a natualy ally of Pope Leo have a sense of fairness, honesty and decency and can see right from wrong here.

I was raised in a staunch Roman Catholic household. I was taught that the Pope was infallable. When I became an adult, I realised that the history of the Papacy demonstrated that this concept was unsustainable. This is one reason why I describe myself as a bad Catholic. But I can wholeheartedly state that in this particular discussion, not only is Pope Leo right. When people who are critics of him and his church agree, it is hard to argue. Who imagined that a feminist atheist would be defending a Pope against attacks from a conservative Roman Catholic Vice President. We live in a very strange world at the moment. 

Why I believe that Private Schooling has held the UK back

 Why do people send their children to private schools? It is a very simple answer, so that they end up with better jobs than other people with similar levels of intelligence who didn't go to private schools. It is a simple economic equation that parents on above average earnings understand. If all life was about was the accumilation of cash, there would be no problem with this at all. But there is so much more to life. I went to comprehensive schools and was a pretty poor student. Four of my five siblings went, for some or all of their secondary school education to schools that charged fees. It has never particularly bothered me, as my brothers had an awful time under Danny Coughlan at Challoner School. So much so that one enrolled to become a Priest and go to a Seminary when he was 13 to get away. 

I personally always felt I learned little useful at school and the best lessons were in the various jobs I did as a teenager. Much of the time I was working with older men with life experience, who would pass it on, in rather harsh ways. When I started to do 'proper jobs', I soon realised that people who had attended private schools had very different skill sets. They were usually more confident, more eloquent and better networkers. Whilst we focussed on doing our jobs, they focussed on building their careers. It took me a long time to realise why some people progressed in the corporate world with seemingly little talent for the job. One day, at a team drink, the scales dropped from my eyes. Whilst we were all boozing and having a laugh with our mates, one individual was schmoozing the bosses. I actually got on pretty well with the bosses and so I went over. I was surprised to hear that he was giving them a monologue on how marvellous he was. It was quite subtle, but he clearly knew how to 'work the room'. I saw such opportunities as a chance to let off steam with the other members of the team. I realised that I was a novice at the game. 

The team I belonged to had a monthly team booze up and after the third or fourth time he attended, everyone had realised he only wanted to chat to the bosses. It wasn't a tactic that worked in a software company, but over the course of my career I saw the pattern repeated time and again, usually with far more success.

One of the most interesting lessons I've learned in my 63 years on the planet is that intelligence and common sense cannot be taught in a classroom. You can however train people to network, schmooz and be affable. I realised that the reason Rugby is played at fee paying schools is because it is a game that builds such skills. Association Football is a game of mavericks at its best. Now interestingly in the UK it is the mavericks that made the country great. A great example is  Mrs Shillings Orafice, invented by Beatrice Shilling, which stopped Spitfires stalling in the Battle of Britian. A talented engineer who perhaps changed the course of the war, purely because she loved racing motorbikes and understood how engines work.

The UK has developed an education system where the best jobs go to those who are trained to schmooz and those who are clever but denied opportunities to shine are relegated to a seat on the bench. When I was a kid, we were treated to names like Alexander Fleming, who invented penicillin and Frank Whittle who invented the Jet engine. Now the hero's are some bloke who can stick seveteen saveloys up his nose on TikTok. The best jobs, the ones that buy you a £3 million house out of legal and decent earnings are almost exclusively the domain of the public school alumni. What does this mean? That the UK no longer is encouraging creativity, in an age where it is a successful economies USP. 

I don't blame the private schools or the parents. Who doesn't want the best for their kids. I would not ban fee paying schools. But what I would do is ensure the brightest children who are in the state sector get the personal skills to compete with them. It is totally unfair that a top acheiving child at an average schools is behind a dullard with good inter-personal skills that have been drummed into them at private school.

Rant over

Oh Lord, thank you for endowing me with a sense of humour

I will let you into a secret. Well it isn't really a secret, it is just one of my weird and wacky beliefs. You see I believe God has a wicked sense of humour. Now if this is wrong, I may well find myself consigned to the fiery wastes of Hell for publicly writing such blasphemy, but the older I get, the more evidence I see of it. I believe that to some extent we are all victims of this, but most of all the miserable, anti fun religious types. I believe that it was no random coincidence that the first miracle of Jesus was to turn water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana. If you read the relevant chapter, not only was it described as the finest wine, bible clearly states that he produced 40 gallons of it. There are roughly 5 pints in a gallon, so that is around 200 pints of wine.  Theologians estimate that there were around 100 people at the feast, so they each had 2 pints of wine each. Now bear in mind, the reason Mary asked Jesus to intervene was because the guests had drunk the bar dry already. I am not a theologian, but when I read the bible, I often see sections of the bible where Mary reminds me of my own mother. If I had the gift to perform miracles, my Mum would most definitely be getting me to change water into wine. To me, out of all of the miracles, it is the most persuasive. Firstly because it annoys stuck up, miserable theologians, who hate the idea of Jesus and his mates actually having a bit of a craic, I am sure many Bishops over the years have wished it had not been included. But secondly, and more persuasively (for me at least), it shows that we all need a laugh and a bit of fun with our mates sometimes. 

Whatever faults and strengths I have, I have a seriously wicked sense of humour. I get it from my Dad. On occasion, people have asked me where I find the resilience to get through situations. The harsh truth is that life can grind you down, destroy you and tread you into the dust. Often there is little you can do about it. But there is one thing you can always do. You can find humour in the grimmest of situations and I do. I had this problem at school with pompous teachers. They would say ridiculously stupid things, with hugely earnest gravitas and I'd burst out laughing. Only last Friday I was in a difficult situation with someone being extremely unpleasant to me. I fixed the poor deluded fool in my eyeline and I noticed that he had a big bogey hanging out of his nose. The situation was quite tense and stressful. I really wanted to say "Before you carry on, please wipe the large bogey off your nose", but as he got more and more irate, the bogey developed a fascinating life of its own. I was desperately trying to refrian from laughing and I was massively distracted. I realised that as ever, the Good Lord was having a laugh at my expense. I really wanted to say to a couple of people "Did you see the bogie?" but thought better of it, as I am meant to be a sensible grown up now. 

In the early days of the blog, I was always noticing such things at Council meetings. In one blog back in 2008, when then Leader of Barnet Council was getting grilled for losing millions in Icelandic investments, my attention was drawn to his leg, which seemed intent on performing Buddy Rich like bass drum solo's whilst the rest of hios body was completely still. Only me and a nice lady from UNISON noticed it, but we actually chuckled so loudly that we got told off. 

This is a reason I hate meeting "important" people in formal settings. I've met quite a lot of them over the years and invariably I notice something and find it hilariously funny. Whilst over pompousness is the worst thing to set me, there are many other things that trigger me. What is worse though, is that some wicked people know this and take advantage of it. Many years ago, Tory Councillor Tony Finn was Mayor. His chosen charity was Noah's Ark Childrens Hospice. I decided to make an extremely large donation to this, with a bequest from my Mums will. Now I wasn't a mate of Tony's and I have never been a Tory, but I felt that me giving it a bung and blogging about it would help get money in. We have to rise above party lines when doing good works. I contacted Tony, who invited me over for a scotch to discuss it. He was a tad sceptical at first, thinking it was a ruse to get some indescretion, but when he saw the cheque he realised I was deadly serious. We realised that although we disagreed about much, we had a similar wicked sense of humour and he invited me to his Mayoral Banquet as a thank you. I wasn't seeking that, but it was a nice gesture. I bumped into him at a Council meeting shortly before. I said "Don't you think inviting me will upset Brian Coleman?" (Coleman was then a councillor and hated me). Tony replied that it was the best part of the whole thing. He said that he was looking forward to lavishing praise on my generosity and public spirit and watching Coleman choke on his soup. I was sat at a good table with some lovely people. We had a great evening. A week later Tony asked me back for another scotch in his office. We couldn't stop giggling as he recounted the look on Brians face. The next year, Brian was the Mayor and I wasn't invited again to a dinner.

My siblings are well aware of my wickedness when it comes to humour. A few years ago, I had an argument with one of my brothers, we weren't talking. I can't remember why, but I heard that he was going into hospital and needed strong antibiotics. As we both have an allergy to penecillin, I realised that he'd most likely be given erithromycin. I had a terrible reaction to this and despite the fact that we were not on great terms, I went to see him. He wasn't pleased, but I said "Look, our argument will pass, but there is something I need to tell you. Do not take erithromycin if they give it to you, I had a really bad reaction to it that nearly killed me. He dismissed my warning and asked me to leave. I felt that at least I tried. The next thing I heard he was at deaths door. I was distraught. Much as we often argue, I do actually love him. Eventually after several weeks in hospital, he was discharged. By this time, we'd gotten over the argument. We were having a cuppa and chatting and he made a terrible confession. The Doctor had prescribed Erithromycin, but he was so cross with me, that he did not pass on my warning. Within about an hour, he started to feel very ill and was rushed to intensive care. He realised that there was a very strong chance he'd not make it. What went through his mind? Well it wouldn't have been true, but he thought I'd be cracking up laughing at his stupidity in ignoring my warning. We actually had a bit of a laugh about it. He said that one of the things that got him through was he was determined to not give me that laugh. I am glad he did. I have often wondered whether having a sick sense of humour is genetic or learned behaviour. My mother didn't really have much of a sense of humour at all. My father would do his best to get a laugh from her, but after 40 years of marriage, had just about given up. However I think all of my siblings have to some degree inherited his sense of humour and also his lack of discretion when there is an opportunity to crack a bad taste joke. 

I will end with a story my Dad told me, as a night time tale when I was five. A tragic story that exemplified the Tichborne gallows humour. Dad was an Aussie, who volunteered to fly for the RAF. His best mate from Charters Towers joined the Army and was captured by the Japanese, ending up in a POW Camp. They were treated savagely and not given decent rations. After about six months they were near starvation. The Japanese camp commandant had two prize fighting cocks, that he'd entertain his men with, as they fought. One of the cocks broke loose and some of the Aussie servicemen cooked it up. The camp commandant went mad and demanded to know who had taken the cock. When no one stepped forward, he selected a very popular sergeant and announced that he would take the rap. The poor soul was tied to a post for a week, with no food or drink. It was announced that on the Saturday, if no one owned up, he would be shot in front of all of the troops. By Saturday, he was dragged, half dead in front of the commandant and all of his men. The commandant said "I am going to shoot you now, but I will allow you one last request". The sergeant replied "Can I have the other cock for dinner". Sadly he didn't get the cock and the story ended there. Happily his mate lived to tell the tale.  The story was true and Dad said that in his eyes, the seargent won, because he was laughing when he was shot. If you can die laughing, you've won. That was what Dad told me and it is what I believe to this day. Fortunately, it seems unlikely anyone will shoot me (although I am sure you will laugh if they do).

The Sunday Reflection #82 - Backbone!

Dad supervising repairs to his Wellington
bomber at Foggia Main Air base in Italy
in 1944.  These men hadbackbone
and gumption

Life is a strange thing. Every experience you have, good or bad, gives you another tool in the toolkit of life. Every mistake has a lesson, every victory should give pause for reflection. Every conversation is stored away and anything useful filed. I was born very lucky. My father had lived a life so full and varied that I was passed an almost full toolbox almost before I set out on my own journey that is life. One piece of advice that he passed on to me, which I always take full account of is this. I guess I was sever or eight at the time. It was before my Mum had surgery for cancer. She had been advised to get a good holiday to builder her up. Dad had to stay behind and run the business. During the week, I stayed with my Uncle Jimmy and Aunty Josie and their ten kids. I was at the same school as their son Gregory, so we both went to school and came home together. At the weekend, I was in Dads care at home. This was wonderful. We had bacon sarnies for breakfast, pie and chips at the cafe for lunch and he got some steak for dinner. During the day, I spent it with him at his car crash repair business, MacMetals. He gave me a job sorting out some big trays of nuts and bolts. He gave me half a crown wages, which bought a good stock of sweets. My sisters had gone with Mum to Spain (Dad wouldn't set foot in the country because Franco was a Fascist and he didn't like Fascists). 

During the course of the day, he got into an altercation with someone in the workshop. I didn't know the person. They were not an employee or a customer. My Dad was a bit of a hardnut, an Aussie ex RAF officer who'd been a prisoner of war. You didn't mess with him. He had a bad temper. Whatever happened escalated extremely quickly. I knew not to mess with Dad when he had red mist. What had started as an amicable discussion, suddenly turned very nasty. My Dad shouted a stream of profanities as the said individual and told them that if they didn't F--- Off he'd throw the chap in the incinerator. This was not an idle threat. He'd thrown a local gangster in, when they had threatened him and demanded cash. I now believe Dad had PTSD from the second world war, which is why he could turn so quickly. The odd thing was, he'd switch back just as quickly, almost as if nothing had happened.

That evening, I asked Dad what it was all about. He seemed slightly embarrassed, but he explained. The said individual was a member of an organisation that my Dad belonged to. Some money had been misappropriated. My Dad was scrupulously honest and generous and he was horrified to learn what had happened. It was absolutely clear what had happened and who was responsible. Dad was mates with a chap called Charlie Dawson, who was the local copper. Dad wanted the culprit to be nicked and exposed. He felt stealing off a charity was despicable and the act of a total low life. The person who had visited him, was the person who had collated all of the evidence. Dad had asked to see him, and suggested that the information be turned over to Charlie. 

He had come down and to my Dad's absolute horror, he'd been told "I have destroyed the evidence". It transpired that the bloke who visited my Dad was his best mate and he didn't want to dob him in. Worse still, without the evidence, the individual in question would be remaining in situ.  My Dad was horrified and what sent him over the cliff was the individual in question then stated "Now it's only our word against yours and no one will believe you". Dad was not stupid and he knew this was most probably true. I asked Dad what he was going to do. His response shocked me. He said "Son, in life you will learn one lesson. You will meet people like that. People who you think are friends, but when the chips are down, you learn they are cowards and have no backbone". Dad went on. He said "In the RAF, I put my life on the line for what was right every night. I had to have the total trust of my crew and they had to have the total trust of me. If that broke down, we would all die. However, you'll learn that in normal life, it is quite acceptible to lack backbone and indulge liars and theives". He added "The reason they get away with it, is because people who should know better indulge them". I was intrigued. But I asked again "Dad that doesn't explain what you are going to do about all of this". His response was intriguing. He said "Son, you've got to learn one lesson. Wars are a long game and they are not decided on the first battle. Now this lot have revealed their true character, I will wait and I will catch them out sooner or later and I will make sure I have what I need to do what needs to be done. People like that always screw up sooner or later". And that was that. Or so I thought.

As I said at the start of this blog. Life is a strange thing. I had always wondered if my Dad was right in this case. He never mentioned it again to me. I doubt he would have, if I'd not seen his melt down. But the last time I had a proper night out with Dad, over a whisky at 2am in the morning, I asked if he remembered the incident and what had happened. Had the bad men got their comeuppance? He laughed and said "Well, it was quite tragic really". Dad went on to explain that he was so morally outraged about the theft of the cash that he'd decided to go around and front the bloke who nicked the money. I think his intention was to smack him in the mouth and tell him what he thought of him. He went around to his house and told him he needed to discuss a serious matter. He was beckoned in and offered a whisky. The guy then explained that not a soul knew this and he asked for him to keep it quiet. Dad told him that it would have to be a very good story. He then explained that he'd been told he had terminal cancer and had no more than six months to live. He was very well insured, but he'd be dead so the cash was no good to him. He'd taken the cash from the charity and paid for a ten day luxury cruise with his wife, as he was still well enough and he'd always promised her. He'd changed his will and when he passed away, the charity would receive a large bequest, far more than he'd 'borrowed'. Dad told me that he was completely taken aback and agreed to never mention it. Sure enough, after he passed the bequest was made. Although not strictly moral or legal, Dad understood completely that it wasn't petty pilfering. Dad asked whether the treasurer knew. He said no. Dad then explained that when the charity accounts were prepared, it was clear that there was a large sum missing. Not only that, but the peperwork was missing. The treasurer came under suspicion and could offer no reasonable explanation, so was thrown out of the charity and became a pariah. The assumption was that he'd nicked the money. Dad said that given his behaviour he felt it was up to him to explain his actions. He said "That's the price of not having a backbone, if he'd have confronted his mate then maybe they could have sorted something out, but he was too much of a coward to ask and a man like that should never be in charge of money at a charity". 

Dad then said, and this is the key point. "Never be afraid to ask difficult questions. Sometimes there is an explanation that you would never have expected. If  you are too cowardly to ask questions don't complain when people think you are the one who has been up to no good". As I wake up today and survey the world around me,  I see a world where too many men lack backbone. If you lack gumption, don't complain when it comes around and bite you on the backside. God bless you Dad, wherever you are right now.

The London International Ska Festival 2026 - Review

 It's Tuesday and I'm still recovering! I spent the Easter weekend enjoying the London International Ska Festival. I'm 63 and having four full on days is a tad tiring! The festival is the brainchild of Sean Flowerdew, a stalwort of the London Ska scene for decades. My company, Mill Hill Music Complex has been the sponsor for a decade. Sean's wingman Gavin Carroll was Boz Boorer's guitar tech when Boz worked on the Morrissey gigs. Boz introduced me to Gavin when we were doing the North Finchley Festivals and Gavin suggested we got involved in the Ska Fest. Since then, we've lent the festival backline (drums and amps) and made rehearsal facilities available for artists flying in from Jamaica. It is a matter for pride for me to be involved, as Ska and Punk re my two favourite genre's of music. 

This year, my band The False Dots made our festival debut. We played at the 100 club, which was a real buzz. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The False Dots (@thefalsedots)

On with the False Dots were 80's all girl Ska group The Deltones and the amazing Edinburgh Ska outfit Porkpie. Porkpie are on at Dingwalls on 30th May, don't miss them. As well as the Friday, we attended the Thursday and the Saturday shows. 

Thursday was the hot 100 at The Dome. 10 DJ’s playing their ten fave Ska tunes. My mates Boz Boorer and Lee Thompstook turns. Lee was under the weather but still gave a tour de force.

Saturday saw an afternoon show, with Keith & Tex of ‘Stop that train’ fame headline. It was excellent. Keith sings and dances like a man half his age and has the sweetest voice. In the evening it was U.K. Reggae Legends The Cimarons and Misty in Roots. Both were awesome. Misty opened with Wise and Foolish. Surely one of the best Somgs ever written on these islands.

I’ll add my highlights later!

The Sunday Reflection #81 - Something to believe in?

 I broke one of my hard, fast rules of life on Friday. My band, The False Dots had a gig at The 100 Club for the London International Ska Festival. The show was sold out and was absolutely brilliant. I don't know if you are a musician, but when you play to a packed hall and smash it, there really is no feeling in the world like it. When I woke up on Friday morning, I felt absolutely awful. I had that feeling when a cold is coming. I felt hot, clammy and shakey. Given that this is perhaps the biggest and most important gig the band have played for decades, this was not good. I had planned to go to the noon service at The Sacred Heart for Good Friday and then to Hadley FC, before trekking down to the 100 Club. I decided to stay in bed and try and get myself in shape for the gig. I have a form of faith, so I prayed for the strength to get through the day. My Catholic guilt was telling me that if I was going to do anything, it should be attending Church. But I also have a faith that God put me here for a reason. I believe that reason is to make music and make people happy. So off I went to The 100 Club. Even though it's a day of fasting absitinence, something I always follow, I had a few beers. I felt the good Lord had given me a pass.

It was an amazing night. The band has really come a long way in the past five years. I've always loved what we do, but we are in a very sweet place at the moment. I've learned that you never know how long such moments last and to embrace them. A large group of my friends bought tickets to support us, but more pleasing was the hundreds of strangers, dancing, nodding and smiling and the dozens who told us after the show that they loved it. Here is a short clip of Trumpet Tom singing the Prince Buster classic "Free Love", with guitar legend Boz Boorer guesting on lead guitar.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The False Dots (@thefalsedots)

Something to believe in? I got at around midnight and I was absolutely shattered. I got home and it all caught up with me. I slept like a log. At around 8.30am my wife woke me with a cup of tea. We had another Ska fest gig to attend at 1pm and we had friends to meet first, dogs to walk, etc. But when she woke me up, I was in the middle of a vivid dream. One of those gigs that you sometimes have that make you think. That I will remember until the day that I die. In my dream, I entered a dark room with a large table, a big spread with candles. Holding fort was my cousing Tessie. Tessie was my age, but died of covid during the pandemic. She was born with Downs syndrome and suffered from dementia in her last few years. I got on with her. She always told me I was her favourite cousin, but then again she probably told all her cousins that. We got on well. She was feisty, cheeky and naughty. When I was little, I was actually jealous as she had a free pass to do what she liked and everyone just said "That's just Tessie". 

Anyway, in my dream I entered, sat at the table and Tessie said "My favourite cousin". I was overjoyed to see her again. I asked how are you. She replied "Oh, it's great here. I don't have to pretend to be stupid anymore". This answer surprised me so I asked what she meant. "God sent me and I was weak and vulnerable, so he could see who the arseholes really are". When she said this all her friends burst out laughing. It all became clear to me. The life we live here is a completely different realm. Wherever we go on the next phase, we see through all of the bullshit and we are not encumbered with the baggage of human existence. I realised that Tessie had just as much of a purpose as I have with my music, that everyone has, but often don't see. Tessie's job was to give us the chance to be the best version of ourselves around her. But now, she could just enjoy herself and be the witty, naughty, fun loving person she always was but we stuggled to see. No one was judging her anymore. She was in a wonderful place, having fun with  friends.

When Clare woke me up, I was actually cross. I'd not had the chance to really to ask the questions I wanted. I was back. All I could think was "Who will be at the table with me when I get there, will I understand my purpose?". Of course, all you cynics out there will say "It's just a dream, it means nothing". Maybe, maybe not. For a moment though, perhaps the second time in a day, I was blissfully happy and I actually realised it was all going to be alright. I thought I'd share it with you. Do with this gift as you will, but please, try and be happy and make other people happy. I've failed in that mission too many times.

.

Excitement at playing an iconic London venue!

The False Dots
Rambo, Fil Ross, Rog T, Trumpet Tom
Our new album coming soon

I'm a musician, I have been all of my adult life. My band, The False Dots have been going for 47years and we've done a fair few gigs in that time. Music venues are my lifeblood. In 2015, I started a campaign to save them in London. We made a list of all of the grassroots venues in London and encouraged people to support them. As for me, some are special as both a punter and a musician. Sadly, I've not played all of the ones I've dreamed of playing, but I've managed a few.

When we started, our ambition was just to do a gig. No one wanted to give us one, so we booked the Harwood Hall in Mill Hill from the local vicar. We paid him a tenner, charged a £1 to get in, got two bands to play with us, paying them £20 each. A hundred and twenty people came. After paying the bands. I made £50 and thought, this is the life. When we were done, I took the band and all of our mates to The Mill Hill Tandoori, when it stayed open until 1am and spent most of it. I thought we'd made it. The gig night was preserved for posterity by The Vektors, a local band from Edgware, who played with us. This is their rendition of Sound of The Suburbs! 

No one really had video camera's then, so this is a real gem

For us, the Harwood Hall was the pinnacle of our career in 1980. In 1981, we decided that we needed to do more. In April, we made it out of Mill Hill to Hendon! We played at The Midland Arms (now the Claddagh Ring) supporting Way of The West, who had a Radio One single of the week, with their hot tune "Don't say it's just for white boys". It was actually a big gig, the Midland was a decent venue. In the Autumn, I moved to Stockholm. I managed to blag the band a tour in January 1982. The keynote gig was at The Underground Club in Stockholm. A large venue, popular with Swedish Hipsters. It had a capacity of around 400, we pulled 250. For a band that had played no futher than Kenton previously, it was amazing. 

Our ambition had always been to play The Moonlight Club in West Hampstead. We'd seen the Damned, and bands like Joy DIvision there. It advertised in the NME. We thought if we played there, we'd have made it. We achieved that in March 1982.  We got a mini residency there and played several more times. 

In 1984, we hot the pinnacle of our first iteration. We played Dingwalls in February. The venue was sold out and we absolutely blasted it. Offers of record deals and management followed. Nothing materialised. We signed up with a manager, who promised gigs and did nothing. We did a string of local gigs until we knocked it on the head in 1990.

Then we got back together in 2002. We mostly played local charity gigs, In 2010, Connie Abbe joined the band and we started doing Camden again. We started at The Fiddlers Elbow, one of the best Camden gigs for up and coming artists. From there, we did the much missed Purple Turtle. That was a great venue (sadly gone). We also played at The Water Rats, another London legend, But it didn't last.

We did the launch of the Save London Music Campaign at The Fiddlers Elbow in 2015, but largely were back to local venues when Allen Ashley was singing.

In 2022, after Allen left, we were invited back to Camden, to the Dublin Castle. A residency followed. It is our spiritual home! We love playing the Dublin Castle. I've always been of the opinion that you should be loyal to promotors, so Tony at the Dublin Castle is our Camden go to. However tonight, I tick off one of the real legendary venues! We are playing at the 100 Club on Oxford Street. All of the punk bands I love have played there. Most of the Ska and London Reggae bands. I've seen such iconic legends as The Boys, 999, Menace, Jah Wobble, The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra there. I didn't see the Sex Pistols, but it is part of the legend of London music. When we started, there were four venues I really wanted to play. The Moonlight Club, The Marquee on Wardour Street, The 100 Club and The Roundhouse. Although I'd do it and it would be amazing, venues like Wembley Stadium and The Millenium Dome etc are massive but not my really thing. Sadly, the Marquee is gone, so that is a pipedream. The Roundhouse? My name is on the wall, and maybe one day one of my mates in a big band will do me a favour! But tonight it is The 100 club. At the age of 63, I am realising a dream I've harboured for nearly 50 years!

It is sold out, so you can't get a ticket. If you have one, see you there.

All I can really say is hang on to your dreams. 

The disturbing historical parallel - Britain in 1940 and Iran in 2026

 My view is that all world leaders should acquaint themselves with history. Understanding the lessons of the past can only help leaders to make better decisions. I watched a fascinating documentary yesterday about WW2 and Great Britain for the period 1939 to the Nazi invasion of the USSR. For much of this period, the UK stood alone, our allies were vanquished. After Dunkirk, Hitler and his generals (not his Navy interestingly) believed that Great Britain was defeated. They believed that Churchill would sue for peace, or even better for Hitler, his ragime would topple and a new government and a new monarch, sympathetic to Germany would emerge. When Churchill made it clear that Britian would fight on alone, defying just about every rationale of warfare, Hitler ordered the preparataion of "Operation Sealion", a seaborn invasion of the UK. 

To Hitlers surprise, his top Admiral Doenitz was less enthusiastic than the army generals. He pointed out that without complete air superiority and the destruction of the Royal Navy, his army may be sunk crossing the channel. Hitler turned to his airforce chief Herman Goering, who declared that he would "sweep the RAF from the skies in six weeks". Goering produced intelligence assessments showing that the RAF had been massively weakened during the Battle of France and short air campaign would destroy airfields, factories, and planes. The assessment was that they could shoot down Spitfires and Hurricanes far quicker than Britain could build them and the RAF would run out of trained pilots. There was also an assumption that the British people were weak and decadent and would kick Churchill out when the bombs started dropping. 

So Germany launched the Battle of Britain. The problem was that the German assessments of the RAF and the production capacity of Great Britain was wrong. Pilots made their way from all over the world to fight fascism. Lord Beaverbrook reformed production. Britain was producing more fighters than Germany, The British public were not cowed, in fact they were spurred to loathe the Nazi's even more.

I am no historian, but the one thing that Britain showed was that the only way you can win is to hang in and not give up. As the documentary went on, the parallels and differences with the current Trump war on Iran became clear. Both the Battle of Britain and the Iran war are air wars. The instigators are given to making bold claims about how the enemy is defeated, failing to realise that no one on the enemy side is listening. Just as Goering told Hitler that the RAF was running out of planes, Trump boasts that Irans military has been destroyed. In both cases, this is demonstrably untrue. If it was true, then the Straits of Hormuz would be open. There can be no doubt that the Iranian people are suffering, it must be hellish.  I doubt any readers of this blog would like to live in a country run by a strict Islamic Revolutionary Guard. But whilst the Mullahs have been gravely damaged, their government and the structures are still functioning. It is clear that they still can fire rockets and drones at whoever they want. 

The Iranian strategy is not too dissimilar to that of Churchill. Hang on in there and wait for the wind toc change. The Iranians suffered a long, bloody war that lasted from 1980 to 1988, with the US supporting Saddam Hussein. They know that in eight years time they will have seen two US elections. Although Trump looms large, the US constitution means he will not be President for ever. He is also an elderly man. Iran must be calculating that sooner or later, they will have a different leader to deal with. From their persepective, all they need to do is hang on in there.

And when the wind changes in the USA, for whatever reason, should the Iranian regime survive, they will be stronger not weaker. Now of course, this analysis takes no account of Israel, who will no doubt continue to assassinate every Iranian leader they can find, until they decide there is one they can deal with. 

But take a step back. Who was the biggest beneficiary of the period 1939-41. Ultimately it was the USA, who weren't involved. Their economy boomed. Prior to the war, they'd seen Britain as a competetor globally, albiet a friendly benign one, with the British Empire fuelling the nations wealth. By 1941, the UK was bankrupt. I look to the east and see China as the big beneficiary. As the USA tears up alliances, the Chinese look to many nations to be a stable and trustworthy partner. They need do nothing. I started this blog eighteen years ago. If someone had told me how the post 2008 period would pan out, I'd have thought them mad. This is just the latest chapter in a story of global self abuse by the human race. It is thorughly depressing.

Rock and Roll Stories #62 - The changing face of musical inspiration

 The best stories are journeys. So hopefully this installment will be a good one! It is the journey of what inspired me to put pen to paper and write the songs that The False Dots perform. I've touched on this several times but never properly charted the journey. So take yourself back to early 1978 if you can remember it, and if you can't, let your imagination do the work. The False Dots, as a band were still a year away from our first formation. I was a snotty nosed 15 year old at Finchley Catholic High School. I had discovered Punk rock the previous year and was lapping it up. I had a mate at School, Pete Conway, who was like minded and we decided that we needed to form a band. We couldn't play, we had no instruments and we had no idea where to start. At the time, our big influence was The Clash and their first album. We had some vague idea that we should play Garageland as we wanted to be a Garage band. The aim was to sound a bit like The Clash. Pete came up with a brilliant idea. Rather than try and copy songs, we'd write our own. As we were both completely lacking in any clue as to how music is put together, this was not the best way to 'learn the ropes'. I had a book by Bert Weedon called Play in a day, which my brother, a decent guitarist, bequeathed to me. It had songs like "When the Saints go marching in" and "The Old Folks at Home" in. Pete observed that we just had to jumble the chords up and play them quicker. It seemed like a plan. To my horror, playing the guitar was much harder than I thought and I had no aptitude for it at first. 

In May, Pete took a radical deicision. He quit school and got a job at Dewhursts as a butcher. This would pay for a bass and a bass amp. When I was sixteen, I was coming into a bit of cash from my child modelling career. To my mums horror, I bought a Hofner Galaxy and a Selmer guitar amp. By January 1979, we were making a right old racket in my bedroom every night. We'd written a bunch of songs, more or less randomly picking chords out and hollering slogans over the top. By this time, the Pete and I had discovered Crass. It is fair to say they were a massive influence. They were far less musical than The Clash and far more political. There was one thing though, that they bequeathed that was a massive positive. Crass were amazing at coming up with catchy slogans "fight war, not wars", "Do they owe us a living, of course they do" were just a couple of examples. Our best song of this era was definitely "Wrong" which we are reprising on our new album. It is 45 seconds of sheer punkyness. 

By September 1979, my obsession with Crass and the first iteration of the False Dots was done. I had discovered The Specials, Two Tone and Ska. This was what I wanted to do, but we didn't know any brass players. It was also more tuneful and required a much better drummer than we had access to. Pete wrote a Reggae song called "Kingston Rock", which in truth was not very good. He was more into Dub reggae. It was neither. 

We did however get a brilliant drummer in 1980. Mr Dav Davies. Sadly, he came in to a set full of punky songs. The time was febrile, huge amounts of musical energby flowed through London. We experimented. We tried our luck with electronic music, influenced by Gary Numan and also started to lean sound wise towards the more tuneful end of The Velvet Underground catalogue. Pete was keen that we be shocking and cover subjects that sane bands of the day would avoid like the plague. I loved the way The Velvet Underground put sugary melody on bitter lyrics. Songs like Not all She Seems from our last album date from then, deals with the issue of the social exclusion of gender fluid sex workers. Not all of these numbers have aged as well. 

When Pete left in September 1980, I found myself writing songs on my own. I also had freedom to arrange songs as I saw fit. Craig Withecombe, an excellent guitarist joined and we started gigging. With competent musicians, the songs sounded pretty good and I was inspired to write more, but I struggled to be inspired in the way Crass had originally inspired us. I made the biggest mistake that a songwriter can make. I thought if I made the songs complicated, they would be better, they weren't. Oddly, I wrote a couple of great songs by accident. The best, also on our last album, was Action Shock. This was inspired by the protest songs of Country Joe McDonald. It was my attempt to recreate a punk version of the classic anti war song "I feel like I'm Fixing to Die" around the Falklands War. It worked because it was simple. Dav departed and Mark Barnett joined. He was less capable technically, but he kept the show on the road. We experimented with a reggae song, christened "FalseDub" by a Rasta mate. 

By 1985, I realised I needed to up my game. I enrolled in a songwriting course. I believe if I'd done this in 1978, we'd have had hits! It was brilliant, I learned how to structure music properly, but also the importance of what you put together being functional. I also came to understand that song lyrics work better with trigger words and reinforcement of concepts, so that the lyrics can be layered over the music to paint patterns. I also realised the power of what Crass had taught us. Strong lyrics that you remember.

I had long been a fan of Ian Dury, but it never occurred to me that The False Dots could borrow from him lyrically or from the Blockheads muscially. By the late 1980's I had gotten more into groovy and funky vibes. I loved the Run DMC Walk this Way cover. It seemed to me to be the way to go. When Tony Robotham, a very talented singer joined the band, I thought we could nail it, but the industry had changed and it was almost impossible for us to even get gigs, with the feel we had. It was a real shame. 

Dispirited I stopped playing. In around 2000, I decided to get a band together to record a few of the old numbers, now I had a recording studio, purely for my own pleasure. I found I enjoyed playing, but did not consider writing any new material. Out of nowehere in 2006, I got the urge to write again. The inspiration was quite odd. I was watching the classic TV cop series "Life on Mars" when a few sentences spoken by a character triggered me. I wrote a song called "I'm the man" AKA "Pusherman". I just wanted to write a sort Stooges style punk song, written from the viewpoint of a psychopathic drug dealer. I hasten to add I am not one, but I enjoy constructing storyboards for songs and videos in my head when I am inspired. It worked. In some ways it was a bit of an evolutionary blind alley. In 2009. Connie Abbe joned the band. Connie is a brilliant Sudanese singer and rapper. 

All of a sudden, I had the band I wanted. We could rock, skank, rap and groove. To get my head around what Connie wanted, I immersed myself in Rap music and found it really inspiring. We wrote tracks like "Put me in the Spotlight" which I think was a masterpiece and is the most listened to False Dots track ever. It was used for the Goal of the Month show on the Man City website and had over 47 million plays! Sadly we got almost nothing, but it was a kick.

Sadly Connie went to pastures new. As part of the Library campaign I was involved in, The False Dots got asked to play at Friern Barnet Library, to celebrate the saving of the library. I got the 1985 line up of the band together, with Poet Allen Ashley on vocals. It seemed fitting as Allen is a poet and author. As often happens when you collaborate, your influences are suppressed. I enjoyed the line up, Allen is a great lyricist, but it wasn't particularly the direction I wanted to go in. 

When the band emerged from Covid, Allen was not available. I am mates with Lee Thompson of Madness and wrote a song called "Longshot didn't die" with the idea of him performing it with us. I played a rough version to Lee. He said "It sounds great, why not sing it yourself". It was the kick I needed. In short, it worked. I had worked on the song with Allen, with him contributing lyrics, but it was very much the start of the new Dots era. I realised that I'd spent 40 years skirting around the fact that what I really wanted to do was a mash up of The Specials and Ian Dury. I love Dury's narrative style and I love everything about The Specials, but not least the fact that their views align with me. 

So I started writing songs for me, to be sung by me and in an manner that is both witty and to the point. Then Tom Hammond joined in trumpet. The missing piece of the jigsaw. Now we were able to bring the ideas to life. Tom can also sing, so it has given us the option to do material that would simply not work with me singing. I revisted a couple of old songs. As mentioned earlier, we reprised Wrong as a nod to our roots. Another highlight is Electric Ballroom, as song originally called Reality Ballroom. I completely rewrote the lyrics when Pete Conway left the band. We now give it a semi psyche rock makeover. It sounds great. And then there is the silliness. Songs like Big Hairy Spider, our recent single. Musically, it is somewhere between The Clash and The Specials. Lyrically, it is actually inspired by horror comics of the 1960's. It has been a long journey, but there are elements of every stage on our forthcoming album. 

What I've learned is that you don't need to search for inspiration, open your eyes and ears and it will hit you over the head. Keep it as simple as you can put put twists and turns on the road in your songs. Big Hairy Spider has a middle 8 that is pure Benny Hill. I like it. Have a listen, and we hope to see you at The 100 Club on Good Friday.

Exclusive - Barnet Council to impose 10mph limit on all local roads in Barnet

 The Barnet Eye has learned of plans by Barnet Council to change the speed limit of all local roads in the Borough (ie not A or B roads) as well as all roads outside local schools to a 10mph limit. Speaking exclusively to The Barnet Eye, a council source stated "When cars are travelling at 10mph, the incidents of fatalities and serious injury is almost completely eradicated. The council is embarking on an ambitious policy, to eradicate death through road traffic accidents in the Borough of Barnet. There is absolutely no need for cars to travel faster than 10mph on local roads."

The Barnet Eye has also contacted local political parties for comment. Thus far, only the transport spokesman for ReformUK in Barnet, Mr Richard Maximus has responded "We believe this is another example of Labour gone mad in Barnet. This is the Nanny state at its most extreme. We see no justification for making the lives of motorists in Barnet intolerable. We should be raising speed limits, not lowering them and if Reform is elected in Barnet, we will put the rights of motorists first".

My band, The False Dots released a video celebrating "Boy Racer" culture in the Borough of Barnet in 2024. You will be pleased to know I have not been kicked in the head by a horse, so I will not be endorsing ReformUK or their policies. 

(as I am sure you guessed, this is the Barnet Eye April Fool blog for 2026 - however, odd though it seems, if it comes to pass it won't be the first time!)