If Boris stays, the UK has given up on the rule of law

Boris relaxing quietly at home

It is quite simple. The Prime Minister has broken a law that he introduced. It was not a minor little infraction, it was brought in to safeguard the health of the nation. What could be more important? 

It is now beyond doubt that Boris Johnson and his staff flouted this on numerous occasions. His Chancellor also took part in the merry making. I lost an aunty and a cousin to the pandemic. I couldn't attend my aunt's funeral and we couldn't hold a proper wake for my cousin. Yet Boris and Rishi partied away. What sort of example have they set? What message have they sent? The fine is meaningless to the pair of them, they are rich men. 

The Conservative party needs to take a long hard look at itself. If they allow these two to continue in their jobs, then they have sent a clear message that the law simply doesn't matter. Once that message is sent, we've opened the door to anarchy and mob(ster) rule.  You may think "well, he isn't too keen on the Conservative Party so he would say that", but perhaps the most iconic post war Conservative Prime Minister, Lady Thatcher would have strongly agreed with me. Heaven only knows what she'd have made of it all. 

A timely reminder! pic.twitter.com/2wPQPt0B0j

— Lucy Brazier OBE (@lucybrazier) April 13, 2022

The repercussions of that are enormous. I don't want to live in a country where the rule of law is ignored. If we've given up on the concept of the rule of law, the UK is finished. If the rules can be flouted by those rich enough to pay fines with impunity, we are no better than despotic, tin pot regimes, where there is one law for the ruling class and another for everyone else.  A Prime Minister should set an example. Sadly the one he's set is appalling. Not only did he break the law, he leid to Parliament about it. If you think breaking the law doesn't matter, don't complain when someone steals your car or punches you in the face. When we start saying "this law doesn't matter" then we are on a rocky road.

Some may argue that there is a case for disobeying demonstrably unjust laws. But if the covid laws were unjust, why did Boris Johnson, as Prime Minister pass them? I was under the impression they were passed to save us from a deadly virus. That is why we, as a nation bought into them. I have no regrets for observing the laws, but I simply cannot imagine anyone being so sensible should a new variant require another lockdown, which I pray to the good Lord doesn't happen. 

The hypocrisy of the Conservative Party towards Lady Thatcher

Yesterday we saw a state sponsored funeral for Lady Thatcher, Britains first female Prime Minister. Whatever you may or may not think of Thatcher, she certainly provoked a strong reaction. What has truly amazed me is the sheer hypocricy of the Conservative Party towards Thatcher and her legacy.

I was reminded of this yesterday in Mill Hill Broadway by a chap I've known for years, who was a staunch supporter of Thatcher. In 1997 I got into a conversation with him in Mill Hill Broadway whilst doing some campaigning for Labour. At the time he told me he would be voting for Tony Blair. He said he would never forgive the Tories for "stabbing Thatcher in the back". Thatcher won three elections for the Tories. What did she get for her troubles? She got dumped when the going got tough. Whilst the membership of the Conservative Party still loved her, the people who run the show knifed her in the back for their own reasons. In doing so, they nearly destroyed the Tory Party.

I was reminded of this. My acquaintance suggested that Blair was probably the only politician of the time who genuinely recognised Thatchers achievements. Blair honoured Thatcher and sought her counsel. It has only been recently that Tories have dared resurrect her image. Now they are nailing the Thatcherite mascot to their mast. For the past 23 years, the talk has been of "detoxifying the Tory brand". This really meant dumping Thatcherism and nailing the lid down on her legacy. Cameron came to power as a "moderniser". In truth this meant someone who had no association with the Thatcher era.

It is odd to think that Blair saw huge electoral advantage in cosying up to Thatcherism (and won three elections) whilst the Tories dumped it and have struggled ever since. What is fascinating is to see how two faced the Tory Establishment have suddenly rediscovered their love of the ghost they've spent 23 years trying to bury. It is odd to think that despite all of the eulogies, the Conservative Party is probably the one place where Thatcherism has been dead for years. One must wonder what she made of Cameron leaping under the duvet with Clegg. I can't ever imagine Thatcher snuggling up to Jeremy Thorpe.

At the end of the day, I think the reason is that, whatever you thought of Thatcher, she was probably a tad more attached to her principles than the current lot.

Lady Thatcher RIP

Today marks the end of an era in British politics. Lady Thatcher has passed away. Many people will doubtless write blogs and articles about how she changed Great Britain, her role in the end of the cold war and her position as the only female Prime Minister. What interests me is the complete lack of any sort of legacy being left locally.

In the USA, when a president finishes their term, all manner of legacy is left. Libraries and monuments are set up, road names changed. Whatever you think of Lady Thatcher, how odd is it that she has been almost completely airbrushed out of the history of the area. If we were in America, I have no doubt that the Conservatives would have named the Arts Depot the "Lady Thatcher Centre". I think that the management of the Arts Depot probably missed a trick, as had they done this, the Tories would have been loathe to chop their funding!

Maybe if the Church Farmhouse Museum had a "Lady Thatcher wing", Councillor Robert Rams would have thought twice about closing it down. As it is, there is absolutely nothing open to the public anywhere, which commemorates her reign and no resource for people wishing to study her career.

Now as regular readers will know, I sit on the left of the political divide, but only an idiot would deny her role in the development of the country (for better or for worse). I am no fan of the Conservative Party, but it is shameful that this Conservative regime has waited for her death to even mention her.

I wonder if there is a touch of the green eyed monster amongst the political pygmies in the local Conservative party these days.

On a personal note, I have mellowed my opinion of Margaret Thatcher over the last few years. Not because I have reappraised my view of her policies, I haven't. It is just that like my mother, her fading years were spent diminishing under the effects of strokes and like my mother being finally killed by one. On a human level, I can only feel sympathy for her family. It is a sad way for such an influential persons life to end.

Finchley and Golders Green MP advocates being lazy as a lifestyle!

Ask anyone which Prime Minister was the biggest workaholic and they will probably tell you that it was Margaret Thatcher, who took great pride in getting by on three hours sleep. A close runner up would be Gordon "I saved the world" Brown. Whatever you may or may not think of these two and I must confess to being a fan of neither, I was rather surprised and a tad amused by the successor to Lady Thatcher's constituency, Mike Freer coming out on twitter as am advocate of being a lazy git and a slob. I wonder how her Ladyship will view her successors comments. Those of us who were blogging in the days of Mike Freer's leadership will be amused to see him slagging off of his political mentor, Gordon Brown. Freer was a big fan of Brown's stealth taxes, Stalinist tendencies and like Brown could be very thin skinned in the face of criticism.

I must say that since Mike has become an MP, he does seem to have become nicer for the opportunity to put his feet up and chill out a bit. Let's hope Brian Coleman will also become nicer for his voter imposed rest.At times he even seems to have developed a sense of humour. I suppose if Matthew Offord MP is your best buddy, you jolly well need one.

Here's Mike's tweet.

Mike Freer MP ‏@mikefreermp

Brown was total workaholic +we know how successful that was! Import that the PM is able to relax.

Stalinism at the Finchley Conservatives - it would break Lady Thatchers heart

Some people are just plain ungrateful. Whilst looking at a few local websites yesterday, I happened to notice that the Finchley and Golders Green Conservatives were running a poll on their website. Sadly as that particular websites primary use is to cure insomnia, their poll had only had 12 people casting a vote. Now as the Barnet eye gets thousands of hits I thought I'd help them out. I carefully checked the page to see if "only Conservatives need apply". Nope, in true democratic style anyone could vote. The two questions which interested me were "which party will you vote for" and "who would be the best Prime Minister". Now even before I publicised it, taking into account the person who set it up had probably voted, The Tories were not winning on either count for the popular public vote. As a good neighbourly act, I posted a little blog asking all of my thousands of readers to take a little trip over and vote.

Now as you may recall, David Cameron made a direct appeal to Lib Dem voters to check out the Conservatives and their policies. You would think that in light of this, the local Conservatives would be over the moon at a Local Lib Dem Council candidate urging readers of his blog to visit the Conservatives website and cast votes in their polls. You would think that they'd think their website was so superbly marvellous that Lib dems would instantly see the light and jump on the "Cam Train".

Sadly, as we've often said here, the local Conservatives have rather Stalinist tendencies. In Stalins time in the Soviet Union, elections were held. Everyone had to vote but there was only one candidate, so Uncle Joe always got the "right answer". In those days, the great Conservative Prime Minister, Winston Churchill used to deride this anti-democratic behaviour. He was a stalwart fighter of rigged polls, bogus elections and dodgy practices. He knew democracy was the way. A former MP for Finchley, Lady Thatcher, lead the fight against the USSR and played a major role in transforming the country into a democracy. As the most famous person, let alone politician ever to be associated with Finchley, Thatcher hated rigged polls with a passion.

Cut forward to the Finchley Conservatives in the year 2010. What happened when their little poll, which didn't say "Only Conservatives need vote" started to receive a popular vote from the readers of the Barnet Eye (many of whom happen to be Conservatives). They removed the poll from their website. What does this tell us about the Finchely Conservatives? Are the current mob the true successors to that champion of democracy, Lady Thatcher? Do they have the backbone for a fight for their principles? One would rather hope that having put their polls up, they'd have at least sent an email around to their activists and tried to rally to the cause. I wonder what David Cameron and the Conservative Central Headquarters would make of this cowardice? It is a sad indictment of the level of support in a key marginal,which David Cameron visited not too long ago.

Lady Thatcher had a way of describing cowardly opponents who used to scurry away when she waved her handbag at them "Too Frit" she pronounced. I rather hope that she hasn't been looking too closely at what her Tory successors have been up to. I wouldn't want to upset the poor old dear, it would break her heart.

The New Maggie Thatcher !!!!

Ex Barnet Tory Councillor Richard Weider writes a fascinating blog today where he compares Lynne Hillan to Maggie Thatcher. Hillan is the woman who is trying to abolish Wardens for Sheltered Housing residents after moving her mother to a home where the warden was being retained, ran a company which went bankrupt owing the Tax man huge sums and got a massive allowance from the taxpayer (you and I dear friend) to be the Barnet Tories chief whip (a political job persuading other councillors to ignore their consciences). All I can say is that the sun must be rather hot where he now lives.

This isn't a banana republic, so why do tolerate coup d'etat's?

Unlike many people on the left, I'm happy to concede that there are areas of policy where the Conservatives have much to offer. I'd even go as far as to say that changes of government are healthy for the political process and are a great way to prevent complacency and corruption. Given that it's pretty clear that Gordon Brown's government has run out of steam, you may wonder how I view the prospect of a Cameron government?


I'm rather worried by the prospect. I've detailed my fear before. It seems I was closer to the mark than I realised. This report in Todays Observer details how some of Camerons top generals want to get rid of the NHS. They see it as "no longer relevant to the 21st Century".

I take David Cameron's statements regarding the NHS at face value. He's seen it 1st hand at it's best with his disabled son. I don't believe that anyone can't be moved by such an experience. I have heard talk that some on the right have realised this and see Cameron as an obsticle to their plans to "transform" Great Britain. They see Cameron as a useful front man to win an election, as the acceptable face of Conservatism. They know that the public will never go for abolition of the NHS, so they have to get in, then do a "Mike Freer" and axe the leader and replace him with someone more "ideologically sound".

You may think this is scaremongering, but consider this. Ted Heath was the last leader of a party (until Brown) not to face either a Leadership contest or be knobbled. Wilson resigned - Callaghan took over, then lost an election to Thatcher. Thatcher was booted out by the Tories and replaced by Major. Major called a leadership contest after winning an election to try and stem the backstabbing. Strangely enough for a man derided as weak and indecisive, he won the contest. He lost the next election to Blair. Blair was knobbled by Brown.

In Great Britain, electing a leader is no guarantee whatsoever that he'll actually see out a term of Government. I think that a law should be passed whereby if a party replaces it's leader, a general election Must be held within 6 months.

If Brown had worked under these constraints, strangely enough, he'd have won and would lead the country with authority. I'd tolerate a Cameron government, if he wins an election. It's called democracy and it's the only form of Government I trust. I also fully understand why Tories despise unelected Gordon Brown. When some right wing nutcase slips the stiletto into David Camerons back, so he can abolish the NHS, the saddest thing is that he'll claim his legitimacy based on the actions of Gordon Brown.

I have one last question. How many of these leaders, who've come to power via palace coup's have done a good job? How many of them have left their party in a fit state to manage a whelk stall, let alone a country. Whatever you thought of Thatcher and Blair, at least they got there by fair means. My question - This isn't a banana republic, so why do tolerate coup d'etat's?

Isn't Finchley lucky?

"Former Finchley MP, Margaret Thatcher defined what Conservatism was in the 1980's and 1990's. Finchley PPC Mike Freer is one of a new band of forward looking Conservative politicians who will define what being a Conservative is in the 21st Century".

So the new definition of a Conservative is a Us*l*ss Tw*t is it? In the words of the Jolly Green Giant "Ho Ho Ho". I'm sure Tories everywhere will be chuffed by this revelation.

Captain Useless: An apology

Of all Barnets well known Tories, in my opinion the most sensible is "Don't Call Me Dave" Miller. If they all followed his example, I suspect that my blog would be a rather different and less political beast. If David says I've been unfair, then I listen and think long and hard as to whether he's picked up on something I missed. He has claimed that I missed some "hidden gems" in Matthews sailing blog and that I rather rashly dismissed it, in his latest BLOG.

I thought I'd have a closer look at Matthews sailing blog. Sure enough, it's crammed full of hidden nuances that my rather sledgehammer like approach to Matthews nuts had missed.

First Matthew says :-

But most of all sailing as a crew teaches leadership.

Now I thought back and who was the most high profile British Prime Minister with a love of sailing? Surely it must be good old Ted Heath, who was famed for his exploits on "The Morning Cloud". Ted Heath was the Prime Minister who took Great Britian into the EEC and made the Tories into the party of Europe. Is Matthew a secret Heathite? We could be on to something here. He starts the blog with the following quote :-

A criticism of politicians (yes, I know there is a list) is that many do not have any interests outside of politics – making them very one-dimensional.

Now which Prime Minister was famous for being obsessed with politics, to the exclusion of all else? Margaret Thatcher. If you contrast Heath's interests with Thatchers on their Wiki entries, you will see the stark contrast.

Matthew also say :-

One reason I don’t like The Apprentice is because on the occasions I have watched the show everyone is trying to get one over the other contestants.

This is a very interesting comment. At a recent Council meeting, Matthew rather put one over Councillor Andrew Harper, blaming him for the cock up at Aerodrome Road, where millions of pounds have been lost due to contractor overruns. Given that Matthew had negotiated the contracts, this was, shall we say, a bit unfair.

So what can we deduce from Matthews coded messages? Well I guess he hopes to be a good a Leader as fellow Yatchsman Ted Heath. I look forward to the powercuts, three day week, strikes & Inflation should he ever get his dream and make PM.

As to David's crticism. I apologise to my readers for my original blog. I should have been much harsher on reflection.

20 Firsts Meme......

Iain Dale has suggested that all bloggers do the following questionaire, he says send it to five other bloggers you know. Enjoy :-

First Job
Actor, Tizer commercial - 1966

First Real Job
????? Dunno what a real job is ?????

First Role in Politics
Canvassing on Stonegrove Estate whilst at school with Boz Boorer & Phil Bloomberg out of the Polecats for Labour in 1979.

First Car
A white Hillman Hunter. Bought for £50 in 1979

First Record
Probably Band on the Run by Wings

First Football Match
Spurs Vs Crystal Palace - 1971 (I think)

First Concert
Wings 1972 - Red Rose Speedway Tour - Hammersmith Odeon

First Country Visited
France - Pilgrimage to Lourdes with my Dad in 1967

First TV Appearance
Tizer Ad - 1966




First Political Speech
I used to do a bad stand up routine on the tube whilst drinking a whole bottle of vodka, putting on a fake Russian accent and explaining the superiority of the Communist system over capitalism and fascism to the other passengers. I don't know if it was because I was the looney on the train, but I used to make loads of money and most people agreed with me. Often ended in drunken brawls with skinheads though. I guess they didn't get the humour.


First Girlfriend/Boyfriend
Kissed a girl called Samantha when I was about 7 whilst doing an advertising shoot for toys. I've always told everyone it was Sam Fox, but that is just guesswork as I didn't know her surname.

First Encounter with a Famous Person
David Bailey photographed me in 1967, although I didn't know who he was. The first bloke who impressed me was Joe Mercer, then Manchester City manager, who my dad arranged for me to have tea with. Also present was Billy Wright and one of the Beverly Sisters.



First Brush With Death
The day I was born, had 4 blood transfusions.

First House/Flat Owned
Still live here, so I'm not telling the nutters where to send the poo to :^)

First Film Seen at a Cinema
2001 a Space Odessy with my dad.

First Time on the Radio
Stockholm, 1981

First Politician I Met
Rather embarrasingly, Margaret Thatcher. She was the president of the Hendon Overseas friendship association in the 1960's. My mum was the secretary (she was a Socialist, but got on OK with Lady T).

First Book I Remember Reading
1984 by George Orwell in 1974. Being Dyslexic, I never bothered till then, but it's a great book so I made the effort.

First Visit to the London Palladium
Never been there.

First Election
Stood for the school Council at Finchley. Came last - some things never change