Peter Hil lBY
APHOTOGRAPH appeared last week in which the Prince of Wales was gamely taking part in a sword dance during a visit to Saudi Arabia. Charles, the archetypal Englishman in blazer, slacks, suede shoes and tie, was standing in the midst of a group of tribesmen in full Arab gear and wielding scimitars.
Charles was holding his sword rather in the way that an upperclass gent would grasp a table knife. He had a wry smile on his face that seemed to mean: “What the hell am I doing here and why do they always want me to take part in these things?”
Although there are many benefits to being a royal, foreign tours can’t be among them because invariably some ghastly antic will be demanded, usually joining in a dance or taking part in sport. Officials look on appreciatively as the royal kicks a football or shows he knows one end of a cricket bat from another.
It’s all right when young, like William, Kate and Harry, but once past the age of 40 these activities are embarrassing especially when they involve topless tribal women and fertility rites. For most of us the worst that can happen is being dragged on to the dance floor at a wedding but our royals have to put up with every silly stunt the world throws at them – and smile. They deserve sympathy. qMY
maternal grandmother was bedridden for all the time I knew her. Without fail the doctor visited her once a week and spent 20 minutes chatting though it was obvious her condition was incurable. Her daughters also took turns to “do” for her.
Contrast this with today when a home visit from the doctor is unheard of and “care” visits often by unqualified, harassed foreigners who can’t speak English last a mere five minutes.
“It is just fanciful to think that elderly people can be provided with compassionate and kind care in this sort of time slot,” says minister Norman Lamb. He wants a fundamental overhaul of home help services. Yes please.
But I have to agree with Labour policy chief Jon Cruddas that contracting out these services has been a disaster. It’s a hand- washing exercise. Councils pay a private firm to carry out a public service and naturally these businesses do the minimum and maximise profit.
Nationalised industries never worked but the district nurse, meals on wheels, friendly home helps – there’s no private substitute. The old have been stripped of dignity and decency by an uncaring state and, let’s face it, by relatives who often don’t want to know.
It’s a disgrace that we should all resolve to put right. qA
REPORT that more than a quarter of British teenagers have decided to go teetotal fills me with hope. For my generation alcohol was a natural part of growing up. We sneaked into pubs that illicitly served kids and got tanked up on pints of bitter then vomited it. We also smoked untipped cigarettes bought from tobacconists that served the underage. We were revolting.
Though many managed to ditch the fags, drink has remained a life- long habit and must have caused more trouble and strife than any other human activity, impoverishing families and destroying marriages and careers. Have today’s young learned the lesson of their elders and ( not) betters? Quite possibly. qWHATEVER
the Church of England says today you can safely assume that the opposite will make sense. Archbishops Welby and Sentamu recently invoked the Communist Manifesto calling for a greater redistribution of income, despite the state collecting ever more from anyone whose cash it can get its hands on.
Top earners are paying more tax now than when Labour was in power according to figures released last week, and private pensions are being taxed out of existence.
Now the Church has weighed in on Europe, urging greater integration. A letter signed by 42 senior bishops ( yes, there are scores of them) has been sent to MPs saying there is an “enduring argument for continuing to build structures of trust and cooperation between the nations of Europe”. It also urges scrapping Trident, the only defence we have against international nuclear gangsters.
In the run- up to a general election it really is intolerable that the Church should show such political bias.
But the more they intervene the more most people will think they are a bunch of crackpots. They are also alienating their conservative congregations, but perhaps they don’t want that sort, preferring instead Left- wing happy clappers. qGOOGLE
has issued a warning to print your precious photographs because there is always a danger that electronic storage can go wrong. So true as I know to my cost. I had years of family snaps on my computer. I bought a back- up device to double up on security but it failed. I also made the mistake of signing up to an internet “cloud” system but somehow it deleted all my old photos from the system and my computer. If only I had printed them but no, I thought nothing could go wrong. It did.
CAN’T believe the parole board is even considering letting killer Kenneth Noye go free. If ever there were a case for life meaning life he is it. Noye murdered a young man in an outburst of road rage. This career criminal had earlier got away with killing a policeman. He is a dangerous psychopath who should be locked away for ever.