THACKLEY TRUMPIT JUNE 2014 FORMERLY OF THIS PARISH

Formerly of this Parish

 A Blog from John Woods

John, muses on Scottish Independence in his latest blog

The referendum on Scottish Independence draws closer, so does the gap between the No and the Yes camps.

The independence of Scotland from the rest of the UK has raised all kinds of doom-sayers who predict the worst if Scotland break away and yet, if common sense were an option there is no reason not to conceive an arrangement for business as usual. The break up does not make us enemies, it does not force  relocation of industry, it does not deny the full interaction we currently have with other countries in Europe. What it does do is to allow Scotland to collect its own taxes and spend the proceeds as they see fit.

Perhaps it is this aspect that Whitehall is most afraid. With a  cabinet stuffed full of establishment types the trend has always been (except the early post war Attlee years) to favour a policy towards the better off and to marginalise the poor. The current dismantling of the Health Service (with its concurrent handing out lucrative contracts to the city institutions), the cuts to Welfare, the rocketing cost of University Education, the cuts in Legal Aid are all hitting the less well off members of our society, whilst with Private Health Care, affordability to educate engrained in the Public School (Private School) system, (engineered through a tax break or two), the ability to fund legal representation and therefore justice via the pocket book. One could go on and on.England is a country where the aristocracy and the old school tie rule, irrespective of Parliament or Parliamentarians but of course, all the better if the ruling party are stuffed full of Etonians. If Scotland rule themselves we will see, at first hand a significant change of focus. Their Parliament is much more Unitarian, peopled from a much more representative section of Scottish society. They speak the same language as their voters they live amongst them and know their needs. They don't need feedback from 'research groups' to tell them what the populous are thinking, they can ask their neighbours !! 

BLAZING JUNE AT LAST!

This is the latest from Toronto. 

Our intrepid correspondent has come through the winter and pens the following:

We have had such an atrocious and long winter that it's hard to believe spring is actually here and summer waiting on the threshold.  Many people lost plants and trees through the bad weather, and I'm lucky to see my little garden blooming again, as though nothing had  happened.  However, I saw only one each of hyacinth, daffodil and tulip. (Better than nothing). What a pleasure it is to walk outside in the morning sunshine and have breakfast sitting on the patio with its table and lime-green chairs and umbrella. Planting has begun (a few weeks later than usual) and an orange New Guinea impatiens hangs from a bracket, soon to be joined by a couple of companions. Tomorrow an absolute treasure of a landscape gardener will take me to buy topsoil and plants. 

Are you ever struck by coincidences? It amazes me how often in everyday life incidents seem to prove the saying that "it's a small world". For example, I recently went to a funeral at a strange church  - one of the ushers (an older man) was wearing a lapel pin that looked familiar: Whitby Abbey! I should explain that Whitby is a high favourite with myself and family - when I go home I make a beeline for it soonest possible. "Are you from Yorkshire?" I asked "No, Nottingham". Turned out he was a big fan of that totally charming and fascinating town, too. The other day I went to the veterinary hospital and got into conversation with a large, beefy young man (turned out to be from the Middle East) with an enormous tattoo on his ample upper right arm, which, on closer inspection turned out to be St George and the Dragon. I immediately commented on this fact (yes, he did know it was the Patron Saint of England adorning his person) which led to an interesting chat. He was accompanied by a very handsome Husky sled dog. "He's going to Australia", said the young man, indicating his companion, "Whereabouts", I asked. Well, to make a long story short it turned out his family lived in Melbourne, so that's where the doggy was going, (imagine! on such a long flight!) Well, the punchline is that my sister lives there. The husband of a neighbour of mine came from Bradford. I recently chatted at lunch to a lady I had not previously met. I recognised the inimitable "Scouse" accent. "You're from Liverpool", I volunteered. "Well", she said, "I was born in Bradford..."  (I shrieked!) "...but was brought up in Liverpool". So you see, these little snippets do make life more interesting.  Well, to me, anyway.  How about you?