Parson Thru's blog

The heroes lock in combat Across the stream And why not? Heroes of the epic then are heroes yet The permanent way is no less permanent Now than then My heroic deed awaits the morning In yellow gloves

Since language appears to be a key weapon in the battle that clouds the soul of the UK, would it be worth asking the moral majority what they define as the "elite"? We might find there are more elites than anyone thought. The same with "ordinary". Who are these ordinary folk? It seems to me it might be a little too easy to point the finger at a nebulous term and let slip the dogs of war.

So, in case you weren’t watching, it’s out of the bag. UKIP’s primary concern is immigration. The very first point that Farage, in his valedictory speech, urges the next Prime Minister to adhere to is: “We need a new Prime Minister that puts down some pretty clear red lines, that we’re not going to give in on issues like free movement”. On the Conservative side of the fence we hear Philip Hammond saying that it is absurd to promise, before...

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. To be in full receipt of knowledge and to mislead is to cheat the vulnerable. "It’s not over yet. A law that passed last year to set up the EU referendum said nothing about the result being binding or having any legal force. “Sovereignty” – a much misunderstood word in the campaign – resides in Britain with the “Queen in parliament”, that is with MPs alone who can make or break laws and peers who can...

You see, representative democracy has been shown to be the superior decision-making solution because expertise and wisdom produce better decisions. Popular feeling is only resorted to by the elite when they have gauged that is in their interests to do so - when the mood is going their way. I'm sorry if all this seems a little patronising to people from my own background, but it happens to be true, I'm afraid. You/we are not equipped to make...

What a disaster. What horrible news. At first sight, it bears the hallmark of an individual act of lunacy, and we've seen enough of those (I won't apologise for my choice of words under the circumstances), but this act is symptomatic of the level of political and social hatred that has been gripping Britain since at least the last General Election and is intensifying in the run-up to the EU Referendum. This behaviour is so out of character for...

It's a shame that the EU Referendum has essentially become a vote on immigration into Britain. It seems to have brought out the darker side of British culture. I should know. I went through that phase in my teens. It's a phase of my life that I deeply regret and have tried to live down ever since. It's a mindset that imprisons its owner and consigns them to a life of insecurity. History actually shows that population movement generates...

One of the great weaknesses of political debate is this idea that there’s something called left and right and our feelings must relate to them, like one was black and one was white. Red, blue, black, white or yellow are just the colours of filthy rags, rallying flags under which the desperate and the gullible assemble when the wealthy and ambitious say it’s time to fight. Doesn’t do any harm to keep the hatred going in between times. Banner-...

What's this whole anti-Russian thing? I reckon Britain's never gotten over the Crimean War. Nationalisation of assets Edwardian Britain thought it owned? It's time the "elite" of Eton and Oxford's clubs got over themselves a bit. 1400 civilians killed by Russian air strikes in Syria? What about Iraq, and Syria since "we" got involved? Afghanistan? Libya? Headlines like those serve a purpose: they reveal who owns the press. They reveal what they...

So, where from here? I have a plan. So far, the plan is on track – it has optimism-bias (pessimism) and R&R built in. But the emotional bit can’t be planned for – only dealt with. It’s over two months since I last did any work, and that was a course. The plan says: R&R; socialising; birthdays; improving Spanish to a point where I can understand colleagues, students and speak to them; develop a working knowledge of English grammar (thanks...