1742 Somebody Up There Likes Me at Bembridge Isle of Wight

In future, the 17th of June will be known as Someone Up There Likes me, Bembridge on the Isle of Wight Day.

Some sixty years ago, or more, my birth mother, Mabel, booked and paid for a caravan holiday for two weeks at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, for herself, her eldest sister Lena, her younger sister Margaret who was known as Harriet and who was my care mother, and me. I cannot remember if this was the first family holiday. We had been prevented from having holidays at the seaside because of World War Two, we were poor and because she had her sisters had cared for a sister who had become progressively, deaf, dumb, blind and bedridden from school age meningitis.

It was not our first trip away together as during the last year of the war when Croydon, and the surrounding area, became the target for the greatest concentration of rocket bombs dropped in the UK, over 140, and all five of us went to stay for part of the year with a married sister who lived in army officer’s quarters with her baby son at Catterick camp in Yorkshire, then a few houses away from the base and surrounded by corn fields where we would walk in the evenings. I mention this because there were aspects of the Catterick experience, especially the travelling and being in the countryside which I remember as being similar to that at Bembridge.

In the last year of the war with Germany I had travelled with the disabled sister in an ambulance, and my care mother and her elder sister had travelled separately by train, with my birth mother staying behind until the end of the school term and then had travelled on her own to join us. When we returned to Wallington, after the bombing ceased, we had come back by train, my first long train journey experienced. It may even have been my first train journey of any kind My birth mother arranged the trip to the Isle of Wight from a newspaper advertisement without any prior knowledge or information about where we going, except that someone had said to her, or to one of her sisters that the Island was the place to go, perhaps reminding them of the peninsular island of their homeland, Gibraltar which they had been required to leave in 1938 and again in 1939.

The journey there and back would have taken some organising as it would have been necessary to take the Trolley bus, the 645 from a stop in Wallington close to our home and then walk from one part of Croydon to another and then catch the train to Portsmouth and take the passenger ferry from the Harbour to Ryde and then the Island train and then the bus to the village and then walk to the farm where the caravan was located. I can remember that there was a walk with cases from the village to the caravan and from the caravan to the headland of the Bembridge Ledge. No sandy beach and no seaside of a pier, a fish and chip café, ice creams, candy floss and amusement arcades, that we were expecting.

I have no picture in my head of the village as it was then, other than there were a few houses, an Inn but was there a store? I remember the disappointment, especially of my care mother that there was no beach and no seaside when we explored that first evening after a cooked meal. I recollect that there were still traces of the war defences which added concern about the location. Our other task that evening was to gain directions for the nearest Catholic Church and then how to get to the nearest public beach which was by a bus to Sandown. I cannot say for certain but I believe there was only a limited service there and back.

I do have a strong recollection that by the time we got up, had breakfast, made sandwiches for lunch and flasks of drinks and then caught the bus, it was around midday and time for lunch. It was a rule not to bathe for two hours until after a meal so it would mid afternoon before anyone would go into the water. I was afraid of the water so would only splash about. I cannot remember if either my birth mother or elder sister changed in to bathing costumes or went into sea but my care mother did and I having photos of her and friends sun bathing at various haunts in Gibraltar.

I remember that we returned late afternoon when a meal was cooked and we would go for a walk before bed. I remember walking to the harbour which was just an inland waterway. I will leave until the next writing the experience of Sandown, the trips to Shanklin and Ventnor, around the Island to Ventnor and Cowes, and the Shanklin Chine. I can no longer remember what we were able to do on this first trip, or the second when we stayed in a guest house at Sandown. We usually went to a different place each holiday but because of the isolation and inability to stay late and attend a Saturday night firework display held I believe at Shanklin we returned the following year or a year soon after.

We would have appeared an odd family group, three ladies, one in her fifties and two in their early forties, speaking Gibraltarian Spanish, so that no one, including me, could understand what they were saying. I saw them as English and it was only decades later that I comprehended that they were a mixture of Mediterranean Catholic, with mother and grandmother of Spanish, Italian and Gibraltarian mixed ancestry, and a grandfather from three hundred years ancestry from pre Victorian Calne in Wiltshire. Unknown to me, until I was sixty, my background was a mixture of this and four hundred years of Maltese ancestry. I had not been back to Bembridge since that holiday and wondered how much if anything I would recognise. It was something of a pilgrimage, unfortunately combined with visiting a friend relative who was incarcerated in hospital at Newport.

I set off from Newport and almost immediately got lost. The previous day I had been led in convoy from the Fishbourne Inn to the Hospital and then to the Lugely Street Car Park across from the Travel Lodge where I had secured threes nights accommodations for £19 a night and although I had commenced a walkabout, first to find the Tourist office for a tourist parking permit, but it was closed until 9.30 the following morning, I was too tired to explore further.

The following morning I had risen early and made my way to the car park for a ticket valid from 8 to 10 and then set off on an explore, first to a phone box as I needed to confirm continuation of my building and contents insurance after the mix p created the previous week when I had enquired about raising the limit on the contents insurance and something I must still sort out given the replacement value of my work materials, my books and such like. The work itself will have little or not value at present but just printing the photos and available print matter from disks and computer hard drives would involve several thousand pounds. I must work this out sometime to ensure that I am covered.

I then needed some short sleeve shirts and soon found the bus station with Morrison’s in the distance and then at Morrison’s, Marks and Spencer’s where I arrived just after opening at two minutes past nine. I bought three short sleeve shirts in a pack of blue, white and cream for £18 and then checked out the café where two creams teas, mixed sandwiches, scones, cream, jams and tea could be had for under £9 and an assortment of breakfasts and breakfast filled rolls were available. As I had a coffee and an apple turnover for breakfast I resisted the very strong temptation to have something here and then at Morrison’s although I promised myself I would indulge on the morning before taking the ferry to the mainland on Friday.

I then went to the Cineworld to find the film times for Angels and Demons and then went to the Quayside where I sat on a bench and made notes before calculating it was time to go to the tourist office in time for the pass to commence at 10am. As usual I kept finding things I wanted to do such as stay longer and then go on a walkabout both sides of the river, but other priorities prevailed. Bembridge beckoned.

I was immediately impressed by the tourist office where there was time to take in the large array of books, maps, souvenirs and informations. Some was booking a combined ferry and train trip and it took a surprisingly short time. A gentleman arrived with posters for a fete and was disappointed it would be several days before they would be put up at other offices. I did not understand why if this was so he and or someone else could not arrange to take them personally to each office during the day time.

I bought a map book as the one previously purchased on my day’s visit to Sandown and Shanklin the previous year was not comprehensive and obtained the two day permit which is excellent value because it enables movement all over the Island. While it costs more than the Brighton 7 day unlimited use pass for £27,50 at National Car Parks one is restricted to the particular park.

As a consequence of the morning walkabout I had worked out to leave the car park by the other exit and found my way into the what I believe is the High Street and Quay street on to the roundabout. However having spent several minutes studying the map I remain confused as instead of taking the road to Sandown I think I took a road marked Bembridge via Staplers, although at some point I reach a junction which said towards Sandown or Newport where I had come from. It was only the following day that I came back via the magnificent Down’s route.

On reaching the village centre, instead of finding parking and doing a walk about I was determined to find the Bembridge Ledge and drove around a couple of times trying to work out which route to take and ended driving along the harbour road to St Helens. I remember that we did walk here at least one evening commenting that there was nothing there either. I wondered when the houseboats were established. I was able to have a brief look around from the car as traffic was held up while children disgorged from three coaches heading for some watery adventure.

I decided not to continue around to the viewpoints the other side of St Helens and turned around and headed into the headland area and was soon lost in the winding Love Lane, Meadow Drive and Swains Road and eventually finding Swains Lane and Lane End Road and then coming to the car park overlooking the works on the Lifeboat Pier, the Lifeboat shop and the public Toilets, my first objective. There were only a few vehicles with those of the workmen in a compound a little distance away.

On leaving the toilet I noticed that the vehicle in the corner of the car park closest to where there was a row of four or five benches looking out over the Ledge and Pier workings was leaving and moved mine into this space. I would sit on the nearest bench if free after an on foot explore. The first impact had been yep this was where we had come on that first evening but I did not remember the lifeboat pier.


I then commenced an explore on foot going left and found the café at the start of the coastal path. All I wanted was a cup of coffee but I could not resist mentioning that this was my first visit for sixty years and I remembered the Ledge but there had been nothing else here on this part of the headland, but was my memory being true?

It was then time for a walk in the opposite direction and I could not resist exploring the grounds of the Hotel which commands the headland and which prevents the continuation of the coastal path requiring detour through the now residential headland, but then farmed land. Was anyone left who was a child at that time and would remember what the area had been like.

The Bembridge Coast Hotel is a fine hotel with extensive grounds ideal for elders or adults without children and appears self contained with places to lounge in the sunshine, pitch and putt golf green and Archery, Tennis, Croquet, Air Riffle shooting, Boules and a Spanish Garden. Inside there is an international standard four lane bowling green, heated swimming pool and sauna with exercise bikes and there is also a full beauty treatment suite including massage and facials.

The standard deal includes a full English breakfast and a three course evening meal in the Four Tides Restaurant which was beautifully set out in a grand traditional manner and for lunch there is the separate Solent Café which serves everything from fish and chips, baguettes, Panini’s, Baked Potatoes and salads including the Ploughman’s. There is music entertainment in the evenings from Tributes to Queen and the Be gees to Tom Jones and Glen Miller and Joe Loss. The all in price ranges from £214 to over £500 for 3 to seven nights plus range of extras in terms of room quality, views and facilities and services. The hotel is part of the Warner Chain.

Having explored so far I return to the car, and then sat on the first bench studying the map and reading the short notes on the history of the village. I then made a phone call which led to this writing being called Someone Up there likes Me- Bembridge.

It is not my practice to refer to living relatives or friends other than in the most general terms but this is the first and possibly the only instance where I will do so although without specific identification. A friend of a relative lives in Bembridge and for the past month has been incarcerated in the Island Hospital at Newport with major health problems. I had arranged to meet up with the relative after my exploring, and have lunch with another relative also staying at the home of lifelong friend in the Sandown area. However because of a previous commitment the other relative would not be free to late afternoon.
I had sat on the bench closest to my car noticing that there was another man sitting on the bench furthest away. There was a vehicle with a coach type vehicle with young people which had taken benchers in the grassland next to the car park.

I then got into a kafuffle about the phone. I had four pockets in the sleeveless waistcoat type jacket which is idea for travelling and part of a coat where as in fact the phone was a trouser pocket. I also remember having my car keys in my hand and a pocket address book at some point.

Having made the phone call, found about the changed arrangements and that the property was within walking distance via the grounds of the hotel, I elected to leave the car where it was, and walked continuing to listen to directions on my mobile phone.

It was close to 5pm before I was about to get into the vehicle of my relative to be taken back to the car park to collect my other relative in convoy and then visit the friend in hospital. It was at this moment that I attempted to get out the car key in readiness and could not find it. I emptied all pockets onto the passenger car seat and then went to where I had sat talking. I decided again checking everywhere I had been, especially the garden of the property because instinctively I felt I could have left the keys in the car. As we approached my car it was evident I had been right in one respect. Someone had found the keys, as stuck to the driver’s side window was a large notice which included a map. The note included the name of one individual and a mainland telephone number and the telephone and address of the person holding the key, the address provided in case I did not have a phone. I made the phone call and then travelled to the address to collect.

A holiday maker, it is presumed, had found the keys on or near the bench where I had sat and which I must have put down or dropped when I made the phone call and had then set off phone in hand following the directions. The individual had worked out that the keys related to the only other car and waited and waited assuming that I would be returning from a walk. Having reached the point when they had to leave the initiative had been taken to visit the Royal National Lifeboat station and left the keys with a volunteer who had provide notice, the map and the sticky tape. I had been very very, very, very lucky, due to the observation thoughtfulness of the visitor and the RNLB volunteer. I had already experienced the kindness of the Bembridge residents having had a little chat at the Solent view café. On my way through the grounds of the hotel, I had been advised that there was gate behind the Spanish Garden with led into the residential area where my relative was staying. I had seen the gate but hesitated because adjacent to it was a private residence and I had gone back in the grounds toward the main entrance and seeing a member of staff making their way to a car I asked about the gate and the individual accompanied me to where I was able to point to the gate, technically gates, one for vehicles and one for pedestrians, and which was used by hotel staff on occasions.

Some five hours had elapsed since losing the key and it had been handed over and one of several amazing aspects of the day is that the RNLB volunteer not only knew my friend in hospital but lived in the very next road.

It will not surprise that my friend found the tale entertaining or that it was pointed out that none of this would have happened had I taken the car round to the property rather than decided on the walk though the hotel grounds. I have only recently acquired the bright red Suzuki Wagon, as a replacement for one owned for ten years and where my own key had become bent and the dealer taking the vehicle in part exchange had advised that had it ceased to function it would have been expensive to change the car locks. On my way from Newport to Bembridge in the morning I had passed the Suzuki dealership on the Island ( I assume there is not more than one) and the thought had crossed my mind that if anything happened to the vehicle at I knew there was a dealership and where it was. I must stopping having such tempt the fates thoughts.

Meanwhile during the period of discovering the lost key and setting of my other relative had been patiently waiting at the end of her road to be collected.. Again had not last minute changes been necessary and she arrived for lunch we would have set off earlier for the hospital and the key loss could have been discovered several hours earlier.

It could be thought, with justification, that this was enough adventuring for one day for anyone in their sixties and seventies but our trio could not resist going out for a meal and the late evening showing of Angels and Demons at the Cineworld. We managed to find two of the last places in the Quayside area car park with the bridge into the main level of the Cinema and we had then gone down to have a meal in Pizza restaurant attached to the complex. Here we found that between a dozen and fifteen tables were occupied but another dozen were not, There appeared to be only two young members of staff attending to the tables and the two steadfastly ignored the two other parties waiting for tables as well as ourselves. We waited for only five minutes and went instead to the Chicago Rock Café, clearly an establishment designed for young people with a passion for exotic drinks and staying up to 3am at weekends. I enjoyed a BBQ chicken breast with chips and coleslaw while my companions had several pieces of battered fish with chips presented with theatricality and reasonable priced, with even better value had we arrived before 7pm when there was a two for one offer. . The meal obliterated the disaster of that at the Fishbourne Inn the previous day The Inn has a great atmosphere and location. The food was however expensive and appalling. The staff indifferent.

Returning to the cinema where we obtained our tickets beforehand having exchanged vouchers obtained from my credit card firm having put the deposit for the car on the card. We then found over a hundred young people held in a queue. There had been a fire alarm earlier in the evening which had put some programmes back twenty minutes or so as apparently the cinema had been cleared because of the fire alarm. I later learnt from this had happened before, recently. As I had seen Angels and Demons and written at length, I will leave further comment except to say that the hilarity and incredulity about some aspects of the film was shared and with Wimbledon fortnight almost here, I am reminded of the McEnroe call, You cannot be serious? There are still some great shots of Rome and some significant issues about religion and science, the origins of the universe and the nature of faith within the film.

As my companions set off to their respective homes across the Island one joked about my getting lost in the one way system and then not being able to get into the Travel Lodge at that time of night. No problem I said having been in a position to advise not one but two other visitors to the hotel about car parking and the one way system. I had also gone down to the reception about 12.30 to buy a cool drink from the drinks and snacks machine only to find that this was the one travel lodge in the land that did not have one. However still affected by the narrow escape of the car keys and tired I was in no mood to sit and work out my way home and finding that I had missed the turning to get to Lugely street I opted for another town centre park Chapel Street which I mistook for the double park of Drill Street just along from Lugely. I realised that on getting out of the car and I cannot remember how I managed to get myself directly to the Travel lodge as I was in no mood to go walkabout. Then I found that the my key card did not work but had to wait only a couple of minutes before having pressed the external call button I was let in and the card renewed for the remaining period of my stay.

The following morning I had to ask for directions to get to the Chapel Street car park and the first person approached took part of the way before going off in a separate direction. I then decided to buy a thank you card at Smiths, seen earlier on a previous orientation walk, and also draw out some cash from a bank machine in order to make a cash donation to the Lifeboat fund. I then could not immediately work out in which direction I should go and then a lady came out of her house so I asked her and she accompanied me to Smiths before going on, and I discovered that there are a number of tiny alleys and shortcuts familiar to the locals. We had a good chat along the way. By this time I was feeling good and that Someone Up There Like me. And then I placed my card in the cash machine, entered my code and the machine went off line taking my card with it. I had to wait for fifteen minutes while the machine was opened from the back and the card removed because until this happened it was important to keep watch in case it came back online and ejected the card. I found my way back to the car taking the same short cuts and in the car I was able to toot the individual as she returned to her home.

Yesterday I bought a copy of the County Press Island newspaper onboard the Wightlink ferry and came across their advertisement for the DVD with film and photos of Bembridge and the area from the 1940’s and 1950’s. Wow I cannot wait to get home and place an order, Somebody Up There Does Like me and Bembridge, Isle of Wight.

1741 A summer night in Oxford University City

Last night I enjoyed a balmy summer’s night in Oxford watching England win against India in an important 20 20 match at two pubs at both ends of the High, having invested a small fortune in car parking charges. Both the match and the nostalgia was worth the expenditure. The breakdown disaster of last year was not repeated as I commenced my journey to Portsmouth

On Saturday I had returned from Durham’s win against Lancashire via Sunderland to fill up with petrol and replace the vacuum flash which I had carelessly dropped on concrete. I had then systematically set about preparing for the journey. One travel bag with tins of rice, beans, crab, salmon and sardines, packets of soup, Kitchen roll and rest I cannot remember. The picnic utensils were placed in back compartment of the cool box with tin and bottle openers plus kitchen towel.. I prepared Tupperware type boxes for the remaining strawberries and watermelon, the latter cut into chunks with other boxes for lettuce and cucumber, olives and sliced gherkins and tomatoes. I left buttering rolls and filling them with meats and the rest of the coleslaw until the morning.

There was a little ironing to do and as on the trip to Brighton and Hove I did not pack the trousers and shirts of long and short sleeve but placed a cover of them and then placed the cover over a seat in car. I would take only one other bag and the rucksack. The this bag would take the pyjamas, underwear, track suit bottoms, clock lap top computer, headphones and mobile phone charger, plus one new and unopened shirt. The haversack would take the paperwork for the trip, personal information I like to carry with me, a book to read, a couple of DVD’s, sun creams, spare pair of glasses and such like and the unfilled thermos flask.

Some of the plants were watered, I say some because there was a single bright flash of lightening filled by the crack of thunder overhead, then distant but a torrential downpour which lasted less than half an hour but was disconcerting.

There was also paperwork, some upsetting. First the insurance wanted return of the old certificate before releasing the new or a declaration that it had been destroyed or misplaced. I searched high and low but could not find it although I knew it had not been lost. I wrote a letter and completed the form ready for posting in the morning. Then there was a problem with House and contents insurance and as it was after six on a Saturday before I got round to the unopened correspondence I could not resolves the issue which I will not bother to go into now.

Now I have briefly summarised it is difficult to understand why all this took until midnight with several walkabouts in the house thinking over what I had done and was still to do. I did need to work out how to get to the car Ferry although getting to the Travel Lodge. could be left until Sunday night or Monday morning I also took time off to watch the Cardiff Singer of the Year final round. I had also intended to watch a DVD but the machine has developed a sound problem which together with the top of the washing machine replacement I will leave on return over the three weeks or so before the hectic month of July with two trips and a jazz festival and more cricket.

For once the following morning went exactly as hoped for. There was only myself to get up, rolls to be filled, cold water for the night wakings in a flask, loading to cool bag with contents prepared the night before and doing the final checks that I had everything. In fact I left behind a pair of casual trousers I had planned and binned the everyday shows which I had discovered were in dreadful condition. I was to motor to the midlands for lunch without stopping so I had a coffee fro breakfast.

There was great joy in being able to drive with a cold airflow system and a radio CD player. I have been listening to a T Rex best of CD over the past few days. Children of the Revolution and all that. I must list some other hits. He was a limited singer and the format of his songs was the same with repeating chants with back up singers Metal Guru endlessly. It is difficult to hear what he is saying and his slogans are now dated but reflect the times in which they were created. I will switch to the more articulate and creative Bob Dylan best of at some point. For the start of the journey it was Classical FM appropriate for a Sunday morning. I stopped at the new Azda for cash and had to advise a little old later with shopping bag standing by the unopened huge glass doors that it was Sunday and 24 hour shopping applied between first thing Monday and closure on Saturday evening. I wondered how far she had walked as there is no housing immediately nearby. I was tempted to offer a lift but I needed to get somewhere for lunch by midday. The journey and the lunch were excellent. A chicken and bacon salad with a baguette accompanied by a J20 and then a coffee. I was on my journey again around 2pm and in Oxford about 4.30.

I had joined the M1 having travelled the A19 and A1 before lunch and then followed the route which becomes the M40 for a while and which took passed the road to Silverstone where the previous year I had been held up because of a car fire and which I had bypassed by coming off and the going back onto the motorway as convenient for me the accident and fire had occurred under the roundabout. I had stopped at the first lay-by after having turned of the road on to that leading to the M40 and at this point the starter motor had failed in the roundabout. I had remembered vivid my experience of standing there waving at the traffic to avoid a collision and my relief when the AA arrived, and then got the vehicle jump started so I was able to drive to Bicester when it was garaged over the weekend and I was given a hire car to complete my journey down to an Innkeepers for the weekend and the finals day of the 20 20 at the Rose Bowl. On the Sunday I gone over to the Isle of Wight for the day, whereas this year I looked forward to spending three nights and on the Monday before setting off to Burford for the night stop I had spent half a day at the Naval dockyard where I was given a year long ticket after signing off the income tax relief.

This time there was high drama and my destination the Travel Lodge just off the Peartree roundabout was just off the A34 which continued to near Newbury and on close to Winchester before joining the M3 to the outskirts of Southampton when the M27 took me to where I was staying in Portsmouth.

It was a beautiful evening as I arrived at the site which next to a holiday Inn. Did I not stay here once before. I have stayed at the Peartree Travel Lodge before now once during a Drug Advisory Service visit for the Department of Health although I had stayed with the team in hotel close to Walton Street and Ruskin College. And we had gone out for some great meals in the evenings at Government expense. After booking in and unpacking what I needed, leaving the rest in the car I decided to go in search of a sport bar or pub to watch England play India in the must win match of the World 20 20 cup. I knew car parking was impossible in Oxford except at official sites so first I went to see if the Park and Ride scheme nearby was in operation. As anticipated it was by the last bus back was at seven. I headed for Summertown where I lived for two years in my first rented accommodation as an employed child care officer from 1964 to 1966 and where there was car parking behind the high street where there was now restaurants from around the world in what was a villagey area with BBC Oxford and the headquarters of OXFAM, the Oxford Committee for Famine relief. The car park was expensive as anticipated so I decided that I might as well park in the town centre, not realising it would cost even more. This was my first mistake. The second was on the way to the Walton Street car park on impulse I went for that at the bus station which proved to be underground and where the charges were lethal £3 for the first hours and over £7 for three. I should have driven out and onto Walton Street but took the hour which would be sufficient time to find out if there was a cricket showing bar in the immediate town centre. I passed a pub which I did use from time to time when at Ruskin and having rooms in Walton Place and then in college building in Walton Street during my second year.

Close to the cinema and a popular French bistro, especially for dinner parties out there a miserable atmosphere Euro Bar with ground level seat looking up to an above standing head TV and with steps then up to the bar. In was a curious place staffed by young women with European accents and where the drinks were expensive. One young man made do with a pint of iced water. England were put into bat by India and Luke Wright was out almost immediately , however Bopara 37 and then Petersen 46 scored well and reasonable quickly. As the hour of car parking ended I returned to the car and moved onto the original destination where £5 covered the charges until 8pm and then from 8pm until 8 am in the morning and returned to watch the rest of the English Innings where they reached 153 six about twenty to thirties runs short of a winning total. The problem is that middle order, including captain Collingwood were unable to move along quickly or hit 4s and 6s with the regularity required..
It looked a fantastic night outside and it was Oxford and it seemed wrong to be sitting there in an atmosphere I was not enjoying so I decided to walk the High to Magdalen Bridge. Sunday evenings in most shopping centres away from pubs and restaurants, and other recreational facilities. However this was a university in term time so there were students heading for a function at the Union, some from society meetings, or activities with friends, most busy bicycling. Oxford is usually full of people from lands far and near. There were always students learning English or being finished, but then nothing like the influx taking causal and menial jobs. The only Chinese/Asians one would see were serving in restaurants or glimpsed behind a half opened kitchen door. On Sunday I observe red several pairs of Chinese far East students and a couple of mixed relationships which suggests the Colleges are doing good business in this respect. In addition to Examination Schools there are only four colleges in the High All Souls which does not take undergraduates and Fellows are elected and included Sir Christopher Wren and Lawrence of Arabia and current John Redwood the right wing Conservative Member of Parliament ,Queens attended by Henry V, and University with Shelley and Clem Atlee and CS Lewis, Bill Clinton, and Bob Hawke together with Stephen Hawkins as alumni.

And Magdalen where on May day from its tower the choir sing at dawn Cardinal Wolsey, John Betjeman and Oscar Wilde, I have seen his room, could say I was there. So could beyond the Fringe Dudley Moore.

Having got as far as the bridge I could not resist going on a little further to the small village of shops and pubs with St Hilda’s once Ladies only college on the left and one of two roads leading up to Headington Hill, the former home of the notorious owner of the Daily Mirror Sir Robert Maxwell and which has become part of the new Oxford University which developed from the Technical Colleges across the way, and the on to Headington centre where I lived for over a year before moving to London and where in Headington Old Village was located Ruskin Colleges other building where at the Rookery I had lived for my first year. In the area across from the Bridge and the now silent punts to one side and the meadow and the Botanical Gardens with the walks down to Christ Church and its Meadow and down to the Thames called Isis here I had taken to lunch a student friend of a friend at St Hilda’s who had stayed only for the main course and then got back to work, cutting me adrift such was the evidence of the cultural and educational difference between us and that there was nothing between us to sustain further interest. I went to see if the eating place was still. T was but under a different guise. Later on the return journey after passing Shepherd and Woodward the university suppliers of gowns and ties and scarves which made me up a large red scarf to represent Ruskin and from where I hired the gown and white bow tie required to be worn before one could sit a public examination in the Examination schools, I been to lunch at a first floor Chinese restaurant with my friend from St Hilda’s (not the friend of the friend if you see what I mean but the friend) established on two walks across the Pennines from Liverpool to Hull over Christmas and New Year organised by the Youth Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Now some fifty years later it was a Thai restaurant.

Anyway this is a monumental digression at the village across from the Bridge there were three public houses. One advertised some live Irish music that very evening but a little way further on the other side of the road where there were a number of drinkers and smokers enjoying the warm evening air, The Old Black Horse is its name there is the most attractive looking sports pub I have encountered in many a day. There was a choice of viewing areas and I opted for a the wooden walled upper room where blinds masked the light from large windows not to affect the large screen projection. Other screen although large and offering high definition quality were less than a half perhaps a quarter of this one. There was only one couple, she more interested in him than the cricket when I arrived but later I was surrounded by part of a cricket playing team, complete with whites and bats and one sporting a multi coloured cap reminding of Brideshead days. The match was coming to an end and as it did he excitement increased. Sidebottom had taken two of the early Indian wickets and this had slowed down as well as the wicket the run chase. Swann had two wickets leaving at 85 for five, leaving Dhoni and Pathan to get the seventy off runs required. Some tight bowling from Broad 4 for 21 as well as Swann 2 for 28 won England the match and survival until the following day as India were all out for 150 just three runs short.

On the return journey I had been tempted to go through to the Broad and return to the car along Beaumont Street with the Randolph Hotel is located, the Playhouse, the Ashmolean and my former dentist. Instead I went onto Carfax and turned into the pedestrian only area where the Kardomah Tea rooms used to be. The tea room of the same name in Swansea became more famous because Dylan Thomas and friends would meet. On either side there is a small lane off where there were former pub haunts. One on the right was a known haunt of city girls who would hand jive to the Twist and where with a former army sergeant then at Ruskin we failed dismally to get off with two we chatted up. Admittedly I was inexperienced hopeless of similar age to them whereas he was experienced but ten years or more my senior. It is now a restaurant and the Kardomah long since vanished into a shopping precinct. And so the flood of memories then and now overwhelmed the night. I was tempted to stay out, go for a drink, remember more but I wanted an early start for the next adventuresome day.

1740 A cricket match in retrospect

Just as the political week as has been uniquely volatile Durham’s cricket match against Lancashire has been extraordinary. The weather, the players and the course of the game all contributed to a memorable three days which I was able to enjoy alongside preparations for my next trip.

When I opened the curtains, metaphorically, speaking, as I had not drawn those in the workroom the night before or opened those in the bedroom, there was a cloudless blue sky above the hill, although it felt chilly. I had become anxious about attending the cricket and prepare for my trip, although I have become nervous about leaving the security of my home and going away on my own, although in this instance I will be having contact with family at various times. At least I am venturing away more during this seventieth year and consider that I manage well once I am on the road, train, or coach.

On Thursday, now a week ago, I accomplished the planned tasks for the morning to arrive at the ground and park within a few minutes of the commencement. Finding that the wicket was even closer to the Member’s Pavilion I made my way around to the opposite corner and found a good seat and then only discovered that I was within feet of a Sky Camera team. It was soon evident why they were in attendance. Freddie Flintoff, England’s most well known all round player and match winner since Ian Botham in the 1980’s and who had been injured having a knee operation was playing his first competitive game, in preparation for the Australia Ashes tour after the 20 20 competition is completed. I found this irritating because both Graham Onions, who had been selected for the Tests against the West Indies and Steve Harmison who is a centrally contracted with the national cricket board have improved in their accuracy and wicket taking and as bowlers should have as good a chance as Freddie of being selected along with the class act of English born Saj Mahmood for Lancashire.

Having won the toss Lancashire put Durham into bat, concerned at the reputed liveliness of the wicket and the recent reputation of Graham Onions and Steve Harmison. Lancashire did not open with Flintoff but their opening pair, especially Mahmood did find that the pitch did more than live up to their expectation, even anticipation. There was a variable speed reaction as well as swing into or away from the batsman denting on which players were left and right handed and this meant that sometimes the ball bounced up more sharply than expected, especially from the over six foot bowlers, or it was not only flat but stayed low so that in these circumstances there was risk to skying into the air a rising ball or giving a nick to the wicket keeper or one of the fielders in the slips, standing back in quarter circle alongside the wicket keeper.

Few in the crowd including the Sky front man with his camera understood this until the captains and players explained what was happening as the match progressed over the three days which it lasted. On that morning the fireworks commenced with the second ball of the first spell by Mr Flintoff who came on to bowl around midday.

Durham had made a slow but good start until then. And the loss of the wicket looked to be a hiccup as the total reached 84 when first Smith who had played within his shell was out followed instantly by Stoneman who had scored 45, and Durham appeared to be in trouble. There then followed a series of mini stands as the wicket appeared to play up and Lancashire shared wicket taking between their bowlers with Muchall going at 117, Blackwell at 143 for 20, Blenkenstein for 166 and Thorp at 172 for 4, I thought Saj Mahmood was their better bowler although while he ended 2 for 62 it was Flintoff who attracted the attention with 4 wickets for 47 from 15.5 overs.

The day ended early for me as it had not been for a comfortable day watching cricket in the open air. Alas the problem was that while the sky was clear on the hill, there was evidence of changeable cloud once on the flat was reached as I left town and approached the start of the AIM towards Washington and Chester Le Street. The first shower was limited but I hastened to the Member’s lounge after lunch when I took a seat close to where a former colleague was sitting, discovered as he returned from his lunch taken inside the lounge.

Out on the second and back row of the Member’s undercover balcony first two Executive looking men with Durham ties. and then a young man in his twenties sat in the row in front of me and asked if Flintoff had yet bowled so were relayed what had happened in the morning. They were rewarded by a short spell of another four overs where he had not looked as comfortable in his first.

There was a second interruption for rain and the when the third offered and the skies looked dreadful I made my way to the car and drove home to watch England play South Africa in the next round of the 20 20 competition. Alas his interest was short lived as we lost two quick wickets and it was evident what was going to happen. True to form we lost the game in those disastrous opening moments. We had lost two of the opening games and I blamed Durham’s Collingwood.

The previous evening I had watched a competent and professional English Team whack Andora six nil with three goals in each half. Andora a poor team, even more poor than on previous encounters when we had struggled to score through an energetic packed defence. The sixty thousand crowd enjoyed the event, despite a strike on the Underground which caused travel chaos with Wembley forced to offer a return of the ticket money for those who would find the problem getting from Wembley to the main line and regional station for connections home difficult to impossible, especially with children going to school in the following morning. I have been to Andorra, one year camping on the south coast of France before moving on to sites on either side of the Spanish Border. The Mistral had arrived sweeping in sand dust into every area of the tent. The decision had been taken to pack overnight stuff and head off to Andorra where in the warm sunshine, and a hotel bed was taken for the evening without pre-booking. The tiny kingdom had a population of over 50000 when I visited but today has grown to 80000 similar to South Shields but here the similarities vanish as the citizen are wealthy from tourism and from the operations as tax heaven The weather is such that the population is renowned having the best average death age in the world, believe it or not it is 85 years.

The Andorrans, in addition to providing a football team of part timers to compete in World and European competitions where they always lose, have now produced their first Opera singer to compete in the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Each evening this week five male and female singers have competed to win an award on the night and then five singers were selected for the final on Sunday. Tonight a twenty-one year old Italian tenor Giordano won and went through to the final as the favourite to win the competition which surprisingly no Italian tenor has won before. He has the most beautiful tender and expressive voice I have ever heard. He does not yet speak English but when he said his ambition is to become one of the great Italian singers those of us hearing him thought, but you already are. He has not yet developed the power and strength of someone such as Pavarotti but it was evident he will. My only concern that as with other famous tenors tenor including Mario Lanza and Pavarotti he has developed his upper body to such an extent that his future health must be of concern. He is the youngest competitor so that the others in the final have had time for their voices to mature. It was evident from the response of the audience and the orchestra that they also recognised being at the birth of a new international superstar who will one day perform the great roles in New York, London and Rome as the other great Opera House of the world. Giordano Luca, remember that name.

At the end of the first day Durham had reached just over 200 for eight wickets and with Mustard and Claydon putting on another mi stand of some 30 runs

The following morning given the chill and watery weather of the previous day and the need to make further preparations for the trip I decided to stay home and considered going to the match according to the commentary on the internet. I decided to take up the offer of a mini cooked breakfast in the town centre

The previous day I had received four vouchers for breakfasts which I thought were from the town centre McDonalds which has distributed similar vouchers in the past, usually for any time available after 10.30 so were used for lunch. These were for use before 10.30 and an early waking after a good sleep and a bright sky once more, I went off into town noting there was no cooling wind. It was good to be out and I enjoyed the walk down the hill only to realise as I arrived that the vouchers were for the Kentucky Fried Chicken. I had planned to take the week’s household refuse and the environmental recycle box of papers, cans and glass on my way to the match, but now decided to combine this with the planned breakfast treat. I had a brisk walk back up the hill which served me well and then set off without preparing any food or drink to take with me.

The chosen treat at the KFC was a mini breakfast comprising scrambled egg, a small sausage sliced in two, two small pieces of bacon, a hash brown, baked beans and a cheesy bread with a coffee for £1.89. I eat this at leisure, visited the Council refuse site and then made my way to the Riverside where the only problem was that the car park machine nearest the vehicle was not working.

It was evident that the good weather and batting performance on a difficult wicket had attracted a larger crowd, one of the best for a championship match so far, including more visitors from Lancashire who were making a weekend of it. In fact there had been more play the previous evening as Blackwell made something of a stand with Mitch Claydon. He was out before close but the total had been taken to over 200 and reached 244 before the last two wickets fells in two overs to Freddie Flintoff making his total a respectable four for forty seven from 15.5 overs. Phil Mustard had reached 51 and then tried to hook a bouncer giving an easy catch to the outfield. Not knowing about the uneven performance of the wicket I thought he had played a poor shot in circumstances where he could have gained another batting bonus point with six more runs.

What then happened made Durham’s Day and created disappointment for Lancashire and the visiting fans. Onions had Horton caught behind for 0 after 4 byes had been scored. The player stayed behind even after the umpire signalled suggesting that he thought he had not touched the ball. This also happened with one of the other openers who had admittedly moved forward towards the ball which always makes it difficult to give a leg before wicket decision to the bowler. Graham Onions had the first three wickets at 4, 34 and 37. Meanwhile Steve Harmison and bowled in a very controlled fashion with four maidens in the opening spell and several overs where only one or two runs were scored against him. It was twelve thirty when I decided I need to follow up breakfast with a cup of tea and having acquired this and settled at table to drink I was rewarded with the second and third Onions wicket and Harmison also got one before lunch with Lancs 48 for 4.

Immediately after lunch Flintoff who had looked as if he was settling was cleaned bowled by Harmison for 3 and Lancashire were 56 for 5. They then had a mini stand so feeling hungry I went up stairs once more and bought a chicken sandwich with sweet pepper and mayonnaise which cost as much as a hot meal elsewhere £3.95 and was tempted by a bottle of Peroni and £2.50. Ouch. However I was rewarded by two further wickets with Mitch Claydon getting Sutton for 21 and then the next ball dismissing the Lancs’ captain for a quack quack.. There was a further mini mini stand before the last wickets fell and they were all out for 116 giving Durham a lead of 128. Had we got those extra runs the morning Lancs could be on their way out again to bat. Tea was taken and I had to leave to commenced preparations for my trip. I missed the high drama which followed. Both Onions and Harmison as had Flintoff took 4 wickets in the respective first innings.

Flintoff had again opening the bowling with Di Venuto for 0 at 0, Mahmood then got Stoneman for 2 when the total was 2. 2 for 2. Captain Will Smith went of 1 so 3 for 3. Blenkenstein went when the total was ten. Then was then the first of two crucial rallies with Muchall getting 18 so they total became 40 for 5, and with Mustard going cheaply for 7 nit had became and worryingly 57 for six before Ian Blackwell, the last recognised batsman arrive at the crease and together with bowler Graham Thorp doubled the total so that the day ended at 122 for six and therefore Durham were 250 ahead which on this wicket was probably unattainable.

On Saturday I was well organised on what promised to be a hot day and I was on my way to the Kentucky Fried Chicken for a breakfast of a filled Ciabatta with sausage and cheese for free, paying only for the coffee at under £1.20. I found myself a seat at the back at the end of an aisle looking towards the end of the wicket from the close to the media and education centre building. Durham did not survive the morning for as long or as well as I had hoped.

Despite the breakfast around 9.30 come 11.30 I was eating two of the prepared rolls and then went to the flask for some coffee. Clumsily I dropped in such a fashion that the inside smashed and pierced the outer shell dripping coffee in increasing quantity. I hastily moved it onto the nearby gravel and then placed in a waste bin. I had a supply of paper towels in the bag which were used to mop the spilt coffee around my seat. I then went to the lounge for a coffee and engaged in conversation with a visitor from Lancashire who appeared eager to chat about our respective clubs, So I did this while the remaining Durham wickets fell with Blackwell reaching 75 and Thorp 24. The total was 145 which meant that Lancs had get 274 to win, surely impossible. Mahmood had taken six wickets.
I should not have had any doubts as Steve Harmison produced a world class performance taking the first four wickets leaving Lancs 63 for four and then Onion got in on the act getting rid of Flintoff, caught behind off his first ball and they were 64 for 5. There was resistance and in those looking back brief moments there was tension in the crowd remembering the way Yorkshire, Somerset and Sussex had thwarted. Lancs eventually capitulated to 144 and Durham had won by over 100 runs and would head the championship table as a consequence, however briefly. Steve had taken 5 wickets in total for 46 and match figures of nine for 74, his best match results for many a year, given the quality of the batsmen he had dismissed. Mahmood had taken 8 for 92 which was exceptional. Similarly Onions for Durham had taken 7 for 68 which together with his performance in the previous match should again alert the Test selectors who were present.

Durham, with two wins and three draws now have 72 points with Lancs who have played a similar number of games with 58 a lead of 14 points. However Notts who are second and have a game in hand were only 6 points behind won, so did Sussex and Somerset beat Yorks which is like Newcastle losing to Sunderland supporters. These were important first wins of the season for Sussex and Somerset who had lost 1 and drawn three as they were in danger of being fixed at lower end of he table with newly added Worcestershire who were having a dreadful start having lost 4 and only drawn one of their games to date. Given that there are 13 more matches to play no one can predict the outcome although Notts with 3 wins from 5 should be there fighting to win the championship and so should Durham. It was a good start for what was in effect a holiday week and I made my way to Sunderland before returning home, to fill the car with petrol and to buy a new Thermos flask. There was to be a bright flash of lightening, a vicious clap of Thunder and a short intense spell of torrential rain before the day ended, however.

1739 The People have voted by staying home

Over the past weeks I suggested that the British political landscape had changed and would not revert to its former self. The results of the European Elections in the UK rather than the County Council elections, held a week ago, have confirmed my recent instincts about what has happened. I have left until to-day to complete this writing because of Prime Minister’s Question time this Wednesday, followed by a Prime Ministerial statement on constitutional changes and then the mini debate on an opposition motion that Parliament should be dissolved and a General Election held.

My conclusion is that the Government is right not to call an immediate General Election and that the Prime Minister was right not to yield to pressure from within the Cabinet, from the Parliamentary Labour Party, from all the Opposition parties, from the media and a majority of the British voting electorate to resign. However I am certain that the General Election needs to held before the municipal elections of 2010 and that within months of the election the Prime Minister should resign and support the appointment of a successor who is untarnished by the expenses scandal and other policies rejected by the public and who will be able to challenge the present ascendancy of David Cameron.

I believe the evidence is that the Labour Party is facing electoral oblivion whether it changes its Leader or not before the General Election and whether this is held immediately, in the Autumn or the Spring. The public have made up their minds and will grow angrier the longer it takes for a General Election to take place. The sudden bursting out of harmony within the Cabinet and between the Cabinet and Parliamentary Party will not convince the public let alone the media that leopards have changed their spots. Adopting measures to resolve the issue of the wages, allowances and expenses of Members of Parliament will not be enough unless there is significant blood upon the carpet. This means that those whose only punishment is not to stand at the election must not be rewarded with excessive severance and pension packages and in appropriate instances should be required to return money to the taxpayer with interest. I am less enthusiastic about token criminal prosecutions unless there is the clearest evidence of the intention to defraud. Individuals should not be punished in this way where there is evidence that the applications were approved by those with the responsibility to take decision and where they received advice from political colleagues. I see little difference in fact between some of those presently in the firing line and Cabinet Ministers, for example, who used tax payer’s money to obtain advice on how to limit their personal taxation payments

Nor will talk of green shoots in the economy through financial and economic indicators achieve anything other than scorn and ridicule unless those at the top who created the crisis are punished and departures do not result in excessive severance and pension deals which should be on a par with the laid off bank clerks and workers in the car vehicle manufacturing, distribution and sales.

The government will have to take measures to ensure British born workers get existing jobs before those from other nations and blocks will have to be put on accepting any new European measures which undermine British jobs and businesses. Britain should inform the E E C and Turkey that it can no longer support admission until the recession has ended and the threat of terrorist activity significantly reduced. British Troops and British Citizens will have to stop being killed. I also believe the majority will find unacceptable the replacement of Trident if the present level of public services in Education and child care, in Housing and Health, and in Income Support are reduced in real terms.

Changes to the way Parliament operates and in other aspects of the constitution are important in terms of the long term regaining of respect for politicians and parliament, but should not be allowed to get in the way of priority policies and action on jobs, housing, education and health, especially if they are untested at the ballot box and in my view could be the subject of referendum conducted at the same time but with the opportunity to vote for or against component changes.

For example I favour a voting system which will require the successful candidate to have a fifty percent majority through the system of second, or second and third preference, but on constituency by constituency basis. If the Executive is to remain comprised of those elected to the House of Commons and to a legislative scrutiny second chamber then provision should be introduced for Parties to also appointment to this Chamber based on their percentage share of the popular vote. In addition there should be provision for a proportion of directly elected independents (the present Cross Benchers) Law Lords and representatives of religions to be directly elected, some by restricted electorates such as those registered by recognised religions for electoral purposes. I suspect this is but one of a hundred different views and perspectives which at some point need to be narrowed down to a recommended approach with options before it could be put to the electorate in a referendum. The public should not be asked to vote on such major changes during continued economic and political frenzy.

Without such a programme and approach the Labour Party will remain electoral toast. While I have not considered resigning my valued Party Membership and while I will vote and urge everyone to vote to retain a Labour Controlled Council in South Tyneside next May/June, I will need a lot of convincing to vote for any Labour Member of Parliament again, especially if the intention is that the next Prime Minister or Opposition Leader is to be Gordon Brown. While I have not discussed my position with any other Member of the Party I believe that if a secret ballot was held of all paid up Party members my view would be the overwhelming one which predominates, although what may appear contradictory I also thought it was right that he did not immediate resign or was replaced and that a General Election be delayed until October at the earliest. I am of the opinion that the Prime Minister should resign with dignity and with everyone’s respect within the Party within months of the decision to hold a general election if there is the prospect of agreeing on a new Leader who will match the appeal of David Cameron and unite the different approaches of the traditional conservative trade unionists, and the intellectual left and right wings of the Party.

I believe this debate has to be held in public and I like the American Primary system for selection by parties of their political leaders who will put themselves to the electorate, and for the separate Direct Election of the Prime Minister/Head of State, the latter only after the death of Queen Elizabeth unless there is agreement that she should be unopposed as the first President. While titles other than Mr and Mrs, Miss and Master, and Ms could be retained for present holders, they should play no part in the political process and those wishing to retain their other titles should be ineligible for election or appointment to either House of Parliament. I accept that only some key changes can take place before the next General Election but any Labour Manifesto should be clear on what it intends to do these issues.

I find myself in agreement with most of the media commentators on the outcome of the County Council and European Elections. I must add that while David Cameron Nick Clegg, and their colleagues, together with UKIP and the Green Party have appeared honest in their assessment, it has been embarrassingly obvious that Labour Ministers and other official Party spokespersons have recited the same centrally agreed line that the public told them it wanted action on the expenses and action on the economy. They omitted to mention that they also wanted them to go, for Britain to withdraw of the EEC, for British born workers to get British jobs, for the reintroduction of corporal and capital punishment and other matters of prejudice and emotion,

The Prime Minister while saying directly to the media and reported to have told the Parliamentary Party that he is listening and has got the message then makes it clear he has no intention of holding a referendum about British involvement with the EEC because he knows such a vote would be negative. He also then made it clear in response to questions following his statement after Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesday that he is firmly against the idea of separating the Executive from both Houses of Parliament without considering the opportunities of a third way. He could had over responsibility for arranging the business of the House to the House, to also delegating the role and appointment of Committees which and seeking confirmation of all Cabinet and Government appointments. It has to stop defending the inaction and failures of the past.

My understanding of the recent election results is that those who previously voted for Conservative candidates in the European election broadly continued to do so. That there was no significant swing to the Tories suggests that the expenses scandal has affected the position but nothing like the impact upon Labour. The immediate response of David Cameron in tackling those where there has been headline abuse of the system has clearly worked. In taking the action he has also strengthened his position as the leader but will have made some bad enemies.

That there was no major turning away from the Conservatives also suggests that once the purge of offending individuals had taken place the traditional voting public will continue to support the main political parties, but to varying degrees. There will therefore be no significant change to the composition of the House of Commons except for changes between the main political parties although if a General Election were to be within the next few months it is possible that the Green Party, the United Kingdom Independence Party plus a couple of Independents could gain a few seats. I would hope the main parties will agree on how best to ensure that a British National Party Candidate is not elected to the Home Parliament and this may involve some difficult changes to policies as well as in exposing who the BNP are and what they stand for.

I appreciate we are in a circular situation that what politicians say about anything is questioned and doubted by the majority of those who voted and that it will be a case of actions should do the speaking and that to do this the Labour Government needs to resist making cheap Party Political Points especially at Prime Minister‘s Question Time. The challenge for the Prime Minister and Cabinet is to start speaking as well as behaving as statesmen and stateswomen and distance themselves from engagement in electioneering for the next six months. Talk about what needs to be done and what they are doing. Answer questions however critical with the facts and information. Accept that there are different viewpoints and solutions and above all show respect for opponents within the Labour Party and in other Parties. The Back Benchers should also start behaving at Prime Minister’s Question Time as if they were Members of the Upper Chamber. The Whips and Ministers should not plant questions for the Government to outline what it has done. Back benchers should concentrate on drawing attention to the needs of their constituents in particular and in general, or on differences over matters of policy and legislation. This was done effectively after the Prime Minister’s statement following P.M.Q‘s. These are all matters which incense the neutral public as well as those who support other political parties.

One beneficiary of Labour’s stay away voters was the United Kingdom Independence Party, UKIP, which has had its internal troubles. Their message has been simple they are against a federal Europe and want to see Britain’s involvement only in trading and commercial cooperation. At the same time if we changed our relationship, they would miss participation in the EEC Member’s gravy train. They have used the salaries and allowance around £200000 a year each to further the interests of their political party and plan to increase the number of candidates at the General Election from 300 at present to close on 500 if as anticipated it takes place in the Spring of 2010. They increased their representation in Europe to the same as the Labour party and the total percentage of the votes cast were greater than Labour. This was more than a protest vote against Labour and an expression to real objections and concerns about Europe. The main issue has been towns being overwhelmed by a combination of immigrants in general, anxieties about the Muslim communities and their intentions, religious and political, and over the scale of economic migration from new admissions to the ECC plus the impact of the recession on existing jobs and the prospects for those leaving University and Professional training course this and next summer.

There is scope for an England for the English Party which is at the centre rather the right or left and it is possible that UKIP could move to fill this gap within England as an alternative to the British National Party. As Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland appears to be having two bites of cherry resentment of Englanders is growing and should be addressed in meaningful ways.

The Liberal Democrats were not expected to do well in Europe as they are the most pro European of the Parties now that the Labour Party is being forced to become more anti European in terms of employment. However while there were indications of progress in key cities and towns as an alternative to Labour they yielded significant ground to the Conservatives to the Counties. The Labour Party should not rule out entering into an electoral agreement to prevent an outright conservative majority to form an majority government. This might be through an immediate change to the voting system if as a side effect it helped to prevent gains by the BNP.

There were two parties who also gained from the election. The Green Party increased their share of the total vote from six to eight percent, presumably because although pro the European community they appear to have the strongest approach to environmental issues. The increased percentage was not reflected in an increase in seats despite proportional representation. The Greens are targeting Norwich in the forthcoming By-election which would be a good thing for democracy if they are successful.

The Party which did achieve its first two seats representing the UK, was the British National Party with its Fuhrer Nick Griffin elected in the North West ballot. Son of a Conservative Councillor he was educated privately and at Cambridge where he graduated in History and Law. He obtained University Blue for Boxing getting into fights with anti fascists at an early age, having shown extreme right wing views from the age of 15. His first Party involvement was with the National Front and then having joined the BNP in 1985 he set about becoming its Fuhrer taking sole charge of its legal and financial matters, its policy, its tactics and selection of candidates.

The Party does not allow non whites into its membership. The are anti capitalist and anti communist and anti Europe. The Party is no longer anti Semitic although there is evidence of continuing to contest the Holocaust. They have now focussed on the Muslim Community. The Party has two faces, with secret meetings at which the leadership are open in their racism and methods while to the electorate they wear suits and play upon current fears and concerns. They argue that asylum seekers are taking up social housing whereas no local authorities provide accommodation until someone has a residency permit. The are in favour of the reintroduction of capital punishment and corporal punishment.

The Party has been realigned to function within the law and in concert with other far right parties in Europe with special relations with the French Fascist Party of Le Penn. They fought a vigorous campaign opposed to the ability of Europeans to work in the UK. The Fascist salute has been modified by adding the V sign. The actions are reminiscent of Hitler’s rise to legal power in Germany. The second person elected was Andrew Bron’s only three years in membership, he secured 120000 votes in the Yorkshire and Humberside Region 9.8 of those voting compared to Labour 18.8 whose vote nearly halved.

The Party received 950000 votes which all democrats, anti fascists and antiracists should be alarmed. The emergence of the BNP at this level should not be regarded just as a protest vote in relation to the expenses scandal as the Party in both the previous elections achieved a significant increase on the previous election. Both areas have large Muslim populations as well an influxes from central and eastern European countries within the EEC. The polling areas have also been hard hit by employment losses and gained votes from the Labour because of this and the expenses scandal.

The shock of the night was the scale of the Labour loss of vote only 15.7 percent compared with 22.3 percent the previous occasion with the consequence that the Conservative party total was nearly as much as that for Labour and Liberal Democrat Combined.

The vote had the effect of convincing the majority of the Members of the Parliamentary Labour Party that it would be disastrous to change the Labour Leader thus creating the need for a General Election under the anticipated pressure from opposition parties and the media. There is the real prospect of the number of Labour Members being reduced from 364 to under 200 possibly as low as 150 as a consequence with the Conservative Party gaining an overall majority. Only twice before has a Political Party managed such as change in fortunes with the Labour Atlee government after the end of World War II and the Blair victory in 1997.

The Prime Minister appears to have had a successful meeting with his Parliamentary committee. Of Labour’s 350 member, its said that of the order of 200 are members of the Cabinet or junior Ministers who act as Parliamentary secretaries to Ministers, to are part of the Whips Office, i.e. those who maintain Party discipline. Of the remaining 150 only about 20 identified themselves in public as calling for the Prime Minister to step down. The Prime Minister admitted his personal mistakes and personality communication problems but also insisted that the priorities of concentrating on the economic situation and dealing immediately with the expenses scandals was right and the was the man for the job. He is announces initiatives in relation to the constitution, especially in relation to the House of Lords. He promised to change his style and involve his Cabinet of Ministers, the Party and the country in decision taking to a greater extent than before.

The Prime Minister should be expected to take more of a back seat within Cabinet and in the media, especially in situations where he is subjected to media questioning. He needs to consistently and repeatedly demonstrate the humility which he says he gained from visiting his constituency. Being humble does not mean abdicating authority and leadership. He needs to stop referring to himself and his role and switch to the Royal we, the Government, as perfected by Margaret Thatcher.

On Sunday in the Andrew Marr show the interview with Peter Mandelson was most informative. It appears he was instrumental in approaching key members of the Cabinet and potential rebels, to gain their involvement in the new Cabinet and their public support for the Prime Minister. It also became evident that there will be policy concessions although both wings of the Party will by vying for changes to suit their interests. This needs to be made in public. The government should be prepared to be defeated on some issues but should not make these an issue of confidence. Sticking to what you believe is right as well as yielding on some issues is an indication of the ability to listen, of having authority and leadership. The Prime Minister was right to climb down over the Ghurkhas although why he and his advisers did not see the situation developing is a puzzle. He should have been more honest in defeat and not tried to take credit together with the then Home Secretary, especially once he knew she would not continue in that role. I have an open mind about the future of the post office. If the government believes their proposals are the best solution then it should be taken to the vote even if it is defeated.

There is the assumption that the present course of action proposed by the government will regain the support of Party activists and begin to court back the disenchanted voters. The evidence remains that Gordon Brown will be a electoral liability. Common sense suggests that the Labour Party should plan for someone with Presidential appeal to combat the advance of Cameron during the three to six months before the General election. Ideally this should be a new face to the electorate, unsullied by any aspects of the expenses scandal. Sadly because of the experience of Margaret Thatcher and the present public view of a plague upon all your houses, and the swing to the right this may not be the time to make a female appointment or someone who could appeal to the multicultural society. Labour may have to move towards right wing attitudes on immigration if is to claw back the core vote. Having said this the results for central London suggests that the city is adapting to multicultural London, possible because there is room enough, however crowded for everyone to create separate communities in which they can feel comfortable. Housing drugs and knife carrying young people will continue to pose major problems as well as the threat of terrorism, all which need to be tackled in the run up to the Olympic Games. The results in London although poor were not as bad as anticipated.

There was a similar more positive note in the North East although the number of people who stayed at home remained staggering and I was alarmed when a year ago the BNP achieved some shocking results in some wards and one in Jarrow in particular. Given the limited nature of immigration in the North East compared to other parts of the country the further loss of votes is alarming. When I arrived in he North East all nine councils, the five metropolitan authorities were strongly Labour. Now the Liberal Democrats have gained control in Newcastle and Northumberland, the Conservatives have gained North Tyneside and made inroads into Sunderland. The European vote suggests that South Tyneside, Gateshead and in future Durham will all be vulnerable in what is still regarded as Labour’s voting stronghold heartland. With Conservatives becoming the majority party in the Welsh Euro elections and the Nationalist party in Scotland doing likewise, replacing Labour the alarm bells as to why this has happened should continue to sound everyday until the position changes. I was horrified when the successful European Labour candidate in the North East was quoted in the local paper as blaming the media. What an idiot if this is what he said.

My instinct is that the damage to the Labour Government caused by the political ineptness of Gordon Brown and his Cabinet will be impossible to repair even if a General Election is put off to the Spring. If it is held as the same time as the elections in our cities and towns then there will also be a rout of Labour Councillors and I fear Labour will lose control here in South Tyneside to the local mixture of Progressives, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Independent Labour which now make up the Council. Without the presence of a strong independent in my ward I could see the BNP making a serious challenge.

At that local election in 2008 the problem was the national Government’s decision to abolish the ten pence tax plan and because the local Council had given planning permission for a new call centre which although created several hundred jobs, and has an attractive set of buildings from the waterfront, has an unsightly top which looms up over the riverside embankment. The development put paid to a proposal to imaginatively develop the Arbeia Roman Fort into a major Tourist attraction and appears to have put paid to a hotel and conference centre on a defunct sports stadium at one end of the esplanade. The South Shields Labour Party has always showed conservatism and political weakness compared to that in Mid Tyne. One of the first Councillors to shake my hand when I was appointed in 1973 whispered that I would be disappointed because this is town full of Tories, and he meant his political colleagues among the sixty labour Councillors out of the total sixty six.

I make no apology for going over why core Labour voters and in indeed activists want not just a new Leader but a genuinely new Cabinet endorsed by the popular vote. First there was the failure to call a General Election when the Prime Minister was appointed by his Party without a contest within the Labour Party. Everything pointed to an election being called and then he changed his mind. Whatever moves the Government now make to improve democratic involvement, the accusation that he funked facing the public not once but twice will stick. I am sure there were good reasons behind the decision in both instances but politics is more about public perception, largely interpreted and edited by the media.

Then there has been the division within the Party over his leadership with not one but two attempts to replace him. What does this say about the Prime Minister and what does this say about his political colleagues who planned and plotted and then funked taking further action?

The third problem has been the inability of the Prime Minister to admit mistakes and to apologise for defects which the media will push to the fore whatever he does to re-brand himself/ At the last media conference they openly accused him of lying about the decision not to replace the Chancellor with his close colleague Ed Balls. Similarly even though his colleagues may have trailed the intention of replacing my local Member of Parliament, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary. in order to secure his loyalty rather than seriously intending move and effectively make it impossible for him to stay in the government undertaking a lesser job, that David went public and stated he wanted to keep his job, indicates that the intention was real. In order not to disappoint Peter Mandelson he made him the effective deputy Prime Minister, giving him the title of First Secretary of State, putting him at the head of the Privy Council, enlarging his Ministerial and Cabinet responsibilities, What this says about the position of the Deputy Leader and Leader of the House of Commons, Harriet Harman, has already been noted.

For most of the past twelve years I believed that Tony Blair who I still regard as the greatest Leader of the Party alongside Clem Atlee, was nevertheless, the personality Prime Minister, all sound bite and charm, while Gordon Brown was the man of substance, seriousness and integrity. Unfortunately since the Credit Crunch and the near collapse of International capitalism his mask has slipped off. He talks of the seriousness of the country’s financial position but appears gleeful when he scores points or rebuts points made at Prime Minister‘s Question Time, or when answering media questions at the monthly, and recently more frequent meeting the media sessions. He appears to have becomes so absorbed in these artificial situations that he appears to forget the impact upon the wider public and people like me. This is intended to be a back handed compliment. When he slipped and said his actions had saved the world, he was in fact being factual in terms of international capitalism. And this brings me to the dilemma which all true socialists are in.

On one hand the Prime Minister has become an electoral liability which at this stance from political activists and relying on political commentators he does not appear to recognised.

At the same time he the man directly responsible for the expansion of expenditure on public services, especially on child care and education and which should always be as great a priority as housing and health. Recently the Prime Minister has been in a position to show other countries the way to limit the impact of the near collapse of international capitalism. I suspect that I am one of the few people left who still believes it was right for Britain to go to war in Iraq alongside the USA and to continue in Afghanistan for as long as there is risk of the Taliban regaining power alongside Al-Qaeda. So I am not someone who changes according to fashion or changes position when a policy or a decision does not work the way planned.

I continue to have mixed feelings about the Prime Minister who can claim to have been the most successful of Labour Chancellors of the Exchequers yet he also played a major part in the widening of the gulf between rich and poor, in failing to listen to those, notably Vince Cable, who repeatedly warned about the dangers and risks of the credit and financial speculation society, and who then failed to slap down as hard as possible the banking traders and their pensions, severance packages and bonuses, and not forgetting the flawed abolition of the ten pence tax allowance. I have no quarrel with the public expenditure solution to reducing the level of unemployment and to increase social housing, long as it works and that those who created the situation get their comeuppance.

Contradictory to what I am writing, I still believe that personality divisions within the Political Party should kept as private as possible but only as long as the debate about the future direction of a Labour Government and the Labour Party is open, frank and widened within the timescale possible before the next General Election. My own view continues to be that a leadership debate centring on future policies and plans would not be as destructive as some are presently suggesting, but even without the leadership being an issue, the debate needs to take place in public

To day was a good test of how the Prime Minister and the Parliamentary Party intended to cope with the increased onslaught on their position. First there was Prime Ministers Question Time. Questions were planted to attack the main Opposition and the main opposition made as much mischief as was possible in advance of subsequent statements and debates. The Question Time was everything which he public has come to hate.

In contrast the statement on expenses and constitutional issues was controlled and masterly and appeared to go a long way to addressing most of the current issues. I believed the government were committed to the action before any General Election or as pledges in the election when it takes place. Together was a good series of questions in which the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats emphasised their wish for an immediate General Election and for the Prime Minister to emphasise his intention of getting on with his plan, and policies, Labour Members, raised issues. pressing for alternatives in an orderly fashion without upsetting the fragile unity.

The main event was the motion of the Scottish and Welsh Nationalist parties for a dissolution of Parliament. Their motives were clear. They wanted to bring down the government as a means if enhancing their position of separating full from the Union with England. The debate was arranged before the elections results were known. There was a great political knockabout between the Government Ministers and backbenchers and the Scottish Nationalists, and in which I thought the Government and the backbenchers won the argument effectively. There were two thoughtful and balanced contributions from within the Labour Party which concentrated on the need to put things right and on the dangers of holding an early election.

The start turns were the contributions made by two Conservatives. The first, by Deputy Leader William Hague was exceptionally funny as he poured scorn on recent developments, on the changing position of the Prime Minister and on the role of Peter Mandelson. While Labour Members praised his performance they did not change from their position, The second contribution ws of the highest order of serious about the predicament of Parliament and the responsibility of individual members to gain a mandate or not from the people. Richard Shepherd was concerned about the position of the Prime Minister and of the government but he appeared genuine in his distress about what had had happened and on the need for all Members to seek redemption before the Electorate. He was listened to in intense silence and won the respect of the House in what will be regarded as one of the great speeches of modern times. The motion was defeated by 340 to 268. That there was one the biggest votes of modern times is extraordinary given that there was between a score and one hundred Members present during the debate itself.

The most extraordinary aspect was eh the argument made by new Cabinet Minister to the Brown government Peter Hain who argued that to hold an election now would create chaos. At the same time the Prime Minister and other Government Ministers appeared to show no interest in shortening the summer recess from over three months to two. Anyone watching would have concluded with Richard Shepherd, A plague upon all your Houses. You continue to show a lack of respect and confidence in the British Voter. The Government and the Labour Party in general is destined to face a lasting political reaction of its own making.