Yesterday had its fair share of pleasant surprises. I showed the photograph of Meg and I which had been put o the back of the Midlands Sinfonia Orchestra leaflet and gave my American friend the full story of how it ended up. Then we cooked a fairly conventional meal of salmon pieces with veg and we accompanied this with a bottle of Asti Spumante the taste of which I a gradually reacquainting myself these days – it has a hint of a sultana-ish elements in it which I quite enjoy. After lunch, we settled down in front of the TV and I was delighted to find the full (and free) version of the film ‘Ladies in Lavender’ which we both enjoyed tremendously (although we both had a little snooze during the course of the film) After the film was over, there was an interesting discussion between Maggie Smith and Judi Dench how they had interpreted the characters and the film as a whole has some interesting little comic asides at which English film makers are so adept. My American friend and I spent some time discussing health-related issues, not in any neurotic sense but really exploring ways in which we could use a combination of diet and exercise to keep ourselves fit and healthy in the years ahead. In truth, we are already pretty closely aligned in this respect and it may well be that we enjoy each other’s company whilst we enjoy walks in the park together when the weather is anything like fair and, this way, we both get some beneficial exercise under our belts. When I reflect upon this, we live less than two miles apart and both drive so it s easy for us to agree a joint venue such as our magnificent local park and to plan joint little exercise trips together which would not be possible if we lived a long way apart from each other. Yesterday morning, I awoke to incredibly overcast skies and we have the threat of some thundery showers throughout the morning but it may well be that we have some respite during the afternoon with the expectation that we might have some sunny periods – but flaming June it most certainly is not and I am longing for a period of what might one call ‘normal’ June weather. Some local wags are already saying that after the hot spell in May, we have had our summer for the year and we are now entering Autumn and it certainly feels like it at times. The Middle East continues to boil over and whenever Donald Trump is offering the prospect of a peace deal within days, the Israelis are continuing their strikes against Hezbollah who are now firing missiles directly into Israel as retaliation for the first time in month. Although Trump says that he is angry with Netanyahu for continuing to defy him, Israel seem to be intent on continuing their advances with Lebanon which is now looking as war torn as Gaza to the south. Israel is never sanctioned and although Trump may huff and puff it would only be the threat of withdrawing military support that might them to heel. So with the two major conflicts n the world (Iran and Ukraine) the gulf between the combatants seems unbridgeable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a reason I could not quite discern, I have felt incredibly tired all of today and had to force myself to do even simple things. But I did go and collect my newspaper and then, as the sun was shining felt I really needed to go and get the front grassed area cut. Actually, it seemed a lot warmer inside the house rather than inside so perhaps the house having cooled down considerably inside had something to do with my feeling tired but I was very pleased to get this job under my belt, as it were. Later on the afternoon, if it does not shower with rain I intend to meet my American friend in a car park at a local park where we can have a ‘health-sustaining’ walk together. There are three artistic events to which we can go in the next month ranging in venue from Bromsgrove itself to the Town Hall in Birmingham or even the theatre in Malvern so we need to discuss to which of these we feel inclined to go. I suspect that we will finish up with a feed from the National Theatre of ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ which has some brilliant write-ups and it is available as a feed in our local Artrix Arts Centre for which we always seem to be able to get tickets. Later on this evening there is to be yet another documentary on Brexit the 10th anniversary of which we shall be shortly be commemorating. I am convinced that future historians will rank this as one of the worst ‘turning point’ in British political history, probably ranking alongside the Suez crisis of 1956. Whether Brexit is a bigger turning point than Suez is a subject of intense historical and diplomatic debate, with arguments favouring the structural magnitude of both events. The Suez Crisis in 1956 is widely seen as the definitive end of the British Empire. It brutally exposed the limits of Britain’s post-war power and its subservience to the United States and the Soviet Union. Historians often view Suez as the catalyst that forced the UK to fundamentally re-evaluate its place in the world, eventually pushing it to seek economic salvation by joining the European project. Many geopolitical analysts and former diplomats argue Brexit is structurally a much bigger turning point because it reverses a foundational national strategy\u2014the 50-year project of European integration\u2014rather than merely handling a botched international operation. While Suez was a humbling, externally imposed retreat from the global stage, Brexit was a voluntary, structural rewiring of the UK’s trade, diplomatic, and security architecture. While Suez confronted the UK with the hard reality of its declining global status, Brexit fundamentally altered the country’s economic and political identity for the foreseeable future. Tonight’s programme is going to concentrate on many of contributions made by key political figures of the time, but it may well be that the omission of the role of Dominic Cummings, illicit Russian money and no end of ‘black’ propaganda gives a less than revealing picture. I well remember that in the closing week of the campaign, Europe was scarcely mentioned but the whole issue revolved around the question of immigration with some ridiculous projections that the whole population of Turkey would descend upon British shores if the UK voted to remain in the EU. In the event, given the turnout, some 62.5% of the electorate either did not vote or voted to stay in the EU – David Cameron, the then Prime Minister, should have specified a majority of the electorate rather than a majority of those who voted for such a monumental decision. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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