Sunday 19 January 2020

Glen Lednock and the Monument

Beechwwods alongside the Lednock Glen
Saturday, 18 January 2020

On the first decent day of the year and after a hard overnight frost, we decided to visit the village of Comrie on the River Earn. Comrie retains the charm of a Victorian settlement built on a grid pattern and has the highest proportion of retired people in Scotland. It has the ambience of less hectic times with shops and eating places that honour their locality and its produce. The object was to walk up the Glen Lednock trail alongside the deeply incised river Lednock passing the rapids of the Wee Cauldron before reaching the waterfall eerily named the De'il's Cauldron.

In the winter sunshine, it was a perfect way to kickstart the year's activities. The meandering path through the beechwoods provided a peaceful setting as the bright sunshine gave dappled light. The only sound was of the Lednock river barreling down the ravine. The trees were heavily clothed in malachite green mosses, a marked contrast with the ground cover of bronze beech leaves. The Territorial Army had erected viewing platforms at both the Wee Cauldron and the De'il's Cauldron. Despite being 30 years old the timbers were still sound, just as well because the platforms sat above near vertical precipes over the river.

The path through the woodland continued until it re-emerged on the Glen Ledock road that leads to the starting point for the ascent of Ben Chonzie, a Munro that is littered with hares and much visited by eagles. We decided to take the steep path from the road up Dun More, a prominent hill that overlooks Comrie. There were quite a few walkers slipping and sliding as they made the descent. The summit gave fine views back down to Comrie and the shapely hills to the west.

Dun Mor hosts a tall granite obelisk as a monument to commemorate Lord Melville. He was given a peerage as the First Viscount Melville following his long career as an advocate and prominent Scottish politician. He was the Secretary of State for War in the Younger Pitt's government and the last UK cabinet minister to be impeached. This was for the misappropriation of public money from the Admiralty, where he had been treasurer of the navy from 1782 to 1800. He was expelled from the Privy Council in 1805 after his impeachment. He had also been responsible for obstructing the abolition of the slave trade and for overseeing the flawed planning during the Wars of the French Revolution. Despite these dubious achievements, his business acquaintances funded the monument in recognition and 'grateful recollection of his public service.'

It always intrigues me how such impressive structures, an 80 feet obelisk constructed of dressed granite could be built at the top of a steep hill in less than a year for just £10,000, that's £813,000 at today's prices, and fully funded by his business friends. I doubt it would pay for the design of the monument today and with someone like Joanna Lumley to promote the monument, it would probably cost £10 million or so to build, mainly dependent upon government and council grants of course.

We returned to Glen Lednock via the less steep path to the north and enjoyed a leisurely walk back to Comrie where we concluded the outing at the excellent Cafe Comrie, a friendly local cafe serving wholesome food and good coffee.  On the drive back along the B827 to Braco, a dozen or so red kite were patrolling the skies above Little Hill and even in the late afternoon the road was still frozen.

The Wee Cauldron



Moss and Lichens
The De'il\s Cauldron

Lord Melville'x Monument
Dun Mor summit
Honouring Impeachment

Saturday 18 January 2020

Dilatory Government: opposition wanted

Labour leadership contenders or a Tribute Band?
It is freshers week in Parliament and Boris Johnson's illicit army of Brexiter MPs, old and new, are champing at the bit. The stragglers from the opposition parties are girding their loins for the uncomfortable months and years ahead. PM Boris Johnson suggested that people could pay for Big Ben to bong for Brexit, and then admitted that he had no plan and there would be a clock face projected onto no. 10 Downing Street at 11pm on 31 January instead. It is ominous because there will be a whole raft of dilatory promises to follow.

After all, Brexit is done and all is well in blighty. Australia is on fire, Trump has been impeached, and as a war in the Middle East draws more likely the export of arms from the UK is spiralling upwards. It provides an example of how the UK will address its declining economy. The film 1917 is set to win many awards and has many lessons. It shows the inglorious episodic outcome of wars that are fought on spurious arguments over 'ownership' of land and people and the 'reputation' of their leaders. People die, the land is sterilised and reputations are shredded or very occasionally elevated. It was ever thus and with the smarter technology and bigger egos now in play, the consequences are frightening.

The media has written off the Labour Party and concluded that Boris Johnson's Government is secure for the next decade. This is despite only 29% of the electorate (42% of a 70% turnout) or about 26% of those eligible to vote, given that the electoral roll only records 90% of those eligible to vote at the right address. This suggests that the so-called progressive parties have considerably more scope to challenge the government than the media would have us believe. If only the opposition parties could collaborate more effectively than hitherto. The alternative ambition of electoral reform towards a more proportional voting system is unlikely to be approved by the Johnson Government. It will simply redraw parliamentary boundaries to increase the chances of winning more constituencies through a continuation of the first-past-the-post voting system that plays well for the Tories.

The national opposition parties, Labour and Lib Dem, are both engaged in selecting new leaders to replace leaders who failed with distinction to obtain the trust of the voting electorate. The leaders of the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens all had good elections but they are never going to become the major progressive parties. On the assumption that the Lib Dems are unlikely to achieve significant gains following their tryst with the Tories during 2010 - 2015, it is the Labour leadership that offers the greatest chance of challenging the Johnson Government. The decision about the new leader is, therefore, the most significant event that will determine the likelihood of existing progressive policies being defended at the national level or being reshaped for the future.

Progressive policies are already being achieved in some of the cities that have become strong bastions of Labour control. Bristol, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool and Preston have all advanced through radical policies that focus on community, public service, employment and green issues. This is reflected in recent research on the UK cities that are most improved.

The five candidates for the Labour leadership have shown some signs of understanding the need for greater local involvement and moves away from the centralising policies that have dominated the UK under successive Labour and Tory governments. The question is which of them has not just the grasp of the issues but the gravitas and personality to earn the trust of the electorate. It is not about gender or where they are from, which is what the media seem to focus on, but how well they are perceived as a future prime minister by the public across the UK. Boris Johnson wallows in insincerity and feckless behaviour but he has a self-deprecating bouncy personality and zest for life that allows people to overlook his inability to focus on issues or be consistent in his views.

This is where Jeremy Corbyn and Jo Swinson failed miserably. Corbyn's inability to sound positive, his obsessive tendency to focus on historic political causes, his failure to address problems and his persistent grumpiness did not endear him to the wider electorate. Swinson's unbearable optimism about her own qualities and lack of tactical nous or emotional intelligence was also a turn-off for the voting public. These characteristics were usually evident in just 30 seconds of watching them on television. The press and media then amplify their less endearing qualities in the drip-drip of articles, photos and interviews that manifest themselves in headlines, smears and rumours.

So what should we make of the five candidates for Labour leadership? They all seem to have a greater capacity for understanding the key issues than their predecessor and are less fixated on causes that may alienate the majority. They seem more willing to accept that there needs to be a broad church within the party but have differing views on how much they would collaborate with other opposition parties. Clive Lewis was the greatest advocate of this approach but failed to get sufficient nominations from his fellow MPs and this may be telling.

Applying the 30-second test to the remaining candidates, I find that Emily Thornberry has an annoying tendency to roll her eyes, dismiss other opinions and just keep talking without addressing a question. Her smile does not seem genuine and her throwaway remarks suggest that she has more in common with Boris Johnson than just entitlement.

Rebecca Long(-)Bailey is more likely to use evidence in developing ideas but is inexperienced in leadership, long on rhetoric and short on charisma. She is not helped by her quickfire speech delivery or overly serious demeanour. She is also a flatmate of Angela Rayner, who looks like a shoo-in for the depute leader post. Having friends and flatmates for leader and depute would be a wish fulfilled for the satirists and cartoonists but a disaster for a focus on serious opposition.

Jess Phillips has a warmth and honesty that is infectious but a tendency to shoot from the hip and whilst her intuitive rhetoric often strikes a chord with perceived reality, there is no sense that she has the inclination to tackle issues and events that do not interest her. Personality and intuition do not guarantee the attention to detail or the making of hard decisions that will be essential as the party tries to claw back its support.

Lisa Nandy has a thoughtful manner and offers some insightful perspectives. She speaks about many issues with precision but seems more inclined to follow her instincts than to garner wider evidence. These are not always in tune with the party and her stance on Brexit and the Scottish referendum will not play well with the party.

And that leaves Keir Starmer, who suffers from being a man, coming from London and being knighted. Having said this he does have gravitas and seems to be capable of thinking clearly, speaking with authority and having a genuine commitment to eradicating the many inequalities that exist today. He would be capable of exposing Boris Johnson's flaky acquaintance with the facts.

If Keir Starmer was yoked together with the fiery northern MP Angela Rayner as a depute, or if the rules allowed, Lisa Nandy, there would be a formidable combination capable of bringing together the Labour Party and forging the necessary links with the Greens, the National parties and, maybe, even the Lib Dems assuming that they elect a more open-minded and thoughtful leader than the tactless Jo Swinson.

Wednesday 15 January 2020

Good Reads 2019 (not really)

Add caption

Despite having moved to a new house that was for the most part a success, 2019 was one of the most disappointing years in my lifetime. The time I wasted watching the spectacle of Brexit unfold was a curse in so many ways and the election of a populist far right government was the final straw.

After 37 years of regular running, I struggled to find the drive or local routes to keep going and recorded my lowest annual mileage since 1982, when running was just a 2 or 3 mile activity once a week to keep fit for football. Similarly my 14 days on the hills was the lowest since 1988, although the dreadful weather during the summer months did not help. My exercise was largely confined to gardening and I gave up counting after I had shifted 500 barrowloads of topsoil from adjacent fields into the garden to lay lawns, create flower beds and fill raised beds. It was also the first time in my life that I did not visit my home town to visit relatives and friends. All of this should have meant more time for reading but I also read fewer books, and there were few of particular note.

I was persuaded by book reviews to read Sally Rooney's two books, Conversations with Friends failed to ignite any great enthusiasm. I did enjoy Normal People, it awakened fading memories of youth and was more of a page-turner. To overcome what had become a reader's block, I indulged myself with 3 or 4 of Lee Child's books, it is amazing how a bloke from Coventry can reach and re-interpret the American Dream as the behaviour of its many alienated citizens deepens the mire of Trumpian fake optimism.

I found my old Left Book Club edition of Road to Wigan Pier in a box of books when unpacking at the new house and decided to reread it. I found the meticulous presentation of 1930's life in the industrial north of England, which according to George Orwell begins in the Potteries,  fascinating but deeply disturbing. Orwell explains how a third of the population are living on Unemployment Assistance for six months and thereafter are dependent on local Public Assistance Committees  (PACs). This is the factual reporting but what follows is a shot across the bows of the governing classes. "First you condemn a family to live on thirty shillings a week, and then you have the damned impertinence to tell them how they are to spend their money". PACs seemed almost as disrespectful of their clients as Universal Credit manages today but without the preening justification of Ian Duncan-Smith.

I was also taken by Orwell's take on Sheffield, a place I know well and regard as one of the UK's better cities. "But even Wigan is beautiful compared with Sheffield. Sheffield, I suppose, could justly be called the ugliest town in the Old World. And the stench! If at rare moments you stop smelling sulphur it is because you have begun smelling gas. Even the shallow river (Don) is usually bright yellow with some chemical or other." Sheffield has been transformed since the 1930's into a modern city but I remember having to get a typhoid jag in 1967 after punting down the river Don during Rag week.

I read a couple of books about the history of Puglia in southern Italy whilst on holiday. They depicted the familiar story of wealthy landowners exploiting workers whist the owners moved their wealth to the more civilised cities of the north. Nowadays the affluent lawyers and bankers from the northern cities are acquiring and renovating the worker's cottages as holiday homes.

I would only recommend two books that I read. Jonathan Coe's book, Middle England, that parodies the descent into Brexit from 2010 with a cast of whimsical characters living in the West Midlands. There are many memorable references to the populist and bizarre political shenanigans during the period. This was only topped by Fintan O'Toole's insightful examination of Brexit through Irish eyes. Heroic Failure: Brexit and the Politics of Pain cross references British history as it dissembles the justification for Brexit as a form of retro imperialism by the English establishment. It has never ceased to amaze me how articulate and well informed the senior Irish politicians and commentators have been during the Brexit debate. Unlike the UK ministers who seldom have a rational argument or a clue as to what happens next, they seem to understand the wider cultural and historical context that has led to Brexit. They also show a strong desire to reach agreements that will minimise the damage to citizens and businesses.

In Praise of Levelling Down


All the talk in recent months has been about how the People's Government intends to Level Up. A promise for northern towns, seaside towns, tumbleweed villages and rural backwaters that have been excluded from the financial excesses evident in the south-east of England during the decade of austerity. Many of these areas are now in the fiefdom of newly-elected Tory MPs. They have lost their industries, young people and bus service whilst being by-passed for infrastructure expenditure, school modernisation or replacement and suffered huge losses of government grants during the Cameron and May years of regressive taxation and rising inequality.

Now the government is preaching the need for  'levelling up' but with no acknowledgement that politics is the language of priorities. To level up when there is little or no economic growth requires a compensatory 'levelling down'. There are lots of possibilities:
  • raising taxes for the higher earners, 
  • collecting taxes from those with assets in tax-evading countries, mainly UK protectorates, 
  • reducing infrastructure investment in the south-east and redirecting to the regions, 
  • introducing higher property taxes on online businesses,
  • increasing corporation tax for selected industries, 
  • utilising the fuel escalator that has been in lockdown since 2011, 
  • raising taxes on air travel thus reducing foreign travel and unnecessary business trips,
  • encouraging more working from home thus reducing the cost and time of commuting.
Most of these would also chime in with a greener agenda, greater equality and a more sustainable society lifestyle. Nevertheless, I suspect that levelling down will be not even be considered by the government. It breaches the very essence of its core value that protects the wealthy their right to remain wealthy. So 'levelling up' is no more than another government mantra, a bit like 'getting Brexit done' or 'peoples government'.

Friday 3 January 2020

Colonsay Holiday

Kiloran Bay
At this time of the year our thoughts often turn to spending time on one of the Scottish Islands and after the grim weather of this winter this desire is even stronger. My christmas gifts brought some scope for reflection on past holidays. A book on the Scottish Islands and a slide scanner allowed me to revisit Colonsay and then scan in photos from a family holiday in 1990. It remains one of our fondly remembered holidays. We had moved house at the end of 1987 and the mortgage rate rise to 15% in 1990 had wiped out any holiday funds.  

As a result we booked a small flat on Colonsay for a week and took the bicycles. The weather was fairly typical for the Scottish west coast in July with cloud, rain and sun usually all on the same day but with the order changing. We simply wallowed between weathers as we cycled, spent time on beaches, crossed to Oronsay, went to ceilidhs, and made friends with other families. We met the brother of an old university friend and his family because I recognised his accent and mannerisms and asked if he knew my friend. 

Our three children pedalled without complaint, loved the beaches, the flowers, the empty roads and the easy friendships that they made. We left on the Saturday evening ferry fully refreshed after a week of total relaxation without having any of the anxieties of air travel, dodgy food, too much sun or expenditure that would take us months to recover from. It was a lesson that the best things in life: simplicity, the outdoors and exercise are free and life-affirming.

Tour de Colonsay
Heading across the Strand to Oronsay
Cold feet
Recreating Hornel's painting
Colonsay House and our flat
Tough cycling
Windswept
At peace
Diamond days
Crossing to Oronsay

Paps of Jura from Oronsay
Reflecting on the Island Peaks Race on Jura
Kiloran - our everyday beach