Early on, after the intervention to disable the Al Qaeda terrorist base, I pointed out that no country had ever successfully occupied, governed or conquered this spectacular region known in Empire days as the North West Frontier. Even the Russians had left. So if we went in it would end in failure. The Taliban, formerly […]
I am not a football expert. I was useless at school. I was especially bad at goalkeeping so I was always put there by teachers who wanted the other team to win. My side of course lost and then I was set upon by angry team mates and blamed for their own failures. So I […]
Originally published in my own name as Downfall in 1995 at the height of the Major government sleaze period, the waspish undertone went well with the tight narrative and page turning style. It was also prophetic as it was actually written before real events unfolded. Might be a fun read now. The title fits […]
The pandemic has more or less driven Brexit from public consciousness. Except in Northern Ireland. NI voted against leaving the EU by a comfortable majority. Inexplicably, the DUP who lead the government there, campaigned for Leave. They got their way. Now the consequences are clear they don’t like it. Sorry, no sympathy from me. The […]
The latest edited edition with new cover. Graphic and in a direct modern style, it pulls no punches and is a real page turner. Full of twists it will keep you guessing.
Nobody expected in early 2020 that we would still have much of our lives controlled by a pandemic that few even realised was one, over half way through 2021. Optimists now believe the vaccine roll out indicates we can ditch all restrictions before the end of this month and life can return to normal, although […]
I have been away in places where Wi-Fi is in the stone age and more recently have been very busy with family reunions as lockdown restrictions ease. Now I feel motivated to start commenting again. As an opening thought I think it is time to update the scope of this blog. It is a commentary […]
The terrifying upsurge of violence in the Middle East is shocking. It is also all too regular an occurrence in a cycle of hatred and discord which seems almost everlasting. Arab and Jew occupy the same region and somehow have to be friends. Some progress towards this obvious goal has be made recently, but the […]
The most remarkable thing about it was that it was delivered by the Queen herself, flawlessly and without any stumbles at the age of 95, having in recent months lost her husband, had a family bust up and been locked down by Covid. No stamina or mental health issues here for sure. Whether you are […]
Well that is a big and complicated question. With multiple answers. But the rot set in under Tony Blair. Having triumphed in 1997 he won two more general elections, but lost votes at each until at the fourth, under Brown’s leadership, the loss of votes for Labour since 1997 totalled nearly 5 million. In the […]