Well now, I could have written a dozen articles on things that happened last week. So I’ve decided to cover several things that have a common thread and one I’ve written about before.
 
We went to see a Star is Born, and enjoyed it, in which Lady Gaga stared with Bradley Cooper who also seemed to do everything except be the cameraman! I wouldn’t normally notice this but the FMS (that’s my wife Tracy, the Final Mrs Selves!) likes to listen to the music at the end of films so I read the credits!
 
It was a listed as being a 15 according to the censor because of drug taking and swearing. How times have changed since Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Oscar Wilde, tame by comparison. I will no doubt be told by all the modernists, many of whom are very PC in other contexts, that it was realistic. But it is a long time since I heard or experienced such a constant use of the F word. I remember a visit 30 years ago to a hard porno film as part of a stag weekend (we only had a stag night when I got married!) and I think it occurred less regularly in that! Hearing loud and clear the unspoken criticism of my views I think back to the kids TV programme Grange Hill and the argument about whether it reflected or created behaviour.
 
So why do I mention Grange Hill? We had lunch on Sunday with one of my sons, his wife, daughter 7 and son 3 and a half. They are well behaved kids, but not too well behaved and in my view kids have to be a bit naughty, perfect kids make bad adults! But they were calm and almost worryingly well behaved while we were in a chain restaurant waiting for our food to come and I commented on it. Ah, said Adam, they’ve had less screen time for the last fortnight and are so much better together. I misunderstood this thinking he meant computer screens and all that goes with it. He meant less television.
 
We are beginning to read about the damaging effect of people spending too much time on their phones and social media, children and adults. The kids and TV argument has raged since TV became 24 hours a day. What, I am thinking, is to be learnt from Adam’s unscientific experience? Without that evidence I could be accused of bringing the values and experiences of a past generation to the present where they are perceived to be out of sync. But that is to improve the present and frowned on by many of those who want to change history by rewriting it using the values of today.
 
Would Donald Bradman have been such a great batsman today? Who knows, but in his day he was head and shoulders the best. I mention this because I read that an MP, Thangam Debbonaire,  has called for the statue of Edward Colston to be taken down in Bristol. I understand why he says this, but don’t agree. If we adopted that view how many statues would survive across the world? He was speaking at a Black History Month meeting, which I don’t have a problem with, but would he have a problem with me having a White History Month meeting?
 
Ian Birrell wrote an excellent article in the i last week. Should we ban George Orwell books and pull down his statue? Of course not and as he says he was a champion of anti-totalitarianism and tribalism. Orwell made, Birrell points out, anti-Semitic comments, of which I totally disapprove, but he was talking about his personal struggles in a different age.
 
And what about Winston Churchill who made many comments which were, righty, condemned when they were made for being indefensible? But we should not revisit them or others  with a different standard. What was condemned at the time was right to be condemned, was wasn’t shouldn’t be attacked now. But let me paint a modern picture of one of Churchill’s most famous put downs. Lady Astor called him drunk and he replied something like, and you are ugly but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly! Can you imagine the social media outcry today? People, even Lady Astor I’m told, laughed at the time. But what I wonder would Churchill have replied on Twitter to the outcry about his humour! Of course he wouldn’t have bothered, but if he had he probably would have used  his favourite B word!
 
So where does all this take me. Simple really, I thought Grange Hill created more than reflected society and think soaps generally have damaged the fabric of our society – and I’ve had and got several actor friends who have been in them.  Did the original A Star is Born with Lisa Minelli use the F word so much? I suspect not. Should the censor have given it a 15 rating? No. But, if you think they are better, you can argue for the values, standard and morals of one generation on another when it is happening in real time, but not impose the current generations values retrospectively. You can fight to change the current but should never reinterpret the past, that is to insult all the people who abided by the rules of the day at the time. Am I out of tune with the current world? Maybe, but I’ll stand firm for what I think are better standards. Well, mostly! A third of the under 25s apparently don’t drink alcohol now. I’d miss my pint and will drink as much as I like on my 100th birthday in 30 years, whatever the accepted norm is then! Does that defeat my argument ….. ummmm  …. Answers on a post card, please - only the over forties will understand that!

We have now come to the end of the political party conferences – although, what that means I’m not sure. I have avoided Brexit to date in my blogs but really must say a few words. It is an impossible situation and there is no way on earth that I’d want to negotiate the sale of a second-hand car in public*, let alone the most important negotiations in British history. Even if “our side” had one precise and agreed view it would be a nightmare.
 
I voted Remain – but because I foresaw what is now happening with the negotiations, as opposed to not wanting to leave the EU. Too many countries have joined too quickly, taking too much out with too little in common. The whole thing will implode within a generation, but we needed to be part of it to ensure that the mistakes of Mark 1 were not repeated in Mark 2.
 
Very few of the people in the EU want a Federal State. True, some politicians in some countries do, but the people don’t and that is at the heart of all the problems. We want a trading bloc, but with the ability to be selective on immigration to keep our populations properly skill balanced in all our countries. We want security and military co-operation, but we are all different. We want to retain our sovereignty and our national identity, but this means pride, not extremism. We want harmony on safety to make sure, for example, that children’s toys are not dangerous, but we do not want a Federal State.
 
Of course, there will never be a perfect Remain Treaty nor a perfect Leave Agreement. People will not all agree on either. Is no deal better than a bad deal? Well that of course depends on what the bad deal means! We need a deal that cuts the cord and allows us to develop our nation as we wish in harmony with everyone, including all our trading partners in Europe and worldwide. Trade means mutual benefit: it has to. I learnt that on market stalls at a very young age! But it needs to be an agreement that can then evolve (after all the EU itself has evolved), because you cannot unravel 40 years in 2 years. That is not an argument for an indefinite transition period, but saying do the big things now, establish the goal posts and resolve the fall out as quickly as possible.
 
Leave does mean leave – and it must – but we must also recognise that it is we who have chosen to leave and that the EU as a whole didn’t want that and fear the breakup of the collective if our deal is too good. But what does that tell us? That there is a better way to achieve the original objectives of the founders of the Common Market!
 
On a lighter note: what a load of clapping nonsense! Yes, the Manchester Student Union has banned clapping! I kid you not! They fear it could trigger anxiety and instead are suggesting the use of “jazz hands” – British Sign Language clapping! There’s a comment on Twitter saying “ridiculous” (which seems tame to me) but it went on to say, “You’re just catering to the illness (anxiety) instead of helping people get over it”. True. I wonder what the RNIB has to say? I suspect blind people rely on the strength of clapping to tell them how things are being received around them.
 
No wonder the EU think we’ll roll over. What a load of nonsense; we’re losing the plot altogether. The British face problems and help people, we don’t mask the issues but deal with them.
 
I wasn’t in the public crowds that greeted so enthusiastically the ending of the first and second World Wars, but I actually suspect they didn’t clap much – they cheered and shouted, jumped in the air and hugged each other! Maybe that’s the answer then, but I suppose we first have to understand whose anxiety is being protected, the audience or the people on stage? Ah, I suppose that takes us back to party conferences which is where I began!
 
* Of course, I’d auction the car to help me get the £30,000 I need to reach £1m raised on my gavel for good causes.

What a great Grill we had with Tom Newton Dunn – possibly the best ever! I have got someone working on the film now and hope by the end of next week to have it up on the website and YouTube – both in full and in an edited snippet version. But, guys and gals, I need some help for future Grills, as, looking at the footage, the bottom button of my shirt is undone and I’m flashing my tummy. Not quite the look I was going for, so let me know next time, please!
 
I am working on a number of folk who have agreed to come, but tying up dates gets harder every year, especially as we don’t (can’t) pay guests. I’ll also be sending out new invitations to speakers in the next week or so. Whether we get another Grill this year is uncertain but now that I have more time I want to have eight each year so please do suggest guest names if you have anyone in mind.

However, I am pushing forward with a regular monthly drinks evening in conjunction with the London Press Club, so we can all meet for a beer and a natter. We’ll be meeting on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 6pm in the Johnson Bar on the first floor, where the beer is only £3.40 a pint! On 9th October our guest will be Rebecca Ley, who’s book Sweet Fruit, Sour Land has enjoyed good reviews and been shortlisted from over 140 books for the Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize award. On 13th November our guest will be Paul Thomas, who has had an interesting career which started as a journalist, before becoming a global publicist and filmmaker. His book is Changing Colours, in which Dracula’s legacy haunts the 21st Century – will good triumph over evil? We shall see!
 
I have also been a member of the European Atlantic Group for 25 years and they have asked me to let as many people as possible know about an event they are also running which has only just been agreed  on 9th October:

“Giving you very short notice we have received confirmation that the President of the African Wildlife Foundation, Kaddu Sebunya, will be pleased to address our Members and their guests.  This is a wonderful opportunity to hear all about their expanding scope of work as AWF has its Headquarters in Nairobi and the President will be in London, leading their international delegation, for the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference that is being held by the government on 11th. & 12th. of October. 
​
https://www.awf.org/
https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/london-conference-on-the-illegal-wildlife-trade-2018
 
Please contact Celia Matthews if you want to go to this but you must do so before 7th October - [email protected]. The event will take place at the House of Commons.
 
So it would be great to see you on Tuesday week and as soon as I have Grill dates, I will let you know.
 

​Janet Street-Porter often identifies issues that people don’t like to talk about or want to hide under the carpet and I love that.
 
But I can’t agree with her about David Beckham. By asking “Why should the law favour the likes of David Beckham?” she misses the point. The law is the same for all of us and if any of us had got the speeding notice late, the Court should have reached the same decision. “Ah,” Janet will say. “Not everyone can afford to hire Mr Loophole.” True, but the Court has to treat everyone fairly and equally under the law. So, in which case, don’t have an inadequate solicitor represent you. Go in person and represent yourself. The judge or magistrate then has to look after you and make sure that you receive the full benefit of the protection of the law and that it is upheld to the letter. In such circumstance, they almost become your advocate.
 
The point surely is, why was the notice late? Why did someone working for us on the public payroll (and no doubt with a great pension) get something so simple, so wrong? Do I hear computer glitch? They do what we programme them to do. We see it everywhere. No standards, no pride, sloppy carelessness at work. It infuriates us in shops, talking to a call centre and dealing with councils and utilities. Obviously, they are not all bad and most are staffed by hard working dedicated people, but we should not expect the Court system to be any different. If so, why?  But (yes, another but!), in the private SME sector which I know well, we like to make people accountable for their mistakes – particularly those that hurt us financially or result in our customers getting poor service. We’d constantly like to sack people for a poor standard of work, but it ain’t that easy! In practical terms we have full employment at the moment, or near full employment. This is because, as my old Nan would have said, better the devil you know than the devil you don’t. The trouble is, keeping poor performers in place is how mediocrity becomes the current day genius!
 
Keep campaigning Janet but hit the right targets and then those able to hire Mr Loophole won’t need to do so because there’ll be no point – the loophole won’t be there!
 

Tracy, my wife, wanted to do some shopping that couldn’t be done in Weymouth, so we set off on a bright, but slightly windy, late September morning for Dorchester in our 25-year-old SLK – a great feeling of freedom. As we turned onto the Dorchester section of the ‘new’ road to Weymouth (built for the Olympics), there was a 30mph speed limit in place because there were 4 council workers in bright protective clothing with pick sticks and sacks collecting rubbish from the side of the road, along with 2 council rubbish trucks – each with a driver, of course.
 
“That’s great they’re doing that,” said Tracy, with which I agreed. “But why 2 trucks?” I asked. Then the penny dropped. Six men and two trucks, what does that cost? What are they actually doing? Collecting rubbish that the inconsiderate had thrown out of their cars at about 50mph! I don’t know when it was last done but there was quite a lot of litter and I guess this team travel around Dorset doing the same thing every day. Again, at what cost? Or, put another way, how many doctors, nurses or teacher could’ve been employed if this clean up wasn’t needed and the funding for it was redirected to a different budget? I’ll have a side bet that the very people who throw rubbish out of their cars are at the head of the queue when complaining that the mystical “they” should do this and do that, and will be amongst those shouting loudest about needing more doctors, nurses and teachers.
 
How did we get here? As a post-war kid when the streets were not as smart as they are today, I got hell from my parents and punished if I dropped anything in the street. I did the same to my kids (even though we were much better off by then) and I know they do the same to theirs. As a lovely lady in her fifties, who worked for me for 9 years and as a divorced mother had bought her Council house and had the tidiest house and garden in her road, said once, when discussing how other members of staff behaved, “They’ve got no pride.” So how do we change it? It’s nothing to do with social status, nothing to do with affluence. It is everything about decency and respect.