Day two in Greece

Zante, or Zakinthos to those in Greece has been amazing. Saying that, other than me taking a short walk down the road, we have not left the hotel. We woke late for breakfast, had a swim in the pool outside out room and while my wife had what she later called the best massage of her life, I watched parts of the Royal Funeral while taking breaks for a swim as well as a walk around the grounds of the hotel. 

My wife is still affected by her knee and swimming, while normally a good exercise for someone with joint issues, appeared to set off her knee. 

Lunch was great, I actually had some wine (I normally do not drink until the evening) but dinner was amazing. The hotel has a guest chef in for two nights, tonight being his last night, and he was amazing. This meal means that this is in the top ten of dinner locations that we have been to. Sadly he will not be here tomorrow, but the meal of today would be a hard act to follow.

My guilt at leaving the kids behind is still present, but not as much as before. I am not sure that they would appreciate it here, and while I know that there is stress for them back in the UK, it is nice not to have to deal with it directly myself,

In a way we’re ALL in a massive queue leading to a coffin

Today is a historic day with the funeral of The Queen taking place. I am not sure if my wife and I will be watching history as it happens, being on holiday, but leaders from across the globe have come to pay respects at her funeral.

I am in favour of The Monarchy, not because I consider them to be better than me (I do not do so BTW), but I prefer them to be Head of State. The option of an elected head of state has no appeal for me. In 2019, the Brexit party got the highest percentage of votes in the European Elections which are, or were, our only elections held under Proportional Representation which meant that Nigel Farage won it. In 2014, Brexit supporting parties won over 50% of the vote (a combination of UKIP, the Conservatives and the DUP equalling 50.5% of the vote, Nigel Farage getting the most votes again. If those elections had been for Head of State, we would have had Nigel Farage in office since 2014. The role is essentially ceremonial, The Monarch in essence doing what they are told, keeping their views private. King Charles, when Prince Of Wales, was outspoken on environmental issues, campaigning for this when it was not a big issue for the political mainstream (i.e. before the electoral performance  of The Green Party in the 1989 European Elections). In addition to this, he has reportedly spoken out in private about being against the deportation of refugees and migrants to Rwanda, a policy that would have seen Paddington being sent to the jungles of deepest Africa and Jesus being housed in an inn in Kigali for fleeing The Massacre Of The Innocents. Now, as head of state, he is going to have to appear to speak in favour of policies that will probably increase our contribution to global warming and may include even more radical proposals on deportation. Nigel Farage, in such a position would have a more prominent platform to spread his lies designed to stir up hatred and division in our multicultural nation.

The fact that so many have come to the funeral is a sign of how Britain is viewed and respected across the globe, Biden is risking death to do so by having to meet Liz Truss (though this has been postponed).  Few have sent representatives other than the head of state. 

I am not ashamed to have a Royal Family. I do understand the anger of republicans that so much money is spent on them when so many are facing a cost of living crisis, and it has been pointed out that the Dutch Royal family are housing Ukrainian refugees while ours are not.

What I am ashamed about when it comes to the Royal Family is the double standards shown (again). The Duchess of Sussex held the hand of her grieving husband and faced a backlash from many about this. I suspect that those who felt that she was wrong to do this will not speak out when other wives do the same on official visits to our nation. It just so happens that those couples are not mixed race and both are white. 

Day one in Greece

My wife and I have taken a few days holiday. My mother is looking after the children and we have just arrived at our hotel and are having food on our terrace looking over the pool.  She needs a break from the kids, and while I appreciate a break as well, I have a gaping hole in my heart as I miss them so much.  I am surprised at how much I do miss them, but hopefully they will miss us and appreciate us more when we return. 

Should protests take place as people mourn?

This issue has come up recently in the UK. There has been an outcry that those who wish to protest have been prevented from doing so where people are mourning or paying respects to the late Queen Elizabeth the Second.

I want to know if people should be allowed the right to protest at funerals in the manner that you could in the USA. The Westboro Baptist Church had become famous for this though the law changed to prevent this at funerals.  Please note that I have no objections to such protests away from mourners. 

I did try discussing this with my daughter who thinks that protests against Prince Andrew should be treated differently and should be allowed (I do not know if she thinks the same for anti-Monarchy protests), but she did not elaborate on her views as she was too busy or tired as the day went on.

I do not think that The Westboro Baptist church or similar homophobic groups should be allowed to protest at funerals or where mourners are present. I would be interested to know if there should be a legal distinction between one type of protest and another though.  Please leave comments about this as I do want to hear views on this.

Morale in the Russian Army

Part of me feels sorry for Russian soldiers. Not those who have engaged in war crimes of looting, rape, torture and murder. But those who are trying to do what their government says they are doing. Russia has been pushed back in the Kharkiv region. By pushed back, it appears to be a rout. That must lead to further problems for a Russian soldier. 

 

When they fight, they do not appear to be being paid, let alone getting the pay for serving in a conflict zone as officially, they are in Russia. Which means that if they die, despite claims by the government, their loved ones will not get the financial compensation they are due. 

 

In addition to this, can they count on other units to hold the line, or should they do what others have done and retreat? We saw such routs happen in Afghanistan when The Taliban quickly took the towns and cities (using the road infrastructure the west built) as well as in Iraq when Unislamic State swept across the nation. 

 

It may be that Russia will be able to prevent this from happening in the Luhansk Oblast, but if they fail to do so, what will happen to the Donetsk Oblast? If that falls, Russian forces in Southern Ukraine will only be supplied by a bridge to Crimea.

We live in a parliamentary democracy

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The reason I mention this is because of the complaints by some that Liz Truss has been elected leader by a small number of the population, and how our head of state has been appointed. 

 

First of all, King Charles. We have the right to become a republic and can bring this about through democratic means. If we want no Royal Family, we can elect a government who will make our nation a republic. This has happened in many Commonwealth nations were Queen Elizabeth was head of state, examples being India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. When it comes to who appointed the King, that was the Accession Council. Put simply, if we want to be a republic, like many other nations that had our Monarch as head of state, we can become so. 

 

Second, Liz Truss is appointed by MP's. When we vote in a general election, while many cast their vote based on the leader to the party they are voting for, they are actually voting for the MP. The MP's in Parliament decide who is to be Prime Minister, which is why they were responsible for Boris Johnson resigning, and why they have elected Liz Truss as Prime Minister. We have had the chance to change our electoral system in the past and decided against this. If we want to change this, we can, though the ballot box.

A negotiated peace in Ukraine

Ukraine appears to be fighting back against a superpower in a manner that few expected possible, possibly even the people of Ukraine themselves.

Yesterday, I snapped at my mother when she had talked about how a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Ukraine should take place.  Part of my annoyance is because there is to be a Stop The War meeting later this month were people are to discuss how the war should end.  Many blame NATO expansion for this war, but forget how Russia has invaded other nations before this, Russian troops continuing to occupy Transnistria (‘92), Abkhazia (‘93), South Ossetia (‘08), also the way it invaded and annexed Crimea and the conflict the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine which resulted in Russia accidentally destroying MH17.  Those in the Baltic states are nervous of Russia and have joined NATO to prevent what happened to Moldova happening to them.   

Before this war, in the build up to it, the intention of Russia to annex both Luhansk and Donetsk was discussed in a socially distanced meeting with Putin, though he denied that this was to happen, referenda into this were planned and have now been delayed.  

The irony of course is that the Stop the War meeting would be banned in Russia, Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Russian occupied Ukraine.

So my question to those who want a negotiated peace, is should this involve Russia keeping the parts of Ukraine it occupied in 2014, or should more of Ukraine be given to Russia now?