England 2010 ... Who Voted For This?

"There is a forgotten, nay almost forbidden word, which means more to me than any other. That word is England". Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

I was on the bus the other day going out to indulge in some cafe culture drinking courtesy of Nulabor. It 's a long bus ride and I get on at the start of the route to my destination in a more central location. I sat myself down in my favoured position by the window so I can see what's going on.

It gets busier and busier as we went along ending up standing room only. As I'm a people watcher I'm aware of who's around me. I'm not averse to listening in to the conversations of others. It appeared that all around me were people speaking in different languages. I felt like I was on holiday where you sit on the local bus oblivious of what everybody else is chatting about.

It's like that at work too. Every day in the custody suite I will enter to find a multi-national gathering of prisoners. I'm on first name friendly terms with one of the interpreters who I see daily too. She works very hard and we are grateful that she comes out at every request. If she's off late I've dropped her off at times so she doesn't have to get a cab back. She needs to work hard as she pays for two of children to go to private schools.

Fast forward to the election debate last night. See any inspirational leadership? No me neither just the same old same old playing it safe. The best part for me was the analysis afterwards. Kay Burley was interviewing some audience members and asked an African lady about immigration. Kay leans in with the microphone expecting a tasty little race reaction. The woman starts agreeing about a cap and then starts to ask why we are flooded with EU migrants before a disappointed Kay whips the mic away and moves quickly on.

It's no coincidence that the Tories began to lose credibility after reneging on their referendum over the European Constitution or treaty if you prefer to call it that. None of the main parties show any inclination to do anything about this. Why? Oh to see a Winston or Maggie Thatcher in one of those debates.

Happy St George's Day - Enjoy it while you can !