What Goes Around Comes Around

The original "Thucydides trap" was Sparta (a land power) fearing the rising (sea) power of Athens. Sparta's King Archidamus urged restraint rather than war. He was cited in Britain's House of Commons on 18 March 2003 by an MP who opposed the invasion of Iraq. But in the 5th century BC Athens' democratic leader Pericles argued that concessions would be interpreted as weakness. Athens lost the war.
The early years of the 20th century were an example of Thucydides' (an Athenian general) theory. Germany (a land power) was rising. Britain (a sea power) was afraid.
Today the rising power, China, is building airfields on islets in the South China Sea and claiming the Sea as its own.
Only the existing power (the US) can stop them.
Both Athens and Sparta had allies. So did Britain and Germany 100 years ago.
Weaker countries bordering the South China Sea look to the US to help them....
Thucydides believed that war in one place caused a movement of people and so another war....

Good and Bad

Socrates said few are the good things in life, many are the bad. For the good things we can thank God, for the bad we have to look elsewhere. When asked to define Good, he replied "I'm afraid it's beyond me".
Hamlet famously said "There's nothing either good or bad but that thinking makes it so."
Enoch Powell said immigration to the UK was a "preventable evil".
It's certainly good for lawyers....

Atrocious Misuse of Language

In one fell swoop Mr. Cameron has taken the UK out of the EU and probably broken the UK.
In his speech to the Commons yesterday he described hostility to Poles living in Britain as "despicable" and the perpetrators as "racists".
My beef is not with the word "despicable" (although yesterday I had the misfortune to meet a woman who once said to me "You are despicable"). It is with the word "racist" (which I have also had directed at me).
The usual word for people who don't like foreigners occupying their territory is "patriot" or "nationalist".
Patriots are usually admired, so Mr. Cameron avoided that.
Nationalists are identified with Scotland. Ditto.
On this day in 1914 a Serb nationalist (no one calls him a racist) committed an atrocious assassination. (He told his captors he hadn't meant to kill the wife.) Archduke Ferdinand was killed not for being a bad man but for being a good man who wanted to smooth things over.
(P.S. To cap the above, England lost at football to Iceland! in the European Cup yesterday.)

Good Grief! From Goodwill to Goodbye!

Tony Blair recently received an award from the Polish Government because in 2004 when Poland and other East European countries joined the EU he allowed their citizens to live in the UK though other EU countries prevented them from moving there.
It is now extremely ironic that this moral act may well have been a major factor in the UK leaving the EU.
Politicians over the years have said EU citizens could not be stopped from coming here. That was not strictly true, because other EU countries stopped the East Europeans while the UK did not.

Hope and Understanding

There has been a lot of praying ("flopping" as Dickens called it in "A Tale of Two Cities") recently. A frequently quoted passage from the Bible says: "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." The people who caused unhappiness to Mr. Mair (and others) know fine what they do.
My local vicar says "sisters and brothers". I pointed out that if Jesus did not say it like that (in Aramaic) then that version is unChristian.
The Church would do well to pray for Mr. Mair. Not for forgiveness (leave that to God), but for Hope and Understanding.

The Moral High Ground

In one of the most prominent debates, just 2 days before the late, much-to-be-regretted EU Referendum, the Mayor of London accused people who want to restrict immigration to the UK of hate. This strong word is effective in claiming the high moral ground for the speaker.
London's Covent Garden used to have this graffito: "Hell hath no fury like a vested interest masquerading as a moral principle."
The Mayor of London is Labour and most immigrants vote Labour.
Immigration causes ill feeling. That is what the Referendum was mostly about.
Provoking ill feeling is morally wrong.

Hara-kiri!

National hara-kiri, leaving the EU, has been driven largely by the illusory notion that it will solve the UK's immigration problems.
If causing Scotland to separate and causing Northern Ireland problems is not hara-kiri I don't know what is.

"Because of the Fuss"

David Cameron said we are having today's EU Referendum because the UK is a democracy.
It was in the Conservatives' election manifesto.
In 1979 the Conservative manifesto included the promise to stop foreign men using marriage to live in the UK.
But that promise wasn't kept.
When asked Why? by Douglas Stewart, presenter of Radio 4 "Tonight" (end October 1979) the Immigration Minister Timothy Raison replied: "Because of the fuss."
In 1979 the official figure for the number of men using marriage to live in the UK was about 10,000 a year.
Therefore as a result of Mrs. Thatcher's Government not keeping its promise at least 300,000 men are living in these islands.
I knew that foreigners were using legal aid to contest immigration decisions.
So in 1980 I applied for legal aid to bring a case of treason against Mrs. Thatcher.
I was granted legal aid for my divorce in 1980, but  the Law Society refused legal aid for a case against Mrs. Thatcher. When I enquired Why? I was informed the Committee did not have to give a reason but simply felt legal aid should not be given.

It's Like the Weather

The unnecessary Referendum tomorrow is driven by the success of UKIP which is driven by "legitimate concerns" ( a euphemism for varying degrees of resentment) about immigration.
It is like Mark Twain said of the weather: Everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it.
That being so, it is a wonder that only one Englishman (so far) has been driven off the rails.
(P.S. Mr. Mair and Mr. Cameron have Scottish names.)

Self-inflicted

David Cameron spoke of targets to cut net migration to the UK knowing they couldn't be attained while the UK remains in the EU. (Radio 4 News.)
In 2010 he stressed a "cap" was the answer. Now there is no mention of a cap.
Brexit won't solve the UK's immigration problems.
If Leave win on 23 June there is a 2-year period before it takes place.
Immigration will soar to beat anticipated restrictions.
Boris Johnson has repeated his 2010 view there should be an amnesty for illegals.
So Brexit leaders clearly don't have the will to reduce immigration numbers.
All this controversy and disruption! All for what?!
From the outside it must look to foreigners as though Britain is committing hara-kiri.

Thought Control

In "1984" there is a Ministry of Equality that promotes inequality.
In 1984 I thought Britain was worse than Airstrip One (Orwell's name for Britain) because we now have two equality organisations. The Equal Opportunities Commission had successfully campaigned against the Conservatives' policy to stop foreign men using marriage to live in the UK. Even though the House of Lords determined (7 July 1983) that the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 did not apply to immigration control. The EOC was set up by Parliament to enforce work opportunities for women (the corollary being depriving men). Foreign husbands ae similarly entitled, by law, to deprive Britons of work and promotion. These men are here (partly) because of the EOC's illegal campaign. The largest group of taxpayers is British men. They fund the people in the "equality" industries!
In "1984" the only hope lay with the poor, the "proles", who cared about the future of Airstrip One. Central to the theme of "1984" is language. Newspeak enabled thought control. Jo Cox said: "women and men". 
I am grateful to the many women who have expressed support for my epetition "Stop foreign men using marriage to live in the UK" at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/129594

Pearl Harbour again!

"We lived in India. Now Indians live here. It's just history repeating itself." BBC Radio 4 "Today", yesterday.
In the early 1860s, while American had civil war, Britons in Japan were being killed. Unrepentant samurai were forced by the Japanese Government to commit hara-kiri.
Today on Radio 4 "Sunday" the Archbishop of York said killing was too weak a word to describe the murder of Jo Cox MP. It was "a day of infamy in our country", though immigration is a legitimate concern. "Concern" is a weak word, when it is obvious that immigration to the UK has ruined some people's lives.
"A day of infamy" was how President Roosevelt described the attack on Pearl Harbour. History repeating itself, indeed!
The Archbishop of York came to Britain because of persecution by Uganda's Idi Amin. As everybody knows, Idi Amin has long gone, but the Archbishop is still here. Everybody also knows that every day for many years there has been abuse of the asylum system. To dismiss this as "concern" is to downplay its negative impact on some Britons and to gloss over the problem which ordinary citizens look in vain to politicians to protect them from.
In 1991 I was sitting on a bench in a crowded shopping mall in Japan when I heard an American (Canadian?) voice say: "The English and the Japanese are so alike it is weird."
No one is forced to commit hara-kiri but the suicide rate among young men in the UK is notoriously high.

Wherein Lies the Fault

The reaction to the murder of Jo Cox MP was: "Prejudice and hate must be defeated". A better reaction would be: "We shouldn't give cause for prejudice and hate in the first place". People who give cause know fine what they are doing - causing unhappiness - yet imagine they have the moral high ground.
Prejudice is pre-judging. The judge who heard my case about Hong Kong in 1991 was guilty of that. He dismissed my case without ever giving me the chance to express it.
He also lied, cheated and stole.
Please see "Sauce for the Gander" in 2013. My Comments at the end.

Cause and Effect

Grievances breed resentment.
Assassinations (as happened yesterday) are not a good idea. (Signing https:petition.parliament.uk/petitions/129594 is a good idea.)
In 1914 a Serb nationalist caused great suffering to his fellow Serbs (not to mention elsewhere!).
Feminism and immigration are closely connected. (Please see http://marriageandmigration.blogspot.com "How we got here" 17 April 2016.)

Spanish Fly - in the Ointment

Mr. Cameron's Referendum on the UK remaining or leaving the European Union is a week from today.
Remain argue that the UK has control of its borders. If that is so, why aren't the many people who enter the UK illegally from the Continent send back?
Leave say they will get back control of our borders. But they don't say they will send back to France, Belgium, etc. those people who have crossed over from there illegally. Why not?
It can only be because both Remain and Leave politicians have no intention of ending this violation of our borders.
Months of controversy! Nothing solved!
As if not enough feathers have been ruffled already here and abroad, Mr. Cameron has angered the Spanish by flying off to Gibraltar today.
P.S. Please see http://marriageandmigration.blogspot.com "Inhuman Wrongs" in 2008, which tells of me and my Japanese girl friend having to return to France in 1979.

The Irish Question

A Radio 4 "Today" Presenter in Dover said she was as close to our nearest EU neighbour as was possible.  France is 22 miles away. But if she went to Northern Ireland she could have one foot in the UK and the other in the Republic of Ireland. This is important when it comes to the contentious issue of controlling our borders. The Leave campaign's mantra is "get back control of our borders". It's very effective. It's what everyone wants. And it may well result in a victory for Leave in next week's Referendum. But very little has been said on how controlling our borders will be achieved.

Migration Watch's Opinion

"We don't think the Australian-style points system is the right system for us," so said a Migration Watch spokesman on BBC Radio 4 "Today". He also said Migration Watch do not have a view as to whether the UK should Leave or Remain in the EU when it comes to the Referendum on 23 June.
Australia requires visas for everyone who goes there. Imagine if everyone in Europe had to get a visa to come to the UK

Indefinite Leave

Most foreigners want to get Permanent Residence stamped in their passports when they live abroad.
Foreigners here don't get P.R. Instead "Indefinite Leave to Remain" is stamped in their passports.
There's a difference.
A vigorous campaign was waged by various factions to defeat the Conservatives' 1979 election manifesto policy to stop foreign men using marriage to live in the UK.
It culminated with the European Court of Human Rights' decision in favour of 3 (foreign) women whose husbands were not allowed to live in the UK. Mrs. Thatcher's Government's response to this was to make it harder for foreign wives to live in the UK. ("The Times" 29 May 1985, page 1.)
For example a British husband must have an annual income of at least £18,600.
Another example is that if they live in the wife's country for a certain length of time she loses "Indefinite Leave to Remain" in the UK. To get it back the couple have to return to the UK and  prove they have lived together for a year. So naturally there is an incentive to not leave the UK in the first place.

Diverse but Unequal

Universities are a hotbed of Equality and Diversity.
In 1970 I was involved in an argument at university.
Fees for foreign students, which had been the same as for British students, were increased. The reason was scarce university places were being taken by foreigners. Of course, increasing the fees was denounced as discrimination.
Now, to help with funding, universities actively recruit foreign students.
Thus the original reason has been turned on its head.
Naturally I don't know about all countries, but it is common for foreign students to pay more and for them not to be allowed to work.
And it is uncommon to have publicly-funded Equality and Diversity Officers.

Kamikaze Saga

Edward Heath became Prime Minister in 1970 because, it's widely accepted, of Enoch Powell's 1968 speech on immigration.
Mrs Thatcher said she would restrict immigration. She won a big majority in 1979. In her victory speech on the steps of 10 Downing Street she said that unlike previous Prime Minsters who broke their election promises she would keep hers.
Her most famous one-liner was "The lady is not for turning!"
 But she broke an election manifesto promise, and she turned.
That promise was to stop foreign men using marriage to live in the UK.
Many people want the UK to leave the European Union because of immigration. David Cameron's answer was to have a Referendum.
But Leaving the EU won't solve the UK's immigration problems. Instead, there will be a rush to beat any restrictions (just as in 1962 there was a rush of young men to beat the Commonwealth Immigration Act).
Leaving will bring problems:
It will create discontent in Scotland (which mainly wants to Remain);
Destabilise peace in Northern Ireland;
It will antagonise all remaining 27 countries (who have made concessions to keep the UK in the EU), and in particular any country to which visa restrictions are directed;
Result in Spain blockading Gib. (even faster than a new Referendum on Scotland leaving the UK).
Instead the Government could:
Cut down on chain migration (of relatives);
Cut out lawyers, appeals, advisory services (not available to Britons abroad, and funded by the British taxpayer);
Stop students from working (British students abroad are often not allowed to work);
Have medical cards for everyone entitled to use the NHS (as in other countries);
Have more British-trained doctors and nurses - and get 'em to stay!
Increase the period before someone gets "Indefinite Leave to Remain" and can apply for British citizenship;
Deport illegals (of whom there are said to be up to 1 million in these islands).
Both outcomes of the Referendum in 2 weeks' time are bad!
If Remain wins handsomely then nothing will be done to address immigration problems.
Bad blood will  intensify!

10,000

"10,000 houses continue to be built every year in flood risk areas," BBC Radio 4 "Today".
What a coincidence!
10,000 men a year use marriage to live in the UK. (The Government's official figure in 1979, when it broke its promise to close this loophole.)
So everybody knows how to stop the foolish activity of building in flood risk areas.
Sign https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/129594
10,000 Greeks marched into Persian territory in 401 BC. An exciting account is told by Xenophon in "The Persian Expedition" (or "Anabasis"). It pays to read Herodotus and Thucydides first.

Forced Injustice

"Justice and equality will win!" So proclaimed Hillary Clinton announcing her nomination as Democratic candidate. (Today's News)
The taxpayer (mostly British men) funded the Equal Opportunities Commission, the purpose of which was to help women with work and promotion. Naturally for every woman helped a man loses. It can't be otherwise. The EOC devoted much time and effort and public money to oppose the Conservatives' 1979 election policy to stop foreign men using marriage to live in the UK. The official figure was about 10,000 men a year taking advantage of that loophole. The EOC's campaign succeeded. Mrs. Thatcher's Government backed down. The result is that at least 300,000 men are living in these islands. They are entitled, thanks to equality laws, to deprive Britons of work and promotion. This is neither Justice nor Equality for native Britons. Moreover the House of Lords determined on 7 July 1983 that the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act does not apply to immigration control. Therefore the EOC acted illegally.

Distracting & Divisive

It is clearly unjust that foreign husbands are entitled, because of equality laws, to deprive Britons of work and promotion. It is also unjust that foreign wives are entitled to deprive British men of work and promotion both because they are foreign and female.
The former injustice exists because of the latter.
The Equal Opportunities Commission vigorously campaigned against the Conservatives' 1979 election manifesto policy to stop foreign men using marriage to live in the UK. Mrs. Thatcher's Government duly backed down. The EOC's campaign was illegal, because the House of Lords determined on 7 July 1983 that the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act did not apply to immigration control.
Never mind injustice, we have a Referendum on the European Union to distract us.
In 1415 Henry V invaded France to distract English/Welshmen from his father's usurpation and regicide. His intention was to unite the country behind him....The result was the War of the Roses.

What's the Point... if our Leaders show they haven't a clue what to do?

The 2010 General Election in 2010 was marked in England by 3 TV debates. Next to the economy they focussed on immigration.
The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, stressed that what was needed was a points system. This is what the Leaders of the current Leave campaign want! It begs the question: Labour was in power 13 years so if a points system was the answer why didn't they have one?
All 3 Speakers repeated their arguments in all 3 debates.
David Cameron wanted a "cap".
Nick Clegg wanted an amnesty.
Both Labour and the LibDems later admitted they had got it wrong on immigration.
It only remains for Mr. Cameron to admit it.
Instead he has called a Referendum on the UK remaining in the EU, knowing that people who want to Leave mainly do so because of immigration.
It's for sure that foreigners who witnessed those debates would have laughed in disbelief, or if they are pro-British shaken their heads in despair.

Armies, Then and Now

Derby Day! Last year I went to Epsom Racecourse for the first time. Someone had placed flowers on the spot where a woman had thrown herself in front of the King's horse in 1913 as part of a bitter power struggle. Thank Goodness! not all women are like that. Mary Ward argued against extending the parliamentary vote to women (Letters in "The Times", 23 May 1917), pointing out that men served in the Army. Nowadays groups of young men from Africa and Asia march towards the Channel ports intent on occupying the UK. An army of lawyers, activists and civil servants are busily engaged - usually at public expense - on their behalf. These people helped defeat the Conservatives' 1979 election manifesto policy to stop foreign men using marriage to live in the UK. (My petition https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/129594)  The official figure in 1917 was about 10,000 men a year using marriage to live in the UK. As a result of Mrs. Thatcher's Government not keeping its 1979 promise at least 300,000 men are living in these islands.

"Tug and Scamble"

Shakespeare egregiously refers to England as an island (instead of part of an island). That aside, he nails it with "England doth tug and scamble", the Bastard in "King John". "This England never did, nor never shall, Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror, But when it first did help to wound itself."
The Tories (Irish rebels!) have inflicted a divisive EU Referendum on the UK. Mr. Cameron's explanation is that the UK is a democracy and there was a demand for it.
Whatever the outcome, it's harmful.

For Immigration Control Look Elsewhere

In 1904 the Entente Cordiale between Britain and France was widely celebrated as being the end of centuries of hostilities. Britain's Foreign Office opposed it because it identified Germany as a potential adversary. But King Edward VII was pro-French and in favour. Hotels in France are named after him! When former Prime Minister Lord Salisbury was told of it he replied: "Brilliant. Now you've made a future war with Germany inevitable."
At the end of July 1914 there was a naval review at Kiel. When the Royal Navy ships sailed they flew a signal to their German hosts: "Friends today. Friends forever."   Within a few days they were at war.
If the UK were to vote to leave the European Union  on 23 June it would antagonise our neighbours. The main driving force for wanting to leave is immigration. The prospect of restrictions would spark a rush (as happened in 1962 with the Commonwealth Immigration Act), so will be counter-productive. Britain's immigration problems can be tackled in other ways: e.g., by returning people who have crossed the English Channel and North Sea illegally back to the Continent; by cutting out the power of lawyers; and by cutting down on chain migration: e.g., by signing my petition "Stop foreign men using marriage to live in the UK" at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/129594
Many thanks to those who sign!

Theirs isn't the Glory ("Theirs is the Glory" is an old film about Arnhem)

"The Glorious First of June" was a sea battle between Britain and France in 1794.
There won't be a glorious 23 June 2016. Most people who will vote for Britain to leave the EU will do so because of immigration. Even if they win they will have nothing to celebrate. They will have rubbed our neighbours up the wrong way. Leaders of the Leave campaign say (BBC Radio 4 8 a.m) they will introduce an Australian-style points system. But Oz requires visas for everyone (Kiwis?). Co-operation with the French (and others) will not be improved by requiring them to have visas. Canada has a points system. I applied to live there in 1988. I was refused and told not to apply again. My brother is Canadian, but I didn't get any points for being a journalist, and I lost points for being over 44.