Dennis Benson

Almost every member of our allotment shed has experienced the mixed emotions that accompany every new arrival. It is truly a time of wonder, a moment that remains frozen in the memory. What experiences will this tiny mite have in a world that it will hopefully be living in long after we, who created it, are gone? We take our pictures or films to record a time that he or her will never remember unaided and pray that one day this tiny bundle will look at a faded print and say that we did our best for it. Perhaps sentiments of a similar kind are in the minds of the Camerons right now and we all send them our congratulations and good wishes.

It has to be said that David Cameron comes across on TV as a decent sort of bloke. He and Samantha deserve their blessing for, like two of our members, they have suffered a grievous loss. My pals liken the death of a child to a devastating feeling of empty hopelessness, one that turns to anger, one that cries why us. The lost soul cannot be replaced but the consolation of other offspring helps to provide comfort in the dark night of the soul. And soon the new parents will move from wonder to the forebodings that every parent feels. What do we wish for our new love above all else they ask. Usually the answer is peace, health and prosperity, or words to that effect.

David Cameron and his wife didn’t have priviledged service, their big moment came in the same way as it does for the rest of us. But in one respect they are fortunate. We all make our wishes and dream our dreams but as Prime Minister he has the chance to at least apply some influence to the society that their children will inherit. Hopefully he will seize the opportunity. Everyone does not share his political convictions but he seems a good man in the truest sense of the word. Unfortunately he is surrounded by what looks very much like the cast from Monty Python’s Flying Circus and he will need to keep a very close eye on the direction in which some of them seem to be heading.

Peace is usually our first wish. Of course we pray for peace of mind but in today’s world that quickly embraces security and freedom from violence. And here lies the first issue our new Dad must watch. His ministers are understandably preparing to cut the defence budget and given that we are never likely to be so foolish as to embark on another Iraq-like crusade it may well be right to reduce our army. But military experts are appalled at the plan to slash the strength of the RAF to its lowest ever level. If these islands are seriously threatened in future years the great will undoubtedly come through our air space. Fail to protect this and we will be at the mercy of madmen.

And what of health? The Camerons already knew of the excellent response of the NHS when emergencies occur and now they have experienced it again. I am sure that the last thing the Prime Minister wants is to see our most important service decimated but that is exactly what the ravings of Andrew Lansley will bring about if he is not restrained and his ad-hoc ideas clearly analysed and tested. Yes there is an ideological argument to had but the plan already underway is based on timings so ambitious that the only outcome can be total chaos. Yes the stifling bureaucracy introduced by the last government had to be cut but the fact that Primary Care Trusts are already proceeding with mass redundancies, long before anyone has worked out how GPs will take over their roles, is dangerous in the extreme. Experts with no political agenda are openly forecasting the collapse of the whole NHS infrastructure and no parent, Prime Minister or otherwise, should be willing to risk that.

And then comes prosperity. The way in which the present crisis is handled will have a huge bearing on decades to come. Of course there is still a big debate to be had about the rate of cuts but an even bigger one is needed about the role of the Banking sector which caused the worldwide calamity and shows neither remorse nor prudence even now. Perhaps greater than either of these factors is public acceptance of what has to be faced. And today’s papers, even those of right-wing persuasion, carry headlines featuring findings by eminent financial analysts showing that the Osborne budget punishes the poor out of all proportion. If Churchill left us any legacy worth carving in tablets of stone it is that the solution to any crisis can only be found if everyone feels fairly treated and valued.

But right now the Cameron family will be preoccupied with more mundane matters, indeed pleasures. He doesn’t strike us as someone afraid of nappies or disturbed sleep and the best advice we can perhaps give is to quote from philosopher and king of self understanding, George Santayana, who said in his Sililoquies in England of 1922 that  “there is no cure for birth or death save to enjoy the interval”. May the new baby have a very long interval and may his Dad save us all from the fools that surround him in his work.

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                                         THE MOUNTAIN OF JUNK MAIL CLIMBS AND CLIMBS!

Do you seem to be receiving more and more junk mail? I do. This morning I received a letter from a company called ‘Global Prize Centre’ which asks me if I am available to come to Australia on 7th October 2010. The ‘urgent prize notice’ provides the news that I have a potential $4,000,000.00 to collect.

It is only after careful study I noticed the words ‘if you are announced the winner’. In other words I am one of zillions. Hopefully they will all decide not to subject British Airways to the sort of boom that invariably leads to a series of strikes!

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                                                             O.D.E IS GOING CRACKERS!

The latest edition of the Oxford Dictionary of English suggests that the once ultra-conservative organ is heading in the opposite direction at a rapid rate of knots. One of the new words to be incorporated is vuvuzela which for the unitiated is the apian drone that almost destroyed our enjoyment of the football world cup before our inept players managed it anyway. Heaven forbid that it should come to cricket!

Surely time should be allowed to cover the possibility that the noun will fizzle out which ,in this case, I sincerely hope it does!

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ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY’S QUIZ;   1 Art Garfunkel    2. Agony

TODAYS QUESTIONS;    1.In which 1970 race did Intrepid beat Gretel?   2.  In which sport did David Wilkie of Great Britain set a world record in 1973?

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