We don't want to lose you, but we think you ought to go

I like Jeremy Corbyn. He espouses many of the belief and values I have cherished since my teenage days. He is against austerity, in favour of nationalisation, against the free market economy that only benefits the wealthy, and for more spending in real terms on the NHS. In that he shares much in common with his great predecessor Tony Benn, except perhaps in his support (albeit lukewarm) of remaining in the EU. Benn of course hated the EU, believing passionately it was a club for plutocrats and capitalists and actually worked against the interests of the individual.

But Labour would never have won an election with Tony Benn at the helm. Nor, I fear, with Jeremy Corbyn either. There just isn't the appetite among the electorate for his brand of democratic socialism, which is why he has to go some time before 2020. He is far too easy a target for the fascist press; indeed, even Laura Kuhnsberg, the BBC's political correspondent is also scathing about him whenever she gets the chance (which the BBC offer her far too often in my opinion).

Who should lead then? It's a tricky one. There's David Milliband of course, licking his wounds in his Manhattan redoubt but still dreaming of the Iron Throne. Then there's Alan Johnson, a sound choice perhaps, but would he take the mantle if offered? There's Ed Balls too, though he is now tainted as a loser. Harriet Harman is an experienced operator with a lot of plus points. But what of Ed's wife, Yvette Cooper? Mrs Balls is perhaps the strongest candidate Labour can currently put forward. The press would have at her of course, as they would at whoever took over, but she's got clout, personality and a very quick mind. And she can't be labelled a loony leftie. She, I think, could turn the tide for labour. And there's one other man I think could be an outstanding leader of the Labour Party: Peter Hain. He's very sharp, very experienced, has all the right ideas and could be a unifier. Trouble is, I don't think he would take the job if it were offered. But whoever turns out to be the strongest prospect, first Jeremy must step aside.

Come on Jezza. You had your chance, but the great British Public, spoon fed a pack of lies by the press decided they couldn't stomach you. And however unjust that is, politics is about power and how best to get it. You've always been a campaigner from the sidelines of politics- perhaps time for you to return to a role which even you might agree you find more comfortable.

Trump's policies come home to roost

Yesterday a Welsh man was barred entry to the United States. Mohammed Miah was born in Wales and speaks in the broad lilts of the Port Talbot where he was raised. Of course he was not denied entry because he is Welsh. He was barred because of his name, his Arab appearance and the fact that he is an adherent of the Muslim faith.

Here we see Trump's racist policies coming right to our doorstep - Port Talbot is barely 30 miles from where I live. I always thought discrimination on the grounds of race or religion was against the spirit, if not the letter, of the American Consitution. Guess I was wrong. I also thought his ban on Muslims entering the US had been put on hold, pending an appeal to the Supreme Court. Wrong again.

Take a look at the phone footage he took on WalesOnLine. You'll see a confused young man, expressing a feeling of deep humiliation as he is treated like a "common criminal". He doesn't have any kind of criminal record by the way, unless having dusky skin and a name like Mohammed is a crime. Which to the Americans apparently, it is.

There a number of countries I will not visit because I profoundly disapprove of the way they go about things: China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and a few others. Looks like I'm going to have to add the US to that list.

Mister 65%

65 percent. My score in my essay on "The Creative Process" I submitted as part of my Master's in Creative Writing at Cardiff University. Not a stunning result I concede, far from a distinction it's true, but a solid pass, and certainly as good as I could have expected, this being the first essay I have ever done. They didn't go in for academic essays in the medical school of my era. It was all, list all the causes of joint pain in order of their frequency of occurrence and suggest treatment plans for each of them.
          For my success tribute has to go to my wife, an academic herself, who gave me much invaluable technical advice: structure, format, how to create a bibliography and so on. But she couldn't write the essay - I had to do that. How did my eleven fellow MA students fare? I don't know, and it is unlikely I'll ever find out. My wife tells me it is not the done thing to enquire how someone else got on, and students are reticent about volunteering their scores. But I have heard students rarely fail the course, so I'm sure everyone got over 50%. But who, if anyone, got a distinction. I shall probably never know.
         The Lion's share of the marks, however, go to the portfolio: our actual creative writing. Which, if you think about it, is as it should be. It's what it's all about, after all. Once again, I am hoping for a goodish result. I do know my writing has improved considerably over the last five months, which was why I joined the course in the first place.
         All this is providing a welcome distraction from the underlying crisis I have faced since last July, and continue to face today. Please God it is over soon, and with a satisfactory outcome.

Fake News: nothing new there

Have you heard of "The Donation of Constantine"? It's an early, but by no means the first, example of fake news. In the 13th century, the Catholic Church produced a document purported to have been written in the 4th century, in which the Emperor Constantine, having been miraculously cured of leprosy by Pope Sylvester, promised huge tracts of lands to the church. It was then used to usurp many huge countrified areas of Europe. More than a hundred years later a Jesuit priest worked out the document was a fake. It used words not in use at the time it was said to have been written, and whole phrases that didn't come in at least until the 8th century.
          Fast forward to the 1680s, when opponents of Catholic James II prepared the fake news that James's wife, Mary of Modena's new baby was not hers at all but had been smuggled into the Royal Bedchamber in a bed warmer. The whole story was a pack of lies, but it caught hold and played a significant role in the ousting of James by good ol' proddy King Billy.
          Adolph Hitler liked a bit of fake news himself, and often invented entirely fictitious reasons for invading European countries: they're mistreating our German expats, they asked us to come in, honest, etc etc.

And on to the present day, where anyone who dares to speak out about Donald Trump gets accused of peddling fake news. Like CNN, who showed side-to-side pictiures of  the crowds at Obama's and Trump's inaugurations, clearly illustrating far larger numbers at the former. Fake news, said DT, and refused all further questions from CNN at press conferences. This, you might say, is not of cosmic importance, though Trump's insistence that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by a cabal of scientists, probably at the behest of the Chinese, is. It will allow him to bin all plans to reduce CO2 output, just at the time when these curbs are absolutely vital to the future of the world. And if America abandons its green initiatives, many, many countries are going to follow suit. China has said it will follow through on its promises, and you have to concede that a world where China is more progressive than than America is a world gone mad indeed.