A public funeral with military honours will be held for Henry Allingham who died last Saturday aged 113. The funeral will take place at St Nicholas Church in Brighton on 30th July.
Henry, who was born in Clapton, east London in 1896 was the world’s oldest man before he died. He was one of the last surviving servicemen of World War I, the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland and a founder member of the RAF. His life spanned three centuries and six monarchs.
I trust that Sky News will give Mr Allingham’s funeral the same quarter-of-a-day’s coverage accorded to the final farewell of Jade Goody and Michael Jackson!
Why do I come out with these silly statements!
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Bristol Car Theft Murder
In Bristol Crown Court yesterday, jurors heard the case of an elderly man from Bristol who died when he was repeatedly run over with his car when he tried to stop a thief from stealing it.
Walter Bollen, 76, appears to have left the keys in his car when he got out to open a gate at his home in Green Close, Horfield.
He was run over when he got into a fight with Scott Couch, 23, who was trying to take the car.
Couch had admitted taking and driving the car but denied murder.
The court heard that Couch had been drinking and was looking for a way to return to his home at Severn beach, about six miles away when he came across Mr Bollen and his unlocked Skoda.
Couch jumped into the driver's seat and Mr Bollen went back to the car to try to drag him out.
The pair struggled and witnesses said Mr Bollen was thrown to the ground, possibly after being hit by the vehicle.
Couch is then alleged to have reversed the vehicle and ran over Mr Bollen twice as he lay on the ground.
Couch then sped off before abandoning the car in a neighbouring street with a flat tyre and damage caused in the incident, the court heard.
Mr Bollen was pronounced dead at the scene.
A post-mortem examination showed that he had suffered crushing injuries to his chest and internal organs and had a fractured skull.
The trial will continue today.
Assuming that Scott Couch is found guilty, I wonder how many hours community service he will receive for this!
Walter Bollen, 76, appears to have left the keys in his car when he got out to open a gate at his home in Green Close, Horfield.
He was run over when he got into a fight with Scott Couch, 23, who was trying to take the car.
Couch had admitted taking and driving the car but denied murder.
The court heard that Couch had been drinking and was looking for a way to return to his home at Severn beach, about six miles away when he came across Mr Bollen and his unlocked Skoda.
Couch jumped into the driver's seat and Mr Bollen went back to the car to try to drag him out.
The pair struggled and witnesses said Mr Bollen was thrown to the ground, possibly after being hit by the vehicle.
Couch is then alleged to have reversed the vehicle and ran over Mr Bollen twice as he lay on the ground.
Couch then sped off before abandoning the car in a neighbouring street with a flat tyre and damage caused in the incident, the court heard.
Mr Bollen was pronounced dead at the scene.
A post-mortem examination showed that he had suffered crushing injuries to his chest and internal organs and had a fractured skull.
The trial will continue today.
Assuming that Scott Couch is found guilty, I wonder how many hours community service he will receive for this!
Monday, 20 July 2009
Demonstration On How An Ex-Minister Can Turn On A Sixpence.
David Cameron, Leader of the Opposition says that the failure to supply more helicopters to British troops in Afghanistan is "a scandal".
Gordon Brown, Prime Minister says that army chiefs in Afghanistan were satisfied they had the equipment to do the job asked of them and the army was better equipped than ever.
The government insists that the military has never been so well resourced as it is at present.
Chief of Defence Staff, Sir Jock Stirrup says that the deployment of more helicopters to Afghanistan would save soldiers' lives.
John Hutton, who retired as Secretary of State for Defence last month says that the mood among UK troops in Afghanistan is "unequivocal" on the need for more manpower and resources. He also says that ministers have a "fundamental responsibility" to grant military equipment requests.
Whoa! Hutton WAS the minister up to the start of last month. So how come he didn’t acknowledge this fundamental responsibility when he was the top banana?
When a renegade minister starts criticising the Government, phrases like ‘vote catching’ and ‘populist statements’ come to mind!
Gordon Brown, Prime Minister says that army chiefs in Afghanistan were satisfied they had the equipment to do the job asked of them and the army was better equipped than ever.
The government insists that the military has never been so well resourced as it is at present.
Chief of Defence Staff, Sir Jock Stirrup says that the deployment of more helicopters to Afghanistan would save soldiers' lives.
John Hutton, who retired as Secretary of State for Defence last month says that the mood among UK troops in Afghanistan is "unequivocal" on the need for more manpower and resources. He also says that ministers have a "fundamental responsibility" to grant military equipment requests.
Whoa! Hutton WAS the minister up to the start of last month. So how come he didn’t acknowledge this fundamental responsibility when he was the top banana?
When a renegade minister starts criticising the Government, phrases like ‘vote catching’ and ‘populist statements’ come to mind!
Saturday, 18 July 2009
New Labour Is Old Hat
In an interview in today’s Daily Telegraph, former Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell, who quit the cabinet during the local and European elections last month, has said he lost faith in Gordon Brown as leader six months ago.
This has prompted the ‘never say die’, government faithful to pop their heads above the parapet.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson, also in the Telegraph, said that Mr Brown is the "best man for the job".
Ex-Defence Secretary John Hutton, this time speaking on the BBC's Straight Talk programme, said Mr Brown had "many, many talents" and it was a "tragedy" voters did not see them.
OK John, tell Gordon to show us these talents and we’ll have a look at them!
Meanwhile, back to Mr Purnell who stated "It's a very different feeling being twelve years into government from the idealism of the start, but we need to recapture that idealism, not by living in the past or by aping New Labour or just sticking to the old tunes.
We need to open up New Labour, reinvent it and then eventually move beyond it."
Try running that one past the traditional flat cap toting, whippet owning voter who, back in 1997 thought that he was voting for the good old red flag waving Labour Party. See what they think about your New Labour now!
This has prompted the ‘never say die’, government faithful to pop their heads above the parapet.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson, also in the Telegraph, said that Mr Brown is the "best man for the job".
Ex-Defence Secretary John Hutton, this time speaking on the BBC's Straight Talk programme, said Mr Brown had "many, many talents" and it was a "tragedy" voters did not see them.
OK John, tell Gordon to show us these talents and we’ll have a look at them!
Meanwhile, back to Mr Purnell who stated "It's a very different feeling being twelve years into government from the idealism of the start, but we need to recapture that idealism, not by living in the past or by aping New Labour or just sticking to the old tunes.
We need to open up New Labour, reinvent it and then eventually move beyond it."
Try running that one past the traditional flat cap toting, whippet owning voter who, back in 1997 thought that he was voting for the good old red flag waving Labour Party. See what they think about your New Labour now!
Friday, 17 July 2009
Better Late Than Never
From today’s BBC website news pages:
“Police e-fit specialists have drawn up the first "realistic" picture of infamous highway man Dick Turpin, 270 years after he was sent to the gallows.
With no surviving drawings or paintings of Turpin, police produced the image using the descriptions issued by the London Gazette newspaper in 1735 and 1737 after the government offered a reward for his capture.”
I know the British police are a bit slow of the mark, but this one takes the biscuit!
You can read the full story at Police release Dick Turpin e-fit
“Police e-fit specialists have drawn up the first "realistic" picture of infamous highway man Dick Turpin, 270 years after he was sent to the gallows.
With no surviving drawings or paintings of Turpin, police produced the image using the descriptions issued by the London Gazette newspaper in 1735 and 1737 after the government offered a reward for his capture.”
I know the British police are a bit slow of the mark, but this one takes the biscuit!
You can read the full story at Police release Dick Turpin e-fit
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
The Battle Of Culloden 2009
A story today that is tucked away inside the newspapers, but first a history lesson.
The Battle of Culloden on Culloden Moor near Inverness, Scotland on 16th April 1746, where hundreds of men of Charles Edward Stuart’s Jacobite army were massacred by the Hanoverian army of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. The last battle on British soil, a battle that altered the course of Scottish history. One of those battles where the dead were buried where they fell.
Now, 260 years later, signs are to be erected at the site asking visitors to respect the site as a war grave following a complaint about picnickers.
A member of ‘A Circle of Gentlemen’, a society which recalls the Jacobite cause, said he was furious at the behaviour of some tourists.
Alasdair MacNeill said he saw a family picnicking on top of one of the grave mounds.
Mr MacNeill said he and other members had complained to the National Trust for Scotland.
He said, "A family of four and their two dogs were sprawled across a grave mound having a picnic. The father was leaning against the headstone eating a Scotch egg and smoking a cigarette."
The circle member said he would not expect such behaviour to be acceptable at World War I battlefields such as Flanders or Ypres.
Mr MacNeill said Culloden's fallen were hastily buried in wide, but shallow graves, by British soldiers.
He added, "Many people, especially American tourists, come to Culloden because it is a revered place and to find their relatives."
Mr MacNeill is absolutely correct. This must be a terrible affront to the Scottish nation. I know little about Scottish history but this must be the most important and revered site in the whole of Scotland.
I don’t know if people north of the border understand the word ‘respect’ but it seems to have disappeared from the dictionary in England!
Speaking of which, has anyone noticed that Gordon Brown has never been to RAF Lyneham for the repatriation of any of the Afghanistan War dead?
While the rest of the nation bow their heads in respect, Gordon should be hanging his in shame!
The Battle of Culloden on Culloden Moor near Inverness, Scotland on 16th April 1746, where hundreds of men of Charles Edward Stuart’s Jacobite army were massacred by the Hanoverian army of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. The last battle on British soil, a battle that altered the course of Scottish history. One of those battles where the dead were buried where they fell.
Now, 260 years later, signs are to be erected at the site asking visitors to respect the site as a war grave following a complaint about picnickers.
A member of ‘A Circle of Gentlemen’, a society which recalls the Jacobite cause, said he was furious at the behaviour of some tourists.
Alasdair MacNeill said he saw a family picnicking on top of one of the grave mounds.
Mr MacNeill said he and other members had complained to the National Trust for Scotland.
He said, "A family of four and their two dogs were sprawled across a grave mound having a picnic. The father was leaning against the headstone eating a Scotch egg and smoking a cigarette."
The circle member said he would not expect such behaviour to be acceptable at World War I battlefields such as Flanders or Ypres.
Mr MacNeill said Culloden's fallen were hastily buried in wide, but shallow graves, by British soldiers.
He added, "Many people, especially American tourists, come to Culloden because it is a revered place and to find their relatives."
Mr MacNeill is absolutely correct. This must be a terrible affront to the Scottish nation. I know little about Scottish history but this must be the most important and revered site in the whole of Scotland.
I don’t know if people north of the border understand the word ‘respect’ but it seems to have disappeared from the dictionary in England!
Speaking of which, has anyone noticed that Gordon Brown has never been to RAF Lyneham for the repatriation of any of the Afghanistan War dead?
While the rest of the nation bow their heads in respect, Gordon should be hanging his in shame!
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