green and pleasant land

Dear Marianne,

I see that the government has foiled a plot to blow us all up on our way to happy holidays. Good of the bombers to wait until Mr Blair and family were safely in Barbados wasn't it though, it wouldn't have been right seeing them suffer the misery of waiting at Heathrow airport with thousands of others.
What's that you say? He doesn't fly economy from Heathrow? He has his own plane. How lovely.

See, he did have his reasons for not wanting an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, he wants one after his holiday, how can he possibly be in two places at the same time. You can't expect him to be sunning himself on the white sandy beaches of the caribbean and in washington learning his lines: "Now look...its like this...you can't have an immediate ceasefire because...well because my mate said so." [Exits stage right].

Watching the flattened bodies in the wrekage of Beirut, Becky asked where the Iraq War had gone. Just wait, I said, its still there festering under the newest news story, along with a whole list of other tragedies in which England has played its terrible part.

I remember the days when it was frowned on to go to war and I have vague memories of Britain operating as part of a unified (ish) group of countries. Not anymore, what happened to an ethical foreign policy and a tolerant England, where you could go about your business without being shot dead by the police for just being in the wrong place. I know it still exists in some places, but where have all the decent people gone?

Just on cue I tuned in to radio 4 and heard a tribute to Linda Smith - and was reminded of the decent people we don't get to hear from much these days. So I think about the good people I know and don't know, the thousands that continue to March and such like for peace and I look at my children and hope that some of the shreds of the philosophy I grew up with, the liberal thinking, tolerance for others and respect for all human life have managed to seep through my tired and embittered forthysomething self into their hearts and minds. So that when they grow, they can undo some of the damage done to our character, and then people can again go safely on their summers holidays without the threat - real or not - of suffering the same fate as the people of Lebanon.

Rx