EXPLAIN THIS TO ME!

There is widespread chaos in the UK on Saturday. It has snowed so roads and airports are closed – trains are disrupted.


This is a major problem because apparently it’s the big get away weekend with many Britons heading for foreign climes for Christmas and the New Year.

Many of these will be going skiing or to snow resorts.

So explain this to me!

How come Britain is snowed in whilst the ski resorts of France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and even Spain – which have serious snow – are operating normally?

The roads are open. Trains are running. Flights are landing. People are a-skiing.

As for me - “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones we used to know!”

WILL THESE TURKEYS VOTE FOR CHRISTMAS?

In the coming months Britain will hold a general election. Now it could happen that against all the odds Labour will sneak back in but the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Brown and Darling, would be shown the door by the voters. Neither is likely but it could happen.

Equally the Conservatives might romp home but by a quirk of fate the voters in his constituency could dump the party’s leader David Cameron on the pile of out of work Old Etonians. Again unlikely but it could happen.

The reason it could happen is that under the British electoral system every MP, be it the Prime Minister or leader of the opposition or a humble member of the House, has to fight in effect his or her own mini general election. They are only returned to parliament if the voters in their constituency given them their backing – if they don’t they’re out whatever the broader result may be.

Now in Spain that scenario is virtually impossible. Every province has its own closed slate of candidates to fight for the seats. The number is decreed by the size of the population - the chiefs like Zapatero and Rajoy always head the list leaving the Indians to be sacrificed.

So it is interesting that one of Spain’s leading parliamentarians, the president of Congress José Bono, has been speaking at a meeting of the Fórum Europa in Barcelona on the need for a new electoral law in Spain. He also indicated that he could be looking to follow the British model.

The idea is to give wider powers and freedom of expression to the party and its MPs. Bono said elected representatives should in the future not be afraid to voice their opinions on their leaders, be it good or bad.

Bono said that he was looking at ways to fundamentally change the structure of the parties and to modify the electoral system. He says he wants to see a wider spread of power rather than it being held in the hands of “one, two or three people”.

No major formula has yet been revealed but it could see the removal of the current closed party lists to be replaced by open lists. Bono added that he was also exploring the option of introducing some of the single seat representatives as seen in the UK.

Well change is needed because politics in Spain is in crisis. Curiously it is not a political crisis as such but one brought about by the widespread corruption in all the political parties. The problem is that the proposals being brought forward by Bono have to be agreed and approved by the nation’s politicians – so will these turkeys vote for an early Christmas? Perhaps a better idea would be for a set of options to be set before the voters and they then vote for them in a referendum.

SWINE FLU OR BRITISH FLU?

As I keep a close eye on the British media I have been aware of the hysteria and confusion in the UK over the threat of swine flu. Media hype, political incompetence or public panic? In all truth a mixture of each.

As the swine flu call centre finally opened for business with staff who wouldn’t know a common cold from foot and mouth Britain’s Premier Gordon Brown, who looks as if he is suffering from both, went on TV to assure the nation that it was the first of its type in the world. For all the wrong reasons that is probably true but what the public in the UK haven’t been told is that Swine Flu is now largely a British problem. As Britons ask – is it safe to go abroad? – the answer is - its much safer – to which should be added – please stay at home.

I got a shock yesterday as I prepared an article on swine flu precautions in Spain. Here safe guards are in place but without all the panic that seems to have engulfed the UK. Now I know why.

According to data issued by the EU as of July 22 there were around 18,000 cases of swine flu in the nations that make up the community. I was staggered to learn that over half, 10,649 to be exact, were in the UK. Across the Channel in France there are 628, in Belgium 126, in Holland 21, Italy 258 and Ireland a mere 172.

Germany has the second highest total with 1,818 and Spain is in third place with 1,486 – which is hardly surprising given this country’s close association with Mexico where it all started.

So the main threat to Europe’s health appears to be Britain and of course right now millions of Britons are heading off on holidays to the Continent. They will bring with them swine flu – or as it now should be called – British flu - because a nation that is happy to sneeze all over each other on the train, the bus, at the shops or in the street isn’t going to hold back when faced with Johnny Foreigner.

Trouble is with the economic crisis still biting hard the holiday venues of France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal badly need British tourists and sterling. However come the autumn and winter I would argue that we should pull up the draw bridge and put Britain, the sick nation of Europe, in to total isolation.

DIDN’T WE HAVE A LOVELY TIME…?

How does the old song go – “Didn’t we have a lovely time the day we went to Gibraltar?” OK so Fiddlers Dram sang Bangor but same difference.

Earlier this week in the respected Gibraltar Daily ‘Panorama’ its editor Joe Garcia wrote: “Superficially, the visit to Gibraltar of the Spanish foreign minister will be remembered as the day Miguel Angel Moratinos came to Gibraltar for lunch, almost like any other tourist, spending a few hours on the Rock and then returning to his native Spain.”

I take his point but it wasn’t Miguel Ángel Moratinos who was the day tripper but Britain’s Foreign Secretary, David Miliband and in his relaxed demeanour it showed. Parliament is now on its summer hols and Tuesday’s meeting of the Tripartite Forum was a chance for the perhaps future British Prime Minister to press the flesh with Caruana and Moratinos, have a nice lunch, go to the top of the Rock, see the apes (I hold my tongue here) and then home again.

For Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Peter Caruana, and Spain’s Foreign Secretary, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, it was an historic occasion because it was the first time a Spanish government minister made an official visit to the Rock since it became a British colony.

Britain wants to see good relations between Spain and Gibraltar and the Córdoba Agreement signed by Britain, Spain and the Rock underpins the Tripartite Forum. However the fact is that the nitty gritty of these talks does not affect Britain at all.

The issue that nearly scuppered these talks before they started – Gibraltar’s territorial waters – does concern the UK because it claims the internationally accepted three mile limit. None-the-less it would prefer Madrid and Gibraltar to sort it out amongst themselves.

The other key issues such as the airport, ease of access across the border, pollution and management of shipping in the bay, cancer studies, co-operation between Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar are all parochial matters far from London and more importantly do not affect votes in British elections.

Which really only leaves the issue of sovereignty. I do not believe that the current British Labour Government would have any objections to Gibraltar becoming Spanish or as a first step holding joint sovereignty. After all it was that very agreement the former Prime Minister Tony Blair tried to impose on the people of the Rock. Britain will uphold the right of the people of Gibraltar to decide whether they remain British or join Spain – but the Foreign Office, of which David Miliband is the head honcho, would be very happy for the Union flag to be hauled down or at least share the same pole. So it is hardly surprising that Miliband had a relaxing day away from the Westminster village on the Rock whilst Caruana and Moratinos got down to business with cat calls from their respective opposition parties ringing in their ears.

CONFUSED BY RELIGION

I am currently reading Indian Summer by Alex Von Tunzelmann in which she details the role of the Mountbattens in the partitioning of India to form Pakistan and the hand over of power in 1947. What struck me is the details given on how that partition was carried out strictly on religious grounds without any reference to the realities of local life with the then Moslem Eastern Pakistan (now Bangladesh) being deliberately made unviable in the belief that it would be forced to reunite with Hindu India.

Now I have often mentioned in this blog that I was brought up in Britain in the 50s and 60s as a Catholic in what was then a fundamentally Protestant country. I certainly remember taking part in Corpus Christi processions through the streets of my home town. Now whilst these are common yearly events in Spain, and wider Catholic Europe, it must have made a curious sight for my fellow Londoners. However in all those years I can truly say that I was never made aware of any anti-Catholic feeling. Indeed I remember when a divorcee moved in to our street accompanied by much nudge-nudging and sly winks. The woman was in all probability the innocent, hurt party but she was - the divorcee. Yet although we were the only Catholic family in the street and all marched off to mass on Sunday mornings, high days and holidays, never a word was said.

It was only when I moved to Dublin in the early 1970s that for the first time in my life religion became an issue. I would be asked straight out in the office was I Catholic or Protestant – a topic that had never been raised in my four previous jobs or whilst I was in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. I soon learned that whilst Dublin is the capital of the Catholic Republic of Ireland, such companies as Guinness, Boland’s or Gouldings were Protestant concerns, where leading with the right rather than the left foot would help in your climb up the promotional ladder. Most of the people I worked with were Catholics but there were some Protestants who were clients who believed that because I was English I must be one of them.

By then of course I wasn’t one of anything because although born a Catholic (and hence according to the Church always a Catholic) I was non-practicing and was as I am today an agnostic. It was all rather bemusing and amusing for more often than not in London it had been presumed, especially in the media world, that I was Jewish – but that’s another story.

TRICK OR TREATY

The news and facts have only started to trickle through in recent days but on Good Friday the Royal Navy patrol boat, HMS Sabre, ordered a Spanish Guardia Civil launch out of Gibraltar waters. According to the Ministry of Defence the Spanish vessel was 200 metres from the buoy in the bay on the Western approach to the airfield. They were asked what their intentions were, and when no reply was forthcoming, they were requested to leave. There have been Spanish claims that HMS Sabre had its guns aimed at the Guardia Civil launch. This is denied by British Forces but it is accepted that HMS Sabre had its guns manned “as is standard practice” when the incident took place.

Although this incident will probably be soon glossed over it does highlight an aspect of the Gibraltar problem for the Spanish. Under the Treaty of Utrecht signed in 1713 at the end of the Spanish War of Succession Gibraltar was ceded to Britain in perpetuity. However the Gibraltar of 1713 and today is vastly different.

For instance to this day Spain insists that Gibraltar has no waters other than those of its harbour. Rubbish says Gibraltar and Britain. Under International Agreements the Rock claims a three mile limit of territorial waters and that could be extended to 12. Also the specific land area of Gibraltar has grown. The land on which the airport stands is reclaimed and disputed as it is outside the boundary designated in the treaty.

When you ready the treaty you can see Spain’s point: “The Catholic King does hereby, for himself, his heirs and successors, yield to the Crown of Great Britain the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications, and forts thereunto belonging; and he gives up the said propriety to be held and enjoyed absolutely with all manner of right for ever, without any exception or impediment whatsoever.”

However there are other aspects of the treaty that would simply be laughed out of court in this modern day. For example: “And Her Britannic Majesty, at the request of the Catholic King, does consent and agree, that no leave shall be given under any pretence whatsoever, either to Jews or Moors, to reside or have their dwellings in the said town of Gibraltar.” Of course in the present day there is a strong Jewish community in Gibraltar that plays a major role in the life of the Rock. Moroccans (Moors) also contribute to the economy of Gibraltar having replaced Spanish workers when the border was closed in 1969. So should Spain demand that they leave?

Over the years I have received correspondence from many people arguing for the scrapping of the Treaty of Utrecht. I know too that there are politicians on the Rock who believe the treaty could be challenged in the courts.

Being a mere hack myself and not a legal eagle this seems to me to be a risky course to follow. The whole basis of Britain’s hold on the Rock is based on the treaty and if you take that away – where are you – in uncharted waters like a Guardia Civil patrol boat. None-the-less if there is to be a modern agreement on Gibraltar between the people of the Rock, Britain and Spain then I agree it has to be based on an accord of and for these times and not a treaty that has long been discarded and discredited except in the corridors of power in London and Madrid.

CITIZENS OF EUROPE OR XENOPHOBES?

The reason most immigrants come to Spain or any other European country is to find work. During the times of economic crisis that currently exist there is less reason for them to stay, so they move on.

I read that over a million immigrants in Spain have returned to their home country or other locations offering better work prospects. Certainly in the village where I live, which has had a high Romanian population, the numbers of immigrants has greatly decreased since the jobs in construction and on the land dried up.

According to a recent poll carried out by Harris Interactive and published in the ‘Financial Times’ in Britain and Italy 80 per cent of nationals believe that immigrants should leave if they cannot find work. In Spain the figure is 70 per cent whilst the French are divided 50 – 50.

I am British but my home is in Spain and has been for nearly 20 years. My son was born in Dublin but has lived in Spain longer than anywhere else. As an EU citizen Spain is as much my nation as any other country in the union. If I suddenly became unemployed I would battle on here because this is where I live.

However I recognise, largely because I am British and because of my country’s attitude to immigration, that seeking work in hard times in a nation that is not your own is fraught with dangers. You could be accused of holding a job that could go to a Spaniard or be chasing a job that “by right” should be held down by a Spaniard.

It is at times like these that we see just how far the concept of becoming a citizen of Europe has progressed. I have as much right to a job in Spain as a Spanish person does to a job in Britain. Whilst we are all happy to embrace that mantra in the good times when the going gets tough then xenophobia rules – and it rules nowhere stronger than the British Isles.

RUBBING SALT IN TO BRITAIN’S WOUND

The freeze continues in Britain and again the country has ground to a standstill.

When the snow first hit London it became a news item on Fox News in the USA. Bemused presenters scratched their heads in wonder as four inches fell in the British capital bringing it to a standstill. “They obviously aren’t used to snow,” was one comment.

Now predictably as the snow and ice continues for more that a day or so the authorities have run out of salt and grit for the roads. No problem Spain, which sees more of the white stuff in a year than Britain does in two decades, was on hand to send some supplies.

Cleveland Potash, the UK Highways Agency’s second supplier, said it had arranged for 40,000 tonnes of salt to be imported from its sister mine in Spain to meet the increased demand. Hertfordshire County Council, one of the councils which said stocks were running low, said it was seeking additional supplies from abroad.

Those of us who grew up in Britain in the 1950s are made of sterner stuff. I remember walking to school in the smog when buses crawled along and flares marked crossings and junctions. I also slogged through the snow and huddled with the rest of my class around the radiator as we and our damp clothes steamed and the ice on our shoes melted.

Few of us, pupils or teachers, had cars or central heating in those post-war years – yet somehow life went on despite the harsh weather. My father had to commute by train from South London in to the city and I never remember him having a day off because of the weather. It is not only the Fox News presenters who are bemused – because any Briton over the age of 50 will be wondering what has happened to our nation that it could be floored by a snow flake or two.