TIME TO BRING BACK DOG LICENCES.

The killing of a small girl by a pet dog in Leicestershire a couple of days ago is a horrible reminder of the dangers which these animals can present. Over recent years, thousands of people have been attacked and injured by dogs and as many as a dozen or so children have been killed; why do we not react as we do against other similar dangers ?

Dogs used to be kept not as 'pets' but as working animals. Their owners did not spend silly, and sometimes obscene, amounts of money on their food, grooming, kennelling and even clothing, and the animals were only kept for their usefulness - keeping down assorted vermin, for instance. Today and in total contrast, the vast majority of dogs are welcomed into their owners homes as a member of the family, being fussed over in ways that are full of danger.

 

Dogs are instinctive animals and respond as such to perceived threats, often by assuming aggressive postures and attacking the threat. That such 'threats' can be small children pulling their 'pets'' tails or appearing suddenly from around corners seems to escape many people until the worst happens. Added to this, dogs are repositories of disease and yet their owners allow themselves, and their children, to be climbed over and licked repeatedly, often around the face. Dogs leave their faeces anywhere and everywhere and even though many owners now retrieve these in little plastic bags, they will always leave some small element behind; the bacteria so released into the environment are a threat to us all, children in particular.

 

It's reported that there are some 9 million of these dirty and potentially dangerous animals at large in our country. While their owners often pay out large amounts to maintain them, they pay nothing to the state for the armies of workers whose jobs it is to clear up their mess and empty the bins in which the better owners deposit their collections of faeces. They pay nothing for the mess and damage sometimes inflicted on others or for the demand placed on the NHS; they pay no licence fee and are not required to have insurance.

 

Surely it is now time for the introduction of new laws to govern the keeping of animals as pets, starting with dogs. Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, both parts of the United Kingdom, have licensing systems and many countries require owners to register their ownership in some way in order to keep a dog legally - Eire, the USA, Canada, Germany, Australia and New Zealand amongst others. In this country, a licence and micro-chipping fee of, say, £30 a year (equivalent to less than 9p per day) would raise over a quarter of a billion pounds to be put towards the costs of cleaning up after these animals. Requiring owners to carry insurance against the possibility of their animals attacking others would ensure that victims received compensation and the NHS was paid for it's services.

 

Why do we tolerate finding piles of dog faeces in the street or in our parks and green spaces ? Why do we tolerate being snapped at by these aggressive animals ? It's time we stopped being so romantic about them and started being much more realistic and practical.

WHATEVER HAPPED TO MANNERS AND DECENCY ?

A couple of days ago, MP Jo Swinson was allowed to stand during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons. This may not sound a particularly noteworthy issue until one learns that Ms Swinson is 7 months pregnant and was surrounded by a gaggle of other members, many of them seated. 

 

That she was made to stand for over half and hour and that no one offered her their seat demonstrates only too clearly just how far general standards of decency have fallen in recent years. When I was a child and for many years thereafter, I would have automatically given up my seat for a pregnant woman or an elderly person; I would have automatically held a door open for others, indeed, I still do the latter though the former is less necessary these days as I'm now one of the 'elderly' myself.

 

The decline in good manners and common decency has been stark. Today's children demonstrate almost no concern for others and rarely if ever hold a door or give up a seat; their personal interests and 'rights' outweigh everything else. What a horrible world we have produced.

GRAYSON PERRY POINTS WAY TO END OF LICENCE FEE.

Last night, I was unfortunate enough to tune into 'Radio 4' at about 10:30 and was confronted by a right old load of drivel.

 

There was a time when the annual 'Reith Lectures' were something to look forward to, being delivered on serious subjects by highly respected and erudite speakers. A vast variety of topics were covered and they were always of interest; sadly, this is no longer the case. Today's 'Reith Lectures' have been 'jazzed up' to include 'modern' subjects and speakers and include globe-trotting journeys, all, of course, at public expense.

 

This year, the lectures are being delivered by Grayson Perry, a person admired by a few as an artist of sorts but either ignored or laughed at by most. Whether or not anyone would have taken any notice of Perry but for his highly publicised habit of dressing in women's clothing is a moot point; what can't be denied is that his selection as the 'Reith Lecturer' was horribly misguided.

 

Perry drivelled away with occasional puerile anecdotes but, as far as I could tell from a brief hearing,

he said almost nothing of any note; indeed, I suspect that most half-educated art students could have done better. If Perry does have anything significant to say about art, he certainly wasn't saying it last night and one has to wonder what the BBC was thinking when they chose him to deliver this auspicious lecture series; presumably, some young arty-crafty type had the final say.

 

With their increasing determination to attract mass audiences by playing to the lowest common denominator, desire to be 'with it', adherence to consistently left-wing attitudes and rejection of anything deemed to be 'old fashioned', the BBC has surely built a damning case against the continuation of the licence fee. Today, there is very little on the BBC that I choose to watch or listen to, most of its output being awful; the licence fee is simply an annual tax on my television.

 

Once upon a time, I was a strong advocate of the BBC but no more; apart from a handful of programmes and presenters, it is a shocking mess. It is, I fear, time for the licence fee to end and for the BBC to stand, or fall, on its own two feet.

CAN I "PRE-BOOK" MY "PRE-ORDERED" "RE-SHUFFLE" PLEASE ?!

Who on earth was it that invented the ridiculous modern trend to put the prefix "pre-" in front of certain words ?

 

The academic Sarah Churchwell made a very valid point on 'Question Time' last Thursday when the panel was discussing government and opposition 're-shuffles'. As a Professor of American Literature, she quite rightly complained that the "re-" was a wholly redundant addition; what the party leaders were doing was to 'shuffle' their packs and to say 're-shuffle' was pointless and meaningless twaddle.

 

The same clearly applies to "pre-booking" and "pre-ordering". If I order goods, I order them; I don't "pre-order"; what, in fact, does "pre-order" actually mean ? Does it have any validity as an English word ? The same can be said of the equally stupid "pre-book" though, to be fair, the horrible "pre-owned" may have some meaning even if it is a little cumbersome and simply an advertisers' ploy to avoid the less attractive "second hand".

 

Why is it that some people feel the need to mangle our perfectly good language in these ways ? No wonder our children have such problems with literacy.

 

 

'SKY AT NIGHT' TO BE AXED ?

True to it's modernist values, the BBC is apparently on the point of doing away with one of the longest running and best television programmes in the world - 'The Sky at Night'. It would seem that while the programme's creator and star, Sir Patrick Moore, was alive, it was untouchable but now he's gone it's fair game.

 

The Beeb will probably claim that audiences have dropped since Sir Patrick's departure from this earthly realm, but that may be as much to do with its scheduling - viewers now have to scour the schedules to find it at midnight or midday, plus its only regular slot on the minority channel, BBC4.

 

'The Sky at Night' is not only an institution, it is an inspiration; it has been an inspiration to generations of potential young scientists for decades and has been lauded by many, including the Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Rees. While they produce dumbed-down audience-grabbing tripe such as 'Eastenders', 'Strictly Come Dancing', and assorted other programmes for the illiterate masses, 'The Sky at Night' is an oasis of brilliance in this sea of mediocrity; sadly, the Beeb has no interest in brilliance, only in celebrity.

 

Perhaps if Professor Brian Cox volunteered to take over the presentation of the programme, it would have a better chance of survival; he is, after all, a celebrity scientist which neither of the current presenters are. Chris Lintott and Lucie Green are both experts and fine presenters but they are not, yet, celebrities and don't pretend to be such; nonetheless, the programme remains every bit as good as it ever was under their care and it would be a shocking act of vandalism if the BBC were to carry through its plan.

 

The ghost of Sir Patrick Moore must be screaming with anguish. Anyone who feels the need to scream with him may do well to sign the 'Sky at Night' petition set up by 'Change.org'.

BEGGING GETS ME DOWN.

I am fed up with beggars.

 

I don't mean dirty, smelly old men sitting in doorways or even youngsters asking for the price of a cup of tea in the street, I mean the people who now infest our supermarket entrances, particularly at weekends.

 

My local 'Morrison's' and now my local 'Tesco' both suffer from this disease and I find it utterly hateful. The constant waving of tins under one's nose, children offering to pack one's shopping while being accompanied by a collection bucket or, as happened today, being met by an avenue of 'food bank collectors' which was impossible to avoid, is a shocking intrusion and something that needs to be curtailed. It is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate passed such people without appearing, or even being, rude and I don't like it. Can I do anything about it other than shopping elsewhere or on other days ? It seems not.

 

Why the supermarkets are so willing to allow their customers to be assailed in these ways is a mystery. Perhaps I'm unusual in finding it offensive but surely I'm not alone. Today's experience in 'Tesco' will almost certainly be my last at that store - I shall shop elsewhere in future and I hope others do likewise.

 

Begging is not nice to see at the best of times but when it's done in an organised way by people and companies that should know better, it's grotesque. For God's sake, let's call a halt to it.

STUART WHEELER : SEXIST OR REALIST ?

The Ukip treasurer, Stuart Wheeler, has been accused of being 'sexist' for having made certain remarks during a debate about the European Union's proposals to impose gender quotas in company boardrooms.

 

Mr Wheeler has been reported to have said that women are no where as good as men at games like chess, bridge and poker, while explaining his objections to the proposals. Another participant in the debate, Dr Claire Gerada, of the Royal College of General Practitioners promptly took exception and called Mr Wheeler a 'sexist'.

 

Dr Gerada is a typical high profile and political woman who sees any suggestion that women are not equal to men as objectionable. Given that she is a doctor, one would have thought that she'd fully appreciate that women are actually quite different from men, both physically and emotionally; sadly she does not. Mr Wheeler is perfectly correct in his statement as is proven by the fact that very few women are able to compete effectively with men in the games mentioned; one assumes that he used these as an indicator that women are not generally as effective as men in other areas, such as business management and politics. Why making a statement of "the bleedin' obvious" should be met with accusations of 'sexism' is a question that has yet to be answered. It is, perhaps, a simple case of repeating a mantra until it just becomes accepted as truth, regardless of its actual veracity.

 

Women such as Dr Gerada tend to be so blinkered and bigoted that arguing with them is worse than useless. They simply refuse to accept that men and women are, on average, different and have different interests and abilities. This is not to say that some women are not able to perform at the very highest levels in politics or business, but it is to say that far fewer women than men have the desire or skills necessary to do so. The imposition of quotas for the number of women in boardrooms would fly in the face of this simple truth. 

 

Mr Wheeler is not a sexist, he is a realist but is being pilloried for disagreeing with the ludicrous left wing policies that some wish to foist upon us. If the lunatic proposals of the EU are adopted, it will spell the beginning of the end for European industry; they must be made to see the light.