World Cup in December? Are they joking?

Editorial
Qatar World Cup 2022 to run during November and December

So we've heard some of the arguments for the Winter World Cup in 2022; the players will be fresher so may play better; it's bringing the WC to the world (but then TV does that much better I think!); it's too hot and so dangerous to hold it during the Qatari Summer....blah de blah, blah.....but where are the arguments against?

I've got a few....I can tell thee!

Let's face it, we all know exactly why the WC is going to Qatar, no matter what they say, and for me their arguments FOR the Qatar WC are puerile attempts at papering over the real reasons it's going there.  just tell the truth...."the WC is going to Qatar because FIFA is going to make a shitload of cash (that's if it hasn't already....if you know what I mean....) and doesn't give a flying fart for the disruption it's going to cause to European leagues."

There you see....it doesn't sound quite so horrific now you say it out loud Mr Blatter.

Erm.....that's not quite true.....I said out loud and it sounds pretty damn awful......but shhhhh!  Just don't tell Blatter or that perennial Premier League hater Platini (who I've got a few platitudes for...I can tell thee that as well!)

Now just think about that disruption for a minute.....I just don't see how it can be limited to a single season for a start.  If they overrun the season by 2 months then the 2022/23 season will spill over into the the following year with barely a discernible gap between the two.  So what do they do?  Start the 2022/23 season early, or the 23/24 season late?  I don't know.....

Another option; play the season as normal but teams that lose players to the WC will just have to field lesser sides.  That might work....or would it?  I'm not sure how how many players exactly each team is allowed to register with the PL before the start of the season, but MU this year I believe have a 28 man squad and by my count could expect to lose about 17 or 18 for example (if it were being held eminently, for the sake of argument) for the WC leaving them barely able to field a side.  So does the PL then say that with the commencement of the WC they can temporarily bring in another side?  But from where?  The obvious answer is the academy.  OK, again that might work, but in reality their crowds and hence, their revenue, may be halved or even worse.  Who wants to pay PL season ticket prices to see 16 year olds kicking the ball for half the season?  Not me!  As good as they might be.  But again, just suppose the crowds don't drop, but in the absence of the big players the team starts to play badly.  They go from top say (it is MU after all...and I can only hope) to 9th or 10th place.  Quite possible in 2 months if they lost every game.   And then afterwards the big players are too knackered to turn it around and they miss out on Europe as a result.  Now we're talking oodles of lost revenue with FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valckle confirming compensation will NOT be forthcoming for European clubs after all.  And this could happen all over Europe, though the disruption to the English PL will be greatest due to the fact there is no scheduled Winter break as a matter of course.  Imagine...the following year we could have a Champions League featuring ...I don't know....Swansea, WBA, Elche, Mainz and Freiberg.  As lovely as that might be for them, for the rest of us we miss out on seeing the best players in Europe in the best competition just because a few FIFA delegates couldn't keep their sticky fingers out of the money pot.

Ok, I know I'm being a bit alarmist...but bloody hell, someone has to be!

I'm going to be really interested to see how the PL and the rest of Europe are going to deal with this problem once these dates are confirmed, and they surely will be.  Seven years to sort it out might just do it.....we'll know soon enough.

And a Happy Christmas to you too Mr Blatter!




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Weekend Sports Review: Cycling and Football

Weekend Sports Report

with Negrito

After a short break I'm back with all your Sports news.  As usual it's been a bumper weekend and it's difficult to know where to start.  But Paris is as good a place as anywhere.  Yesterday saw the final day of the Worlds and Britain finished 10th in the medal table with 3 silvers, a long way off the achievements of the previous few years.  In fact this was the worst Worlds since 2001 for Britain and to read some reports online one could be forgiven for thinking that the roof of the world had fallen in!  But nothing so dramatic has occurred I'm afraid.  Shane Sutton, British cycling head honcho after the departure of Dave Brailsford last year, has had a tough time since taking over.  After the runaway successes of the past few years Sutton was always going to be batting on a sticky wicket and without a glut of golds in this, his first WC in charge, was on a hiding to nothing.  But was it really as bad as all that?  

Well, I don't think so.  In reality it must be almost impossible to maintain the elevated performance levels of the past few years.  At some point a period of rebuilding is going to needed.  Many of our top stars have now retired and for the youngsters coming through time and a bit of patience may be the key.  The Olympics are not for another 18 months or so by which time the picture may be much more positive.  Sutton has a long-term plan that is geared towards Rio and I'm sure many of the newbies will by then be pushing for medals.  For the more senior members of Team GB who didn't quite live up to their billing this time round, we need to again have patience.  For any athlete, whatever the sport, there are times when things just don't click; you work just as hard, train even harder, but for some unknown reason sometimes things just don't go to plan.  But with experience comes a degree of wisdom and those who haven't quite been on song this week, such as Laura Trott, Jason Kenny et al, will no doubt bring it back even stronger next time.

For me the star of the show was Francois Pervis, the triple gold medal winner who successfully retaining the titles he'd won the previous year and appears to have taken over as track cycling's newest superstar, filling Chris Hoy's shoes with ease.  And finally special congrats to Australia's Anna Meares who won the Women's Elite Kierin, her 11th World title, amazingly putting her one title ahead of Hoy.   

Froome on his way to victory in the Ruta del Sol.
Pic. from Skysports.com

Outside of the WC's Chris Froome (Team Sky) sealed a dramatic victory on the final day of the Ruta de Sol, in Southern Spain.  A mountainous Stage 3 had Froomey's great rival, Alberto Contador (Team Tinkoff-Saxo), open up a sizeable gap of 27s for a week long race.  But Froomey remained unfazed and the very day he he took his revenge.  Aided by team-mates Roche, Kennaugh and Nieve, Froomey pulled away from an isolated Contador to reverse the losses of the previous day and then some.  This left Froome with a narrow 2s lead over Contador for the final day.  In the event Froome managed to hold on strongly after a largely flat stage finished with a sharp uphill sprint in which Froome put in a fine performance to finish 6th on the day, so sealing a solid early season victory over Contador.  

Whilst this victory will certainly give Froome confidence that his training regime is going well, as a long term pointer to grand Tour success later in the season, it is largely irrelevant.  Any win over a major rival is always welcome, but it's still early days in the 2015 season and the Tour contenders will still be hard in winter training and will only be looking to these early races as indications that things are going well.  Another month down the line, however, things may well be rather more imperative.  March sees several possible outings for Froome, though his presence at any, or all of these races has yet to be confirmed.  Mid-March sees the Paris-Nice, an 8 stage World Tour event and a race Team Sky always put out a strong team for.  The end of March sees the Volta de Catalunya, won last year by Joachin Rodriguez, and where there was perhaps the first indication that Froome wasn't going as well in 2014 as he had been in 2013 when he swept all before him.  But the Volta is always a really tough outing, with long, mountainous stages and weather that is often extremely inclement.  Last year the conditions were particularly tough and Froome didn't seem to enjoy it all.  Given that experience it wouldn't surprise me if Froome by-passed the Volta this year to go for either the Paris-Nice or the Tirreno-Adriatico, another week long tour, which he won in his all-conquering 2013.   

With Contador going all out this year, showing his hand early by announcing his intention to go for both the Giro d'Italia (in May) and the Le Tour in July, it is important that Froome gains as much of a psychological advantage over Contador as he can.  To be honest, it's a tall order for Contador and I doubt whether he will win both, the last man to do 'the double'  being the ill-fated Marco Pantani in 1988.  All 3 of the Grand Tours now are brutal events and I cannot see Contador recovering sufficiently well to be able to take on a fresh and fit Froome, Quintana, Valverde and the rest, just a few weeks after the Giro, no matter how well he might have performed.  

However, one writes Contador off at one's peril.  For me, he has been perhaps the best cyclist of his generation, maybe the best since Indurian, and if he is fit enough to be on the start line then he is always going to be there or thereabouts at the finish.  Having won both the Giro and Le Tour before, and having already announced his future retirement after the 2016 season, Contador will be looking to his cycling legacy and thinking about what he leaves behind.  Of course, like Armstrong, he has had his troubles with performance enhancing drugs and actually had his 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro wins stripped from him.  However, the circumstances surrounding Contador's ban for clenbuterol (a steroid), the same drug infamously taken by shamed sprinter Ben Johnson at the end of the 80's, were controversial and, (I believe) were it not for Armstrong, he may well have garnered a lesser ban than the 2 years he ended up serving.  I like to believe that Contador was a bit unlucky, but either way his cycling pedigree may now be forever linked with that of his contemporary, Armstrong, and that would be unfair and unwarranted. Contador's motivation to succeed one more time before he hangs his cleats up may well be further ramped up by a desire to win over ex-fans and perennial doubters, so don't be surprised to see him pushing hard to equal the achievements of Pantani, but perhaps more pertinently, to beat Froome and the rest.  Can't wait!

Moving on from cycling I have to have a quick word about this weekends footy.  In the Premier League (PL) Chelsea stayed top, but by only 5 points now, having drawn at home to struggling Burnley, with Man City closing the gap on the leaders with a ruthlessly efficient and highly entertaining 5-0 ass-kicking of Newcastle.  The Boss's team, Man United, lost poorly to Swansea, with LVG maintaining they played well and created many chances.  I admit, I didn't see the whole match, but from what I did see I have to wholeheartedly disagree with LVG.  This season MU are struggling.  Their play is too slow, too predictable and too easy to break up.  The cumbersome going forward, clumsy at the back and only where they are because of David de Gea who has saved them more times than can be counted this year already.  They need to move the ball quicker, utilise the space they create to put teams under pressure.  MU have lots of work to do and unless they change things quickly then I can only see them sliding down the table even further.

Back in the week with a mid-week report on the Champions League and we also take a look ahead to the start of the F1 season in just 19 days time.

See you then

Negrito

Local history: The story of Old Domeno

Domeño Viejo

Spain is rich in it’s cultural and historical heritage.  Hemmingway’s vision of Spain, abundant in fiestas and bullfighting, is hard to resist, but for me the largest cache of Spanish bullion lay in the fraught and ever-changing history of the Iberian peninsula, and so it is with this in mind that I bring you the first of (hopefully) many articles on sites of historical interest in and around Valencia.  

It is hard to drive any distance here and not be confronted with a crumbling castle on a distant hill top or the remains of an old defensive wall battered into submission in a battle long forgotten.  Domeño Viejo is one such ruin that might well catch the eye of a conscientious observer.  A friend, Javi, first told me of the plight of the old village one hot afternoon as we swam in the Loriguilla dam and it makes quite a tale and inspired me to find out more.

The crumbling ruins of the old castle. 

The ancient pueblo of Old Domeño has been interred in a watery grave beneath the Loriguilla dam, some 45kms or so up the CV35 from Valencia, since the valley was flooded in the late-1970‘s.  All that now remains are the ruins of the old church and castle, both of which escaped the fate of the town by virtue of their more lofty locations.  Both still sit several hundred metres above where the pueblo once was. However, even these remains take some searching out, but once found the views alone more than reward the avid explorer.  The views, from the castle in particular, are absolutely stunning and on a clear day give one a 360° panoramic vista that can take the breath away.

A small sign, easily missed, indicates the old Church yard.

Both the church and the castle can be found off the CV-35 about 10km beyond Losa del Obispo in the direction of Ademuz.  The tracks, turning left of the CV35, are accessible by car but rough, so not to be attempted in wet weather unless you have a 4X4, but then a clear day is best anyway, for the view if nothing else.  The church can easily be missed with only the arched gateway and one perimeter wall remaining.  However, the site is marked by a small sign and, if you get out of the car, it is possible to peer over this wall and see the ancient graveyard, with its’ traditional burial caskets, built one on top of the other.  Now all empty, at one time these stone carved sites would have held the bodies of the local gentry.

Archaeological evidence suggests that this valley was occupied as early as the 4th or 5th Century B.C. with flint tools having been unearthed in local caves.  Later Bronze Age settlers also left behind ceramic shards to hint at localised cultural advances.  From about 500 B.C. much of what is now Valenciana was settled by the Edetani, a tribe of Iberians and the Loriguilla valley was no different.  The Edetani, who counted Lliria as their capital, were successful on a localised scale and their impact was felt all across the region.  Following the First Punic War (247-241B.C) Hamilcar Barca (Hannibal’s father) led an expedirion to the Iberian Peninsula in 237 B.C. founding the city of Carthage (named after his beloved home city, also called Cathage) on the Mediterranean coast on the site of the modern day city, Cartageña. The Romanisation of the Iberian peninsula began sometime in the 3rd Century B.C.  But following the defeat of Hannibal (in Italy) and the Carthaginians in the Iberian peninsula (c.206 B.C.) the Second Punic War came to a close and the Romans began a long war of attrition against the determined Iberian tribes determined to bring Iberia under unified Roman rule.  But the Iberian tribes put up a resolute defence and despite the centuries of repression that followed the whole peninsula never truly came under complete Roman rule, largely due to the unending mountainous terrain (very few Roman roads were constructed here unlike elsewhere) and the subsequent difficulty with maintaining adequate supply and communication lines.  That, and the often long distances between settlements of any size made life difficult for the invading Romans, but also contributed to the relative isolation of the various Iberian kingdoms, leading much later on to the distinct identities, cultures and languages we still see today across the peninsula, facts that no doubt served to undermine the collective Spanish psyche nullifying that unified sense of nationalism found elsewhere in Europe until very recently.    

In the autumn of 409, as Roman influence and power began to fade across the Mediterranean and a year before the Goth, Alaric, sacked Rome, three tribes, the Alans, the Sueves and the Vandals crossed the passes and cols of the Pyrenees to enter the Iberian peninsula from their homelands in Aquitaine, perhaps by invitation of the Roman garrisons guarding said routes (another story in itself).  These new invaders finally displaced the Iberian tribes and by about 480 had all but subdued and conquered the peninsula (apart from Galicia).  Their reign continued until 711 when the next wave of invaders, the Berbers, under Arab control of General Tariq, ousted the Goths and began the Islamic occupation of the peninsula that would last the best part of a 1000 years leaving behind a unique cultural and historical heritage that still resonates across Spain and Portugal to this day.

From the top the views are amazing.

It was the Muslims who first built a castle on a small hilltop above Old Domeño, though evidence of that is now hard to see given the ramshackle state of the ruin.  The castle, sitting atop a small flat-topped hill with panoramic views all round, would have been easily defensible if attacked.  The approaches are steep and rocky and any attackers would have been assailed from on high by archers, slingers and anyone capable of throwing a rock, making it a dangerous and difficult place to breach. Today however, if one climbs up the roped-off track to the castle ruins, it becomes clear that for any dwellers there, this would not have been the place to sit out any sort of lengthy siege.  The castle itself must have been small and pokey, with little storage space for food, water and arms and would surely have been extremely cold in the depths of winter due to its’ highly exposed position.

Despite these potential drawbacks, the castle remained occupied even after the Muslims were defeated and the Christian armies of Don Jaime I of Aragon occupied the region in 1238.  Old Domeño then came under the remit of the Chelva Manor, owned by Pedro Fernandez de Azagra, Lord of Albarracín.

The castle was partially renovated during the First Carlist War in the 1830’s but appears to have fallen into disrepair once again soon afterwards and now all that remains are a few walls and fallen rocks that merely hint at the building that once dominated the landscape.

The ruins are far from spectacular (I must be honest) but the views alone make it a worthwhile trip and climb, and if like me, you love your history, then to stand in amongst it is reward enough.  Afterwards, one can drive down through the tranquil Loriguilla valley and find any number of beautiful, deserted, shady spots to swim and cool off on a hot day.  Take a picnic and a good book, along with your camera and imagination, then after a spot of exploring, drift off in your mind to time less complicated and dream of the romance of times gone by.  

Mini the Moocher - Travel Correspondent...back soon with more tourist stuff!!!

A poem: My Fair Arse

Just a quickie poem here to keep you going!  Back with more very soon.

NN

My Fair Arse

T’with but a twinkle I did pass,

A monster turd from my fair arse,

And howsoever thou shalt push

There is no way with that tiny tush

That you can e’er match nor surpass

That monster turd from my fair arse.

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Weekend Sports Snippets with Negrito

Hey Sports Fans!

Just a quick round-up cos I go into fits of apoplexy if I don't talk about sport at least once every 12 hours!  So this is more of a medical emergency than a sports report....and perhaps you should read it as such!

So here we go!  Firstly, the Bosses team, ManU, who despite a 3-1 win at home over lowly Leicester, they just didn't look convincing to me.  Over 70% possession and it should have been converted to a lot more than 3 goals.  In the second half they were just going through the motions and in the end they almost let Leicester back into the game.  Under Fergie the peddle would have been firmly to the metal for the whole 90 minutes and at NN we are beginning to question whether LVG is the man to take the team back to the top.  But, time is of the essence and he needs that time to ensure that he can be judged fairly.  We shall see and reserve ours till the end of the season.

Down the road at Stamford Bridge Chelsea and ManCity drew 1 a-piece, though Mourinho's Chelsea would have been more happy with that result than ManCity who dominated the play with David Silva again pulling the strings in the absence of Yaya Toure.  Thus far this season, these two sides have been head and shoulders above everyone else in the PL and the title should be between them, though Arsene Wenger's Arsenal are now starting to come on strong (they kicked Villa's butt 5-0 this afternoon)  and may yet have a say.

The 4th and final Champions League spot should be between ManU, Southampton, Spurs and possibly Liverpool, with ManU perhaps being the slight favourites to grab the place because, despite their relatively under par performances, they do seem to have the knack of not losing matches unlike the others.

In Spain La Liga progresses as it does every year with a dogfight between the big three, Barca, Real and Athletico.  Real hold the edge at the moment and remain 4 points clear, though since winning the World Champs just after Christmas they have gone off the boil.  However, the real news here is the possible rift between Messi and Luis Enrique, the Barca manager, and where Messi will be playing next year.  Of course, the Boss would love him to come to United but realistically if he becomes available his most likely destination may well be Madrid.  Watch this space.

Valencia, our local side here at NN, are going well this year for the first time in a few years, perhaps due to the investment of Chinese businessman, Peter Lim, who has given the club liquidity once more, and now they look to be a reasonable bet for the 4th spot in La Liga and the final Spanish Champions League place next season.  

Moving onto Formula 1, this weekend has just seen the first practise session of the year in Jerez, Andalucia, with ex-Champion Sebastian Vettel posting the quickest time of the day, but it was Mercedes' Nico Rosberg, last years runner's up to Lewis Hamilton, who claimed most of the plaudits by completing a phenomenal 157 laps (opposed to just 60 by Vettel) to underline their massive reliability, such a key factor in their success last season.  Hamilton takes over the car on Monday to see what he can manage.

And finally, to Melbourne and an incredible fight for the Men's title between Andy Murray and the unstoppable Novak Djokovic, who ran out the winner in 4 uncompromising sets.  The first 2 sets both went to tie-breaks, Novak taking the opener and Andy the second set, with both players hitting the ball with an intensity and vigour I've rarely seen.  But such was the pace of the match it was inevitable that the standard would drop and sadly it was Murray who faltered first and longest, despite some early physical scares from Djokovic who appeared to injure the thumb on his racket hand, then his ankle and had entered the match (possibly) suffering from the effects of a virus.  But in the end he proved to be the tougher player mentally and eventually steamrollered Murray 6-0 in the 4th, a sad way for Murray to end what had a fantastic match. Huge congratulations to Novak, now an 8 time Grand Slam winner, and commiserations to Murray.  His time in Melbourne will surely come. 

And that's me for today!  Phew!

  

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As the world descends into chaos, I ask 'is the internet speeding our way to the dark side?'

Sunday Editorial from The Boss

I'm no spring chicken and I've seen my fair share of tragedy, personal and public, big and small, and I wonder how much more I will see, how much more I can take.  I'm an avid twitterer (you can tweet us by clicking the button below).  I think it's an amazing tool, but a quick trawl through the tweets of the major news networks (sadly we're not yet amongst them) and it's clear to see that the world around us is in danger of descending into moral turpitude and chaos.  I have no doubt that in broad terms social media is a good thing, as no doubt is the internet.  But, and it's a big BUT, is social media speeding our demise into the dark side?

It's too late, of course now, to go back.  One cannot rewind the clock as much it may be morally correct or socially responsible, were it possible.  One has to ask whether these innovations were set loose in the public domain without first being made totally clear what the aims of the various medium were and what their social responsibilities should be.  It's easy to say that Facebook, or Twitter, or any of the social media sites/apps cannot be held responsible for what is posted by their clientele, and whilst that may be true, is it right?  Is it morally correct?  Did Mark Zuckerberg foresee that Facebook would be used to radicalise so many unhappy, lost and disillusioned youngsters?  Did he foresee that Facebook would be used by extremists to peddle their selective versions of hate and misdeeds, broadcasting them to anyone willing to listen, to anyone with access to a search engine and the time to track them down?  Only he can answer.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that these innovative individuals should in any way be held accountable for what gets published via their media...or am I?

In truth, not really.  But I do think there was too little time spent thinking about where, given the time and inevitable and ongoing digital evolution, they could be steered.  Should there have been some sort of pre-legislation governing what could and could not be broadcast?  But censorship brings it's own arguments, for and against freedom of speech, etc, such that in the end it never really works effectively and often sends things underground (to the so-called dark web, for example).  In which case I revert back to the owners of these sites, and to the innovators; should they be more discerning about what, who and how people publicise their media?  I'm not a lawyer and wouldn't even begin to understand the legal realities of how that might work, but morally, surely they have a responsibility to the parents of abused kids, the victims of suicide bombers radicalised via chatrooms or social media, or the victims of so-called revenge sex.  The list goes on and on.  And often the administrators say that there too much data posted every minute of every day to keep a check on it.  But I'm sorry, that just doesn't wash.  Try posting a picture of the Missus topless on a beach on your page and see how quickly you get pulled up!

I was watching the news today (sadly I should have taken more note of which channel I was watching, but I was on Twitter at the same time and thus distracted!) when this young kid came on.....obviously a very bright kid.....who'd invented a gun that he planned to sell over the web.  Okay, nothing new there you say.  But you'd be wrong.  This gun is made of paper, is more than capable of killing and can be printed by anyone with a 3-D printer!  What the fuck!?!  

When asked what he would think if someone went on killing spree with one of his paper guns, he shrugged and said, basically, 'not my problem!  I'm not responsible for what someone else could do with the gun!'  I was dumb-founded.  All he was interested in was making money!  If he was my kid I would have kicked him all over creation for being such a prat!  Why couldn't he use his obvious talents and invent an MRI scanner, for example, that could be 3-D printed and actually help someone rather than putting a gun into the hands of anyone with £300 to spend on a printer!  I'm lost for words!  And what's to stop him?  

Nothing!  Nothing at all!

And when someone takes the paper bits onto a plane, assembles the weapon and brings the plane down or much, much worse, what then? 

"Well, so long as they paid their bill, then what do I care?"  

How can this happen?  Something has gone badly wrong with society when making money becomes more important than social and moral responsibility.  And do you know what, I find it all horribly depressing!  

Of course, the internet isn't the devil incarnate, but it does make one wonder.  

I firmly believe that the vast, vast majority of people in the world are good, reasonable and hugely tolerant. Throughout history Wars and conflicts have been waged by strong minded individuals who subvert the minds and opinions of those weaker than themselves, turning neighbour against neighbour, friend against friend, race against race, religion against religion, and the rest of us just trundle blithely along, pulling triggers or pushing the buttons that launch bombs because we're told 'it's the right thing to do,' whichever side of the fence you are! Do unto others, but do it first, and do it better (or should that be 'do it worse).  

Pick the morality out of that!

Foreign Policy magazine is, for me, an amazing and largely impartial resource, but my word, it's hard to get through the pages on their site.  The immense horrors that man commits against man is there for all to see (e.g. The Abdication of Moral Responsibility) and it makes shocking, yet illuminating reading.  

I am a firm believer in freedom, all freedoms, but freedom should go hand in hand with responsibility and we should have a collective hand in that responsibility.  We need to find a way between the peace-loving peoples of the world, to join hands and just say 'no!  We've had enough of the mindless slaughter!' 

This world is big enough for all of us to find our own space and live our lives as we, as individuals, wish to live our lives.  Gives Sunni Muslims their own homeland, as we have the Jews, give another to the Shi-ites and to the Kurds and to the Palestinians, another to the Catholics and so on and so on, and if never the twain meet then so be it, but if we have all that we need (and let's be clear, there is more than enough of everything to go round) then surely we can get along in peace and friendship and not feel the need to take what is not ours just because they are different from us.  Instead of Wars and conflict let our champions fight it out on the sports field and then, at the end, let the winners and the victors shake hands, drink from the same cup and then go home to their families, happy, replete and safe, as it should be.

I leave you in hope........

    

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In Tribute to Winston Churchill. The Greatest Briton of all time.

Today we commerate the 50th anniversary of the State funeral of Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, the man voted by BBC2 viewers as the greatest Briton ever.  As hu-mans go, Churchill was certainly an extraordinarily large figure and as far as this Canine correspondent goes, he deserves all the accolades being heaped upon him once again decades after his death.

For me, born only 4 hu-man years ago, Churchill is somewhat of an enigma, as he is I'm sure to many 21st Century children.  That he is of a bygone age is not in doubt.  Jeremy Paxman has said in today's Independent that he wouldn't get elected today if he were to stand and as polemical as that statement may be, I think I have to agree.  I have read extensively about Churchill, his times and his doings, and have an avid fascination for Churchillian times.  He was perhaps the last great British Statesman and I doubt we shall ever see his like again, but he was a man of his age.  For a Democratically elected PM he was much more of a dictator than any PM could ever be today.  It really was Churchill's way or the highway!  He held views that were already old-fashioned even at the peak of his power.  He was against suffrage for women; he held racist views of many of the peoples, especially Indians, of the Commonwealth and was a raging alcoholic. He was quite simply a Victorian dinosaur, the last of a dying age and when he died the British Empire died with him.  He was, in the end, much more of an iconic British stalwart than perhaps any politician before or since, perhaps associated more with the Empire and it's fading values than even the monarchy itself.

Churchill's life reads like a boy's own adventure and there are many great biographies out there that illustrate that point clearly.  That anyone could be born into such privilege today and still live the life that he led and have the drive to achieve what he achieved seems preposterous; aristocrat, war correspondent, cavalry officer, MP for over 60 years, PM not once, but twice, First Lord of the Admiralty (also twice), Nobel Prize winning author, award winning artist, raconteur, wit and speech-maker extraordinaire, he was a man apart and I for one am proud to say that he was British.  I have no doubt that without Winston we would not be here today and the world would be a very different place.

When Chamberlain appointed Lord Halifax Foreign Secretary with the remit of 'appeasing' Nazi Germany with peace overtures, it was Churchill who stood alone shouting his defiance when all about him were for suing for peace.  Even after May 1940 and Churchill's rise to power, the pro-Nazi appeasers, including Sir Samuel Hoare (latterly Churchill's Spanish Ambassador), 'Rab' Butler, Lord Brocket and the Duke of Bedford among many others, continued to send out peace feelers despite Churchill's direct instructions to Anthony Eden, in his second term as Foreign Secretary (following on from Halifax), that any German approaches be met with 'absolute silence.'

In fact 'feelers' continued to be put out throughout the War from both sides, though how much Churchill knew about any British proposals is unknown, as is whether the many such British 'feelers' were serious offers or merely deceptions designed to forestall Hitler in his ambitions.

Plainly the appeasers didn't get their way.  In Churchill they had found an opponent with a steely resolve, as Britain had found a leader who could inspire and motivate them as no-one else in British history ever had.  In some ways Churchill was as much a dictator as Hitler.  He was firm in his opinions, direct and honest to a fault, and not a man to suffer fools.  But unlike Hitler he was manic in his defence of freedom and civil liberties (as he saw them).  He was also a visionary, speaking as early as 1946 on Europe as a single trading entity, in fact taking his ideas one step further when he envisioned a single parliament for the whole world, something we have yet to see pass, but never say never.  He was a man who said as he found and one always knew exactly where he stood on any issue, unlike many of today's politicians who find it all but impossible to answer a question with candour, directness and honesty.  It was this honesty that many believe led him to defect to the Liberals, returning much later on to his beloved Conservatives, when their collective policies became once again, more closely akin to his own.  That he was a dinosaur is not in dispute.  He never owned a television, in fact never even watched one, regarding the novel invention with a wary eye.  In some ways it was good that he passed when he did, because I cannot imagine him dealing with today's intrusive press corps (though I'm sure he would have been just as devout in his defence of freedom of the press, so much in the news the past few weeks), or with twitter, or the internet.  Without Hitler, there would not have been a Churchill as we remember him today.   And without Churchill there would not be a Britain.  

And to all his many detractors today I say that this is the man who is largely responsible for their ability to be able to criticise.  Without the freedoms he fought for on our behalf we wouldn't be able to say our piece, to come and go as we please, to take our holidays whenever and (mostly) wherever we wish.  Of course, he didn't do it single handedly.  Without the millions who laid down their lives, perhaps inspired to put themselves in harm's way by Churchill himself, we would not be living the lives we do today.  There would have been no swinging 60's or hippy 70's, no punk rock, no modern cinema, no contemporary literature, no X factor on a Saturday evening.  So when we espouse the freedoms we cherish so dearly today in the West, and quite rightly so, we should do well to remember that without Winston Churchill none of them would have come to pass.  

Rest in Peace.

Winston Churchill 1874-1965

Bibliography

Hess, Hitler & Churchill; Peter Padfield, 2013
Churchill; Roy Jenkins, 1988
The Churchill Factor; Boris Johnson, 2014

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