All I wanted to do was arrange a blood sample somewhere convenient

 You would think that it would be quite a simple task to arrange to get a blood test. When I lived in Astcote I could drop in to the Medical Centre in Greens Norton, a couple of miles away, and arrange one. In fact, because this was always something that a doctor had asked me to do, they would originally get staff there to tell me when I could have the test. That changed, maybe because not everyone might have been available on the dates advised, and instead I would get a text message to ask that I make the booking. That always worked simply and I never needed to wait more than a few days which, bearing in mind the doctor needed to know what was going on in and around my body, the sooner he got some results the better.

When I moved to Bozeat, I had to register with a new surgery and that was in Woollaston, again just a few miles away and quite convenient. During my initial meeting with a Practice Nurse there she took some blood as a matter of routine and I was thinking that the system would be much the same as before for future tests. Being just above the acceptable numbers for diabetes, I get asked to do a blood test a couple of times a year and, now in my 70s too, there may be other checks they wish to do from time to time so this business of getting a blood test needs to be efficient and timely.

That test, back in January 2024 or thereabouts was the last one I had. I have had all sorts of messages from some NHS organisation or another telling me I should arrange another one but I have singularly failed to do so with any success. The whole NHS process seems in complete disarray around here. I first enquired whether my local surgery could do one like before but I was told they can't do that any more. I am not sure why and didn't bother to ask. I have to call a number to arrange this. There is an alternative of visiting a website but the website advised me that there were no available appointments at either of the two centres that are vaguely convenient, one in Wellingborough and the other in Irthlingborough. Neither are particularly close but they were the best of the bunch. There's another in Kettering but I remember the one occasion I had to go there for another purpose was a nightmare; parking being something that required a great deal of skill in the tiny spaces allocated in a most extraordinary two-story affair that was more like a big car transporter than a car park. It was also a long walk from any facilities at the hospital. All in all, a place I was not at all interested in returning to.

I enquired at the local Medical Centre in the village where I can collect my prescriptions. The lady there was helpful and, because I actually wanted to make two consecutive appointments as my wife now also needed to have a blood test, I hoped she might be able to do something. She failed too, however. My concern was that even if I did manage to find one appointment for me at some point in the future, that might be the sole one available and so the idea of making two at about the same time would be a potential non-starter. As it was, the 'no appointments are available at this time' message saved me from having to worry about that as I couldn't even make the one!

I returned to look online and wondered whether I might call the place in Wellingborough direct and make a couple of appointments that way. There are websites galore out there but even using a search facility with what looks like the official one for this area I get no result for 'blood test'. One has a small block of letters A-Z to help people find services but absolutely nothing happened when I clicked on B. I am usually pretty good at finding my way around on the web but failed miserably to find any useful information on the Isebrook Outpatient Centre in Wellingborough. I did find a number but when I rang that it said the number wasn't recognised! That is the sort of thing that should get a web administrator sacked.

I found an 0300 number for Isebrook Hospital rather than the Outpatients place and rang that. It was nice to get an answer quite quickly but the lady told me I would have to call another number. This was 01536 494411. I called that and get a recorded message from a gentleman to tell me that there would be a considerable delay in answering my call and that I should, in any event, just go online to make an appointment for a blood test at Kettering. I did hang on for a while but there wasn't even the usual canned music coming down the line but a succession of odd noises which, if they had been intended to ensure I didn't hang on, were very successful in their purpose. I had called the previous lady at 3pm. She did warn me that the line was only open from 8am to 4pm which I had thought a bit strange. I said to her at the time that I didn't think there should be a problem as there was about an hour to go. She didn't respond to that comment and now I see why. I rather suspect that no-one answers that number anyway, whether between 8am and 4pm or not.

So I go back online and now I am getting desperate. Whilst my preferred choices are still not available there is somewhere called Northants County Council in Kettering. I wonder that this is more likely to be for people arranging to talk about Council matters rather than appointments for a blood test - or is this just an alternative title for the dreadful place in Kettering that I really do not want to return to?  I mean, going there to have one's blood tested is likely to give some weird readings due to all the stress involved in attempting to park one's car without it getting scratched in that ridiculous car park and searching for the right place to go afterwards.

I selected this Northants Council option, though, to see what is was all about and completed enough to get me to a point where I get an address. Bowling Green Road, Kettering. I look this up on Google Maps and it is some distance from the dreaded hospital. That's encouraging but I still can't be sure it's somewhere that actually does blood tests. I use StreetView to drive around and there's this massive Council building. I mean, it has to be a Council building as no normal business would have enough spare resources to afford such a pile. Our endless supplies of rates and taxes, though, can be funnelled by faceless bureaucrats into nice properties and glorious offices for the leaders. I'm not saying that Councils should all do business in grotty terraced houses in some dilapidated area but I do object to all the fancy, expensive stuff which most companies can't afford or whose shareholders would have good reason to object to. Companies that do make substantial profits and provide good returns for shareholders can spend those profits as they please and lord it over the area but Councils do not make profits, they collect our money and are obliged to spend it as efficiently as possible on providing services. Part of that service is, of course, to provide good working conditions for staff so offices are necessary but not ruddy great piles of expensive city centre estate. But all that is another story. Suffice it to say, the main driveway up to the front of the building did not look like either a place I should be able to park or the door an entrance for people needing blood tests.

In the comments you get on Google Maps, however, someone had complimented the staff on doing an efficient blood test so I guessed it might be worth finding out more. On StreetView I spotted a sign for where Council staff and visitors should park and followed the road around a corner and a reasonably big and open space car park where I reckoned it might be feasible to park and not gather umpteen scratches. Quite where the entrance for blood test visitors was I was not able to establish and the website was vacant on all this anyway. However, I thought that I'd try an appointment or two here. It's a long stretch from Bozeat but I'd book a couple of slots if I could and I could always cancel if something better turns up or someone reads this and decides that it's time to sort out appointment life properly for us here.

I started the booking session again and selected this Council place. At last, I did get some options. Lots of times available but the first were on 14 August. That's six weeks away and I'm not sure we'll both be here but I had to book something so I booked 1:10pm for me. Then I restarted and kept my fingers firmly crossed that there would still be a 1:20pm appointment for my wife. There was, although there was also a 1:10pm one which made me wonder whether my first effort had actually worked! I decided not to worry too much about that and confirmed the second and made a note of the long reference numbers as requested. 

So, I have managed to make two appointments but at a place miles away and not without some difficulty along the way. I find it quite extraordinary that staff can't be employed to answer phones promptly and help people with things like this. Or by all means have an online booking system but have one that doesn't just say 'nothing available'. There must surely always be some slots available but the software used doesn't handle that properly. Anyone managing this element of the service does not deserve the massive salary that I am quite sure they receive. It's a failure and cannot be blamed on excessive demand or COVID. It should be fairly easy to estimate the number of people who will need to make an appointment and assign sufficient staff who can do other tasks while not answering calls too. The websites are all pretty dreadful and seem like islands in a stream of data presentation with no common theme other than a lot of NHS logos and blue.

I don't know what one is supposed to do to get an appointment to talk to a doctor or someone qualified to advise. 

Let's try:

First I'll search for the surgery on Google.

That's not a great deal of help as nowhere does it tell me how to make an appointment. I'll try the Contact details.

OK, that gives me a number but is there not something more, like whether I can book online or when I have to call about something? I'll visit the surgery website. Thought that's what I had already done but obviously not! See what I mean about disconnected sites?

Here goes:

Eh? What's Albany House? Who are Anima Health? is that a misprint for Animal Health and I've arrived at a Vets by mistake? Weird. I tried the link again. Same result. More web errors and more sackings I'd suggest.

Now I'm stuck. I'll try a new search.

This looks more hopeful. Maybe because it appears to be outwith the NHS web environs!

There's even a 'Book appointments' button. (Bet it doesn't do blood tests though.)

Let's see what it does do.

So far so good but nowhere is there any advice about making an appointment for a blood test. There's a number to call to see a doctor the same day which sounds impressive but I can't see that actually working unless you call at 8am on the dot and beat everyone else or just happen to strike lucky later on. I have heard of people having to hang on for ages as the early birds always keep the lines full for an hour or so at least by which time one would expect the slots all to have been filled. The better bet, and one that might lead me to a blood test appointment too, is to use the SystemOnline link perhaps.

Here goes,

Oh dear. That was going well too. Although the page didn't mention blood tests you could specify why you wanted an appointment. Well, you could if you could actually make one but at 20 August there were no further future options. Much like how it all started with the system for blood tests at the places I wanted to go to at the outset.

I really do not believe that every slot at my local surgery is booked between now, 7 July and 20 August. I mean, if they were then how could anyone call - even at 8:00am - and get one?

I spotted this in small print on the SystemOnline page after logging in. Easy to miss. 

Maybe I can ask a question there and get someone to arrange that appointment. I do also have another query about some trial medicine anyway so I may try this.

No red button. So that's a load of nonsense too!

I finally managed to ask a question using a Contact facility within the site. I had to say that this was not a question for a clinician or it wouldn't let me start but my query was about a trial of a new drug I have been invited to join so I am not sure whether it needed a 'clinician' or not. When submitting it, however, I noticed that there as a facility to approve my details being used to triage my query in a clinical fashion so maybe somebody will deal with it. We'll just have to wait and see. Most users will, however, definitely have stopped at that point.

I downloaded an app on my phone in the hope that that might have some facility to ask questions or send messages. None were apparent and the appointment system tried to book me in at some unknown clinic! When I went to ask for one nearer to me in the hope it might find the one I am supposed to use all that happened was that I was directed to Google Maps and shown Woolaston and Bozeat surgery once again. I guess I was expected to call the number or something so the app was totally basically useless.

At this point, apart from including a reference to not knowing how my drugs are doing as I can't get a blood test until mid-August in my query above, which might just make someone think this is all a bit of a bad scene, I have given up attempting to do any more.

It appears that all blood tests in this area are controlled by one online system which thinks that every single one is booked up until 14 August and there is nothing anyone seems able to do about that.

Update 8 July:

Strangely, I received a text message from Aspiro, who must be the private organisation doing the communications for the local surgery. It asked me to book am appointment for a blood test!

The link to a new place for appointment booking offered two places: Woollaston, a local village, and  the very local medical centre here in Bozeat but I didn't think they could possibly take blood there so I opted for the Woollaston Surgery where I had had it done before. I could have had an appointment tomorrow! I chose a day when I am free next week and have that confirmed. Now, will I actually be able to get a blood sample taken or will they say sorry I'll have to go to another place?

I am also intrigued as to whether I could even have had this - which is an annual review - done at the very local place just a short walk away. I will ask but I'm happy with Woollaston for now and will await next week with interest. I do remember that the nurse had a bit of trouble extracting my blood last time and nearly gave up and said I'd have to go to Kettering but she did eventually succeed and I'll make sure to drink plenty or whatever one is suppose to do to help matters beforehand.

It could all be entirely coincidental, of course. Nice to see something sensible, though. Why couldn't that system work for my initial attempt?

The problem with Britain

 Every day a thousand or more people, mostly young men of Muslim faith, arrive by boat or some other illegal means in England. They immediately seek asylum, claiming to be refugees escaping some risk of harm in the country they left some considerable time ago.

One thing is for certain: they were not at any risk in France, Belgium or The Netherlands where they set off from on their journeys across the Channel. Yet we seem obliged not only to rescue them when the boats inevitably collapse somewhere in the Channel but provide a sort of automatic Welcome Pack in the form of clothing, a phone, hotel accommodation and some money for food and essentials and, crucially, free legal assistance so that they can formally lodge their claims and start legal cases that will take years, if not decades, to resolve, by which time they may well have found a wife and started a family and the European Court of Human Rights will declare that any attempt by the UK to deport them will be contrary to their ‘human rights’. To my knowledge no-one has yet to be deported other than a few who raised no objection , possibly because they were housed in a particularly grotty part of a northern town and couldn’t cope with the accent or greasy food.

These illegal immigrants join many of their legal friends and commit all kinds of crimes, with violent and brutal attacks being hugely increased in the cases police have to deal with. It seems these immigrants have a far lower boiling point than most Brits and also a tendency to use a knife in any fight rather than a good old-fashioned punch. As for how they treat young white girls, let’s not go into detail other than to report that, after many many years of their activities being covered up by local Council officials and police departments in the areas affected, a National Enquiry has been launched into how so many thousand young white girls were groomed and sexually abused for years by gangs comprising predominantly Pakistani men. Towns across the north of England where Pakistani communities had become established - and thus their representation in the law and management of the areas became a majority - all have now been discovered to have an appalling secret which has been simply covered up. Or, where someone has been brave enough to talk about it they’re told by the Government to keep quiet for fear of upsetting race relations. Indeed, not long ago I would have been accused of racist expression merely by commenting on this here.

The new illegals seem to mix with the established Muslim communities and find jobs or just continue to receive funds in the form of unemployment benefits or assistance with rent and living costs. I would not be surprised to see them with cars and a driving licence. Indeed, once the community starts to manage all the relevant services then security breaks down and previously precious British documents like a passport or driving licence become something that can be purchased not applied for. No checks, just cheques. Get a few while you’re at it, guys, and change Mohammed to Muhammad and Mohamed and claim support benefits for three people.

The legal services are often provided by solicitors and legal staff from the same community and they know every trick in the book. We have seen people who came here illegally and who then raped women or were involved in serious violence found guilty by Courts but judges have been unable to deport them even them. The defendants’ barristers have argued that their clients would face serious emotional hardship if they were returned to this or that country - or several defendants turn out to be gay and thus likely to be subject to harm and great risk in their previous nation if returned. Often the gay defendant becomes remarkably butch when he arrives at prison and has an affair with one or more of the young women prison officers there.

I don’t know what bible they swear on when in Court to declare that everything they say will be the truth and nothing but the truth but in my book it’s mostly a load of lies.

Even where the new people now swarming around village greens or some local cheap hotel in town are reasonably well-behaved and even friendly, the families of Old England have so little in common with them. They can’t communicate easily, they don’t share the same views on many things anyway but can’t even argue if they wanted to. Schools become cluttered with paperwork in several different languages. Teachers try to be inclusive but only succeed in alienating the white kids. They get resentful but any parent showing some sign of concern is rapidly told to be quiet, if not charged with some sort of hate thought crime.

You look around some towns now and the shops have changed almost out of all recognition, run by people from the immigrant community and providing services and especially food for that community. The old English grocer, baker and butcher have long gone.

Naturally, when life around you changes for the worst in your view, you move to some other place where it seems better. Your place is rapidly taken by an immigrant who does like it there and so, before long, school photos show rows of black and brown faces and just a couple of white kids here and there. In some towns the takeover is complete. They’re simply places where I have no desire to go. It’s not that I specifically dislike the people there, it’s just that there is nothing there for me and I would feel quite ‘obvious’ walking down the street and even a little scared that there might be some of the new arrivals who have no sense of restraint built in to their upbringing and who might believe that I am offending them or invent the idea to justify having a fight if there’s nothing more interesting to do. So I don’t go there. Nor do many others like me.

These immigrants invariably marry someone from the same ethnicity. They may be happy banging some young white girl but they’ll only marry and have children with the good Muslim girl their uncles or aunts recommend. That may well be a cousin so God help the development of humanity over time in that respect but that’s another story entirely. It also seems to be the case that our immigrant couples have far larger families than the old white people do. So gradually the world becomes theirs as we become a minority not only in our towns and cities but in our nation. The implications for Government are clear. Britain will change. It has already but we ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Lack of reason

 I think it is fair to say that the number of people who think Russia should carry on bombing or attempting to invade whatever they can hit or reach with troops in Ukraine is minimal - maybe just a few thousand outside of the Russian Federation. No-one can be quite sure about the numbers within the country, of course, but they’re not being terribly well-informed so we’ll excuse those millions who do think it’s a good idea and not count them in the total.

Whichever way one reads this then, isn’t it quite extraordinary that more than 3½ years later men, women and children, old folk, babies and pets are being killed by either Russian troops or some Russians firing missiles or directing drones from the safety of a room with a computer screen. It is almost beyond comprehension and I am sure we will look back in years to come and wonder just how it was allowed to continue.

It isn’t solely Russian troops as they have been assisted by North Korea’s troops but their involvement is almost more crazy and will be another matter for comment when we can see what actually does happen in time to come.

At the time of writing, Kyiv and several other cities and towns are being attacked every night, usually by a combination of a mass of drones and various missiles. Some get shot down and fall harmlessly to the ground but many slam into apartment blocks, hospitals, restaurants or wherever often faulty navigation devices have sent them. Any claim that the target may have been purely military is unlikely to be true but even if it were, the quality of most of the weapons now being fired or used is rather poor. It’s not that Russia is running out of weapons but whoever is making replacements is not doing a good job.

Ukraine doesn’t have much by way of weapons to fire back these days and is having to seek an alternative method of war to the traditional ones. Recently they have been particularly successful in two areas: local intelligence inside Russia and use of drones to incapacitate aircraft or facilities on the ground in Russia. This has kept them in the game but one still gets the impression that all that Ukraine’s brave and intelligent efforts have is little more than the annoyance of a fly buzzing around the face of the Russian bear. I worry so much that before long the patience of Grizzly will break and the people who make decisions over there simply say enough is enough and throw the big stuff across the border. Either a mass invasion of hundreds of thousands of troops coming north from Belarus and/or use of some massive missiles that cause Hiroshima-style damage that ends it all once and for all. 

Why hasn’t Russia done more, done far better over all this time? This country with its supposedly massive supply of nuclear weapons, that is sufficient to make Trump wet his pants at thoughts of the threat and want to be friends with whoever has his finger on the Big Red Button, is struggling to make any headway in Ukraine? Indeed, their first invasion was almost embarrassing were it not so awful with the behaviour of Russian troops in retreat and the mistreatment of women and children in the villages. Whilst Russia did take some control over parts of four regions in the East, no-one lives and there is no economic activity in the towns they devastated in the process. So even that small advance seems of questionable value. 

To a large extent life goes on as it always has in much of the north and west of Ukraine. The difference is that there are no planes in the sky and no young men on the streets, or at home, for that matter. The only tourists come by van laden with materials and donations from abroad. Prices match those in England for food that is grown locally and far exceed them for anything else. You need to be quite well-off to live in Ukraine now.

In Kyiv and Odessa you take your chances because that’s where the majority of attacks are focussed so you can have a sort of 50-50 existence. Enjoy a cup of coffee at the café one day and be blown up there the next. Choose your days well and all will be well. Or not, as the case may be. That seems to be the attitude of those who continue to try and live ‘normally’ there. In most towns the constant whine of the sirens will keep newcomers awake but locals sleep soundly through now. Seeing young teenage girls with their eyes fixed on mobiles in a bunker underground somewhere at 2am is an odd sight, though, that still haunts me. You think they’re playing a game or texting a friend but they’re watching the missiles fly on an app which everyone uses to determine how much at risk they may be at any point of time.

In Kharkiv you get the feeling that everyone has joined a Resistance Movement. Even grandmothers can be seen wearing military clothes out shopping and carrying a gun. They expect Russians to appear around every corner and God help a blue-eyed white guy who just happens to be running along nearby. I wouldn’t feel safe there today and neither my Russian nor Ukrainian is sufficient to explain to anyone challenging me rapidly enough that I am on their side.

Here in Britain we welcomed those escaping the initial horrors with welcome arms and a bit of support, although not as much as we give to illegal immigrants now I think about it. Now everyone is beginning to get tired and the blue and yellow flags flying in many streets in towns and villages are looking a little drab and worn. We wonder when the people will be able to go back. We like the Ukrainians that we meet here, although we do wonder quite what the men are doing here. No-one likes to say out loud but there is an unspoken regard of the men as being a little too fortunate, perhaps, to have been able to drive an expensive car filled with their families and many of their valuables. Having said that, I am pretty sure my inclination would have been to run too and take whatever I could out of the place.

The problem is that no-one really can understand why on Earth Russia is still ploughing on and trying to kill more Ukrainians and take over this or that deserted village in the East. 

We have seen Trump come and go in relation to this war. His attention was taken by Israel and Iran but I have a feeling he was quite relieved to have fewer questions being asked about what he had failed to do. His awful appeasement of Putin has left a bad mark on his presidency which may well come to haunt him, however powerfully he may attempt to change the news on other matters he regards as being success. 

Without American assistance and approvals Ukraine will not have enough firepower or resources to continue to hold back Russia as things stand at the moment. But that doesn’t mean Russia can advance either. It is a sort of stalemate and could stay that way for months, as each side looks at alternative ways - in Russia’s case, to overcome Ukraine resistance; in Ukraine’s case to continue to resist and minimise Russian weapon threats. Trump will not feature, in my opinion, in any future scenario. Europe might, in some form, if leaders really can put on a convincing show that they have some sort of red line over which, should Russia cross, they will react in a way that will escalate matters. 

One almost wishes that we had Israel's IDF on our side. They’d get on with the job that we avoided at the beginning.

So nothing much new is happening in Ukraine at the moment; just people getting older and others dying too young.

Godforsaken places

 The temperature here in the village peaked at 32½°C today but I fear some places are experiencing a veritable firestorm. Who would wish to live in any of that conglomeration of nations based in that area surrounding Lebanon, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan to the north and south? 

I certainly don't fancy a holiday anywhere in Turkey, Egypt or the UAE at this time. Well, to be honest I have never fancied going to any of them anyway but the chances of landing safely are getting slimmer by the hour, never mind being hit by a stray missile while you're there.

Actually I am beginning to wish that a missile does go astray and land somewhere where sufficient people in the country will finally wake up and politicians will be unable to resist calls to put an end to all this.

To date we've all been terribly sad or shocked or frustrated or whatever and have said that something must be done but never quite come up with the sort of solution needed. Now we have russia pummelling Kyiv (and various other towns that seldom get a mention) in Ukraine and Iran firing ever bigger missiles at Israel whilst Israel bombs the hell out of Iran and Ukraine does its best to minimise russia's visible armoury with drones and carefully exploited local action by agents and rebel assistants within the russian federation.

Lebanon are getting hit once again too and you wonder why they ever bothered to rebuild as having Hezbollah located there seems to mean the Lebanese will inevitably get blasted every few years whatever else may happen in the world.

Countries on the eastern fringe of the EU complain about russian missiles skimming across their skies on their way to knock out a apartment block or two in Ukraine but it seems to be no more than some kid moaning about some distraction in class.

In London and several other cities in Britain we see demonstrations against Israel and showing support for Palestinian organisations which seem pretty close to Hamas if not indeed actually Hamas. There seems to be little by way of demonstration in support of either Israel or Ukraine these days. That's odd when you think about what is actually going on and you do have to wonder whether those demonstrating or urging others to do so have ever sat down and thought it all through.

Russia invaded Ukraine and has caused immense destruction of that nation's town's, infrastructure and killed more innocent people than I want to specify here, never mind the huge number of troops lost in the battles that continue to rage. Ukraine fought back. What were the people there supposed to do? Let Russia take over? Of course not. Whatever anyone's views may be about who got what and why when the Soviet Union collapsed, Ukraine was an independent nation with international borders and we sat back and ignored Russia invading Crimea and haven't exactly done much since. Britain, the United States and others signed an agreement to protect Ukraine in return for their giving up the Soviet Union nuclear weapons which had been based in Ukraine before the collapse. By my reading we had a duty to honour that pledge but all I have seen since from the USA is criticism of Ukraine's response and rather too much by way of fear of antagonising Putin. One does have to wonder what it is that Putin has on Trump which has been so effective in the USA being so pathetic in their action since Trump's re-election. 

There always has and always will be only one response to the bullying and atrocious actions of russia's leaders and that is to demonstrate a massive joint defence capability to back up Ukraine's actions. At the start that might have been sufficient to make Putin think twice about continuing but now everything is in such a mess that it is difficult to know for sure what will happen. With the USA seemingly trying their best to withdraw from the scene like school children shouting insults while running in the opposite direction, there remain just a few countries in Europe and the British Commonwealth who are prepared to consider standing their ground and helping Ukraine retain what they can. Putin will have seen, however, that the power we can amass with any degree of immediacy or certainty is minimal and that he can rebuild his armoury more rapidly than we can, so it will suit him to see this thing carry on for years and gradually he could edge closer and closer to taking over a good half of Ukraine at which point he may well feel he has met his objectives. I am not in the camp of believers that he wishes to take back the Baltic states or even the whole of Ukraine. In a way, though, I wish he would have a go as that would force the hand of NATO and I don't think the USA would be able to get away without lending their support at that point. But that's not going to happen so . . back to what has happened and is expected to happen.

In the other case, a mass of supporters of a terrorist organisation called Hamas went into a festival and brutally shot, raped and took hostage a huge number of innocent young people in one of the worst incidents of its type in most of our memories. This group, supported, funded and equipped by Iran and religious zealots, basically says that Israel should not exist. Simple. It's like russia saying Ukraine should be part of russia but worse - Iran's weird rulers don't want Israel or Israelis to exist at all. It's not just the land but the extinction of the whole thing that is Israel, as far as I can see. So it seems pretty reasonable that, if someone is pointing a gun at you and you know he has no intention of letting you live you are going to do your best to ensure that he doesn't get to fire it. If that means killing him then so be it. There's really no choice in that sort of situation and that's what Israel's military forces have been trying to do. It seems that they have been extremely successful in removing many of the people who were giving the commands to kill Israeli people and have recently moved on to attempting to destroy Iran's ability to build a nuclear weapon. I have to say that this seems absolutely necessary and I wonder why on Earth the world didn't act more firmly in the past when it must have been obvious that Iran would not just use nuclear development to make some electricity. We have all been stupid to allow them to have got so far that they have a processing plant hidden deep inside a ruddy mountain. It's not like this would have been built quietly behind the scenes over a few days while no-one was looking. The area known as Gaza is populated by people who we know voted by some majority for Hamas people to govern them. It's not like Hamas didn't make their views on Israel abundantly clear. So the folk who voted for them and support them must also be regarded as dangerous, if not necessarily all terrorists themselves. With Hamas burying offices and operational HQs inside or under hospitals and nurseries, it is not exactly easy for them to be taken out and, understandably, given the choice of letting those bad people carry on planning more atrocities in the world or preventing them doing so, Israel said we're coming for you loud and clear and gave innocent people in the areas as much notice as they could to get the hell away. Those that stayed will have been hurt but many will have had an option to move.

Of course, news script editors and social media writers have seen all this a great story and seem to have taken numbers and stories of events directly from Hamas supporters in many cases, or stories fed by russia into the system as well, and we get the headlines that make Israel out to be the baddies. In many ways, Israel's government and military seem strong enough to cope with all the criticism and are getting on with the job of destroying Hamas and hopefully Hezbollah and all their supporters and equipment in Iran too. Ideally, the whole religious shooting match that is Iran and goodness knows where else in that godforsaken part of the world will collapse as communism did in the Soviet Union. It would be a nice change to see some reasonable people, who didn't hate Christians or wish the destruction of whole nations and see all that as their prime objective, who might actually welcome doing business and working with us Brits and whoever is left in Israel, to show the rest of the area that all this hate gets people nowhere.

I can only conclude that the vast majority of those demonstrating in support of Palestine groups are reading solely from one religious book and, like some sort of zombies, are following each other with minds and eyes closed to any alternative view to their own. These people may look like innocent students or working people out to make a point but they're quite dangerous because they can influence others and make many more who don't really understand what has been happening support their cause. A huge number of younger people now seldom read any news or, if they do, it is a headline or repeated phrase which may have no credibility at all but sounds like something they can believe. Before long, they repeat that to a friend as if it is a gospel truth and next thing we know they'll be voting at an election for an MP who can have influence on the British government and before we know it we have a majority of MPs who come from a background sympathetic to the Hamas cause or, dare I say it, of decidedly anti-Christian flavour.

You would think that anyone in their right mind would be shouting at the world, government, whoever will listen, to put piles of troops and equipment up against Ukraine's borders and make it quite clear that we, as a group of nations, will fire missiles and stop any further advance by russia and encourage return to previously accepted international borders - by force if necessary. We have to call Putin's bluff but we need USA at least partially on board so that Putin doesn't feel there's any advantage in pressing that big red button. The same people should be shutting up about Israel and, if they're going to do religious stuff, pray to whatever god they have that someone with a bit of decency and calmer view of the world takes over the running not only of Iran but the whole area. We've had enough of the Islamic State and the bad things it has brought to the world at large. Maybe if there were to be a pleasant place where those with different religious views could live happily then we could persuade all the demonstrators and, for that matter, anyone else who doesn't like the way we do things here in Britain, to join them. And while we're at it, what better place to send illegal immigrants who, on the whole, seem to have no particular love for Britain anyway, just our benefits and the fact that we have some big communities of their relatives here already.

JD Vance probably thinks the Earth is flat too.

 Whilst Biden did seem pretty much past it in his later years, you did get the impression that most of his decisions were made behind the scenes by reasonably informed and intelligent people. I don't get that with this Trump presidency. Indeed, it does appear that a lot of policy is made on the hoof and I am not at all impressed with the intelligence displayed so far by many of those making these decisions. Trump himself is pretty thick and I am not so sure he's even that good a businessman, most of the Trump empire having been established by his father and it probably hasn't been that difficult for accountants and managers to maintain it regardless of whatever the boss may have done. Vance has occasional glimmers of good ideas but then lets himself down badly when asked questions he hasn't prepared for and I do wonder whether he might not have been one of the remarkably large number of Americans who believed that the Earth was flat in 2018 when, in a study reported on by Scientific American, only 82% of 18 to 24 year old American respondents agreed with the statement "I have always believed the world is round". That same research also found that 2% of Americans actually agreed with the specific statement that the Earth is flat.

Vance also has a touch of the Scientologist about him and if he is not yet completely bonkers I predict he will be in the next few years. The fact that he seems to think it is perfectly reasonably for his wife to be visiting Greenland at this time supports this view of his rapid descent into the world of Trump and Nonsense, the difference between him and Trump being that he probably believes everything he says. Trump certainly doesn't and, indeed, seldom remembers much for very long, if at all. And that's not just because he's in his late 70s, although that doesn't help, but mainly due to the fact that he doesn't really care too much what anyone else thinks about what he says but he does care about an image and so will be inclined to float with what he sees as good TV publicity. Not that he always gets that right, though, as the debacle with Zelenskyy showed a little while ago. The whole world apart from the White House idiots and a few people in Russia regarded Zelenskyy as seriously insulted for no constructive purpose by both Trump and Vance as well as another journalist fool who suggested Zelenskyy get a suit. He, incidentally is married to a White House spokesperson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who yesterday shouted at a British Sky reporter making some very polite and reasonable enquiries. She shouted rudely in response to say that 'we', as in some kind of royal White House, 'don't give a crap about your opinion' and suggested that she 'go back' to the UK.

These are seriously badly behaved and poorly educated people, whatever letters they may or may not have gathered after their names. The world is beginning to lose a lot of respect for America which is surprising after Trump's pretty impressive victory so recently. I admire the determination to get jobs done and there is certainly a lot to be said for Musk's approach to cutting through the deadwood in committees, quangos and across government generally. There is, however, also a lot wrong in half-boiled announcements, tariff threats and ridiculous announcements to buy Greenland and make Canada a State of the United States. I suspect we shall be hearing about toys and prams before too much longer.

In the meantime Ukraine fights on, clinging to what land it can against a renewed onslaught by North Korean troops and a few russians. It's tough, although weapon supplies are reinstated and they have huge moral support from most of Europe. Ukraine has made some very effective drone strikes on missile bases inside russia and I do hope they continue to reduce the numbers of major serviceable weapons that Putin will have at his disposal. Many commentators report that Putin needs to finish this quickly or the country will run into trouble and he will start to run out of attack facilities other than people. Maybe even people if North Korea decides enough dead is enough.

 A problem does lurk on the horizon and that is some banking or EU rule about the time that funds can be withheld from russia through sanctions or similar controls that were placed upon deposits. I think that there is a timescale that will soon expire and it requires an unanimous EC Committee vote to be extended. Countries like Hungary appear to support Putin or, at least, don't support Zelenskyy and so are unlikely to support the motion when it is next presented. In that instance, Putin gets several hundred billion back to use as he pleases and you can bet that he will grab the whole lot as soon as he gets a chance and before anyone seeks to place some new restriction upon the various accounts.

So something needs to happen pretty quickly now if all that money is not to be heading back into armaments and restrictions on the russian economy, quite effective so far, just fade away.

I do not see Ukraine even vaguely accepting the deal currently offered by the States, although they may nod in approval to avoid another debate and withdrawal of weapons support. There's no way a Ukraine parliament will approve such a deal anyway. It's quite preposterous for any country to demand repayment of military and economic assistance on such terms. Ukraine will, I think, decide to fight on regardless. Some say Zelenskyy will need to tread carefully to avoid upsetting Trump but I am of the view that the world at large now sees Trump as a bully and a bit of a fool. He has really got nowhere in his negotiations with Putin and I don't see many supporters for his view of a world in which he controls the West and Putin controls the East and bollocks to China, who may well spoil everyone's breakfast by taking over Taiwan any time soon. While America talks, China walks.

There is also the matter of Putin's health. He's no sprightly youngster either. One can never be completely sure of which Putin we're seeing in images and on TV although I do not subscribe to the view that many have that he is very ill and seldom seen in public. He may well not be around for that much longer, however, so Zelenskyy's comment that he will outlive Putin has some merit and is worth considering. It may well be the case that many of the present demands made by russia are actually made by Putin and, if he goes, then those who succeed him may be less inclined to continue the very costly and rather unproductive war. I can see a deal being made with other people in due course, even maybe reversing something that has to be given up in the meantime. But there is another problem with Zelenskyy's comment; that is the fact that it will really hit hard and make Putin desperate to prove it to be untrue by sending a whole bunch of nasty people here there and everywhere to bump off the Ukrainian one way or another.

So, we are at a point where America has made no useful progress in establishing any bridge between the warring parties. Putin wants lots of territory and seems to have outplayed Tump at every turn. He is, however, running out of time economy and maybe even in respect of several other nations' support. Even with some planned massive further attempts to get in to Kharkiv and other major centres, Ukraine will not be beaten and will resist and will continue to hit targets in russia too. With Europe talking about how to support some ceasefire or even a peace plan, although that seems unlikely to me, we now need less talk and more walk from whoever is willing to go and actually help on the ground, in the air, over the internet.

I believe that it is possible to end this and largely on Ukraine's terms if only nations would actually do something. Of course, it could end tomorrow if America had the guts to stand up to Putin and tell him it's over. But America is piloted by idiots at the moment and we'll have to hope we can get by without them.

Three years.

Heavens alive. Three years and we're still having everything thrown at us by russia for no good reason that I can understand other than that Putin wants to turn the clock back to 1990 or whenever it was that the United Soviet Socialist Republics existed.

So many people have died or had their whole world turned upside down, or simply destroyed, either partially or, in many places, completely. Children and even whole families have disappeared into russia, never to be seen again. Terrible atrocities have taken place which we only know a little about but, be sure, we will read about many, many more in time to come.

So where are we now? 

Events have taken a curious turn and I am not too sure what to make of them.

We have the most extraordinary (and appalling) votes in a United Nations session. The US opposed a European-drafted resolution condemning Moscow's actions and supporting Ukraine's territorial integrity - voting the same way as Russia and countries including North Korea and Belarus at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. Then the US drafted and voted for a resolution at the UN Security Council which called for an end to the conflict, but contained no criticism of Russia.

However powerful Trump may believe the US to be on the world stage, to me they are beginning to look extremely bad, standing together with such ridiculously badly-run nations as North Korea, Belarus and goodness knows who else on the far edges of what we recognise as society. How must Americans be feeling to see their country on that side of history? I had already lost all respect for Trump last week but this merely confirms everything. He must have a very muddled mind to believe that he will in any way be praised for any of these actions. Or that they will achieve anything but distrust and a move by those genuine allies that we have to view a future world in which we can just ignore America.

My guess is that Trump sees all this as a sort of business transaction. He wants to have trade with russia because it is a huge country with massive resources of all sorts which he will be hoping to access cheaply by this new association with Putin. By not criticising Putin's actions and not actively supporting opposing forces or voices he is hoping for some deals. That Zelenskyy has rejected the first deal is encouraging, although it did cause trouble for him. He's stayed strong, though, and I am so relieved that many other nations have stood by him, both physically with presence in Kyiv but also in words and actions this week.

It can never be easy to disagree with a character like Trump, especially when he is President of the United States of America but so far several leaders have done so and pointed out his error in insulting Zelenskyy and encouraging russia to expect a deal that would lose Ukraine territory with little in return.

I wrote all the above, intending to publish on the third anniversary of russia's invasion but every day since brought a fresh development. 

First we had the Starmer meeting with Trump which looked good but actually achieved of value little that I could distinguish other than that Britain wasn't being completely side-lined and some of the previous bad-mouthing of Zelenskyy was rolled backed a bit. You have to grimace at the reposnse Trump gave to a question from a reporter about referring to Zelenskyy as a dictator. "Did I say that? I'm sure I didn't!"

Next we had the meeting with Zelenskyy in the White House. I need not write about it as you'll know what happened and I imagine that a huge number of people in America, never mind the rest of the world, were appalled at some of the comments made by Trump and his Vice President. They both lost a great deal of respect, as if they still had much to start with, and I started to realise that this war would have to be tackled without much further help from across the water.

Today we have seen some good developments at long last. We can only hope that they do actually flourish. The events in the White House appear to have shocked many politicians and they've been encouraged to talk today about what they can do.

I have long maintained that it would be some sort of NATO-lite grouping which would be the best way to move forward. Putting troops from across Europe into Ukraine and supporting, with russian money we're holding through sanctions, development of arms and military effectiveness will make it abundantly obvious to Putin that Ukraine is not going to be russian and he will not succeed in getting much further and, indeed, could well find himself forced back. Whether that is to the original borders I can't say. That's unlikely but it may be enough for Zelenskyy to strike a deal.

Russia is likely to be pretty mad should there be European troops on the ground in Ukraine and I can see trouble arising should some be attacked. As these troops may well be going in under their own steam rather than as specific nations or NATO then Article V may not be implemented. It could be messy but World War III doesn't start at that point. 

Whether all this will happen remains to be seen. Certainly the language of support from several countries today is very encouraging and more than makes up for the disappointment and frustration of the idiot Trump and Vance bullying attitude. Whatever the case, surely America will eventually have to side with Europe or whoever goes in to help Ukraine. To stand by and watch would consign Trump to history as a feeble man who talked tough but did nothing.

So what I would like to see happen and which may just be feasible is this:

1. Zelenskyy to sign some sort of deal with America regarding some mineral rights, patching up whatever nonsense went before with some ceremonial handshake to close the book on what went before and retain America's interest in getting some income from Ukraine land and giving Zelensky some way to offer some thanks and repayment for services rendered by the US. I say this because I doubt that European nations can go in and make any peace agreement with russia on their own.

2. The group of 'those willing' as Starmer calls the nations to be involved in helping will specify the extent of their involvement, whether military, advisory or monetary support to show russia that this is a serious development. Before, most countries' contributions tended to be ignored but I think en masse this group may have some greater effect and influence, especially as they are willing to do something to make Ukraine considerably stronger even if they're not about to start fighting on the front line themselves.

3. Ukraine continues to fight and pushes russian troops back or, at the very least, holds positions to the point where russia has to appreciate that it cannot get further. With suitable additional restraints on their economy and, perhaps, some indication from America that they're not as supportive as Putin had assumed, or that Trump is not as malleable as he'd hoped, Putin may have to consider withdrawal at which point he is likely to choose one of two options in a few months' time. One is to drop a nuclear weapon on part of Ukraine. The other is to go to the table and try and get what he can as a starting point.

4. If he drops the bomb then all deals are off and I cannot predict what happens next. My guess is that he realises his country would be demolished in any escalation and doesn't take that step and we'll hope and assume the other option is chosen. Once he's at that table and fighting is stopped then there's an opportunity to pile in as many people as we can all spare and ensure that there is no hope for him in restarting any time soon. He, therefore, gets some face-saving arrangement with some areas of Ukraine remaining under partial control while we work out what people there actually want in a fair way. Much as I would love to see Putin simply defeated and sent back with his tail between his legs and his country fined massive amounts of money for the rebuilding work etc., I don't see that happening at this point.

5. We then have a period when there is an uneasy sort of peace. It'll take some time to negotiate any new border and, indeed, Zelenskyy may refuse to accept any border different from what it was in 2022, maybe even demanding now that the Crimea region is returned too. Provided there is enough support to make it clear that no attempt to take further land in Ukraine will be successful then that peace should last and perhaps Putin will get old and decrepit and be replaced. The replacement, of course, may be no easier to deal with but for that we can only wait and see what happens.

6. Agreements need to be exchanged and set in stone. We let Ukraine down badly on several occasions in the past. We cannot allow that to happen again and we have a duty to establish the new borders, the new responsibilities and help Ukrainians return to a new life in their own country once more. I expect there will be some loss of territory and Trump will have deals with russia for trade and various minerals as well as his interest in Ukraine. Provided that we make very sure Ukraine has a strong military force of their own, as they're not being let in to NATO any time soon, then russia is unlikely to try an invasion again for a long time. We may need to watch some other borders, though, as they will also be able to grow their military capabilities. The cold war will continue as long as Putin, or someone of similar views of Ukraine as a nation, remain in control.

So, before yet another twist happens in this rapidly-changing story, let me share these thoughts and hopes.

Trump, you're not of a sound mind. You're fired!

 Just who is advising Trump at the moment? What is it that has produced this ridiculous and so very wrong series of insults and blame assertions about Zelenskyy and absolutely no adverse comment or remarks about Putin? Who, in their right mind, could possibly maintain, never mind actually believe, that Ukraine started the war in 2022? Who, in their right mind could possibly maintain, never mind actually believe, that it could possibly be reasonable to suggest that Zelenskyy is a dictator and not someone who has more than a tiny support of the Ukraine people? Who in their right mind could possibly maintain, never mind actually believe, that the damage and destruction and loss of lives and terrible injuries that have been the result of three years of aggression have been the responsibility of Zelenskyy?

This is a terrifying moment in the history of this planet. Someone is clearly not in their right mind.

We are familiar with history being invented, altered, deleted by the remnants of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the form of Russia but we are shocked to discover that powerful leaders in the West appear either to be willing to attempt to do the same or, at the very least, turn a blind eye to wholly incorrect statements from Putin and others.

We are all expecting that Trump will come out with some pretty crazy stuff. In a way, his ability to tell it as it is has been refreshing after the muddling nonsense from Biden and the laughably implausible ideas that we might have had to cope with under Harris. Indeed, the Vice President JD Vance actually made an extremely appropriate and interesting speech a few days ago which highlighted just how bad many aspects of life in the West had become through the lack of any control in allowing wokeism to become rampant and diversity and equality initiatives flourishing left right and centre. Trump's suggestion that USA buy Greenland was amusing but made us all think. His idea of making Canada another of the United States was amusing but didn't make us think other than that that was a bit silly. Behind it all, of course, was the concept that Canada and Greenland represent a huge border protection for North America which Trump would want to be as much under USA's control as possible . . . but against what threat? What is the danger Trump appeared to fear when making these pronouncements? Invasion by communist forces. And the country most likely to be taking that route? Russia. So to hear Trump regard Putin as anything other than the aggressor in Ukraine and to wish to absolve Russia from either blame or, possibly even payment for all the damage is like listening to a completely different person. As I said. Someone not on their right mind.

I really had hoped that we would see some good, strong action imposed by Trump which would demonstrate clearly, not only to Putin's Russia but also to North Korea, Iran and all the other nations who appear to hate the West and promote terrorism in one shape or form against our nations' people, that we are not to be messed with. We will fight back and support any other nation who is troubled. We said a lot of good things in 2022 but actually did little. Eventually some decent weapons and money did reach Ukraine and this has been useful but nothing like enough.

We are to blame, in fact, for the huge loss of life and, to a large extent, the continued war. If we in the UK, in most of Europe and, of course, in the States, as well as the British Commonwealth leaders too had backed our words with real action then Putin would have had to stop. Ukraine on their own pushed the initial Russian advance way back. That was the crucial moment when we should all have weighed in behind them and finished the job. We talked about it but no-one actually did anything. We didn't even give permission for Ukraine soldiers to use some of the weapons we'd provided in a way which would have sent Russia in reverse.

It's Putin's fault that the invasion started. No question - and any sane person who can read and look at contemporary reports of people who were there at the time, including myself, can argue with that.

But it is our fault - and that includes both Trump and Biden and all their advisors - it is our fault that the war continues today. We could have stopped it but we just talked. It was entirely understandable that Putin would take advantage of our lacklustre leadership, our dilatory decision-making, our arguments within our ranks as to this or that and all he had to do was rattle a nuclear weapon or two and have countries like Germany running for cover and even many Brits frightened to make too much noise in support of Ukraine.

We'll give them some money, maybe some weapons, maybe train some troops but don't ask us to put ourselves in danger. And as soon as you say that, Putin knows he's going to win because he can keep threatening and occasionally letting loose some extra weapons to maintain the tension and prevent anyone but the really strong standing up to him.

Throughout all this time Zelenskyy has done his best and controlled the situation as well as I think anyone could have done. I am sure there will have been a lot of funds that went astray and a lot of people who pretended to back him but secretly worked for Putin and colleagues but, despite their best efforts we can see how little they actually have achieved in all this time. The whole population knows full well that the constitution does not allow any elections during wartime. Indeed, one wonders just how practical it could be to run an election when a whole tranche of your people are living abroad and the other actively engaged in trying to maintain the nation's existence! Of course there will be people who might prefer someone else to be in charge but ask any Ukrainian you meet and they'll want either Zelenskyy to remain or be replaced by someone who will fight even harder the threat posed by Putin. The only reason Putin wants to see Zelenskyy have an election is to give him some chance to have elected a president who will agree to Putin's demands. And that would be attempted to be achieved by the well-established practice of dissemination of false information and hacking of electoral registers and voting software, something in which both Russia and North Korea are specialist. An election when administrative controls are already weak and likely management dissipated would be vulnerable to considerable abuse. That's why Ukraine hasn't had one and shouldn't have one until it can be assured of a peaceful period and sufficient control to make the result credible. For now, any observer on the ground there will tell you quite clearly that the one result Putin seeks is not what they'll be voting for.

Many of us have been appalled at how weak our leaders in Europe have been in dealing with Putin. Now, I fear, many of us are appalled how weak our leaders in Europe are going to be when dealing with Trump. This is bad news for our future.

As of 7pm this evening, 19 February 2025, the Prime Minister of my country, has yet to make any objection to Trump's most objectionable statements. I have to say that credit is due to the Conservatives for their immediate reaction but they're lost in opposition at this time. One also wonders just how Farage is going to handle this. So far he has been steadily building a big base of support with his common sense and generally sound comments that hit the right note with the British public. But what now? Will he be the one to stand up and tell his friend across the Pond just how stupid, just how wrong, just how appallingly bad he's being?

I had hoped for much better from Trump. He was one person that I thought would stand up for what is right and, if not end the war, at least show Putin that the West find him and his actions despicable. Instead Trump has shown himself to be despicable and the sooner he is removed from the scene the better for the world. Let him manage USA, by all means, but as far as I am concerned, he's fired.