House of Fools?

He was rude as he walked from my van, even though I’d helped him. The discussion we’d had as I drove him to his expensive hotel, had made him angry. It was an argument they are having in Parliament this October - be American or be European, is profit king or are the people more important?

Parliament is being called The House of Fools and around the world people are laughing at our crowd of comics politicians. Yet turn the clock back a short while and this most ancient of Parliaments, the very place where MPs have been making a mess of Brexit for three years, was greatly admired. Recently in a French cafe I heard, “OK, it’s a mess, but Britain has democracy, we who make such a noise about equality, don’t.” Several intelligent Europeans we know who have always admired our politics now think we have lost their minds. You still hear that sentiment of respect across Europeans, a Swedish friend disinterested in politics is fascinated by what is happening in British politics right now.

But are we right to mock those we elected? Ought we who are weary of Brexit wake up and see that at last they are discussing something worthwhile, even though it retards so much in our economy and our lives? This balloon of hot air really is pondering: “Do we remain Europeans or do we become semi-Americans?”

Trump is delighted that Boris and his crowd want to replace constricting European rules with the freedom of World Trade rules. But do we Brits want to cook American grain containing quantitates of rat shit that would close down a British farm whose barns were that filthy? Do we want to eat chicken reared in dirty, over-crowded hangers? Chicken processed in factories with hygiene standards British farmers would be shut for having, and which subsequently needs chlorine to make it ‘safe’ to consume? Do we want a depleted, largely privatised National Health Service which is run by American companies out for profit? Look at the lousy service Virgin Health doles out, profitable, not for the sick, for the investors.

And so back to that man I had taken to his hotel. He, an admirer of Trump, a professor of Comparative Health Systems, thought Obama Care was “Dreadfully wasteful,” and it went on, “The poor are poor through their own laziness.” As I’d dropped him off I said, “This is Obama Care. You were suffering and I gave you a lift for free.” That was why he’d stormed off.

#brexit #parliament #boris #trump #sustainablitity #nationalhealthsystem