It was a sunny day in February in the year two thousand and we were nearing retirement and planning our future. We were visiting an exhibition set up by a building company who were developing housing sites in Spain, looking at lovely pictures of new houses the company were building and considering an offer of free return flights to encourage people to buy, yes we took up the offer.
Three years prior Tony Blair had become Prime Minister with a huge majority, and the smell of decline and uncertainty was creeping everywhere as he and his administration were making changes, which appeared to be just because they could, which was worrying as a business person.
One of the schemes was the breakup of the Union at eye watering cost by the development of three separate parliaments in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, which also included expensive administration members for the new mini governments, and of course extra parliamentary delegates for these small administrations.
What was the plan to form these separate centres of government, why make the change after hundreds of years of the United Kingdom working together creating strength and wealth, now there was diffusion and fear of the future, that could not be made clearer when in later years the people of England wanted to leave the EU while Scotland wanted to stay.
The Labour Administration of the late nineties leading to the turn of the century was exceptionally different from the Thatcher years when the country was dragged from the horrors of the seventies and the previous Labour government into financial stability, the change under Blair was for it to be whittled away on grand schemes.
We took up the offer of free flights to explore the wonders of Spain. Over the years we had toured most of Europe for some reason we had never been to the sunny peninsula and were pleasantly surprised for many reasons. At that time the country was in the early days of joining the European Union and although not primitive, development was just at the beginning.
We found Spain so unlike the UK a gentle country with the natives relaxed and friendly with Sunday a day of rest and shops and stores closed. On our second trip we made the decision to find a home and consider the possibility of moving to what were then, scantily populated areas away from the coast. We chose a charming village in a valley a few hours drive away from the sandy beaches and what was to become a new way of life for us.
It was extremely exciting moving to another country, so many new things to learn and understand, however, there was also sadness of leaving the UK which had given us so much in the way of a comfortable lifestyle with good friends, but retirement was looming and it was time to change.
From a thousand miles away, we have watched the decline in our old homeland, when the Conservative Cameron Administration replaced Labour in 2010 it was restricted as a ‘C’ organisation because they shared power with the Liberals, also the country’s finances were in a terrible state following the waste of the Blair years.
We continue to enjoy a new way of living, two decades of joy and we look on with sorrow at the sustained decline of what was our homeland, we have watched the breakup of the once proud party which had governed for most of the twentieth century and another Labour Government taking the helm of the country.
Number ten Downing Street, once the pinnacle in leadership of the world, now has the mentality of a four-year-old who frequently says his dad was a tool maker; perhaps he means a fool maker.
I think most people would resign at the number of negative comments talked about him but not the now resident of this famous building.
So, what is his plan? It certainly seems to be the opposite of making Britain great again and it is with sorrow I wonder what will happen as it is my belief he is deliberately stirring up trouble with the people so that he can call it an emergency situation and govern like a dictator without the need of elections.
I hope my thoughts are wrong.
Take care
