I heard yesterday that the French government had voted to ban the wearing of the Hijab in public, or, more precisely, they banned the wearing of any items of clothing which cover the face. This strikes me as problematic, especially in a western liberal democracy; it is indeed a backwards step. Surely we should be at liberty to wear what we want: indeed, rather facetiously ii noted that now nobody can wear zentai suits in France.

The French government justifies its move by arguing that the veil is a sign of women’s repression. While it would be nave to deny that women are sometimes forced into wearing them, I strongly suspect many do it out of choice. It is, after all, part of their identity, and I presume they are proud of their Islamic heritage. I think they should be allowed to show such pride, just as I should be allowed to wear whatever I want to wear. I am rather interested in identity, dress and so on, and anything that prevents one from expressing oneself in whatever way is surely a bad thing. Should we ban Rastas from wearing hats, Christians from wearing crucifixes, or Charlton athletic supporters their red and white tops?

The answer, of course, is no, which leads me to suspect that the French government is singling out Muslims. This law represses their rights, both to act as they wish and to show their faith. Of course, I am no expert in French politics – I can just about point out their president from a line-up, but that’s only because he has big ears and a stupid-looking wife – but this strikes me as a lurch to the right, which, in our closest neighbour and fellow permanent member of the UN, troubles me very deeply indeed,

I am quite sure that everyone will be as horrified as I am over the recent events in the north-east. This time last week, I was petrified to hear there was a gunman on the loose; on Saturday morning, we woke up to the news that Raul Moat was dead. I must say, I have a very uneasy feeling about the whole affair – a strange feeling that I need to get off my chest. The whole thing reminded me, in a strange way I cannot explain, of a Stephen King novella – such things, like the massacre at dunblane, do not happen here. There’s a sort of eerie, uncanny feeling to it. Yet, most of all, it just strikes me as sad how inevitable it’s denouement was. And there was nothing I or anyone else could do but watch the news, horrified.

Troubling. Very troubling indeed.

If anyone reads this within the next two hours, please tune in to radio Caroline, because Lyn’s track Crash Head is due to be played between now and eleven. I’d just like to say how very proud I am of my fiance, and how much I love her. Anyway, tune in, listen, and enjoy!

Go here

I hope they don’t mind me blogging about this, but today my friend Marcie is getting married. I know Marcie from university, where she was known to everyone as Rocky. She is one of the greatest people I know; kind and brave, with a wisdom far beyond her age. I whish her and Mike all the happiness in the world, and many wonderful years together.

Today I think I will just direct you all to here, to a very strongly worded letter to George Osbourne. I’m not going to comment much on it, and I think you’ll see why when you read it, save to say that it shows how much hatred people have for the Tories already.

This time yesterday I was just approaching Paris, believe it or not.. The school I work with organise an annual day trip there, and this time they had a spare wheelchair space. I couldn’t believe my luck when they invited me, as Paris is the city I love the most.

Of course, one day is barely enough time tto explore such a wonderful place, yet, at the same time, it was amazing what we managed to fit in. I was up at six, at school by seven, nick, one of the staff, having picked me up; then it was down the road to ebbsfleet and on to France. this gave us a good seven or eight hours in Paris – it’s pretty incredible when you think about it.

We spent most of the day walking about the city, taking busses here and there. The students were pretty independent physically, and we took lots of staff, meaning I was okay at mealtimes etc. we had lunch in a quiet cafe near the river, and were treated to a flypast – they must have been practicing for bastille day, as lots of aircraft kept zooming overhead in tight formation.

We then caught a bus to the Eiffel tower. Thee view from there was just as amazing as I remember it; it really is an awesome sight. As I was in my electric wheelchair, I could move myself around, looking at the view from all angles. I also got a new key chain with a small model of the tower on it: I had one from the last time I went, with Charlotte, but one day it got caught in my wheelchair wheels and was lost. Now, the new one can serve to remind me of both yesterday’s trip and the trip with charlotte. I don’t know why, but there’s a pleasing unity to that.

Anyway, the time came to return to guarre du nord all too quickly, and, after a short wait at the station, we were on the train home. Of course, we didn’t do as much as my last visit there, which lasted five days, and I didn’t have any ‘cow in a pot’, but it was nevertheless a remarkable trip to my favourite place. Tthe students we took are remarkable kids, and they learned so much on this trip. I was very proud of them. Travelling is probably the thing I love the most, apart from Lyn; it was amazing to experience such a trip. I got home, late last night, with an enormous sense of satisfaction, wondering where my luck might take me next.

I’ve just come back from a roll, and I’ve realised that my last entry was bullshit. James bond is a franchise unlike any else – its almost a genre unto itself. there are good and bad bond films, yet 007 seems to transpire fashion and era. The article I cited forgot that the bond franchise can exceed ordinary limitations, as it is not pinned down to one actor, producer or director.

Times may change, but you can always count on one man: James bond 007.

I just came across this guardian article asking whether the bond franchise is dead, or should be allowed to die. I’m a big bond fan, as I’ve written here before, and I love the franchise. Yet, with MGM being in so much financial trouble, it may be time to let 007 become film history. As the writer notes, there have been hiatuses in the franchise before, after which everyone screams ‘Bond is Back’, but after that the films always slip into clich and buffoonery. Indeed, there are so many other heroes out there now, that bond is no longer that distinct. Putting all emotion aside, I can’t help but agree that bond should have just one last outing, and then be allowed to slip into history.

God, you have no idea how heavy my heart feels after writing that.

I have some good news to report today – rather excellent news, in fact. Crash head, Lyn’s latest track, will be played on radio Caroline sometime next Sunday. I’ll post more precise details if and when I get them, but it’s great to hear that Lyn’s work is getting some air time. Mind you, it’s not surprising: everybody says how good crash head is; even my dad. Let’s hope this is just the first time this happens! Caroline can be listened to at http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/#home.html

I got an email from Simon this morning in reply to my last blog entry but one. I need to think over what he said, and the implications of it. I’m not sure if I agree with all that he says, but he does make some good points, so I think, for the sake of fairness, I’ll post hiss reply in full:

”I do not agree with you and I do think you are being far too obsessive. We have people with minor impairments, like depression, claiming benefits without taking responsibilities. When people have rights, they have responsibilities. For example, why are you not in paid employment assuming you are not? every government has good and bad policies but non-disabled but impaired people can no longer treat disability as free candy in a sweet shop and cry foul when they are to take responsibility everyone else has to as citizens. Stop getting personal and start thinking about the real issues there and avoid this romanic view of disability as only a small percentage of disabled people have significant needs.”’ controversial stuff indeed

It has only just turned one, and I’ve already counted three lies the Tories have made, or three reasons they are unfit to rule. Firstly, do you know that osbourne is actually exaggerating the depth of our financial problems? The deficit, according to darling, is not as bad as the Tories would have us believe, but they’re scaring us all in order to push through ideologically-motivated reforms.

The second lie was made by CaMoron himself during PMQs: he claimed that the Tories are protecting the NHS whereas labour would have cut it. In fact, precisely the opposite is true. On Monday, it emerged that some Tory backbenchers were starting to think about cutting the NHS. This would, after all, be more in line with their capitalist ideology.

Thirdly, I know its not really a lie, more of a lurch towards fascism, but in Ken Clarke’s speech on prison reform this morning, he said he planned to cut some of the rights to free legal representation. His argument was that we can no longer afford it, but given this right is so important, it should be kept even in minor cases. This is surely yet another case of the Tories putting greed before our rights.

I know I’ve been banging on about politics a lot lately, but, with the Tories doing stuff like the above, can you blame me. They are liars with no right to do what they are doing.

I truly believe that something must be done to get our new government out of power as soon ad possible. I was thinking about it this morning: we have this big massive deficit, which we can eliminate all at once by imposing cuts so severe that everyone suffers, or we could take it steady, spreading the cuts over several years so they don’t have to be so deep. This seems like a no-brainer to me, but instead the Tories want a quick recovery, forcing us all to pay for crimes we did not commit. You have to ask yourself ‘why?’ Why are the Tories acting so illogically? To cut services now will decrease net productivity and causes another recession.

That’s why I think they’re being driven by ideology rather than sense. It seems like they would rather protect the wealth of the few over the well-being of the rest of us. By targeting those on benefits, they brand as all work-shy scroungers. Remarkably, I was talking to a fellow disabled guy last night who was trying to defend this abomination, and he was saying ‘It’s ok, we’ll be okay, they’re just targeting the scroungers’. It is that sort of selfish, self-centred naivete, coming from those on the right, which really pisses me off, and it’s why I think we have to do something to return power to people with broader minds.

Yesterday we made a music video. Lyn was working on a new track for the last few days, and wanted to make a film to go with it. The result, if I may say so, is astonishingly good. Most of the footage was taken by me in my chair – I was just relieved I didn’t drop the camera; go take a look, but watch out for the cat-monster in the wood.

I was just trying to think of words which adequately describe yesterday, but I think ‘fun’ best fits the bill. Our neighbours, Paula and Dan, were throwing a party for their youngest son’s second birthday, and we were invited, along with hundreds of other people. parties are very special events to my neighbours; in fact, the first sign that something big was afoot was a bouncy castle being inflated outside at about ten yesterday morning.

Knowing Paula and Dan, I could tell it was going to be big, so I rolled next door about half twelve. Lyn decided to come later. There I sort of hovered about, observing, talking. The kids were fascinated with my lightwriter, especially one boy who had autism. I got to meet Paula and Dan’s friends, who seem rather cool people.

The party lasted into the evening. What began as a kids party, with party games and jelly, morphed into an adult party about six. A barbeque was started, and I gorged myself on spicy chicken. However, I really wanted to try the curried goat, and Dan promised me some, but as soon as Paula cooked a batch people took it. I was there till about half ten, by which time I was quite merry, but I never did get any goat.

It was a really good party – certainly the longest I’ve been to. I really wanted to get Lyn on the bouncy castle, as apparently she has never been on one, but she didn’t seem very keen on the idea. I don’t think she knows what she’s missing. Anyway, I think today will be less exuberant – we both need to recover.

I suppose I miss the stars. We were just in the garden, as we have been the last few days, and I looked up. I realised, with shock, that I couldn’t see the stars. The light pollution is too great. Back up north, I could see them – on campus, looking up of a night, you could see a beautiful blanket of stars. One night in my undergraduate year I pointed out the plough to charlotte as she pushed me home, so that whenever we saw that constellation we would remember each other and that time – she said it looked like a kite. Yet no constellations are visible down here in london; they’ve been blocked out by all the street lights. Looking up, only four of five stars can be seen,, and I can’t help feeling a loss.

Today I would just like to direct you here, to a blog entry by crippen the disabled cartoonist. In the disabled community, there seems to be widespread horror at what CaMoron is doing. He seems to be targeting DLA claimants in particular, exaggerating the problem of fraud. In other words, he’s kind of making ‘us’ one of his scapegoats while the people who made this mess in the first place – the bankers – are allowed to get away Scott free. Why should we be made to pay for this mess? Of course, CaMoron refuses to tax the bankers because that’s where most of the funding for the Tory party comes from. It’s cronyism of the most sickening kind.

Today I have something much more cheerful to blog about than yesterday’s doom-laden budget. Last night I went to see my first school play in about fifteen years. The school I volunteer at put on a performance called a ‘night at the musicals’ – essentially a montage of excerpts from about four west-end shows. I had been involved in their creation in a minor capacity, so they invited me and Lyn to go and watch it.

Truth be told, I found it quite remarkable. Although all the performers were ambulant, most had fairly severe learning difficulties and/or autism. Yet it was a sustained hour-long performance full of dancing, merriment and some very good gags. There was even a Python reference. More importantly, though, the students were the major contributors to what went into the show.

After the show, I finally got to introduce the lady I work with at school – Kathryn – to Lyn. Mind you, I think they introduced their selves before I got to. I also introduced Lyn to matt p, a boy I work with at school and the only communication aid user there. Lyn got to show off her new Ipad, and everyone was very impressed with how she uses it as a VOCA. Matt seems prone to getting distracted easily, but I think the Ipad got his attention.

In all it really was a great evening. After the show we went down to the schools boarding unit; believe it or not, Lyn pointed out the very bedroom in which she had slept as a child, which struck me as both remarkable and rather cute. I think Lyn should come to school more often, as she has a lot she can teach both the students and staff.

We got home rather happy. I was very pleased with how last night went, and was still hummint the songs from the show when I woke up this morning.

Today I want to address a comment left by Emma in reply to my entry yesterday. She suggests I should join the Labour party. This has been proposed to me before, and I have thought about it. The truth is, I’m unwilling to fully commit to any specific political party: while I agree with much of what they did, some of labour’s policies seem a little too free-market oriented to me. If I joined labour, I fear I might be pinning myself down politically. What if they were to lurch to the right? I want to be free to make my own mind up. Plus, what sort of free radical revolutionary would I be if I was actually a member of one of the three main political parties?

I was only half joking when I wrote that I wanted a revolution. Indeed, part of me wasn’t joking at all. It is quite clear to me that, under the new coalition government, the economy is not safe. They emphasise business over the individual, which means that they will protect the wealthy at the expense and poor. This is all very well and good if you are fit and able, but what about the rest of us? What about those oppressed by a system designed to keep the rich rich and the poor poor? What about those reliant on thee benefits system, public transport and things like direct payments? We will suffer! As long as George Osbourne is chancellor, hiding behind his nauseating lies about the previous government in order to drive through ideologically-inspired cuts, we will suffer. Alistair Darling must be reinstated immediately we need someone who actually understands economics at the helm, not some greed-motivated simpleton.Moreover, given that the proposed cuts constitute a betrayal of many British working class factories, it is unpatriotic to allow the Tories to run roughshod over our rights and freedoms.

We must therefore get rid of this government. I do not want a violent revolution; Gandhi teaches us that there are far better ways to achieve our goals than with fists, knives, guns or bombs. But I want a revolution nevertheless. Why should we have to put up with four more years of Tory oppression? Under them, we are headed for a depression. I therefore call upon whoever is reading this to rise up, revolt, and do whatever you can to make tour feelings known and boot these economic simpletons out.

I really do think Lyn is the most extraordinary person I have ever met; she is wonderful, kind and loving. We were in the garden the other day, and we came up with a very interesting idea: what if we were to write Lyn’s biography? My fiance has been through a hell of a lot, and her story is one worth telling. But what a story it would be: from London to Wales and back; from institutionalisation to independence; from male to female. At one and the same time, I can’t wait to start, yet haven’t the foggiest idea where to begin. It truly is an intriguing idea. I guess we just need to go into the garden with a decent red wine and start getting ideas down.

Dan, the disabled peoples’ Direct action Network was out in force yesterday in Manchester, protesting against the government’s plans for wealth fare reform. It looks as if most of my friends in Manchester Dan were there; to be honest I think it’s a taste of things to come as CaMoron and osbourne push through their moronic plans. I rather whish I could have been there.

As it happens, I think we could use some Dan activists here in Charlton. Apparently, the landlord of the local pub, the white swan, barred a lady for having an epileptic fit. To me, that is appalling, especially after the way in which he treated me and Lyn. He seems to be pissing off quite a few people around here. I whish there was something we could do about his discriminatory behaviour – perhaps get a gang of Danners to blockade the place.

Remember I said I was not a revolutionary? Forget it. I want a revolution. I was just watching PMQ’s, and found myself getting really pissed off by CaMoron’s lies.

He had the audacity to ask for an apology from labour for causing the deficit; he’s the one who should be apologising for propagating the lie that the recession was the fault of the previous government. Without the watchdogs set up by brown as chancellor, we would now be in a depression, but the Tories are either so blinded by ideology or just so fucking stupid that they can’t see this.

They need to be stripped of power now before we all start to suffer. Rather than raising taxes for those who can afford it, they would rather cut services such as those we cripples rely on. In other words, they would rather help out their rich friends than make sure the rest of us can live comfortably. How selfish? How anyone can support them and still have the affront to claim to be intelligent or civilised is beyond me. CaMoron and his band of self-centred assholes need to be stripped of power now. If you truly care about your fellow man, rise up, revolt, and kick these lying tossers out.

Today is my mum’s birthday. I dare not tell you how old she is, but I was just thinking: it’s been six months since I moved down to London. I haven’t visited my parent’s since coming down, so this is by far the longest time I’ve been away from my parents house. I think it’s quite an achievement, coming from a guy who once couldn’t bear to spend a night away from home. Even so, I think I’ll be arranging a visit soon. don’t get me wrong: I love life with Lyn, but I think it’s high time I visited my parents, especially given Dan an only make a rough approximation of my mum’s spaggy bog.

Anyway, happy birthday mum!

Luke just sent me this. I don’t know why, but the guy irritates me quite a bit, possibly because the idea of a disability themed travel-show rules and he got there first, possibly because he has far too much energy. On the other hand, I agree that cerebral palsies is indeed the sexiest palsy to have. Anyway, check it out; me and Lyn have a party to go to.

If there is something I have noticed living here in London over the past six months, it is the number of four wheel drives around. For some reason, it really pisses me off. People use big, heavy-duty machines, originally intended for exploring the Canadian wildernesses or the Australian outback, for the school run or daily commute. It’s silly: I know that they probably feel safer being so high up, but lord knows what impact such machines are having on the environment or the state of the roads. If you need a bigger vehicle for, say, lugging a wheelchair or two about, I can understand that; but surely not everyone needs one.

Just a quick one tonight. It’s hardly worth blogging about, but since Eastenders was just on TV, I thought I’d just draw your attention to a few quirky details about this area of south-east London that I’ve noticed: firstly, in nearby Woolwich, there’s a large square that could well be a basis for Albert square. Also, on my way there, I’ve noticed a pub called the Queen Victoria. But perhaps coolest of all is the laundry nearby called Dot’s Laundry. Somebody certainly has a sense of humour. Obviously the laundry was a clear reference to the program, but whether the program was inspired by the other two I know not. Fortunately, though, nothing overly dramatic seems to happen around here, although some of the things Dan tells me could be straight out of a soap opera.

Oh yeah, you can also see where we live on the map aat tthe start of the programme.

I must say that I am very impressed with the SL40, Lyn’s lightwriter that I’m now using. Its almost as impressive as her Ipad. Not only can it send texts, but I am very impressed with the new voices: they’re more natural sounding and somehow more eloquent, so much so that Dan christened it Egbert. So much so that one of the first things I did when I began using it was to type in the first paragraph of the Hobbit, just to see how it sounded. It was awesome! I’m also impressed with the new vocabulary, and the fact that it can learn to predict words you commonly use. I’ll give you guys a more thorough review once I get to know it a bit more, as they’ve changed a lot of the settings and controls so I’m still finding my way around it.

I do worry, though, about funding for things like lightwriters these days. CaMoron has promised massive cuts, only safeguarding funding for things which will get him votes. So, for example, his plans for super-fast broadband are safe, as the people who’ll benefit most from that are the middle classes and thus possible Tory voters. But what about things like communication aids? I was lucky: I was given mine by my wonderful fiance. But, at a time when money is tight, the last thing folk like us need is a government like this.

I have no idea why we’re only hearing about this story now, but the fact, in 2006, that a disabled man suffocated after getting his head trapped in the rails of his hospital bed appals me. According to channel four news, he was twenty, had CP, and had just had his 24-hour care taken away. Makes you sad, doesn’t it? I mean, don’t the lives of us crips matter as much as others? Why weren’t people watching him?

Pretty much everywhere, I suppose, will have some sort of history behind it. I find the history of where I’m currently living rather interesting, if a little ominous. I now live in a close which was named after a church which once stood on this site. The church was called saint Paul’s, and it’s main distinguishing feature was that it was the first church to be destroyed in the second world war. Pictures of this church still exist, and are online; interestingly, I think there are features which you could still make out.

Slightly more gruesome is the fact that we live near a wood where they used to hang highwaymen; I’ve been trying to look for the sight of the gallows for a while. Other details include the fact that they used to hold a month-long masked orgy in this area, and the fact that the last private owner of Charlton house lost it in a card game, a fact that amuses me greatly. I love such details; I find them fascinating, but I’ve only just started finding out about this area.

This may be nothing to do with anything, but I have come to the conclusion that sky is essentially a fascist organisation, and don’t give me any of that ‘Godwin’s Law’ bull. We all know there’s a cricket match on, and yesterday I decided I wanted to watch some of it. I went to a nice quiet pub down the hill, and asked the landlord to put the cricket on. I sat there quite happily, watching the end of the morning session, when I realised something: you have to pay hundreds for sky, yet there are still adverts, and the commentary was pathetic. You got very little of the analysis that cricket lovers get when channel four or five.

So, for sky to claim that they love cricket is galling. They are, in fact,, ruining the sport by making sure very few people are able to watch it, and offering a substandard service to boot. By pumping so much money into the system, sky has a virtual monopoly; sport should be pure and fun, but Rupert Murdoch has turned it into something elitist, and which excludes people. This is why I say sky is fascist. It is wrong, and Murdoch should be stopped.

Something happened yesterday afternoon which quite shook me up. I had just popped to the shop round the corner when I passed a guy. He asked me if I had a pound to spare. I don’t like saying ‘no’ to beggars; I come from a rather privileged background, so I feel sort of duty-bound to try to help. So I got out my wallet and tried to open the zip, but it stuck. I tried a few times. Then the guy offered to help. Idiot that I am, I handed the guy the wallet; the guy opened it and proceeded to take a pound, trying to palm a tenner as he went. I saw him, made him put it back, and ran home as swiftly a possible.

I told Dan what happened. He pointed out that I was lucky to still have my wallet, but he went out to talk to the guy. I was a bit taken aback and shaken up, not least at my own stupidity. I think it’s a lesson not to be so trusting.

I am almost constantly amazed at the sheer array of people there are here in London. There are people from all four corners of the world. I make the short trip to Woolwich two or three times a week; just as I used to go to Crewe, simply for a change of scenery. Even there, the array of cultures represented and languages spoken staggers me. I see people from India in saris; people from China; as I wrote recently to my parents, the other day I was on a bus with some African ladies wearing full traditional African dress. They spoke a language I didn’t recognise. It is quite wonderful.

What’s more, people around here are getting to know me. Dan seems to know just about everyone south of the Thames, so people know me through him. Folk are starting to say ‘hi’ to me in the street, people from all over the place. It’s interesting how quickly that has happened. I love it.

Me and Lyn have a main PA called Dan. He’s a good guy, very laid back and a bit of a joker. Yesterday, though, he excelled himself – Dan astounded me with his ingenuity: he fitted Lyn’s ipad to her wheelchair. Using a very hot screwdriver to make holes in the case, some card to stiffen it, and some glue, Dan fitted Lyn’s lightwriter mounting to the back of her new ipad so it can attach to her chair. The one downside to this is that you can’t rotate the ipad, but that wasn’t something Lyn particularly needed to do. Lyn now has a very classy, professional-looking attachment on her chair. We plan to post a video on youtube soon with the details, but I couldn’t wait to blog about how impressed I am with Dan’s handywork.

I suppose you have to give credit where it is due, and some of what CaMoron has done in regard to cleaning up politics doesn’t seem too bad. For example, his intention to make government more open by giving the public access to more information appeals to me. We all know that we have to hold government to account, which means having as much access to information as possible. I truly believe in the old saying that ‘knowledge is power’. However. Some of what he intends to do disturbs me: his intention to overhaul the benefit system and try to force people back into work seems frankly draconian. I fear it will cause a shift in attitude towards those of us on benefit, and people will be more likely to look at us as mere work-shy scroungers. That would be exactly what we do not need; nor do we need any social workers coming to call trying to tell us we can do stuff we can’t.

I would just like to express my sadness at the passing of Dennis Hopper. He was a true Hollywood legend. As an undergraduate, I had the good fortune of making a presentation about ‘Easy Rider’ with Steve Metcalfe; I caught a glimpse of what an unusual kind of guy Hopper was. One story goes that he had a fistfight in the cutting room with the director. Hopper will be missed greatly.

link

Lyn got her new Ipad on Thursday, and I must admit it really is an impressive piece of technology. Although I have a natural dislike of macs, having been brought up onn real computers*, the ipad has a tendency to make my jaw drop. I find myself asking, how did they get so much technology into something so small? The graphics are amazing, yet it has an incredible touch screen. One must take your hat off o Steve jobs and his team.

For Lyn, however, the ipad is something even more important. It has a text-to-speech ‘app’, so Lyn can use it as a communication aid. Of course, she has only just started to use the thing, but she’s already quite effective. I don’t know what it’s got in terms of word prediction etc; I’ll ask her later. The cool part is, though, this means I can now use her old SL40 lightwriter, which is quite cool as it can text! We’re both very happy with things now; I actually can’t wait for Lyn to let me have a go on the ipad myself!

*A real computer is one you can customise, tinker with, actually open up and so on.

I am, of course, quite concerned by what Michael Gove, our new education secutary, has planned. I think Tory plans for ‘free schools’ add up to a two-tier system, where rich families, who have the time and the inclination, can set up nice new schools, creaming off the best teachers. Meanwhile, those who can’t afford it are left in schools which will get worse and worse due to the fact that recourses are being diverted away from ordinary schools. In effect, not only will we have segregation in terms of disability, but segregation in terms of class. It takes us all the way back to the mid nineteenth century, to systems which reinforced the class divide. It was wrong then, and it’s wrong today. Why should some people get a better education than others, simply because their parents are richer than others? And why should we sit back while a party which did not get half the vote imposes their backwards, elitist, intolerant views on all of us?

My brother just sent me this fascinating link. Mark Twain’s autobiography is to be released. Apparently, he worked on it in the last ten years of his life, but stipulated in his will that it was not to be published until a century after his death. Twain died in 1910, sio here we are, with this remarkable voice from the past. The first question I find myself asking is, how did twain know that he’d still be remembered after all this time? More intriguing, though, are questions about what this book can teach us about life a century ago. Its as if the words are still freshly written, as very few people will have seen them; words from another age – one before the horrors of the twentieth century. I can’t wait until the first volume comes out.

George Osborne published his budget thing today. All the pundits are saying it’s the tip of the iceberg, and how there are more, deeper cuts to come. It really pisses me off how the Tories are, by cutting services, punishing us all for a problem caused by the financial sector making riskier investments, while, by doing away with the proposed tax, those investors get away Scot free. I also hate how they lie about the state of the economy they inherited: it wasn’t a mess; it was doing okay. The fact is, as I was discussing with one of Lyn’s friends the other day, most people felt that they could trust brown economically; you felt he knew what he was doing. You can’t say that of Osborne – I even have my doubts about whether he can count. Almost everyone I talk to holds a similar opinion: nobody trusts this government economically.

Anyway, the sun is shining. Time to go enjoy it with my fiance while it lasts.

I am not sure if this is the best place to announce this; I haven’t even told my parents yet. I suppose blogging about it is the best way to let everyone who needs to know know. Yesterday was Lyn’s birthday, so last night I dropped the big question. I love her utterly and can’t imagine not living with her. I recently realised that I want to spend the rest of my life with her, so last night I asked her to marry me. She said yes, so I’m now very happy.