Mick Smith - Times Online - WBLG

The Inaugural Frank Foley Lecture, 28 November 2008

Ian Austin and Linda Waltho, the two MPs whose West Midlands constituencies cover the area where Frank Foley lived until his death in 1958, have set up the annual Frank Foley lecture. If you don't know who Frank Foley was, then you should and you will if you read this post. This is the Inaugural Frank Foley Lecture, which I gave at Stourbridge last Friday.

ON Friday June 19th, 1959, a small group of people gathered on the edge of a windswept forest near Kibbutz Harel, just outside Jerusalem. A grove of trees had been planted there to commemorate a remarkable Englishman. Each of the more than 2,000 pines had been paid for by someone he saved from Hitler's concentration camps. Contributions for more trees were coming in every day. The speakers at the ceremony included some of the most eminent members of the Jewish community in pre-war Berlin. Benno Cohn, chairman of the Zionist Organisation of Germany, reminded those present that they had gathered to pay tribute to a British official who had saved tens of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust. "He was the Pimpernel of the Jews," Cohn said. "Day and night he was at the disposal of those who sought help. In those dark years, he restored to many of us our faith in humanity." A memorial stone place in front of the grave read simply: "Major Francis Edward Foley, England, Memorial Grove."

Letter from the Left Coast: So Will Obama Be The Real Deal Or Not?

Ian Bowater hopes for a new New Deal from Barack.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. All across West L.A. thousands of newly emboldened, well meaning Liberals held hands around a family table laden with an unlikely mélange of savoury and sweet dishes along with the obligatory vegan alternatives for the exceptionally uppity. Where do they find the strength on tofu and pulses? After apologizing to the Native Americans – the original hosts of this Turkey fest – they gave thanks for Barack Obama. The President-Elect has been beatified, canonized, lionized and deified on an upward spiral of hyperbole since the day he won the election. He has simultaneously restored America’s faith in itself and returned it to Number One in the world. That’s the word on this one. America is Barack – America is Back!

It Wasn't Like That in My Day! The Renewed Relevance of the Remembrance Commemoration

As the number of British troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan hits the 300 mark, Chuck Unsworth, our self-confessed 'Old Fogey' reflects on the continued willingness to celebrate a day that stemmed initially from the Armistice at the end of the First World War but yet continues to have a special importance.

This week Remembrance Day Parades have taken in towns and villages throughout Britain, and they have been held in many other countries, too.  As usual I paraded with the other old fogies at our local war memorial, being pleased to see large numbers of young people taking part and with a decent sized crowd watching.  This year it was rendered particularly poignant as an old military friend has very recently died.  He was John Leslie (Lofty) Collyer – Lofty by name and by stature - a man who had entered the Army as a boy soldier, working his way up through the ranks to Regimental Sergeant Major and thence onwards as a Commissioned Officer.  I’ve known him for well over forty years.  A Sapper through and through, with all of those old-fashioned qualities of a fine and honourable soldier, he was known and respected by thousands.  He’ll be missed by his large family and by the very many in the Royal Engineers Association, of which he was a stalwart.

How Many More Fallen Soldiers Will We Celebrate?

Her son might be back from Afghanistan but Mandy is still incensed at the way in which politicians put their own "rights" above those do the dead.

Seems, while Ross has been away on holiday, there’s been a bit of a turf war going on. No! Not in Glenrothes, where the Labour Party celebrated a tactical success, putting the Scottish National Party to bed by bailing out Halifax/Bank of Scotland and The Royal Bank of Scotland. Down in Dorset, where a mayor is getting hot under the collar over a perfectly respectable attempt to honour our dead.

Afghanistan - Are We Heading for Another Inglorious Failure?

Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff, has spoken out against sending more troops to Afghanistan. I’m reminded of CJ, a character in the soon-to-be-revived Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. CJ is Perrin’s boss at Sunshine Desserts, an organisation inhabited by yes men. He begins every homily with the words: “I didn’t get where I am today by… ” Stirrup didn’t get where he is today – outlasting all his subordinates with an apparently endless term as the forces’ top man - by telling politicians, who are desperate to cut defence costs, things they don’t want to hear.

Letter from the Left Coast: Hey World - Meet the New Boss

Ian Bowater, with a post-Obama reflection on the day that Americans welcomed in a new president, although how sincere they all were is a matter for debate.

I admit to having a nostalgic fondness for elections. It probably goes back to the fifties when, as a nine year old, I helped my dad leaflet the Hillsborough ward in Sheffield for Alf Meade, our local councillor. Alf was no Barack Obama but then I didn’t need to be inspired. I was always a tribal politician who followed my dad’s lead and the family legacy. I love Election Day itself even more, despite not having had much experience of working on a winning campaign in my adult years. So, I was looking forward to last Tuesday with some trepidation. I’d actively participated in the Obama Campaign if only for research purposes. I might be the common loser factor. I hadn’t bothered with the local McCain headquarters because I’d been told there was no one was home.

Letter from the Left Coast: Vote for Obama, says Ian the Leftie!

Our man in LA Ian Bowater does his bit for the Obama campaign Los Angeles-style - by the infinity pool

Regardless of whether Barack Obama gets an historic victory on Tuesday and the much-vaunted new era begins, the American Century ended last Friday with the death of Studs Terkel. Journalist, activist, oral historian, Studs chronicled the twentieth century from the perspective of the working man. Sadly, he lived long enough to see the American Worker parodied and disparaged in the shape of Joe the Plumber, John McCain’s new-found friend from the campaign trail. Joe is everywhere except when he forgets to turn up. Offering opinions on subjects as diverse as the tax plan and Israel, Joe has a scared story for every occasion. No matter that he has no experience, not even of campaign strategy meetings. Joe says what he wants and the further off the reservation he gets the more Mr. Maverick loves him.

Tracking Russian Ships More Vital than Providing Intelligence for British Troops Fighting Taliban

The Russian Nuclear-Powered Cruiser Peter the Great on its way to the Caribbean for naval exercises in US backyard

Problems with the fuel system on the Nimrod MR2 aircraft continue despite the decision to suspend air-to-air refuelling. Britain was forced to pull its Nimrod spy planes off operations in Afghanistan a few weeks ago and has not been able to replace them yet. The reason the two aircraft had to be pulled out differs depending on who you talk to but it is clear that there were continuing problems. The reason they were not replaced was that the other serviceable Nimrods were required for a very old-fashioned Nimrod job, tracking the Russian Navy!