Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy and right hand man, flew to Scotland on a mysterious peace mission in 1941, which has never been convincingly explained, to meet unidentified politicians who wanted to end the war.  Who was plotting against Churchill? What were the peace terms on offer? What happened to Hess? Was he killed in the War? Was the prisoner in Spandau a double?
There are many questions to which in the modern day one man, Saul Benedict has all the answers, because his parents were players in the drama involving Churchill, Hitler, leading politicians and an important Royal. Saul is an author and declares his intention to write a book to reveal all, but he is shot dead, apparently accidentally by a poacher. But was it an accident? Rick Coleman, an investigative journalist, determines to find out. Taking place in the modern day but with flashback chapters which gradually unfold the hidden secrets, the novel is a fast moving and compelling read.

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The narrow, ordered life of a gentle but almost reclusive artist, Jane Block, is disturbed when a bequest, intended for her dead mother, passes to her. Mystery surrounds the nature of the inheritance and Jane is led on a sinister trail to secrets of the past, forcing her to confront her own fears and inhibitions. She finds herself caught in a frightening quest to unravel a mysterious cover-up from World War Two, and in so doing finds intrigue, love and betrayal.

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Amazon.com

Well one can only hope so, yet there is scant evidence of it. Boris hysteria has gripped both the Tory party and the media for over a week now. The Cabinet appears split on what do do, which is hardly surprising, since it is split on everything else. Everybody seems to be investigating someone or something. Yet the serious world is still there and it will not go away. The EU looks on with mounting anxiety as the orderly government, which has been the hallmark of Britain’s contribution to Europe’s wellbeing for three centuries, appears to be dissolving. The implications for Brexit are not good. And, as previously posted by this blog, all the sniping and quarreling at the top is contributing towards an atmosphere of intolerance and discord right through the country.

There are real things needing attention. Infrastructure and service issues like railways, prisons and social care. But human issues about increased demands for more food banks to, and this I never thought to hear in this country, hungry children having to be fed by charities or  volunteers during the holidays because their parents cannot afford to do so. As so often posted here, we are now seeing some very ugly outcomes of an economic model which makes the poor even poorer while the rich become even richer. So, instead of grandstanding  and being generally obnoxious to each other and everyone else, this government must fix these things or be consumed by the white heat of the people’s anger, already beginning to glow.