The Wrong Amount of Sleep

The ballot for the leadership of the Labour Party began last week, but with 5 MPs up for election, including the 2 Milliband brothers, it seems pretty low key. Even the press, who usually have their finger on the public pulse, seem to think so, as they don’t seem to use up many column inches regarding it. The Party would expect about 60-80% of the postal ballot papers to be filled in, going by past elections, but of course, the fact that Tony Blair’s biography, “A Journey” was released last week as well might have a bearing on how fast folk will fill in their papers, who they will vote for, or indeed, if they will bother to scribble their Xs. His book was below 50th place in Amazon’s bestseller list a fortnight ago, but has moved into 7th place since it was announced that proceeds from the book will be given to the Royal British Legion. I’m not sure who the guru was who persuaded him to give up that lovely dosh, but it was a shrewd move, as he certainly didn’t want to be embarrassed by being a former PM whose books were being used for other purposes, rather than for being perused by us, the gullible British public. My heart bleeds for poor Cherie, thinking of all the outfits and makeovers that she’ll miss out on, because of the hardship. It is hard to believe that the following quote came from his lips – “Mine is the first generation able to contemplate the possibility that we may live our entire lives without going to war or sending our children to war.”

The former British Prime Minister, started promisingly enough, but his abiding legacy after his ten years of leadership was probably going to War in Iraq. The day he resigned as Prime Minister he also gave up being an MP (never having liked the House of Commons or Britain anyway hence spending most of his time as leader abroad or covering foreign matters) and was appointed, perhaps ironically, a peace envoy. The mind boggles. When he went to Dublin last Saturday, he was pelted with shoes and eggs, and he has now cancelled another book signing which was due to take place in a branch of Waterstone's in London on Wednesday. The man responsible for sending our troops to the frontline is evidently scared of being faced with a few protesters. Maybe something is finally beginning to register up top.

Further north, and the equally silver tongued Alex Salmond has given up on the idea of tabling a bill on an independence referendum before the next election, despite his repeated promises over the past three and a half years. The usual bullish Mr Salmond seems to have lost his nerve this time – in fact, he looks as if he's emulated the Grand Old Duke of York, who marched his men to the top of the hill, only to march them down again. Mr Salmond says that independence will be the central theme of the Nationalists' electoral campaign. In other words, the election would effectively act as the referendum that he has ditched because he knew that the SNP would lose it. That seems like a very warped way of thinking to me. Of course, if Labour grab power next May, then it will be open warfare between Edinburgh and London, that is while the Coalition parties are running Westminster. There is some cooperation between them and Salmond, but there would probably be no proper dialogue between a governing Labour Party in Scotland and Cameron.

David Cameron, the Tory leader, and of course, new dad, seems to have some rather odd bedfellows besides his good lady, Samantha. He entered into a coalition with the LibDems, which looks to be on shaky ground at times, and some of his close aides seem to attract trouble, including Andy Coulson, Downing Street's head of communications, and who used to be the editor of the “News of the World” at the time its reporters were allegedly hacking into the mobile phone messages of celebrities and members of the Royal Family. Many a better man than Mr Cameron have been forced out of office because of those they trusted to have around them.

On a lighter note, I see that scientists are at it again in the great sleep debate. I remember reading that Maggie Thatcher got by with 5 hours sleep, but for most people that amount of sleep could present a serious hazard to the heart, along with helping to bring on other ailments, such as colds, obesity, dementia, and some types of cancer. I hasten to add that the so called sleep experts do not recommend a certain amount of sleep time for us all, but that there is a certain amount of time that is most beneficial for each individual. One such expert, Professor Jim Horne of Loughborough University, claims that one of the most effective ways of getting off to sleep is to do a jigsaw. Well, I find it difficult to work with a jigsaw on a completely flat surface, so to try to fit the pieces while it is perched on my knobbly knees seems to be a non-starter. I wonder if he recommends jigsaws with sheep in the picture, or did he just have a bad dream.

Blair, Palin, and Picasso

We now know that Tony Blair is to give evidence in the Iraq inquiry sometime in the fortnight after 25th January. If he has any conscience left, or any respect for the families of those whom he helped send to an untimely death, I would hope that his semi permanent smirk will be missing from his dial. 60 seats are being allocated to the public, but only a third of those are to be given to families who have lost their loved ones. Those folk are understandably upset – as far as I can see, all the seats should have been given to them. Instead of that, a ballot is being held to determine who will be given the remaining seats. Presumably, this will consist of other members of the public who’ve had no direct contact with the conflict, and who just want to go there to gawk, for want of a better word. Shameful!

America seems to be all mixed up at the moment as regards politics. After the euphoria following Barack Obama’s election to The White House, it now appears that Sarah Palin is very much in vogue again. Her debut as a political pundit has been hailed by a lot of the public as a success, and her book of memoirs is on top of the US bestseller lists. I’m not sure how true some of the comments attributed to her by critics were, such as being experienced in foreign relations because she could “see Russia” from Alaska, her home state, or that she was of the opinion that Africa was just the one country. Whatever the truth of the matter, she is either a very smart lady, or she has some very smart individuals advising her. She resigned as Governor of Alaska last July, ostensibly to shield her family from criticism, but in reality was probably a move which allowed her to escape ethics probes which subsequently found her guilty of numerous violations. Going by her popularity at the moment, it seems that a lot of the American people have short memories, and are quite happy to support someone who oozes sex appeal, and looks like a TV star.

Congratulations are in order for Flight Lieutenant Wills Wales, he who is second in line to the throne, for graduating from his RAF helicopter course. His girlfriend, Kate Middleton, will undoubtedly feel that much safer stepping into his chopper the next time that he drops into her garden to collect her.

I received my electricity bill today – not too heavy, I must admit, but it reminded me of Pablo Picasso, who, when he was poor, used to burn his paintings in order to keep warm. Unfortunately, we cannot all be painters!