Thou shalt not kill

Thou shalt not kill 

    is the fifth commandment given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai as recorded in the Book of Deuteronomy chap5 verses 1-2. It has remained true to all the main religions and all democracies since. Yet in 2019 the USA gives immunity to the suspect in the killing of a motorcyclist in England.

Anne Sarcoolis the wife of an American diplomat stationed in England, driving on the wrong side of the road, mowed down and killed a teenage motor cyclist outside RAF Creighton a military base in Northamptonshire.

Diplomatic Immunity was claimed and she returned to the USA without charge. The police subsequently reported that there have been several accidents with American drivers in that area.

She is not the first who has hidden behind the curtain of diplomatic Immunity after committing serious crimes.

What is most confusing is that the USA, Britain’s closest ally should have upheld that unfair ruling. Our two countries have fought side by side throughout two world wars and much smaller uprisings since. Our soldiers have supported each other often risking their lives for the other. We share the same language and the same values. We pray to the same God.

How can the political and judicial leaders in the USA uphold this judgment?

There will be a time in the future when Mrs. Sarcoolis’s husband retires. Then she will no longer enjoy Diplomatic immunity.  Be sure that the law which has a long memory will then seek her out

Solving the NHS dilemma

                                          SOLVING THE NHS DILEMMA

In her book ‘The Life Project (2016)’ page 393 Helen Pearson writes

     ‘Quite how the NHS is going to cope with the enormous expense of an

     ageing the population is the topic of regular talks and hand-wringing at a  

     very high level of the health service but no one seems to have come

     up with any clear solutions to the problem’

This question remains unanswered as Minister after Minster repeats the mantra free at the point of need.

The reality is that in time unless something is done, the NHS will bankrupt the country as more and more other vital services will be sacrificed on its altar.

BUT there is a solution, one which the government has been reluctant to grasp,

that is:

       PAYMENT/or INSURANCE FOR CERTAIN MEDICAL CONDITIONS.

This is not so revolutionary as the public has already accepted payment for prescriptions and dental care as the dike has been breached.

What is needed is an agreed Parliamentary statement outlining the principals underlying payment for National Health services as follows:

1 A condition which is wholly caused by the individual’s life choice but not life threatening. E.g. sport

2 A treatment which is chosen for cosmetic reasons.

3.A condition that is directly caused by lifestyle choices.

4. Patients over 75 with secure incomes.

 Applicable if the individual is a wage earner or supported by a wage earner. Earning > £20,000 a year

IT IS NOT TOO LATE

The UK is currently negotiating an agreement to leave the EU some seventy years after peace was declared in Europe; after a war the horror of which most present-day UK citizens never knew or have completely forgotten.

As the spirit of nationalism walks the streets and cities of the UK, it is not too late to remind the people that the two world wars were fought because of Nationalism.

In WW2, Germany under Hitler set out to subjugate the countries of Europe and at its height occupied Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Yugoslavia.

Following the peace treaty, the efforts of the peacemakers established the League of Nations and later the United Nations aiming to produce a system of arbitration to defuse potential wars. 

Albert Schweitzer in his 1954 Nobel Peace prize lecture said:

Even today, we live in an age characterized by the absence of peace; even today, nations can feel themselves threatened by other nations; even today, we must concede to each nation the right to stand ready to defend itself with the terrible weapons now at its disposal

Nationalism of the worst sort was displayed in the last two wars, and it may be regarded today as the greatest obstacle to mutual understanding between peoples

Yet we in Brexit are planning to cut our ties with the organization of the EU that arguably has been the instrument of peace in Europe for over 50 years.

But it is not too late to jettison the whole EU enterprise and return to the path of cooperation and mutual support.  Say No! to Brexit