Kiwiblog

Margaret Thatcher has died, aged 87.

I was fortunate enough to meet Margaret Thatcher around a decade ago. It was an incredible privilege to meet the woman who I regard as the best post-war Prime Minister we have seen.

But what I remember most about that function, was all the young Eastern European politicians who got to meet her. Words can’t describe their emotions as they met one of the people they regarded as having been crucial in helping secure them their freedom.  She was to them, what George Washington was to early Americans.

Of course her respect and popularity was far from universal. She would be disappointed if she ever traded popularity for doing the right thing. There are many who battled against her policies. But people go into politics to make a difference, and Thatcher was proof that one person with conviction and strength can make a huge difference.

People forget how crippled the United Kingdom was economically when she took over. She put the Great back into Great Britain. Her greatest legacy is that after 18 years of Conservative Governments, the new Labour Government basically retained most of her policies – and in some cases Tony Blair pushed her reform agenda further. She forced UK Labour to abandon socialism and embrace the free market. ironically she helped make Labour electable.

She wouldn’t surrender to the Soviet Empire, the IRA, Argentina or the Mining unions. If she thought her cause was just, she stood by it.

Her legacy is not just what she did as Prime Minister, but getting there. She was the daughter of a shop keeper from Grantham. To rise to the leadership of her party and country was an extraordinary achievement for the 1970s.

The Daily Telegraph has a collection of quotes and reactions. A few to highlight:

Paddy Ashdown

If politics is defined as having views, holding to them and driving them through to success, she was undoubtedly the greatest PM of our age.

Lech Walesa

She was a great person. She did a great deal for the world, along with Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II and Solidarity, she contributed to the demise of communism in Poland and Central Europe.

Vaclav Klaus

Thatcher was one of the greatest politicians of our time, in the Czech Republic she was our hero.

Tony Blair

Margaret Thatcher was a towering political figure. Very few leaders get to change not only the political landscape of their country but of the world. Margaret was such a leader. Her global impact was vast. And some of the changes she made in Britain were, in certain respects at least, retained by the 1997 Labour Government, and came to be implemented by governments around the world.

As a person she was kind and generous spirited and was always immensely supportive to me as Prime Minister although we came from opposite sides of politics.

Even if you disagreed with her as I did on certain issues and occasionally strongly, you could not disrespect her character or her contribution to Britain’s national life. She will be sadly missed.

Ed Milliband

She will be remembered as a unique figure. She reshaped the politics of a whole generation. She was Britain’s first woman Prime Minister. She moved the centre ground of British politics and was a huge figure on the world stage.

The Labour Party disagreed with much of what she did and she will always remain a controversial figure. But we can disagree and also greatly respect her political achievements and her personal strength.

She also defined the politics of the 1980s. David Cameron, Nick Clegg and I all grew up in a politics shaped by Lady Thatcher. We took different paths but with her as the crucial figure of that era.

She coped with her final, difficult years with dignity and courage. Critics and supporters will remember her in her prime.

David Cameron

She didn’t just lead our country, she saved our country.

I think she will come to be seen as the greatest Prime Minister our country has ever seen.

Her legacy will be the fact she served her country so well.. She showed immense courage.

People will be learning about her for decades and centuries to come.

Boris Johnson

Very sad to hear of death of Baroness Thatcher. Her memory will live long after the world has forgotten the grey suits of today’s politics.

Her final years were very tough. May she indeed now rest in peace, secure in the knowledge she will never be forgotten for what she achieved.

The Telegraph reports:

Sources have confirmed that the Coalition will not attempt to implement the Prime Minister’s plan for a 45p per unit minimum price.

Is that all? Labour MPs here were talking $2 a stand drink minimum price!

One Treasury source described the Prime Minister’s plan as “a remarkably stupid idea”.

The Daily Mail reports:

When three-year-old Rohid Zamani and his family fled Afghanistan to escape the terrors of the Taliban regime, they could only hope to reach a better place.

But never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined such a spectacular outcome for their little boy.

While the family have built a new life in Britain, Rohid, now 16, has defied overwhelming odds to win a full scholarship to Eton.

His extraordinary story began in the city of Jalalabad, where the Zamanis lived in fear of the extremist Islamic rulers and civil unrest raging around them.

Among the horrors they witnessed was a man who was decapitated because he put gel in his hair to style it.

‘He was dragged out in the street and they chopped his head off,’ said Rohid.

Afghanistan is far from perfect today, but those who claim it is no better than under Taliban rule have never lived there!

Rohid’s father, who worked as a civil engineer, decided to risk everything by fleeing the country with his wife and two children.

Their journey took them across 3,500 miles, including crossing rivers in Russia in a leaking rubber dinghy.

Rohid said: ‘My mum was scared we were going to sink. She put her hand on the hole.

‘I was really scared. After that we had to wait for a van and the van broke down so we had to go through a forest.

‘There were wolves and dogs, everybody was just so scared.’

The family also became separated at one point.

They spoke no English when they arrived in Hull but they soon adapted and were allowed to settle in the UK. And Rohid showed his dedication to learning early on.

An incredible journey.

As well as being bright and hard-working, he excelled at rugby league and athletics. When the school suggested Rohid apply for an Eton scholarship he jumped at the chance and was among hundreds who took part in a tough four-day interview process.

‘Luckily I was picked so I must have done OK,’ he said. 

He starts at sixth form in September, studying A-levels in maths, biology, chemistry and physics.
Rohid’s father now works as a van driver – but the family won’t have to pay a penny of the £30,000 annual fees and have been given a £1,500 bursary to help cover school uniform and other expenses.

The teenager now knows there is no limit to what he can achieve. He hopes to become a surgeon. Commenting on the Eton life that awaits him, he said: ‘It’s a huge step, a bit like going to university two years early.

When people talk about equality of opportunity – this is what it means. A very heart-warming story.

Reuters reports at Stuff:

Cameron’s political future and historic legacy are on the line. He has pledged to contest the next British general election in 2015 and his own Conservative party would never forgive him if he presided over the break-up of a United Kingdom comprising England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

On the contrary many Conservatives would love Scotland to leave the UK.

In 2010 The Conservatives got 1 seat out of 59 in Scotland. With Scotland they were 306 out of 650 – a minority. Without it they would be 305 out of 591 – a majority.

In October 1974 the Conservatives got 16 out of 71 in Scotland and Labour got 41. With Scotland Labour won on 319 out of 635. Without Scotland Labour would not have had a majority and the Conservatives may have been able to govern.

In February 1974 the Conservatives got 297 seats, Labour 301 out of 635. Without Scotland it would have been Conservatives 276, Labour 261 out of 564. The Conservatives would have been given first chance to govern.

In 1964 the Conservatives got 304 seats, Labour 317 out of 630. Without Scotland it would have been Conservatives 281, Labour 273 out of 559 and a Conservative Government.

Opinion polls suggest support for independence has stalled. The latest put it at 32 per cent and opposition at 47 per cent. But Cameron and politicians from other parties remain nervous.

If the economy was stronger, independence would have a better chance. But people want security when times are tough. Hence a change is unlikely.

Some Scottish friends have suggested to me the eventual shape of the UK will be as a Federation of four countries.

The Telegraph reports:

Mr Cameron pledged an in-out referendum in the first half of the next parliament as democratic consent for membership is currently “wafter thin”.

The Telegraph reports:

Home secretary Theresa May said the Government will accept a House of Lords amendment to remove the word ‘insulting’ from Section 5 of the Public Order Act.

Excellent. It should not be a crime to be insulting.

Six years ago police tried to prosecute Oxford student Sam Brown after he said to a mounted officer: “Excuse me, do you realise your horse is gay?”

Some interesting results from a You Gov poll in the UK:

•  48% support tax reductions for businesses with 33% opposed
• Only 19% support tax reductions for high earners
• Only 3% support the planned 5% increase in the EU budget
• 57% support a referendum being held on UK membership of EU
• 49% would vote to leave the Eu and only 32% would vote to stay
• 46% want the UK in an EU that is a free trade area only, 19% want the EU as it is, and 26% want the UK completely out of the EU
• 63% say prisoners should not be able to vote, and only 17% say those serving sentences of less than four years should be eligible to vote
• 78% say the Church of England should allow female Bishops, with 10% against only

If any readers in London have any jobs going (anything from service industry to retail to policy to anything at all), a friend of mine is over there at the end of a round the world OE and looking for work. She used to work for me, so can handle difficult bosses no trouble

If you have any work available, or know someone who does, let me know and I can pass your contact details on.

She’s a great worker, and used to help run most of Curia for me so I’d have time to blog and not have to worry about stuff such as staff, rosters, admin, finance, HR etc. (I am a good delegator!) Has a degree, and very personable. Only weakness is she is from Hamilton , but her degree is from Victoria so it’s a real degree

Stuff reports:

Scotland will hold a vote in 2014 on independence in what could result in the eventual breakup of Britain, a British government minister said on Tuesday.

The announcement ended months of stalemate between the Westminster government in London and the Scottish devolved administration in Edinburgh.

‘‘What will happen is that Westminster will devolve the power to the Scottish parliament to hold a single-question referendum on whether Scotland should be in or out of the United Kingdom,’’ Scotland Office minister David Mundell told Sky News.

‘‘We anticipate that happening in autumn 2014.’’

A straight up and down vote is a win for David Cameron. The SNP wanted an in-between option which would have seen them gain powers without responsibility.

Support for independence is well under 40%, and hard to see that changing. Personally I’m not sure it would be an entirely bad thing, as losing Scotland would mean Conservative Governments almost always in the rest of the UK. And the SNP would then have no reason to exist, once Scotland was independent.

What chance Scotland would join the Euro  or even the EU, based on the current situation in Europe? Pretty low.

The Telegraph reports:

The Liberal Democrats’ decision to oppose boundary changes is a major blow to David Cameron as this would have boosted his chances of re-election.

The Liberal Democrats have historically supported boundary changes. Mr Clegg has previously said it was important to fix the “broken scales of our democracy” by making the size of constituencies more equal.

However, the deputy Prime Minister said he took a “mature” decision to block a policy favoured by the Conservatives to make sure the Coalition is a fair and equal partnership.

That’s an appalling decision. Boundary reform should be supported because it is the right thing to do, not because the Conservatives want it and blocking it punishes them. How can the Lib Dems say they support a fairer electoral system, yet vote to maintain an electoral gerrymander?

At the moment, constituencies vary widely in size which gives Labour an electoral advantage.

Equalising the size of boundaries could have meant that the Conservatives would win between six and 20 more seats at the next election.

NZ has it right, where by law all boundaries must be of the same size within a 5% tolerance. It is wrong that those who live in one electorate have their vote count for more than in another. The average pop per electorate in the UK is:

• England 72,522
• Northern Ireland 67,387
• Scotland 66,807
• Wales 57,464

English voters are seriously disenfranchised - and worse they are the only ones totally governed by Westminster. MPs from Scotland and Wales vote on laws that affect England only.

On an individual electorate level the Isle of Wight electorate has 110,900 electors and Na h-Eileanan has just 21,985. So their votes are five times more powerful than the Ise of Wight – absolutely undemocratic – yet supported by Labour and now the Lib Dems as it keeps the left in power.

Even within England there are regional differences. The North East has an MP per 68,511 people and the South West has an MP per 75,644.

By party the average Conservative MP represents 73,010 voters and the average Labour MP 69,441. Lib Dems 70,021 – so no surprise they oppose principled reform.

The Herald reports:

British authorities unveiled an ambitious plan to log details about every Web visit, email, phone call or text message in the U.K. and in a sharply-worded editorial the nation’s top law enforcement official accused those worried about the surveillance program of being either criminals or conspiracy theorists.

An outrageous proposed law. Private communication should be logged and recorded once a warrant is granted. But they should not otherwise be routinely recorded and stored by legislative fiat.

Yet plenty of people were worried, including a senior lawmaker from May’s governing Conservative Party.

“This is a huge amount of information, very intrusive to collect on people,” David Davis, one of the proposal’s most outspoken critics, told BBC radio. “It’s not content, but it’s incredibly intrusive.”

Human rights defenders were aghast. Privacy group Big Brother Watch said the proposal risked turning Britain into a “nation of suspects.” Civil rights organisation Liberty said the law would mean the “indiscriminate stockpiling of private data.”

Absolutely.

The bill would force providers companies such as the BT Group PLC or Virgin Media Inc. to log where emails, tweets, Skype calls and other messages were sent from, who was sending them, who they were sent to, and how large they were. Details of file transfers, phone calls, text messages and instant conversations, such as those carried over BlackBerry Messenger, would also be recorded.

The bill demands that providers collect IP addresses, details of customers’ electronic hardware, and subscriber information, including names, addresses, and payment information.

What May didn’t mention in her editorial and the Home Office left off its press release was that the government also is seeking to keep logs of citizens’ internet history, giving officials access to the browsing habits of roughly 60 million people including sensitive visits to medical, dating, or pornography websites.

This is simply horrendous.

In a statement to fellow lawmakers, May struck a measured tone, saying she recognized “that these proposals raise important issues around personal privacy” but that the law would be balanced.

She was less measured in The Sun, where she dismissed worries that the bill would stomp on free expression as “ridiculous claims” dreamed up by “conspiracy theorists.”

“Without changing the law the only freedom we would protect is that of criminals, terrorists and pedophiles,” she said.

Yeah, right.

The Daily Telegraph reports:

Under-performing civil servants will be identified and fired under plans to rank all government officials in order of ability, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Now that would be a fun league table to compile!

Sweeping plans to overhaul the civil service are expected to be published within the next month. They are bound to infuriate public sector unions who yesterday staged another day of industrial action.

According to the Cabinet Office, there are currently 434,000 civil servants, the lowest number since the Second World War, as a result of an efficiency drive by the Coalition.

At the time of the last general election, in May 2010, the civil service numbered more than 500,000.

NZ had around 39,000 public servants and it is now around 36,000. A fairly modest 7% reduction compared to the 12% or so in the UK.

However interesting to note the UK has one civil servant per 143 people, and NZ is one per 119 people.

Ruth Porter writes in the Telegraph:

Today the pasty is fighting back, but it shouldn’t be. For years it has enjoyed a special exemption and privilege which it should never have had. Companies and consumers of hot pasties have benefited unfairly while fish and chip shop owners and consumers who preferred pizza have had to pay more. Through a strange anomaly bakery goods were exempt from VAT, the Budget changed that, but today Cornish MPs are objecting to the change. Other MPs are now complaining about another reform which will see certain types of caravans subject to VAT as well. …

Britain’s VAT system is a mess, with arbitrary exceptions all over the place. In recent years this has led to absurd legal battles over whether Pringles are crisps and whether Jaffa Cakes are cakes or biscuits.

A report from the think tank Reform showed how inefficient the current zero and reduced rates are. Citing evidence from the OECD and looking at how our system is one of the most complicated in Europe. They suggested exemptions total more than £30bn. This £30bn could be given back to people in more efficient tax cuts. …

Other countries like New Zealand manage perfectly well with a much simpler GST system. We should follow their example.

But we can not take our simple system for granted. The Greens and Maori Party want to bastardise it, and Labour campaigned last election on doing the same. It looks like that policy will be dropped, which is a good thing.

If you are interested in British politics you can follow Ruth on Twitter, @ruthoporter.

Yay. Boris Johnson has been re-elected Mayor of London, beating the loathsome Ken Livingstone. This is despite a big backlash against the Conservatives and Lib Dems. Labour picked up almost 800 Council seats in a good night for them. The UK Independence Party also polled well.

The first round saw Boris get 44.9% and Livingstone 41.1%. After preferences were re-allocated it was 51.5% to 48.5%.

Ken Livingstone in his concession speech said that this result settles the next leadership contest for the Conservative Party, and I think he is right. When Cameron’s time is up, Boris will have huge support to take the top job.

The Herald reports:

A UK student who posted a series of racist comments on Twitter following footballer Fabrice Muamba’s cardiac arrest has been jailed for 56 days.

Liam Stacey, 21, caused widespread revulsion by reacting to Muamba’s mid-game collapse by writing: ‘LOL [laughing out loud], **** Muamba. He’s dead!!! #haha.’ He responded to criticism of that message with vile racist tweets. …

Stacey initially claimed his account had been accessed by somebody else, but later pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment. He was sent to prison to “reflect the public outrage” at his comments.

Stacey also faces expulsion from Swansea University. The third-year biology student had hoped to become a forensic scientist. Describing his tweets, prosecutor Louise Barron told the court: “The offence is clearly racially aggravated.

“There was sustained and gratuitous racism. These were unprovoked comments and persistent abuse. The recipients were disgusted.”

Jailing the student at Swansea Magistrates’ Court, District Judge John Charles said: “Not just the footballer’s family, not just the footballing world, but the whole world were literally praying for Muamba’s life. Your comments aggravated this situation.

“I have no choice but to impose an immediate custodial sentence to reflect the public outrage at what you have done.”

Now let’s be very clear. His comments were vile and racist. Some of his actual tweets are here. He absolutely deserves to be vilified in turn, to be kicked out of his university etc. Gloating that someone may die as they have collapsed on live television is awful.

But should someone go to jail just for saying something which is racist and offensive? I am uneasy about that. I think they should be exposed and suffer consequences as most people will shun them for what they said. But I think a prison sentence for a 21 year old who did some racist tweets is not a good thing.

The Telegraph reports:

George Osborne has been mocked by MPs over his “pasty tax” after it emerged people could avoid paying VAT on hot baked goods if they wait for them to cool in the shop.

These are the sort of stupidities you get when you don’t have a clean GST like we have in NZ. Labour’s pledge to exempt fresh fruit and vegetables was bad public policy, and will lead to situations like the above. For exampel frozen peas might have GST on them, but if you waited to thaw them, then would they be exempt?

The talk in the UK is of when the vote on Scottish independence should be. Amusingly the UK Conservative Government wants it early and a straight up and down vote, while the Scottish SNP Government wants it in 2014 and a third option of great devolution. I suspect this is because they are realising what full independence may cost.

Losing Scotland would be great for the Conservative Party. The House of Commons is currently:

• Conservative 305
• Labour 255
• Lib Dems 57
• Others 33
• Total 650

You need 326 to govern.

59 seats are in Scotland. Remove them and you need 296 to govern. And the House of Commons would be:

• Conservative 304
• Labour 214
• Lib Dems 46
• Others 27
• Total 591

So the Conservatives would then have an absolute majority in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Scotland as an independent country would presumably not be able to keep the pound, and would adopt the Euro instead. Can’t see that being too popular.

That is why I suspect the SNP don’t want full independence anymore – it would cost too much. They want all the powers of independence, but none of the responsibility.

Cameron should stay firm and insist on a straight up and down vote.

Technically I suppose the England riots, as they are also in Birmingham.

Stuff reports:

Some have branded the disturbances as a cry for help from impoverished areas reeling from the government’s harsh austerity cuts to tackle a big budget deficit

A cry for help?

It sounds like it might take the Police days to regain control of the streets. I wonder if they may have to call the Armed Forces in to assist?

The wedding ceremony took place outside Lytham Hall. It was a superb location, and the sun shone all day.

The opening hymn was Jerusalem, which in the beautiful English countryside was so appropriate. Then there was a reading, of “Oh The Places You’ll Go” by Dr Seuss.

A second hymn was Amazing Grace – a favourite for weddings. Then we had the vows, and after the vows, a simply amazing rendition of Po Kare Kare Ana by Michelle Tufnell. Michelle had never heard it sung before, and learnt it by listening to recordings of others singing it. She got it absolutely perfect and I was not surprised to learn she is a professional singer.

Finally the ceremony ended with Vangelis’ Conquest of Paradise.

Afterwards we had Georgian Tea and Wedding Cake, plus a performance by the Fylde Coast Cloggers – who are basically Morris Dancers in Clogs. I joked to Shane that he had combined his wedding with the Green Party AGM

This portrait inside Lytham Hall made me think of Paul henry because at first glance it looks like a lady with a moustache. But in fact the portrait is of Sir Cuthbert Clifton, the original landowner.

Myself outside the hall.

Shane and Erica doing the first of many dances.

It was a wonderful wedding, and a great end to a very enjoyable 16 days in the UK. I’m now back in London, staying at the Sheraton Heathrow until my flight tomorrow.

Drove around 1,750 miles over the trip, or 2,800 kms. I think my right foot has a blister on it

On Thursday we left the Isle of Skye and drove to Glasgow. Just past the Kyle of Lochalsh, is the Eilean Donan Castle. It has featured in many films, especially the great Highlander.

On the road to Fort William is this memorial to the British Commandos who were established in WWII to attack behind enemy lines, and those who have served since. There’s also a section for photos and memorials, which include some who died very recently in Afghanistan.

We drove for many miles alongside Loch Lomond. Have been there before but can’t get enough of it.

We spent Thursday night in Glasgow and it was very pleasant. Our apartment was in the golden mile, so hundreds of cafes and restaurants around. Like Cardiff, Glasgow, has changed a lot from its traditional image.

On Friday arrived in Lytham St Annes for pre-wedding drinks. We are staying at The Grand hotel and I love the room with six large windows in a semi-circle meaning it gets lots of sun.

We are on the South Promenade next to the beach, so the views from the room is very English coastal.

Popped into St Annes for lunch, and found this nice pub called The Victoria. You get a massive lunch for three and a half pounds.

Is now Saturday and the wedding is in two hours so time to get ready!

I asked earlier this year on the blog where to visit in Scotland, and by far the most common response was the Isle of Skye which is the most northerly of the Inner Hebrides.

You really only appreciate how far north you are by the fact that it only started to get dark at 11.30 pm. No seriously.

The drive from Edinburgh to the Isle of Skye was six hours, but the scenery was magnificent Lochs and hills everywhere. This photo is of the Laggan Dam on Loch Laggan. Water from the dam flows three miles by tunnel to Fort William.

A typical view along the way.

In the distance is the Skye Bridge which connects Skye to mainland Scotland.

Many of the roads on the island are single width but two-way, so every 200 metres or so there are indents where you can pull over to let ongoing traffic through.

Went on a tour of the wonderful Talisker Distillery and learnt all about how crucial the shape and size of the stills are. Also got to taste their product and happily purchased a bottle of their 57 north single malt. I would have loved to have got their 30 year bottle but the price was rather steep.

A view from the “capital” Portree.

We drove around the north of the island, and it was all views like this. I stopped for so many photos I was asked if I intended to stop at every corner, and my response was only the corners with great views. The response to that, is that is pretty much every corner.

Looking down a very steep cliff, you can see the large boulders at the bottom through the clear ocean.

This is known as Kilt Rock.

We only discovered this by chance. As driving around the coast by Kilmuir, we noticed this cemetery inland a few hundred metres. This is the resting place of Flora MacDonald who as a 24 year old helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape the authorities by having him pose as her Irish spinning maid, Betty Burke.

Samuel Johnson said of her “a name that will be mentioned in history, and if courage and fidelity be virtues, mentioned with honour.”

This is the cottage we stayed in near Edinbane on the Isle of Skye. It was wonderfully remote.

The Three Chimneys Restaurant is not only the best food on the island, but is rated one of the top five restaurants in all of Scotland. They managed to fit us in for a late dinner at 9.45 pm. Normally might be weird eating so late, but as it stayed light until midnight, it was actually wonderful being able to gaze out the window at Loch Dunvegan, at 11.30 pm

This was my entrée – a haddock omelette. Words can not describe how divine it was. It was the best of food, helped down with some champagne, a Wild Earth pinot noir from Central Otago and finally some dessert wine. All with the sun setting over the beautiful loch. The highlight of the holiday.

The road home was one of those narrow single width ones, but even worse there were hundreds of sheep sleeping next to or even on the road. Crazy fun.

A typical highland cattle.

And when you combine rain and sun (which sorts of sums up Scotland), you get a rainbow.

On Monday driving from Darlington to Edinburgh and got distracted by a sign pointing to Hadrian’s Wall. So we turned off the motorway and headed to Chesters where they not only had section of Hadrian’s Wall intact, but remains of Cilurnum, a roman cavalry fort. This was the commander’s quarters.

This is the River North Tyne, and you can see on the far side the remains of the wall continuing on. There was originally a bridge here of course.

The location also has a museum with hundreds of well preserved artefacts, especially engraved stones.

Nearby was this lovely field of poppies.

And another section of Hadrian’s Wall.

The border between England and Scotland is well marked, unlike the Welsh one. They have some mobile retailers selling food and souvenirs at the border, plus large rocks with Scotland marked on one side and England on the other.

Had a well located apartment in Edinburgh, just up the road from Holyrood. My second visit to Edinburgh – a truly lovely city.

No caption needed!

Caught up with an old friend and colleague at Monteiths. Most of the bar was inside, but they had covered over this alleyway to create an enclosed outdoor area.

A statue of the great Adam Smith.

Had to head back into England for the stag party. We detoured off the M4 to Bath for lunch. Didn’t have much time to look around, but seemed quite a nice city.

The stag do was very civilised – a black tie affair at one of the private clubs.  Gin and tonics before dinner, wine during dinner and port after dinner. Lots of very funny speeches.

On Saturday headed to the famous Portobello Market in Notting Hill. It is huge, and has different sections ranging from antiques to fruit & veg to new goods to fashion to second hand goods.

We grabbed lunch at the aptly named Duke of Wellington pub, where this photo is from.

The apartment for the weekend was on Tower Bridge Road, and they lifted the bridge for this boat during our stay.

Sunday was the start of the drive up to Scotland. We drove via Cambridge and spent three hours looking around there. This is the Round Church, more formally known as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

In the UK they are very unimaginative with their street names. Almost every castle we went to in Wales was located on Castle Street. This church was on Round Church Road and the parking building was on, yes, Park Street.

This is inside Queens’ College, Cambridge. What a wonderful place to study at.

The River Cam. As you can see there is almost a traffic jam with all the punts. They have touts asking you every 50 metres or so whether you want to punt on the river. They were almost as bad as the touts in Egypt. It would be nice to punt on the river, but only if not crowded.

The famous Mathematical Bridge, at the back of Queens’.

After Cambridge we drove to Darlington, where we stayed the night. There are no photos of Darlington as there was nothing to see!

Drove west over to Swansea and the Gower Peninsula. Very amused to find these cows sleeping in the middle of a roundabout. This was not unique – unlike NZ, many Welsh farms are not fenced in. Cows, sheep and even horses roam next to and across some of the roads.

All along Gower, there are cliffs and the ocean. Magnificent views.

Many of the roads are what I call tree tunnels. They are barely wide enough for one car, but believe it or not are two-way roads. Beautiful roads to drive along, but you drive very slowly and should be prepared to reverse often.

These are the remains of Oxwich Castle. It is also home to a display about the history of Wales which was very interesting.

This is the view from the Worm’s Head Tavern at Rhossili. Had a nice lunch here and the views are to die for. Which would happen if you fell over the edge.

This sheep is enjoying the good life.

If you walk for a km or so you get to the western most point, where you can descend down and at low tide cross over to the “Worm’s Head”. it does indeed look like a worm with a head. You need to time it carefully as if you stay over there for too long, you will be trapped for 12 hours.

Another view of the beach at Rhossili

These horses are at Cefn Bryn.

This is Arthur’s Stone. The legend is he threw a stone from Llanelli which landed here. In reality is is a burial site from the neolithic period, so is up to 10,000 years old.

The ruins of Swansea Castle in Swansea.

The interior of Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff.

Outside the cathedral they’ve got hectares of old cemeteries to rumage through.

This is Caerphlliy Castle, north of Cardiff. It is the second largest in the UK, and well worth a look around.

On the way out of Wales, popped into Caerleon. It was home to a Roman legion and fort, and one can see the remains of Roman baths plus this amphitheatre. There is also a free museum with artefacts from the era.

Caerleon is also where Camelot was located according to Geoffrey of Monmouth.

Leaving Wales via the second Severn Bridge – 5 kms long.

I was not planning to visit Wales as traditionally the reputation of Cardiff especially has been rather dour. But really glad we did. Cardiff is a lovely city, and South Wales is beautiful – the Gower Peninsula especially was just great to drive around.

I’m back in London for two days. About to head off to a black tie stag party tonight, and tomorrow night am hosting with Rotorua MP Todd McClay, a pub talk on the latest in NZ Politics.

The event is on Facebook.

If you are in London and free early Saturday evening, come along to the The Old Star pub next to the St James Tube. It’s address is 66 Broadway, Westminster, London SW1H 1DB. We’ll be there from 5.30 pm in the Upper Function Room and probably wrap up around 7.00 pm. I suspect a few of us will head out to dinner afterwards.