Further news from the A.N. Wilson column in The Daily Telegraph
Where is all this anger? In your head of course.
Hi! And if Our Leader may say so, lighten up a bit will you? Okay, so it has been the wettest June on record. But take a leaf out of the book of those kids who went to Glastonbury and turned it into a great opportunity for mudlarks. They were literally singing in the rain. So, anyway – welcome to Web site number 11. Welcome to what is, quite literally, the centre of the universe. Welcome indeed to Our Leader’s mind and heart.
Quite frankly, he’s disappointed in some of you. You have been getting anxious. That’s understandable, but it does not excuse disloyalty. ith the great handover of power, there are bound to be some people who find things difficult. Some of you have worries about the change from an "elected" assembly to the more normal Appointed Assembly, with power vested in the Leader at Westminster.
This is especially true of some people in the outlying provinces. Llew Smith, the appointed representative of Blaenau Gwent (apologies to most of you, who wont be able to pronounce it, let alone find it on the map!), claims that since the handover of power, he and his like have been gagged.
One or two others – Marek of Wrexham, Rowlands of Methyr Tydfil – have added their sheeps’ bleats to Llew’s. They are over excited by the question of whether the Wales Province is managed by the Central Appointed Council at Westminster, or by some council of their own. Calm down, Llew! Relax! Peter Mandelson has already made a very good joke of it. He says that for a man who has been gagged Llew is finding a lot to say for himself on the airwaves. But the people of the Wales Province should relax. No one is going to send tanks into Blaenau Gwent (Yet!) Our position is perfectly clear. During the referendum campaign about the future of Wales, Llew can say whatever comes into his head.
If, at the end of that campaign, he finds himself unable to vote for the party line, then he has an easy choice. He can accept the will of the People’s Party, or we can find him a job sweeping the roads in Blaenau Gwent. Let’s be clear. Dissidents are perfectly free in Our Party to express their point of view. That is altogether a different thing from traitors who try to confuse the People with their frankly disloyal talk about Our Leader. Do not suppose that it has passed unnoticed that another dissident from a far –flung province – Tam Dalyell – has expressed " considerable anger" at the amount of money being spent on the great Thousand Years of the New Party Exhibition at Greenwich.
These dissidents speak as follows: did Our Leader swim the Yangste River, fight the War of liberation, and transform Our Party by the Glorious Cultural revolution of 1995, only to hand back the reclaimed territories of Greenwich to a bunch of millionaires? Had we not promised, during our revolutionary struggle, to punish the Fat Cats of Capitalism? How then can we give McCormack £15 million simply to run the People’s Exhibition?
Our Leader can reply to that. He has spent the past seven weeks touring the world on a bicycle. Everywhere, he has been met by adulation and joy, Crowds run to catch a glimpse of his smile. Old ladies, kids, and the disabled all say :" The Sun always shines when Our Leader is here."
So, where is this anger, Tam? Isn’t it inside you really? Go and get yourself sorted out, or Peter will ask you something rather more difficult than the West Lothian question: such as whether we need tired Old Etonian has-beens littering the Appointed Assembly. So, let us move forward joyfully. Gordon Brown’s first Budget will keep all the Party’s election pledges not to raise tax. True, the 10 million of you who have not just made a £200,000 profit selling your Islington home will be spending just £30 or so more each month when mortgage tax relief is abolished.
Smokers, Drinkers, gas-guzzlers, old and middle-aged people, country-dwellers and town-dwellers will all gladly make their contributions. Surely to goodness it’s the kids that count. That’s why no one’s gagging anyone. No one’s making any promises they can’t deliver. Of course, when the flag came down for the last time, in provinces that had been represented at the Old Assembly by the Old Parties, there was inevitably some sadness. But we’ve got to look to the future, "You’d better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone – For the Times they are a Changin’."