Brexit

When this post is published, the United Kingdom will have left the European Union after 47 years. I am saddened by this, but not really surprised. It could have happened at the first appointed time, being 29 March 2019 - but politics stood in the way. Today is sad day, as one of my contacts put it. A transition period commences, which expires on 31 December 2020. That is the date when Brexit gets cemented in tablets of stone, and becomes scary. Eleven months is very little time to come to formal agreements, to take the place what is no longer possible through the cessation of EU membership. So much is yet unclear - so little time to clarify.

The European Union is a flawed organisation, too large, too bureaucratic and not fit for the purpose for which it was set up back in 1957. I hope some lessons have been learned from the departure of the United Kingdom, always a reluctant and recalcitrant member. Some people in the UK are rejoicing today; some are saddened. The three million EU nationals are anxious, as their fate remains unclear. The one million UK nationals in EU states are equally anxious, for the same reason. We'll know more come 2021.

Brexit Day -1

It just occurred to me. This is January 30th, 2020, the last full day that the United Kingdom will be a member of the European Union. Tomorrow evening at 11pm, GMT, Brexit will occur. A bad decision, executed in an inexecrable fashion, implemented with results that are unpredictable. We'll know more in 11 months' time. Eugh...

Nigel Farage, the leader of the Brexit party, flouted the rules in the European Parliament by flag-waving in the chamber as he made his final speech. I am not going to tribute him with any positive role in the Brexit process. There is no positivity in Brexit. One line I take is that it is an expression of internecine warfare within the ruling Conservative party, the other is that it shows the dangers of weak leadership: David Cameron and particularly Theresa May are glaring examples of that. Also, although the Brexit referendum showed a clear percentage in favour, it was not binding. However, there was no way that the outcome could be anything else but: Brexit.

Auschwitz Memorial Day 2020

Today it is 75 years ago since the infamous Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp was liberated by Soviet forces. More than a million people, mainly Jews, were killed there during the Second World War. The process was conducted as an industrial process. To date, some of the goods left behind by the victims of the Holocaust remain on display. These include suitcases with name tags, spectacle frames, hair and shoes. I have never visited Auschwitz and am not likely to.

January 27th is Holocaust Memorial Day, remembering all the victims of the Nazi's policy of extermination of all those they considered to be sub-human.

Holocaust Memorial Day remembers all victims of genocide.

We must never forget.

Ed Balls in Euroland

Former Labour politician Ed Balls is currently (late January 2020) running a series of programmes on BBC TV about the rise of nationalism in EU memberstates. He starts in the Netherlands, and covers the increase in feelings of national pride, the rise of the likes of Geert Wilders and Thierry Baudet (where is my bidet, sorry, baudet, sorry, bucket) - and the Zwarte Piet debate.

I have tweeted Ed to voice my feelings on the issue, and will copy the tweets below

Interesting take on the Netherlands. I'm Dutch, have lived in the UK since 1997. I'm familiar with the rise of nationalism in NL. Geert Wilders, to my mind, is a disgrace to NL. The Zwarte Piet debate is offensive to me. I was a child in the 1970s, and Sinterklaas & Zwarte Piet were innocent childplay, something that adults indulged their kids in during the dark months of Nov and Dec. Nothing racist about it. The cultural background places Sinterklaas in Spain which was occupied by black North Africans in the 8th century AD. Zwarte Piet is portrayed as a serf, but only jocularly so. This is something that people who never grew up in Holland just not get, and I'm sorry, neither have you. This daft debate has spoiled the tradition.

Please note that the programme can only be viewed in the UK for a limited period of time.

Burns' Night

It's January 25th, the night we in Scotland commemorate the national poet and writer: Robert Burns. Apart from Scots, he wrote equally fluently in English. His output is copious, and he could churn out a poem at the drop of a hat. Like this epitaph on a dentist's tombstone:

Stranger, approach this place with gravity
For here lies John Brown, filling his last cavity

For 2020, I copy these lines:

O, Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast

O, wert thou in the cauld blast
On yonder lea, on yonder lea,
My plaidie to the angry airt,
I’d shelter thee, I’d shelter thee.
Or did Misfortune’s bitter storms
Around thee blaw, around thee blaw,
Thy bield should be my bosom,
To share it a’, to share it a’

Or were I in the wildest waste,
Saw black and bare, sae black and bare,
The desert were a Paradise,
If thou wert there, if thou wert there.
Or were I monarch o the globe,
Wi thee to reign, wi thee to reign,
The brightest jewel in my crown
Wad be my queen, wad be my queen.

15 years ago today - 13 January 2005

Nice, benign morning, but cold. Remains of wintry showers on the ground. Bus arrived a little after 10. Had previously retrieved the dustbins and their contents (yuk) from the hill behind the hostel. Fair amount of damage along the road to Stornoway. Garage wrecked, trees down by the dozen, trailers overturned and an isolator dangling loose on a powerline. Bins as well - anyone missing their bin? It's sitting in the garden at 6 Back (Isles FM). A row of pinetrees is uprooted in Balallan, some trees have snapped halfway down the stem. Fences are blown over as well. A funeral causes a tailback on the A859 at Laxay, because mourners park on the road. A huge number of trees are blown over in Willow Glen, including the ones that were blocking the road a few days ago. Sandbags outside houses on Bayhead, seaweed on seats at the Bridge. The grounds of Lews Castle are devastated, scores of trees (300-400) blown down, situation remains precarious. Christmas lighting has been smashed all along the harbour front. In the town, repairs are being carried out on Cromwell Street, and on the corner of Kenneth Street and South Beach Street, where the Star restaurant was damaged by flying debris. Two boats lie wrecked on the shore next to the ferryterminal. Owners clamber over boulders to check their state. Weather absolutely perfect - sunny, not a breath of wind and not too cold. Incredible, after the storms. Boat came in for the first time after Tuesday morning. Lots of electricity vans came off. Spoke to a few shopkeepers about their experiences and overheard several people exchanging experiences and showing each other their damage. Nice "warm" and sunny. Had a meal at HS-1, to compensate for not having a hot meal for a few days. Went back on the 2.20 bus. Terrible story of a family of 5, grandparents, parents and kids aged 5 and 7. They had fled their house because of rising floodwaters in two cars. These got swept off the causeway between South Uist and Benbecula, and they all drowned. Eitsal transmitter is still off air. Now a gardenpond has ended up in the wrong garden. Not all schools will reopen in the morning. People are urged to check on elderly or infirm neighbours. Missing your oiltank? It's lying in the loch just as you get into Balallan. Fire at Benbecula Hospital, worsened by an oxygen tank. Visitors are helped to move patients out of the affected ward. On return to Kershader, the power was still off, but it should come back this evening. Can't wait... It's 4.35, and I'm back to writing by torchlight. Have a book with walks and a book with Lewis history to read. Laxay has its lights back on, lucky them. Still, could be worse. Gravir has no water as the pumping station at Garyvard has no power. Eating habits slightly altered. Soaking the porridge overnight. Everyone was plundering a rather empty Co-op of buns and the like, if their power was still off. Western Isles hospital will resume normal service tomorrow, it's been on an emergency footing since Tuesday. Staff stayed in overnight Tuesday/Wednesday on account of weather. New moon in the southwest at 5pm. Not completely dark at 5.30, 85 minutes after sunset (4.06); sun rises at 9.03. Balallan is lit up again - when do we follow? At 5.50, the lights are back on, 48 hours and 30 minutes after going off, leaving that brief spell at 6.23 on Tuesday to one side. Central heating boiler plays up, need to reset it continually. Electrics still seem to wobble. There are apparently still problems at Lemreway, 10 miles down the road. Mysterious flood in kitchen, hot water tank had a lot of water on the floor. The librarian in Stornoway library was blown all over the shop on Tuesday. Still no reception on FM, apart from Isles FM, so no BBC; and no TV reception either. Don't know when that's going to be back. Various bits and pieces on Isles FM, including a song with rude lyrics, which was cut short very quickly by the DJ. Frost expected tonight; busdriver nearly lost his bus on a patch of ice at Orinsay this morning. Power still off in many areas. At 8 o'clock were blacked out briefly. Schools remain closed tomorrow, good week for the kids. Nipped out at 8.30 to watch the stars. Saw the Milky Way and Jupiter in Gemini. Have the hot water and the hot shower back: bliss...

15 years ago today - 12 January 2005

Very disturbed night, with the wind shaking the building. Electricity remains off. Trains, planes, ferries: the lot are cancelled. Shop nextdoor is closed, a rooftile lies in front of the door and one tile has come off the roof of the centre next door. Storm has been rampaging through Stornoway, and high tide led to flooding. Overnight windspeeds: Barra 106 mph, Stornoway 99 mph (steady speed: 62 mph), North Rona (40 miles north of Lewis) 124 mph. Briefly ventured out at 12.30, found the minibus for the centre had lost all its windows on the windward side, blown in. Walked round to the top of the road, then doubled back through the moorland. Encountered Mr McLeod who stopped short of calling me mad for venturing out in this weather. Shower started, which changed to hail, and very strong winds. People are asked not to venture into the Lews Castle grounds, as trees are coming down. Likewise, the Willow Glen road. Caught the shoplady, so have beans and bread. There is no busservice today. There is no mains water in Gravir and Achmore. The Eitsal transmitter is off with stormdamage. The Co-op on Macaulay Road in S'way reopened at 3 after they fixed the roof. The sun comes through at 3.10. Funny, all the water had been blown out of the U-bend in the toilet early this morning. Had to flush in order to fill it up again. Electricity not expected back on until tomorrow evening. At 4.30, Laxay had the electric back on. Found that local supply comes across the loch from there.More than half the island is still without power, so as yet: hanging on in a rather cold hostel. Only one room heated on a gas-heater which smells. Went to bed at 8 - all the emergency lights are out and it's pitchdark.

15 years ago today - 11 January 2005

Gales forecast for today, so decided not to go out for walk. Could have done, in retrospect. The sun was out at 3pm, but then all hell broke loose. Alarming reports on Radio Scotland, no ferry, the Isle of Lewis did not leave Ullapool after the early sailing and Western Isles Council has closed libraries, schools for tomorrow. Calmac has cancelled sailings on ALL its routes. At 5.20pm the power went off. It's off in Uig (Lewis) and all of Lochs. There is no signal on the entire FM-band; the transmitter at Eitsal is off. Isles FM is still going as this has a separate transmitter in Stornoway. Power briefly came back at 6.23, but didn't last. Blue lights at Laxay, apparently police telling people to abandon their car journeys. Bins flying about at the back; I'll be retrieving them from the loch shore in a few days time. Isles FM keeps me posted with my battery powered radio. Radio Scotland on 810 kHz mediumwave reverts to football. What a night! Oh there was no TV signal either, when the power came back at 6.23. Pity it's dark. Before dusk, the caps on the waves were sheered off by the wind, at 4.15. People are being advised to stay in. Scaffolding on a site at South Beach Street in Stornoway has collapsed through the window of a restaurant across Kenneth Street. The A859 in Stornoway is shut between Newvalley and the Manor Roundabout. Only light indoors is from the emergency lights and my own little torch, by which I write this account. Storm rampages through every nook and cranny. All sorts of meetings are being cancelled. The causeway between North Uist and Benbecula may be closed. The hostel building is shaking in the wind. Skye Bridge closes at 7.15, other bridges in Scotland follow suit. No traffic goes down the A859 - it's pitch dark. Isles FM went off air at 7.32, leaving me with a silent FM band. The transmitter keeps going, but there is no signal from the Newton Street studios. Radio Scotland on mediumwave only has bloody football until 9.30, aaargh! I'm already bored. No lights anywhere, not in the village, not in Laxay across the water either.

On the military

The military do a job for us all that is as important as it is dangerous. Personally, I have friends in the military that have served in UN peace keeping missions in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. I have worked in the logistical support chain for the Dutch military, and appreciate the nature and challenges of their work. One of my friends was in Srebrenica in 1995 when that supposed UN safe haven was overrun by Bosnian Serb forces. The Dutch battalion was compelled, coerced and forced on pain of death to cooperate with Ratko Mladic as he rounded up and killed 7,000 men and boys from Srebrenica. Dutchbat were roundly condemned for their actions. I have always resented that. Not because they were Dutch. But because they were soldiers, doing as they were told by their political masters, who did not equip them for the task at hand.

Bliadhna mhath ur

Happy New Year and welcome to 2020. The third decade of the 21st century has arrived. I am currently taking an on-line course in Gaelic, hence the post title in that language. It means Happy New Year.

Just before 2 am on New Year's morning, I found myself at Sheol an Iolaire, the memorial installation on South Beach to observe the moment 101 years earlier when HMY Iolaire struck rocks. She sank some time later, which claimed the lives of 201 sailors. The biggest loss of life in British waters in peacetime. The official commemoration, at 2pm at Holm Point, was cancelled because of an in-bound gale.