Stick heaven.

"All he had to play with was a stick, but he was the happiest he had ever been". One MP had a chat with one of the children from the remarkable BBC Wales series ‘The Coalhouse.’

 

A realistic picture of life in a mining village in the twenties had lessons for the way we live now. Now when poverty is measure as someone who has a Gameboy One but not a Gameboy Two we have forgotten much of the joy of simple play. The adults shared poverty forged links of comradeship. All confessed that they missed the communal life and longed to return to their mining cottages in spite of the squalor and poverty.

I vividly remember working class life in the war. The diet was simple but nutrious. The air raids added drama and excitement to the drab routine of school and church. Neighbourhood parties when peace came were unforgettable riots of singing, bonfires and dancing.

So much of our present lives are lived vicariously through soaps. Family and neighbour links are weak. The older children dreaded life without computers before they entered the cottages. Remarkably they rapidly adopted their standards into the deprivation and poverty of 80 years ago.

BBC Wales are planning a new series about the Coal House at War. BBC Wales had a breakfast meeting for MPs today. It was a pleasant change not to have to throw barbs at a visiting welsh Institutions. BBC Wales is part of the new blossoming success of devolved Welsh bodies.

Lib Dem sense

The tabloids will sing the praises of the Home Secretary tomorrow.

Those caught in possession of cannabis can be sent to jail for five years instead of two. Of course, we do not have any prisons that are not infested with cannabis, cocaine and heroin use. In as a cannabis user; out as a heroin addict.

I’m ashamed of both Labour and Tory frontbenches. They babbled inanities at each other. These decisions are evidence and science free. The LibDems made three sensible contributions. The Independent had a wonderful piece named ‘Reefer Madness’ that contradicted the foolish stance taken by the Independent on Sunday.

One of the sad unnoticed consequences of today’s work is that cannabis seeds will become illegal. There is a logic to it but the unintended consequences will be those with MS who import seeds and grow their own will now be deprived of their medicine. It’s a harmless practise and a victimless ‘crime’. In future the law will be able to bang MS patients up for five years.

My contribution was a restrained plea for the Government to back my Convention of Drugs that was approved by the Council of Europe. It seeks to shift the wasted £billions, spent on criminal justice solutions for drugs, to harm reduction solutions. The former have failed disastrously for the past 37 years. The latter work and reduce all drug harm.

BBC Wales Dragons Eye show are doing an item this week on the tragic consequences of the UK prisons drugs policies. It will include the sad account of the wasted lives of two of my young constituents. They were killed by the stupidity, indolence and cowardice of politicians. We witnessed more of that today.

Comments

[pedantic pete]

Paul said....

BBC Wales are planning a new series about the Coal House at War. BBC Wales had a breakfast meeting for MPs toady.

Please inform us which particular MP's toady you are referring to .

[Paul Flynn]

Oops!

Has been corrected