Things Can Only Get 13

Friend of mine used to work at Birmingham's Industrial Research Laboratories. Much of his work involved carrying weights around to employ in destruct tests leaving him with great upper body strength and a fine physique. I recall that the ceiling light fixings in Aston Hall could carry eight times the weight of the chandeliers or, as he put it, 'A bloke could safely hang from them'. Funny but whenever I recall this story I think of Del Boy and Rodney.

If you asked Bob (for that is still his name) what he did for a living he proudly said 'I break things'.

Currently, around the world, democracy is being subjected to many destruct tests. It is proving pretty sturdy. The danger is always that a democratically elected dictator can, once in office, remove all the protections that would enable them to be ejected. Poland flirted with populism and returned. Turkey is looking as if it has been taken as far as it will go. Hungary is still a problem. Countries that border Russia do OK as long as they elect pro-Russian leaders. The USA is a basket case but currently the law is stopping former President Trump from getting to a place where he can become king of the castle and raise the drawbridge.

'Be you never so high, the law is above you' (said Thomas Fuller 1732). How are we doing? Well there's only respect for judges here up to a point. The tabloid press have called the appeal court judges 'enemies of the state' on a front page. The expressions 'liberal left lawyers' and the 'woke judiciary' are bandied around. And a massive misuse of law-making was recently employed to make it the law that Rwanda is safe, which is a dangerous precedent.

There are quite a few people swinging from the chandeliers of democracy but it is still taking the weight and giving off light.