Waxing Rich on the Gravy Train
Geoff Bacchus
t is widely suggested that the growing Isupport for UKIP is simply a detestation of rule from Brussels; not so, there is a greater and more urgent reason at
work.
From the time of Robert Walpole some three hundred years ago, and through to the early years of the last century, MPs were men of means who chose to serve the country that, had already served them well. They received no remuneration, and we should surely saw them as wishing to "give something back". That does not mean there were no rogues among them , but , broadly speaking, the country was served well by honourable men.
In 1947, the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Dalton uttered an indiscretion
just two days before his budget, which led some people to make fast gains. When this came to light, Mr Dalton promptly accepted responsibility and resigned. I was not old enough to understand what was involved , but I certainly observed the wide consensus of sympathy and respect for his honourable resignation. Things have become very different since those days.
During the nineteenth century, the widening of the franchise gave rise to men with a firm wish to serve, but no means to afford attending parliament. The parliament act of 1912 provided a modest salary so members could afford to travel between their homes and Westminster. In line with inflation the salary rose and Clement Atlee received £2,000 p.a. as leader of the opposition in
1952, a good income at that time and well deserved.
Subsequent developments have seen the arrival of generous expense allowances , massively increased salaries and gold plated pensions the private sector dare not dream of. The temptation of so much lucre finds our parliamentarians living oblivious to all moral values, and they are challenged only by our still free press.
During the past fifteen years, we have witnessed a nauseating level of greed and no respect remains for any of our political parties. There will be a preliminary skirmish come 22nd May this year, but in May 2015 I expect and indeed hope to see widespread electoral bloodshed.
The Gravy Train must stop. GB
theWINSPIRWINOGMEN
that time, all the colours were made from natural plant dyes, so they were mainly blue, red, green or fawn.
Over time , dress styles changed and overseas trade brought in silks from France and linen from Ireland, and different patterns in fabrics. A seamstress was one of the most important people in large houses, having to deal with clothing and furnishing needs. Nowadays , with synthetic dyes and fabrics, almost any colour and pattern can be reproduced. Drew brought dozens of samples of fabric to illustrate her talk, and it was very interesting to see how these had changed over the years.
The raffle winners this month were Barbara Hilton and Marion Stapleton. The competition was won by Jane Jones, with June Weston second and Angela Hancox third.
Newport Pagnell Women's Institute meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm in the Royal British Legion Club, and is always delighted to welcome new members. In May, we will discuss resolutions, followed by a 'DIY' night of beetle drive and quizzes, etc. For more information, please call Evelyn Mison on (01908) 615630 or just turn up on the night.
Newport Pagnell WI
Fabrics, Fashion and Furniture
nee again , it has been a busy 0 month for Newport Pagnell WI. This started on 2nd April when three ladies attended the Bucks Federation Council Meeting at the wonderful Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury. The formal business of the meeting was quickly dealt with , reassuring us that our organisation was in good hands and currently preparing a programme of events for the Wl 's 100th anniversary year in 2015. We were entertained by Mimi Harker, a very lively former Mayor of Amersham , who regaled us with stories from her time
in office.
She was followed by Patricia Pearce, the founder and leading light of Dreamflight , an organisation which takes sick and handicapped children on a trip to Disneyland , Florida.
The main speaker of the day was Chris Beardshaw, who most of us know from TV gardening programmes . His subject (and title of his current book), '100 Plants that Almost Changed the World', was not the dry horticultural lecture you might imagine , but a tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted look at familiar plants, including nettles, pineapple , potatoes and lettuce. There was a grain of truth in some of the stories, but Chris admitted that there was a certain amount
of 'poetic licence'. Regardless, he certainly had us all laughing at his tall tales.
A week later, Denman College held an open day and one of our ladies went to see what it was like . Thanks to Ravenstone WI , who organised a 16-seater minibus , reaching Denman was no problem and we all arrived on time at 10am.
After a welcome cup of coffee, we were all ushered into the cookery demonstration room to watch one of the tutors prepare a three-course meal , which looked and smelled delicious.
After lunch in the Lady Denman Restaurant, we were taken on a tour of several rooms in the main house , and two of the purpose-built bedroom blocks just a short walk away. We visited the cookery school, which was very impressive and fully equipped with twelve workstations for those doing a cookery course.
Finally, we went back to the main house for a look round the shop and a cream tea, before boarding our minibus for the journey home.
At our own meeting this month, our speaker was Drew Ellis and she spoke about 'Fabrics, Fashion and Furniture'.
She explained how in the 1600s young girls were expected to make all the tapestries and clothing required for their marriage. At
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