Howard's in the trenches

Howard’s back! The great man our Chief Minister appears on MTTV and its the highpoint of the weekend for me. My weekend was of to a good start anyway I was doing my equivalent of ‘men in sheds’ which is called ‘men in beds’ and had a lie in to half past nine fortunately the arrival of the post (its always early on weekends) brought my hobby to a close. Breakfast consumed I scan the media and eventually reach MTTV.

Great minds think alike and first of all Moulton compliments our leader on his late summer/autumn attire - then they are off to the trenches literally:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPppT0vLfnY&feature=youtu.be

I pause the video to reflect that like Howard or loathe him he is the visible face of government at the moment all the rest have disappeared. I wonder why this is? Have the entire Cabinet had a falling out with Manx Radio or is it the hols. ‘The Head’ newsroom can be pretty petulant when they take an aversion to one. I must research if Ministers have said or done anything to isolate themselves from ‘the bunker on the hill’ or if they are just skiving.

No petulance with Moulton however he and Howard are in splendid form chatting about 1918 and ‘the war to end wars’. Howard gives his theory on how and why the war ended which seems to have something to do with 9000 odd Manxmen senselessly sending themselves to slaughter. I’m bound to say that my interpretation of its ending differs somewhat from Howards for example the German Navy effectively going on strike didn’t help. Anyway who am I to argue I’ll leave a determination to eminent historians, Howard and Ramsey Commissioners.

What's clear is wars are senseless especially if you are fighting them for some other bugger. If my dad (who fought and was injured in Normandy, Belgium and the Ardenne in WW2) taught me nothing he taught me that).

Curiously Howard avers that WW1 was fought for freedom - tell that to all the colonial troops who fought and died and then were denied freedom when they returned home. Even just a few miles from us over in Ireland they had to kick of a war of independence in 1919 which lasted for almost three years. So much for the freedom loving Brits.

Fortunately Howard emerges from his dugout and we meander on via student grants and the latest failures of Skelly and the Enterprise Department to the great man's favourite subject Brexit. As usual Howard is no wiser than the rest of us on Brexit a point which Moulton reminds him of - he’s getting a bit cheeky Paul!

I pause the video again and muse that the Krauts may have lost the war 100 years ago but in a few months when the UK is ignominiously ejected from the EU they will have won the rematch without a shot being fired. It's a funny old world.

Image: Howard and Paul exchange views on sartorial style before digging in on the Franco-German border

Bernard Moffatt