Rainy Tuesday

The rain teemed down from early this morning until late this afternoon.  This meant that nobody was going to venture outside unless they really had to and only one visitor braved the rain and two others attended an arranged meeting with one of our girls.  The crowds did not appear and the nearby cafe closed before noon as not one person was making their way inside, even the taxi drivers were unwilling to cross the road for coffee!  They have never closed that early before, good job I wasn't hungry.

So quiet was it that while my back was turned my assistant ran off home leaving all the work to me.
The term 'work' regarding today's situation is of course misleading.
After she left I went into the office because I was beginning to feel lonely!  
A quieter day would be hard to imagine.

The weather system that passed over brought high force winds.  This must have pleased many as this meant those people plodding around the streets begging for votes could not make their way through the streets because of the rain.  It is unlikely the public would take pity on them!

However Theresa was still 'meeting the public' although as one man pointed out they ought to have taken the blue rosettes off first before taking the picture.  She then went back into a box surrounded by loyal supporters holding up placards and cheering sullenly.
These photo opportunities political candidates go in for fool nobody so why do they do them?  Surely it must be possible to arrange something that does not make the candidate look very uncomfortable or have them shown up by a six year old.  I realise that for some meeting people is fraught with danger, remember John Prescott being punched by a Tory thug, the press outcry blamed him for retaliating but that was the correct thing for an ex-boxer to do!  There was no press outcry in Sheffield when the Labour MP at the time had a fridge dropped on him, and miss, from four floors above however.  In that district that was not uncommon!  
It was quite late in Victorian days before the secret ballot was adopted, until then candidates shouted from a rostrum unto their hearers knowing that as the big man of the area had chosen him the voters, then few in number, would vote for him, or else.  Those close contested affairs resulted in violent punch-ups and riots could easily occur.   Similar events, without actual riots, were not uncommon even in the late 1960's when speaking to an audience brought opposition crowds along to oppose.  This suited the type of orator who knew how to browbeat an audience, but not all could do this and few of today's lads and lassies would cope with an open objective audience questioning their opinions.  That is why so many debates do not occur, and even then the audience is controlled both personally and by those arranging the debate.
What a shame we have no Gladstones, no Lloyd Georges, no powerful speakers or major politicians today.  Not that I liked Lloyd George, he was a lying we nyaff who made Tony Blair appear honest!  Today the politicians are small men, Corbyn, Boris, May and the rest may be competent in one sense but the big men from the past would shove them aside if they returned.

The last day tomorrow, then we vote on Thursday, praise the Lord for that!