On The March

I, along with many of my right-leaning compatriots, have become used to being the target of partisan, at times unhinged, vitriol from the liberal left. It's par for the course here in the UK. As an admirer of Mrs.Thatcher, I learned to avoid unguarded moments when I was tempted to offer praise for all the positive things our former PM achieved for this country. Being a Thatcherite was always treated with disdain: the burning of her effigy, which I witnessed in Trafalgar Square just after her death, made me ashamed to be British. It was best to hold my counsel.

Now a leader has taken office in the USA whose unpopularity makes Margaret Thatcher appear almost saintly in the eyes of the public. There was one banner being carried down Whitehall yesterday suggesting President Trump is a threat to humanity. Some critics have likened him to Adolf Hitler, which is an appalling insult to every family still alive who lost a loved one at the hands of the Nazis.

Just as the 'remoaners' here in the UK described people like me who voted for Brexit as ill informed/stupid/closet racists/bigots, so anyone either side of the Atlantic daring to voice his or her support for Donald Trump is attacked in similar insulting terms.

Both the remoaners and the Hilary Clinton supporters agreed to the referendum/presidential selection rules beforehand, so why the sour grapes now? Because neither group expected to lose.

And what about the reason for these latest demonstrations in both America and here in the UK? President Trump has introduced a temporary ban on visa holders from seven countries: Iraq/Syria/Iran/Libya/Somalia/Sudan and Yemen. Such has been the unalloyed outrage you'd have thought he'd just ordered the countries' inhabitants to be slaughtered en masse. What's more, in 2001 plans were drawn up by the Bush administration to invade six of these countries! Any marches then? No.

In 2011 the then President Obama ordered the suspension of Iraqi visa requests for 6 months. Why didn't left wing Guardian columnist Owen Jones organise a march through the streets of London about that decision? Of course, it's only regarded as sinful/racist/barbaric/outrageous because the latest decision is made by the 'loathsome', bombastic Trump. Obama made his decisions in a much quieter, softer manner.

No protests, as far as I can gather, of Hilary Clinton receiving substantial financial support from Saudi Arabia for her election campaign. Why not?

And back here in Blighty, who has organised a march about our leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn's support of those cold blooded killers, the IRA?

And who has organised a march here in London about the woeful, disgusting practices carried out against women in so many parts of the Middle East? Female genital mutilation is about as depraved and abhorrent as it gets and it's still happening here in Britain. But, of course, no marches.

Oughtn't we make efforts to be less hypocritical? 63 million Americans voted for Trump and, in the biggest turnout since the Second World War, 52% of us voted for Brexit. Let's get some perspective on these puerile 'He's not my President'  'Brexit not in my name' comments. Otherwise, I'm going to organise a march of my own, simply as a representation of the silent majority.