Cecil Rhodes once said: "to be born English is to win first prize in the lottery of life". As a baby boomer growing up and going to school in the 1950's and early sixties, being taught to be proud of my country, our history, empire and its development into the Commonwealth, I always felt extremely privileged to be born British and fully agreed with that famous statement made by Rhodes, who in my youth was a famous and much celebrated Englishman. In those days I knew I lived in a country that was free, democratic and tolerant to all opinions and had freedom of speech.
When, in 1991 I first discovered that due to our membership of the EU we were no longer a sovereign democracy, due to all laws made in the European Community overriding all UK laws, with laws made by people we did not elect or have any democratic control over being imposed upon us, I became frustrated. Sadly, I was left feeling powerless as nearly all our politicians, apart from a few brave Tory MPs who were prepared to lose their party whip, were in league with this total surrender of our sovereignty. At that time no one else seemed concerned about how much power the EU had over us, all I could do to protest, due to feeling on my own in my opposition to our EU surrender, was to make my own car stickers which stated: "I'm proud to be British, not European".
In those early days of my anti EU campaigning, whenever I parked my car or called into a petrol station to fill up, the comments I used to receive were not concerns about our EU membership and how much power it had over us, but instead people used to ask: "Shouldn't that read proud to be English rather than British?". I used to find this frustrating as I am not only proud of the fact I was born in England, but I also took great pride in our United Kingdom and was just as proud to be united with Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. We have a magnificent joint history and together have achieved many great things in industry and, along with our Commonwealth friends, we defeated tyranny in Europe.
So now in my mid 70's it breaks my heart to see the rise of tyranny in the country I have always taken so much pride in, my own country. Sadly we have a creeping tyranny which many, like my early Eurosceptic days when many people could not see the problem of EU membership, the same applies today. People cannot see for themselves they are being brainwashed and conditioned into accepting a new form of tyranny creeping into all aspects of our lives.
It is not the tyranny of Hitler's or Mussolini's jackbooted thugs, it is the tyranny of being forced to accept things you have a gut feeling are not right or truthful. It is a tyranny that is creating problems with how we live our daily lives, making simple things more complicated. We no longer have the freedom to speak our minds due to wondering if it is acceptable to use certain words and phrases, or to say what we want.
We have the tyranny of many councils deciding, without the consent of their local residents, suddenly inflicting Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTN's) which create massive problems and increase congestion and costs for large numbers of people who have been denied any democratic say on these matters. Although he does not have a silly little moustache and go around waving his arm in the air, the Mayor of London, by denying anyone who objects to his dictatorial decision to inflict an unworkable Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), is acting like a tyrant and, despite a vote which opposed this disastrous scheme, he ignored the will of those who from August 2023 will have to cope with the cost and disruption ULEZ will create. He even accused opponent of his ULEZ scheme as being in coalition with Covid deniers and the far-right. If this is the only way he can defend his unwanted plans he has no argument and through acting like a tyrant is the only way he can force this costly lunacy on the people. He, like any tyrant in history, is ignoring the poverty and misery his mad scheme is going to inflict on the 8,799,800 people who live in greater London, these are people he was elected to serve who he is now treating so callously.
These ridiculous anti traffic zones began in 1996 in Sweden as 'low emission zones (LEZ), with the encouragement of the EU. Sadly, people such as Comrade Khan and those running many councils are so obsessed in their vitriol of all things with a internal combustion engine, they have not realised we are now free of the EU and no longer have to obey its harebrained, expensive and job losing schemes.
We saw the anti democratic tyranny of the EU remainer MPs, Lords and legal system who did everything to block the referendum vote of the people to escape the EU. We have to thank Boris Johnson for managing to get Brexit done - to a degree. Sadly, we also have to criticise him too for falling in line with the green tyrants when still, as our Prime Minister, he put into place insane plans for getting rid of gas boilers, which the great majority of us rely on to heat our homes, and for the cessation of production of practical petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030, to be replaced by impractical electric cars and vans, despite the fact the electricity grid would not be able to cope with the demand and sadly large numbers of people simply can't afford them. I supported Boris to get Brexit done but he lost me with his net zero tyranny.
There are all sorts of subtle tyranny, bank branches closing and dictating to their customers they now have to do on-line banking, which many struggle with and do not want. Some unfortunate bank customers have had their accounts closed without warning creating chaos for them. We are facing the tyranny of the push for digital currency and the erosion of notes and coins. When all hard currency has gone people will find their lives will be under the control of governments and banks, they could find they are denied certain purchases because the government deem they are not allowed certain items. There are now many business who demand card payments only who by doing so are being tyrannical with their customers, it is frustrating to call into a cafe for a snack and a drink to be dictated to, when handing over cash, that they only accept card payments. The only way to fight against this transactional tyranny is to say you only have cash and walk out, denying them your business.
We also have food tyranny, we are being told to cut down on eating meat because of so-called global warming, the BBC and others are promoting insects as high protein food, despite the fact eating such creatures would be revolting to most. Nonetheless, insects have been approved by the EU to be added to flour. Soon, unbeknown to many, that nice, crusty bread roll may not be all it seems. Vegetarians and vegans, despite being a minority of the population, are dictating our diets. One of my wife's treats was a certain brand of fruit pastilles, the packets of which now proudly claim they are now vegan, sadly, due to wanting to please this vociferous minority the flavour of this particular brand of fruit pastilles has changed and are no longer pleasant to eat. How long before the wine gums she has switched to get the same vegan tyrannical treatment and they too will be off the list of tasty treats?
We are witnessing our history being deliberately changed to suit the will and propaganda of the newly emerging tyrants in education and especially the BBC. We watch the ruination of classic stories written by Dickens and others, because the historical facts in those stories are either not ethnically diverse enough or they are not on message that our historical figures and empire, as far as the left leaning BBC are concerned, was evil and should be seen as despicable despite all the great things done in our past. Younger people are growing up learning to hate the wonderful past of this nation.
One of the most worrying of tyrannies is the brainwashing being carried out in schools, children and teenagers live in total fear and paranoia of the threat of alleged global warming, which many rational people are disproving. Schools are carrying out what can only be described as pedophile tyranny by forcing children, even infants, that despite the genetic logic that there can only ever be two genders, they are brainwashed into believing there are multiple genders and have lesson on homosexual and lesbian sex as well as different types of pornography. In our universities and colleges students, who have been after many years of educational brainwashing by tyrannical teaching to distort their grasp of reality, are now acting like tyrants themselves and cancelling anyone who disagrees with their badly mangled way of thinking and bizarre opinions. University debating societies are now only hearing things the students want to hear as anyone they disagree with are cancelled and banned, all to protect their delicate sensitivities.
Sadly, those generations who are now growing up and are leaving university to go into work, education, the civil service and politics, who in a very short time from now will be running our once free nation, will not know of Cecil Rhodes as he will be well and truly cancelled and with their new world tyrannical remodelled history to fit their brainwashed, woke and politically correct new Britain, the students of tyranny will become the tyrants of the future.