Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Mary Queen of Scots had her head chopped off....

I'm intrigued by Christine Grahame's call for the remains of Mary, Queen of Scots to be repatriated to Scotland from their current resting place of Westminster Abbey.

I can understand this opinion - after all Mary was Queen of Scots, she was murdered in England and it seems tactless to keep her remains in England. However Mary requested in her will that she be buried in France and her son asked for her to be buried at Westminster Abbey. So who gets to decide her fate now?

I would always say that a person's last wishes should be respected so really if she is to be moved it should be to France, however family wishes are also important. So if we take her son's wishes into account then she should stay where she is.

I can see the flip side though - after all these years and with a figure of national and religious importance there are more important considerations than personal wishes.

I'm not convinced. Someone's resting place is quite a sacred consideration - I'm not sure that it should be changed for political purposes. But I am open to be persuaded otherwise.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Why does Brown's disability matter?

I'm not a fan of Gordon Brown. While I think he is generally a good man with good intentions I don't think he has the ability to run the country well. Having said that there's few if any on the Labour benches who do have that ability. There are also rumours about his mental suitability for the job and if the rumours are based on fact rather than vitriol then that would be of real concern.

I found this article in today's Telegraph distasteful in the extreme - snarkily pointing out that his physical disability is getting worse and that assistance such as large fonts in printed and email texts is now needed. The implication - though never said - is that if he is becoming increasingly blind he can't do the job. Nonsense. He can't do the job because he's a leftie who doesn't have the right policies. Frankly whether he receives emails in size 12 or size 36 font is completely irrelevant to his ability to do the job.

If he is becoming more blind as the years go on then it's only right that changes are made to assist him with his work - I would expect it in mine. A blind Prime Minister doesn't bother me in the slightest. A media which heaps scorn on someone because of their disability does.