JOHN ASHTEAD: INSIDE LONDON - 9 December, 2000

The worst incident this week was that Father Christmas was arrested for being drunk and disorderly in a Christmas procession. Horrified children saw the “real Father Christmas” dragged away screaming by police after he had been provoked by an unruly youth and had “lost it”, swearing at and hitting the youth. Both were arrested amid scenes of tears from the confused youngsters… More bad news was that now India wants its heritage back. This comes one week after the Greeks demanded a return of the Parthenon marbles, sent to England by Lord Elgin two centuries ago, to decorate his country house. When his Lordship became financially ruined, he was forced to sell the marbles to the British Museum, for a handsome price. The Greeks want the Parthenon marbles back on the Parthenon before the 2004 Olympics and now the Indians want the Kohinoor diamond returned. This 109-caratt diamond was given to the British Crown in 1848 by Maharajah Singh and is the pride of Queen Elizabeth II’s crown jewels. Maharajah Singh was born in 1801 and the Indians want to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth by his gift returning home. British manhood started the week with its head held high, after the French environment minister called the British Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, a “Macho Man”. Celebrations were halted by the revelation that Charing Cross Hospital in London now performs 3 sex-change operations every week…and demand is rising. These operations are called “gender reassignment” as men have their genitals cut off and transformed into vaginas. At least a Hollywood star finds British manhood a valid proposition. Madonna is to marry her British film producer boyfriend in Scotland in December. 20 years after John Lennon’s death, a phone-in was held by Sky News about whether or not people missed the ex-Beatle, assassinated by Mark Chapman in New York on 8th December, 1980. Now it appears that Chapman had tried and failed to commit suicide and, convinced that he was a Beatle, decided in his subconscious that only by Lennon’s death could equilibrium be achieved. The murder of a man who preached peace and goodwill is shocking. More shocking is the fact that more and more paranoid schizophrenics are allowed to walk the world’s streets, walking human time-bombs. The reason is monetarism, translated into public sector spending reductions, as usual.

John Ashtead Pravda.Ru London