England Expects That Every Man Should Do His Duty.

'Now I am satisfied thank God, I have done my duty.' He then told Hardy, 'He felt he in a few minutes should be no more.' 'I wish I had not left the deck for I shall soon be gone.' - Horatio Nelson.

We Have Not Hereditary Peers Enough.

I admire Sir Keir Starmer's dress sense, I do, but I am afraid he is no grammarian, for I learn he is abolishing peers from the House of Peers. The only reason I can remotely fathom for this extraordinary and excruciatingly careless policy is that he wishes to make certain friends by making certain enemies, namely, he wishes to appease commoners by offending aristocrats. But why, when the aristocracy of this country, the artistic and cultural glory of our kingdom vital to the reinforcement of our splendid monarchy, are already so threadbare as to be poised on the verge of destruction, I cannot comprehend. Their allegiance would be useful, their enmity purposeless. The Prime Minister has a vast majority already, I do not think this possibly irreversible iconoclasm of the English tradition will cement his name in the books of regard, but rather condemn his name in cement as a shallow draught boat incapable of bracing ocean waters; it is too petty, it is too narrow.

   What, after all, do the hereditary peers represent in their already scanty numbers? Why, nothing but the House after whom it is named, the Peers of the House of Peers, the ancient and landed families of this Kingdom - for a kingdom it is still. Without the hereditary peers the House of Peers is nothing more than a second house of mayors and tired last decade government men, it will lose its status, it will lose its influence, it will lose its grandeur, and gain nothing. It is a woeful policy decision in an otherwise interesting King's Speech and I hope their lordships will three times block it, and the Prime Minister will repent of his brash vandalism of our culture and history, perhaps to the point that he will restore to their former numbers the hereditary peers. All should watch that episode of Whicker's World called 'The Aristocracy Business' to realise what a pleasant and beneficent effect the landed gentry of this land have on their estates and tenants, they are the proud and beloved occupiers of the most beautiful manors, gardens, farming estates, and preserved villages, in all the country; they dress well, they eat well, they think well, they speak well, they are history and culture and manners personified. Everyone agrees in this which is why aristocracy dramas are so popular. Everyone should like to be an aristocrat, let not then inverted snobbery and envy condemn them for their privilege; privilege is a beautiful word, it means an accession, it means a capacity and a possession, the opposite of want, the opposite of vice. So it is privilege to shake hands with a great man, so it is a privilege to have great families founded in a remarkable history, engaging in the debates of our revered parliament.