Wednesday 29 April 2015

I bumped into Captain Belper today

Walking through Belper this morning I bumped into an old friend who was out with his dog (yes dogs again). This chap is known by his friends as Captain Belper, partly because in any conversation it only takes a couple of minutes before he mentions Belper Town Football Club plus, and this is the probable reason for his nickname, he has a little white dog and he himself is bearded. Captain Belper somehow seems appropriate.

We stood chatting and he surprised me when he mentioned this blog, BelperStuff. He had no idea that I had anything to do with it as he urged me to take a look. He then told me that there had been a link to the blog on the Transition Belper Website but this had been taken down because one of the parliamentary candidates complained. I tried to look suitably casual and keep a blank look on my face (I'm well practiced in the art of looking vacant) but inside my mind was working it's way through this information. I patted the dog (let's call it Snowy), shook Captain Belper's hand and wandered back home. The urge to reveal myself as Michael Green had been nigh on impossible to resist but resist it I did.

When I returned home I had a look at the Transition Belper Website and soon realised that a link to BelperStuff would have been inappropriate. The group are non-political so a link to an unashamedly Labour supporting blog would have been wrong. If the link had in fact existed then it is right that it was stopped. I can assure those who read this blog that I have not attempted to place any link on any website, nor have I circulated anything on social media .......... in fact I do not tweet (wouldn't know how to) and I have not used facebook.

I just write this blog, initially inspired by the constant stream of negative campaigning in the run up to the election, at both local and national level but also saddened by the lack of humour in the campaign. Elections used to be fun but this one is just too boring. What I am doing is to offer a personal point of view on the relative merits, strengths and weaknesses of the election protagonists. I still find it amazing that last Thursday I started this blog and here we are, six days later showing 900 views in the UK plus a further 45 in the USA, Ireland, Cyprus and Austria.

My watchword has to be honesty. I will not knowingly write an untruth and if an inaccuracy creeps in then please point this out to me by using the comment facility on the blog. If  I am made aware that I have written anything that is unsubstantiated or unjust then I will acknowledge this publicly on the blog and make an apology. I admire anyone who stands up in front of the public and says what they believe in so if they feel in any way maligned by me then they have the right of reply.

You have the word of Michael Green and you know that is a name that can be trusted.

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