Nelson Mandela has gone. It was the moment that many in southern Africa have dreaded.
The legacy he left was the African National Congress (the ANC) ruling political party and the notion of a so-called rainbow nation of reconciliation between blacks, whites and coloureds.

But the ANC, currently led by flamboyant President Jacob Zuma, is hardly recognisable as the same party that Mandela guided to political victory.

The party is considered now by many to be run by gaggle of rival warlords and gangsters. Open corruption can be witnessed by ministers, civil servants, municipal chiefs and even the police.

Despite its early elaborate promises, the party has singularly failed to deliver virtually any of its promises to its own black African followers. Unemployment is already topping 40% and the country relies desperately on outside foreign investment.

Yet it is happily cancelling investment protection treaties and has recently announced it intends to seize 51% of South Africa’s burgeoning private security sector. Together with new positive economic discrimination and black empowerment rules, it is not a situation that will encourage that investment from abroad.

Meanwhile interest on the country’s debts is so high that the government is having to borrow even more foreign money to pay its civil service and its social welfare bill. It is clear that the ANC does not have the political and administrative will or ability to run an efficient modern economy.

The ANC is increasingly reliant on its political support from the more rural tribal homelands as support grows slowly for the rival Democratic Alliance Party. But there is unlikely to be any change of political leadership any time soon.

Time for the ship of state to change course away from the rocks of economic disaster may be running out fast.

Some sixteen years ago, a story circulating in Westminster was that the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) had been set up under the influence or encouragement of the traditional British Establishment in order to lance the boil of ‘Euro-scepticism’ from the main political parties.

It would draw off the most serious and influential anti-European opinion from the centre of power politics in Westminster and banish all such negative energy to the political wilderness.

I doubt its creator in 1991, Alan Skedd – a former Liberal and Professor of International History at the London School of Economics – saw things that way. He changed its name from the rather unimaginative Anti-Federalist League in 1993 but resigned as leader shortly after the 1997 general election.

Apparently he was dismayed by party factionalism and a drift to the radical far-right, believing that it was ‘doomed to remain on the political fringes’. He also opposed plans for UKIP members to take up seats it won at the European Parliament.

It was at about this time that I quite literally came across the party and its now current leader Nigel Farage.

UKIP had an open-air stand at the Cuckoo Fair in deepest Wiltshire. Nigel and I got on well and I began listening to his message. Shortly after I joined the party and began working with its then leader Michael Holmes as a PR consultant.

The first task was to try to design a sort of Directory or Family Tree of the Party of exactly Who was Who and Who Did What-  with their positions in the party and contact details. Yes, back then it really was that primitive a communications exercise that was needed

I also worked with the remarkable Christina Speight on production of her eye-opening monthly newsletter Facts, Figures & Phantasies which revealed so many amazing and frightening facts about the EU and its history and its future plans that would affect – often secretly – all citizens of the UK.

The first point is that the inner core of the party, then as now, is paranoid about being seen or portrayed as xenophobic or racist. It has fallen over itself to attract and welcome foreign-born members and activists.

Secondly it has never believed that it might ever be a party of government. In that respect it accepted it was really a political pressure group that would persuade a Tory, Labour or Coalition government to do the right thing in its view – and negotiate an exit from the political European Union.

UKIP’s aim was to have a UK that was of Europe but not in it – a sort of offshore, independent Switzerland on steroids, trading with the EU, the Commonwealth and the world.

Accused of being a one-policy Party, UKIP’s reply has been that Brussels rules virtually every aspect of British politics, life and law, therefore leaving the EU is the only way to change any of it. Britain can rarely change anything by being in it, because it is only ever a small minority voter…and the Commission does not like outsiders trying to change its basic vision of a United States of Europe.

I believe the groundswell of political support for UKIP is going to astound the pundits. The party could find itself it the position of power-broker, although it is as yet to send a single MP to Westminster.

A high UKIP vote could let in Labour or help form a new type of coalition. It is a quandary for many voters, who may want to be careful of what they wish for. Could the inexperienced UKIP crew seriously negotiate the UK’s ultra-complex departure from the EU?

There is no single answer to these serious questions. But what might have started as a bit of political chicanery may well have back-fired on those who originally dreamt it up.

The only certainty is that we are about to live in interesting times over the next two years.

A READER’S LETTER

As a now retired ex ITN senior cameraman of 30+ years service mainly spent in the worlds sharp end conflicts I per chance picked up Wheels of Fire in a hotel in Cuba last week and thought I must congratulate you on a very accurate and moving (fictional) account of those days of the Sarajevo siege.

Reporter Mike Nicholson and I got young Natasha out from her hell hole orphanage in Sarajevo and I regularly drove in and out on the various back routes with no military assistance, just my armoured defender, soundman and reporter and strangely enough I would put Bat Out of Hell on when things or militia road blocks got ugly.

Your book took me back in time, which is a good thing, those bad days there and to many other places I ended up in should be remembered, thanks for reminding me.

I have to confess I had not heard of you before but look forward to reading more of your books.

Thanks and regards,

John Martin

There is little doubt that the so-called Arab Spring has been a mixed blessing for all concerned, the inhabitants of those countries caught up in it and the rest of the world.

We in the West are very fond of trying to impose our cultural values on others. And however high-minded we are about them (anti-nepotism, fascism and absolute monarchs, but pro-democracy, freedom of expression and fair trials) other cultures don’t necessary share our views.

 Freedom to march and protest against government or the ruling class in not always a priority with people. Just getting on with scratching a living and minding their own business is. Many countries have known nothing but totalitarian rulers since the beginning of time.

 Both Russia and China endured empirical authority followed by Communist people-power. Neither were much fun.

 Most of the Arab peoples endure under absolute monarchs or dictators of one sort or another.

Having been ‘freed’ by NATO intervention, Libya remains absolute in political chaos, with armed militias controlling different fiefdoms. Egypt’s democracy remained short-lived when the elected Islamist President, mostly supported by the working classes, started making overtures to Iran and upsetting the long-standing secular army powerhouse.

 US President Obama has shown his displeasure of the Egyptian Army’s undemocratic behaviour in arresting their elected President by cancelling US-Egyptian arms deals…thereby leaving a wide open invitation to President Putin of Russia to fill the vacuum.

 In fact Mr Putin is doing rather well out of the chaos of the Arab Spring by wrong-footing everyone diplomatically over the Syrian Civil War, in an allied country that provides its only naval port in the Mediterranean. It is appearing to lead the way on WMD reform on the battlefield.

 Here, Western military intervention is unlikely to help because the two sides in the country’s conflict are pretty much evenly divided down tribal lines between Assad supporters and his avowed enemies, who are backed by Iran.

Grand ideals of democracy rather overlook the fact that the regimes of most tyrants, absolute monarchs and dictators in the Middle East actually work in the interests of Britain and Western countries. If they fail, a large proportion of those countries will become swept up in a tide of radical Islamic power.

 That puts the UK, EU and USA in a very difficult and dangerous diplomatic situation.

THIS POSTING RECEIVED AS ANONYMOUS:

The Royal Navy is proud to announce its new fleet of Type 45 destroyers.

Having initially named the first two ships HMS Daring and HMS Dauntless,
the Naming Committee has, after intensive pressure from Brussels, renamed them HMS Cautious and HMS Prudence.

The next five ships are to be HMS Empathy, HMS Circumspect, HMS Nervous, HMS Timorous and HMS Apologist.

Costing £850 million each, they comply with the very latest employment, equality, health & safety and human rights laws.

The Royal Navy fully expects any future enemy to be jolly decent and to comply with the same high standards of behaviour.

The new user-friendly crow’s nest now has excellent wheelchair access.

Live ammunition has been replaced with paintballs to reduce the risk of anyone getting hurt and to cut down on the number of compensation claims.

Stress counsellors and lawyers will be on board, as will a full sympathetic industrial tribunal.

The crew will be 50/50 men and women, and will contain the correct balance of race, gender, sexuality and disability.

Sailors will only work a maximum of 37hrs per week as per Brussels Rules on Working Hours, even in wartime.

All the vessels are equipped with a maternity ward, a crèche and a gay disco.

Tobacco will be banned throughout the ship, but recreational cannabis will be allowed in wardrooms and messes.

The Royal Navy is eager to shed its traditional reputation for; “Rum, sodomy and the lash”; so out has gone the rum ration, replaced by sparkling water.

Sodomy remains, now extended to include all ratings under 18.

The lash will still be available on request.

Saluting of officers is now considered elitist and has been replaced by “Hello Sailor”.

All information on notice boards will be in 37 different languages and Braille.

Crew members will now no longer have to ask permission to grow beards and/or moustaches.

This applies equally to female crew.

The MoD is inviting suggestions for a “non-specific” flag because the White Ensign may offend minorities.

The Union Jack must never be seen.

The newly re-named HMS Cautious will be commissioned shortly by Captain Hook from the Finsbury Park Mosque who will break a petrol bomb over the hull.

She will gently slide into the sea as the Royal Marines Band plays “In the Navy” by the Village People.

Her first deployment will be to escort boatloads of illegal immigrants to ports on England ‘s south coast.

The Prime Minister said, “Our ships reflect the very latest in modern thinking and they will always be able to comply with any new legislation from Brussels.”

His final words were, “Britannia waives the rules.”

For some time I’ve wondered if we give people their pensions at completely the wrong end of life?

Say a man retires at 65 and is lucky enough to survive until 85 years old, he’ll be drawing a pension for two decades. Currently the Government would like to pay him £140 a week (although we’re not there yet). That would be £140 x 52 weeks x 20 years. My calculator tells me that’s around £145,000 per pensioner at a fairly low living standard.

However, if for each new baby born £1000 is paid by the State into a Personal Pension Pot (PPP) each year, he or she will have a PPP of £15,000 plus by the age of 15.
That PPP will be ring-fenced for the individual and manage-invested by a Commission of independent experts spread over five to seven portfolios (from property, retail, technology etc.) A good spread.

Fifteen thousand pounds over 50 years, earning say just 2% interest, will be a PPP valued at £4.5 million at retirement. Money for all later health needs and left overs for shopping and private investment.

Over the pensioner’s working life, that person will only have to pay back the original £15,000 into the system through National Insurance. Adjustments will apply, obviously. I imagine it would have to be phased in over time.

Any experts out there are welcome to shoot the idea down – I’m sure they will. But I wouldn’t mind a few million smackers on my retirement, that’s for sure!

I researched a lot about China when I wrote DEADWATER DEEP, set around the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese government in the late 1990s.
Even then it was clear that the West was beginning to forget that the country is still a very authoritarian Communist state. It has arguably the largest armed forces in the world and more land disputes with its neighbours than any other nation
Because of all the cheap, yet good quality goods that have poured out of China and many of its people are clearly starting to enjoy the good life, we forget that thousands of political prisoners languish in gulags at the pleasure of their own people.
It’s still one baby per family and “all animals are equal, except that some are still more equal than others”.
The omnipotent People’s Liberation Army (PLA) runs covert psychological warfare operations to influence and dupe foreign military and political leaders. According to the Sunday Times, one such is the China Association for International Friendly Contact (CAIFC), which is an organisation that sets itself up as a forum for discussion with overseas nations. Its figurehead president is Li Zhaoxing, a former foreign minister.
Others serving on the board of the CAIFC are members of the PLA’s secret and powerful Liaison Department, or Lian Luo Bu, an innocuous-sounding unit whose mission is to wage “psychological, media and legal” warfare against China’s adversaries.
Sunday Times reporter Michael Sheridan says some of those attending CAIFC events last year included former leaders of the both the UK and USA.
The West has to be careful what it selects from the Chinese menu. It’s not always what it seems. Some stuff might seem sweet but ends up with a very sour after taste.

Computers now switched and everything seems to be up and running. Thanks for staying with me and hopefully you’ve been following on Twitter: TerenceStrong@AuthorSASplus…when it lets me in or forgets my Password. Yes, it forgets my password, not the other way round. Try telling it that! Grrr.
Look forward to a mix of serious debate and some fun at my favourite virtual pub, The Lying Toad, which may well feature in a future book.
Thought a new fun idea that might be useful is new SENSIBLE political policies for any Party that wants to think outside the box. Some accuse UKIP of not having enough apart from leaving Europe although, to be honest, that does solve a lot of problems at a stroke. Really. Creates some others too, of course. That’s what the Eurosceptics have to prove to the people…that the UK can survive…indeed thrive outside of the EU.

KK was back at The Lying Toad today.
He still looks like the untamed man of rock he once was, although now he’s a plumber. He moved on but his cheerful, worn looks and hair didn’t.
KK, or K to his friends, played ukelale in the 70s group Wild Child. But, as it’s fifth member, was dropped when it hit the big time. K ended up alone in Paris where he became an exotic smells engineer for Chanel, when a job description as trainee plumber on his CV was misinterpreted.
He lived a fantasy life on the Riviera with film stars and the political elite of Europe.
K is friends with Snoggy. Snoggy is a collector and motor mechanic, into repairing and restoring classic cars, especially early Land Rovers and tractors. Rumour in the village has it he has just bought a WWII Sherman tank on eBay.
He is being uncharacteristically silent on the subject. But he is known to be looking for some “running 8-inch link sprockets (circ 1943)”. So all bets are on.
Meanwhile Salty Dog, who served in the Falkland War, is now a short crewman on a tall charity ship. He has bought a real parrot which he insists on bringing into the pub. The pub dog is not happy. Nor is Pixie who has to do the cleaning there.

ISIS Audio Books have snapped up the rights for Some Unholy War in full length CD and audio-tape formats. Actor Peter Wickham has been selected to read the story. He has read several of my previous audio books and is a master of his craft.
That craft was tested to its limits when he read Rogue Element, which contained several Northern Ireland and South African characters, each with similar but different accents – and a female lawyer who sounded like Joanna Lumley!
I love listening to the sound versions of my work. It gives a whole new perspective to them. If you haven’t yet, do give it a try. Peter and I last met for lunch in the late 90s in a brasserie in Sloane Square, Chelsea. Fun times

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Watch this Blog and Twitter (Terence Strong @AuthorSASplus) for news on audio release.
(NOTE: Spellcheck had Peter and I meeting in a brassiere in Chelsea. No doubt we had a cup each.)