Sombre Somme commemoration

We were walking through the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, when we came across this strange scene. At first it looked like there had been a coup d'état. The post Brexit political ructions must have gone a bit too far for the establishment. Or maybe there was filming going on for yet another nostalgic British wartime drama. It's what they do best, of course. (And they hadn't been all that good at being Europeans, so maybe they were just doing what they do well again.)

But no, it was something more unusual. It was a rather memorable and thoughtful historical commemoration. On 1 July, 1916, the Battle of the Somme started. That day was the worst day in history for the British Army, with more than 57,000 casualties. By November 300,000 soldiers were dead (roughly equal numbers on both sides), and over a million injured.

The Bromsgrove event was one of several hundred such performances up and down the UK on 1 July this year. Actors were secretly hired and dressed in period uniforms. When people approached (like me - I spoke to a couple of soldiers) they remained sombre and silent, but handed over a card bearing the name and rank of the fallen soldier they were representing.

We couldn't decide whether the little "Have you got a light?" episode we witnessed was part of the act, or whether the lady just happened along and wanted a light. It was interesting theatre either way.

Broken Britain?

This chap's looking appropriately horrified about the results of the Brexit referendum. I'd shown him the coverage in a Sydney newspaper I'd taken with me.

Needless to say, the Brtish newspapers (and TV news, and much personal conversation) were also totally dominated by the subject during our visit. We saw with our own eyes how the issue had 'divided families'and 'split friendships', just as we'd heard.

I'd tell them all what a good job Britain was doing keeping the whole world entertained, what with all the ructions and multiple plot-twists every day from both sides of politics. Both major parties experienced leadership resignations or rebellions. And neither seemed to have very clearly defined procedures for appointing new leaders. It was all being fought out in a very scrappy way, seemingly with rules getting made up along the way.

As for the Labour leadership election (ballot closes 21 September), registered supporters were being frantically recruited by supporters and opponents of the incumbent (proudly socialist) leader, Jeremy Corbyn. When I met up with four of my old uni friends for a get-together, it turned out that two of the four had just registered for the vote. Both were going to vote for Corbyn. One admired the man and wants him to run the country. The other supports independence party UKIP, and wants Corbyn to win because he's sure this will destroy the Labour Party!