As uninteresting as it may be to discuss the weather, it's difficult to avoid commenting on the fact that it has now rained non-stop for three full days and nights here in Prague. That's certainly no fun for the Jews with sukkas. I am reminded of that famous English childhood chant, "Rain, rain go away and come again another day".
Of more interest was the speech which the losing brother in the leadership battle, David Milliband, gave to the Labour Party conference in Machester today.
In his speech which he delivered without notes, he quoted one of his party's former leaders, John Robert Clynes, who said that the Labour party was established, "not to practise class war, but to end it". My view entirely.
I must confess not to have heard of Clynes before. But when I looked him up, I found him to be the first Englishman to lead the party, as all of his six predecessors had been Scottish, albeit only briefly from February 1931 to November 1932. He led the party to an election victory in 1922, when the number of Labour seats jumped from 52 to 142 seats. An astonishing landslide.
Oh, how quickly do important people in history get forgotten. Will anyone remember Ed Milliband in 90 years from now?
Grandpa Jonathan
Prague, Czech Republic
