A very nice party

I finally got back to Glasgow about 20 hours late, because French Air Traffic, in the form of Beauvais and Lille, decided to go on strike about 8pm on Thursday evening.
I had the option of a 6am departure to Dublin, followed by a 10am departure to Prestwick, a refund ( all of Eur 10) or the next Glasgow flight at 14:35 on Friday - which I took.
I know it wasn't Ryanair's fault, but I still blame them. Beauvais is almost entirely Ryanair - with a bit of Wizz and Blue Air thrown in, so in a sense the French were targetting Ryanair and its practices.
Mind you, this dominance has done wonders for Beauvais. When they first flew there the town was very much dead on it's feet - rather like Charleroi - but it is now definitely booming along with its rapidly expanding Zone Industriel.
I just had time once I got home to change for the party being held at Titwood Bowling Club, which went off really well, and where I was able to meet my blogging friend Brian Boru. He lives in Biarritz with children and now grandchildren around, and seems very much to prove the point that it's handy to be near the children.
The birthday boy - President of the Gentlemen Fishers of Pollokshields - had to undergo a great deal of ribaldry, as it's only in the last year or so that they have ever caught any fish, and it seemed unlikely for long periods that anything other that a good excuse for a party would be the outcome.
No matter. What did intrigue me though was the whispered comments I got from many present.
" That man behind you in the dark shirt - he's BNP!" which was repeated steadily throughout the night. I suppose in Scotland it's unusual enough to have this effect.
Just before leaving, I siddled up to him and asked why he wasn't wearing a Black Shirt....and rapidly did a disappearing act.

Vote at least

I've just taken this test on the EU. Very worryingly, UKIP appears to be my closest match. Even more worryingly, this other test seems to suggest that I am closest allied to UKIP immediately followed by the BNP.
I was talking to Mr.Fact the other evening, and he described how the BNP is campaigning/working in his home area of Stoke.
Very little is said about policy. It's all " Here, let me help you carry that." " Let me help you up the stairs". " How are you today?". If the Tories used to be the Nasty Party, the BNP is going out of it's way to be the Nice Party.
And of course it works. When the bag has been carried and the little old lady says thank you, the response is " No problem missus. We look after our own." Perhaps the most worrying thing of all is that this is precisely how Hitler rose to power, by playing on people's fears about non-Germans, Communists and Jews taking jobs and Lebensraum from good German Volk.
Despite all the hype, I doubt the BNP will get more than 5 or 6% of the EU vote in the UK, but UKIP looks to be a serious problem both for Labour ( who they will push into third place) and the Tories, whose natural conservatism with a small "c" encompasses keeping Johnny Foreigner in his place.
Here in Scotland there will be massive support for the SNP - Salmond's careful playing of the fish will continue. His political wiles will only be kept in their place by what I hope will be the Scot's natural antipathy to change - and their acknowledgment that, at the moemnt, it suits them to be in the UK. If the Barnett Formula is changed, however, I would say all bets are off.
I'm away on June 4th, so I have given a proxy vote to Mrs. Lear.
I have no idea how she will vote, or how she will vote for me.
But she has a record of always voting for the party that gets into power....