Congratulations and a deep indebted Thank You to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for her dedication to seventy years of service and duty to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
We look around the world - at other Heads of State - why would any right-minded thinking person want to change what we have?
As is so often the case with life - our monarchy may not be entirely perfect, but it is in my opinion a damn sight better than any other alternative.
Would anyone want to have Johnson as our Head of State, or Trump, Mugabe? We are so lucky to have that separation of power between the head of state and the head of Government.
Which brings me on to this seminal moment we are all living through. We have an unfit leader in our Prime Minister who is clinging to power by his fingertips. Hopefully, he will lose his grip and fall away and be replaced; Jeremy Hunt seems an obvious choice to me, but we will see how this unseemly episode unfolds.
But if Johnson does cling to power, in other words, our conservative MP's are so weak, immoral and feckless that they allow him to stay, this country of ours will be on a slide downhill. How rapid the descent will be is hard to predict, but suffice to say, our reputation for integrity, respected diplomacy, honesty and strong values will remain in continuous decline worldwide.
And whilst some unconnected people may be tempted to say - so what? The answer is - so a lot - our wealth derives from our reputation. If you don't believe me - I hope you don't have to find out the hard way. You will all be familiar with the phrase - it takes years to build a good reputation, respect and trust and seconds to lose it.
And then what of Putin and his nasty, aggressive war on Ukraine? Is Europe going to stay united, or will there be splinters of defection in the name of self-preservation? Will NATO hold up, and will the USA continue to support Ukraine and Europe?
And what in the meantime is Xi Jinping up to? No good - you can be sure of that.
The UK, Europe, The States, Australasia, and all other democracies need to be resolute in Ukraine's aim to win and see that Putin is thoroughly defeated. To quit or dilute our message now will bring heaps more trouble further down the road. If we back down now, no matter what we have to do to defeat Putin, the world will pay a much more costly price in future if we show weakness now.
So this seminal moment in our history should prevail upon us to give thanks, take stock, and carefully consider our options. Our future depends on what we do next. In my experience of life, taking the easy way is usually the worst decision you can make.
Life does tend to get a bit mucky, difficult and complicated at times - but when we know what needs to happen - we just have to get on with it - we need to roll up our sleeves, dig-in and get stuck in and do the job - Facedown our fears with grit and determination.
For Europe, the UK, and the USA - now is such a time. To plagiarise Ralph Waldo Emmerson; We will become what we decide to be.
Rikki - Suffolk - UK - 1st June 2022
www.ricknotesfromengland.com
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