My long-standing theory of British general election results is that they are all deserved. This is true not just of big victories e.g. Labour in 1945 and 1997, the Conservatives in 1979 and 2019, but also of no-score draws, such as the two elections of 1974. In our system (though first-past-the-past sometimes exaggerates) the voters are, collectively, always right. Dare I turn this retrospective rule into a prediction? If I did, I would say that the Tories now deserve to lose, but that Labour does not deserve to win. Logic therefore demands a Labour lead but no overall majority.
Small British charities and voluntary groups are doing such good work in Ukraine, but being discouraged, and sometimes refused charitable status, by the Charity Commission. The Commission seems to have an ingrained preference for the charity ‘big boys’. It does not appreciate that little charities are much less self-protective in danger zones, thus reaching those in real trouble more quickly. I can now illustrate an aspect of this good work numerically. With a little help from me, Richard Lofthouse (of whom more later) has drawn up an inventory of British-based organisations supplying British 4x4s repurposed as field ambulances and other humanitarian vehicles to Ukraine. These organisations are, in no particular order: British-Ukrainian Aid, 243 vehicles; car4Ukraine, 170; Drive Aid to Ukraine, 43; Jeeps for Peace, 105; EM Rogers (a transport company acting philanthropically), c.30; Prytula Volunteer Hub, 60 +; Pick-ups for Peace, 160; Mighty Convoy, eight; Ukrainian Action, 200; Peterborough Cathedral, ten; Highlands for Ukraine, one (but lots of related medical and food aid too); Mission Ukraine (the one I have seen in action), 76; and an informal group of lawyers co-ordinated by Chris Pool, recently named Liberty Trucks Ukraine, 302.
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