Editor's Blog July 25th 2012
I’m a great fan of Wimbledon. For two weeks of the year I like to immerse myself in the furore that surrounds the greatest tennis tournament in the world. Strawberries and cream at the ready and BBC on the telly… Will Murray make it this year? Of course not. Nevertheless, it’s an enjoyable fortnight of top-notch tennis, and that’s what it’s all about really isn’t it?
Well there’s that, and then there are the moments to savour, such as the moment a line judge gets smacked in the face by a high velocity serve, or the moment when John Wilfried Tsonga has his nuts rearranged by a powerful forehand drive from almost point blank range. Then there’s always the amusing wide shot of the spectators following the ball during a long rally, looking like 15,000 deranged Centre Court Muppets with nervous twitches furiously jolting their heads from side to side in pursuit of the ball. This is how I feel now as I bounce from one political press release to another.
Now, call me an optimist, maybe even a fantasist (I’ve definitely been called that a few times before!), but shouldn’t all political parties be concerned with the greater interests of the people of Gibraltar? You know, their employers? The people who put them where they are and who could very easily decide not to have them there in the future? Isn’t it high time that petty differences, squabbles and disputes over who signed which deal, who brought which airline or who built and who is neglecting to use the airport, ended once and for all? This is the stuff of the playground and it’s serving no one.
Who cares who built the airport and how much it cost? The fact is we now have it so let’s damned well use it! Who cares who signed the deal with whichever airline? Let’s just be thankful they still want to fly out to Gib and, more importantly, want to increase the number of flights on their route.
I can’t stand the incessant bouts of political tennis that we are all subjected to daily. It is nothing if not immature griping that gets us nowhere and serves to separate the parties further and, by extension, the people of Gibraltar. Really, what we should be gunning for is unity; a unity of purpose to help Gibraltar succeed in every way possible, during a time when we are experiencing particularly high levels of hostility. How about a little more “united we stand, divided we fall”? Sitting in Parliament are some of the greatest political minds and strategists in Gibraltar, and yet they are more content with knocking the ball backwards and forwards in a never-ending mudslinging match than coming together to create an unbeatable doubles pairing.
For the time being at least, we’ll just have to sit and watch the ball keep getting knocked back and forth as one party claims one thing whilst the other denies any involvement or makes a counter-claim. Better head out for some more strawberries and cream, because it’ll be a long time before we see game, set and match on this game of political tennis.
Written under Eddie's own free will and volition!
