IT'S NOT ALWAYS FIRST IMPRESSIONS.

Much of the author's working life was in sales. It was important, therefore, to quickly assess the potential customer, which was basing everything on ones initial impression, something that generally stood me in good stead as things progressed. There are, nevertheless, anomalies to such rules. Journalist and TV personality, Anne Robinson, whom I've considered to be no more than a 'champagne socialist', wrote an article for the national press, covering her mother's influence and attitude towards politics. Instead of returning to a domestic role after the Second World War, her mother started a successful wholesale poultry business, and very soon had moved to a more elite residential district of Liverpool. Mother voted Tory, as any working person should, but had two political favourites, poles apart; Enoch Powell and Michael Foot, both mavericks.

In her subsequent pursuit of her journalistic career, Anne never forgot this, and befriended the Foots, and developed an admiration, through experience and personal contact, with Enoch Powell. The Powells and the Foots were known to have supper together, by way of interest. The average Brit, interested in the recent political history, would be familiar with Powell's 1968 speech regarding immigration, something for which he has been vilified, by some, ever since. Anne Robinson then went on to point out, that Michael Foot was quite adamant that Powell was not remotely racialist. I wonder if he made this point to his colleagues in the Labour Government of the time, who made a meal of Powell's comments, which were totally based upon the requirements of his constituents; something almost unheard of these days.

For the record, the majority of the nation was in agreement with his concerns about immigration; furthermore, some of the second and third generation immigrants have the same worries now.


THE REST OF THE WORLD CANNOT SETTLE HERE.