"All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy
juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of
human affairs"
Enoch Powell on Joseph Chamberlain
Well here's a blast from the past: Enoch Powell opening the then Western General Hospital on this day fifty three years ago. What can I say that hasn't been said about this divisive maverick politician regarded as both a prophet (by those of an anti-EU persuasion) and a racist bigot (by those on the left)? I suppose if, like him, you had set your heart on becoming Viceroy of India no less and the Government of the day then grants India independence then you've got little left to hope for in life other than to become a somewhat eccentric outsider. He was living proof that great intellectual ability, he had a double first in classics and was a professor of ancient Greek at the ripe old age of 25, is no guarantee of being a sensible human being. The quote at the top of this post applied to him with spades.
If you are still here and wondering where on earth the Western General Hospital is then wonder no more; they changed its name to the grander sounding Hull Royal Infirmary sometime short time after this stone was laid. That, I guess, is the nature of human affairs.
