MARGARET THATCHER, JEREMY KYLE AND AN UNCEREMONIAL FUNERAL

Whilst Baroness Thatcher's stately ceremonial funeral took centre stage in London, less dignified dramas were unfolding elsewhere. ITV's morning schedule was unmoved by greatness passing and the Jeremy Kyle show went ahead as usual; whilst in South Yorkshire a mock funeral for the folk villainess "Maggie Thatcher" provided the centrepiece of popular protest against the former prime minister (see above). Although some may feel that the spectacle in South Yorkshire lacked the standards of political correctness expected in this day and age, for others it may have been the simultaneous broadcast of the Jeremy Kyle show which was more disrespectful. In fact, the three events of last Wednesday shared some common threads which are worth considering.

Let us begin with the only regular feature of the three: Jeremy Kyle. As the son of a onetime private secretary to the Queen Mother, Kyle has some connection to Royal ceremonial himself, and as a social science graduate to some intellectual understanding of the forces at work in wider society. When prime minister, Mrs Thatcher famously declared that: "There is no such thing as society"; although there was some attempt at her funeral to re-interpret this earlier pronouncement. For her, it was the family which held the key to a fulfilling life, and other social relationships, including those of the workplace and politics, flowed from this. The idea of a more collective set of affiliations, indeed of the "Solidarity" which would help to liberate Eastern Europe from Communism around the same time, were paradoxically anathema to a prime minister who supported democratic freedom but mistrusted trade unionism above all else. One consequence of the erosion of social solidarity which arguably began during the Thatcher governments, has been the creation of what is now starting to be called the "Precariat", a growing group of people whose lives are punctuated by both precarious employment and domestic relationships. This group typically provides the narratives played out before Jeremy Kyle. Although it can also be argued that the dysfunctional social discourse to which he give voices  now extends far beyond the Precariat, and even manifests itself  amongst the Elite.

Within this modern socially dysfunctional context, it is therefore possible that the spirit of Baroness Thatcher might have been relieved to see - perhaps even rejoiced at -  the outbreak of more traditional social protest to coincide with her funeral. For the popular uprising which took place in the one-time mining community of Goldthorpe in the North of England seemed to summon up an earlier period and place - but somehow still more real than reality television - before communities needed a government department to carry their name and propagandise on their behalf. And so it was that on a day when state ceremony held sway in London, the frontier of the state was rolled back in South Yorkshire with an unceremonial funeral.

THE DARKER SIDE OF THE NORDIC PSYCHE

News that the perpetrator of yesterday's atrocities in Norway, Anders Behring Breivik, is a native Scandinavian unfortunately comes as no great surprise to anyone who has followed the career of the late Stieg Larsson, regarded as a world authority on far-right and neo-Nazi groups.

Breivik, who has identified himself as a "Christian fundamentalist" seems to have fascist sympathies, although it is unclear whether he acted alone or with the support of others. What is clear is Breivik's extreme hate of those in government and politics embodying the Norwegian centre-left, whom people outside this region of Northern Europe associate with Scandinavian progressive liberalism.

Here is yet another "clash of civilisations", but not this time between foreign religious fanaticism and western secularism. Sadly, political assassinations, of which yesterday's mass killing is an extreme example, have been a feature of recent Scandinavian history and reflect the darker side of the Nordic psyche.

However, this particular crime also undoubtedly has a Messianic dimension, Breivik has described himself as a Freemason as well Christian fundamentalist. His actions are those of the archetypal avenger, singling out a particular group for extermination in a manner which for many will recall the actions of Hitler's Nazi regime. Let's all hope that Anders Behring Breivik has no followers.

On The Edge Of A Nuclear Catastrophe

Today's announcement that Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster is to be upgraded to category 7, the same as Chernobyl, comes almost exactly 25 years after the catastrophic explosion at the Ukrainian power station which led to abandonment of the nearby city of Pripyat (shown here).

This abandoned urban area has always reminded me of Andrei Tarkovsky's evocative film "Stalker", in which a journey in to "The Zone", a place cordoned off by the authorities which appears to have undergone some kind of industrial disaster, and more particularly of "The Room" that can grant the seeker's innermost wishes: perhaps a metaphor for the endless power promised by nuclear energy.

Guided tours of the zone around Chernobyl are, of course, now available, although I suspect that a visit to the room which housed its nuclear reactor remains off bounds to the twenty first century seeker after apocalyptic experience.

RAOUL MOAT'S JERUSALEM

I'm struck by some of the similarities between Jez Butterworth's play "Jerusalem", whose "edge of town" character is played by Mark Rylance, and "the legend of Raoul Moat" as played out in the national media recently.

Admittedly, Moat's character - as played by himself - is rather more morally culpable than the hero of Jerusalem. Yet the central ambiguity remains. For Moat, although murderer, woman and child beater, and increasing threat to police and public, is also regarded as good neighbour, much loved family member, brotherly comrade and cult hero.

What is most striking about the story of Raoul Moat, however, is the manner in which the national media - usually so reluctant to move beyond London and the Home Counties - headed North in their droves.

Recent memories of homicidal Cumbrian taxi driver Derek Bird no doubt contributed to the media exodus from its home turf, but the hunting of Raoul Moat to the Nortumbrian town of Rothbury created its own unique social and police drama.

My feeling is that Moat is another character to whose story Rylance's acting skills could ultimately bring justice, as he did to the very different tragedy of David Kelly, who, nevertheless, was also hounded by the media to his own death.

As to the real lessons to be learnt from this extraordinary episode, many may feel that the socio-economic millieu of modern Britain's Jerusalem has increasingly excluded post-industrial man to "The Edge of Town". Against this background, Moat does not deserve to be simply pathologised.

Ultimately, however, "the legend of Raoul Moat" is testimony to the powerful dramatic adage that "character is fate".

A TRUTH NOT UNIVERSALLY ACKNOWLEDGED

Hollywood writer Seth Grahame-Smith has recently created a spoof zombie novel from Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", which is to be turned in to a film.

It is with this cultural development in mind, that I now want to reflect on the current wrangle between Government ministers and the Conservative Party on the subject of homophobia, and, on the day of London's "Gay Pride", who is the least prejudiced.

However, it is not on gay issues that I want to focus here, but on political and wider societal prejudice towards single people (of whom novelist Ms Austen remained one) and the fact that not everyone is in want of either wife/husband or civil partner, for that matter.

The fact is that New Labour, being a deeply socially conservative party - and possibly more so than "David Cameron's Conservatives" - is deeply intolerant of single people (whether straight, gay, bisexual or undecided) - and this has set the tone for wider society.

Thus a few years ago, I was set upon by a married suburban couple who had "singled" me out as someone weaker than their combined might. Unfortunately for them, I'd spent most of my adult life in a tough inner urban neighbourhood and soon put pate to the pair.

Prior to this, the man had called me a "Lesbian" in a homophobic manner, although I could have assured him that I found his wife equally unattractive. Had I actually been gay, this attack might well have been deemed a criminal offense.

What I want, however, is a society in which the "pride and prejudice" of a couple of zombies like this - many of whom, albeit in more refined guise, occupy positions of power and authority - is made ridiculous, just like the gnashings of their B-Movie kin.

The "Original Planet of the Apes" & Police Treatment of Climate Change Protestors

The original film version of "Planet of the Apes" (not the prequels/sequels or re-makes !) had a profound impact on me as a child. In this film the hero, Charlton Heston, is one of a crew of astronauts who land on what we believe to be a far distant planet at some equally distant time in the future. Only the Heston character, Taylor, survives. At the end of the film we discover that the planet is, in fact, earth : an earth now run by ape men. I will call them "ape men" rather than "apes" because this is what they are. There are 3 species of "ape men", supposedly corresponding to chimpanzees (scientists), orang-utang (politicians) and gorillas (militia). The gorillas are frequently seen chasing humans (now a subordinate species) on horseback.

The image on the front page of the Financial Times today also had a profound impact on me, as a reminder not only of the original "Planet of the Apes", but of media images of the 1980s Miners Strike in Britain, when policemen on horseback pursued protestors. The FT image shows a mounted police officer in riot gear, followed by another, chasing, whilst shouting at, a climate change protestor who is running through the scrub land around Heathrow Airport. In short, this is an ugly scene, particularly so for someone who is an environmentalist, in fact a supporter of the climate change protestors, and a horsewoman. I seriously question whether mounted police should conduct themselves thus, or have we already fast-forwarded into the future ?

The Edge of Town : "Dawn of the Dead"

I watch very little TV these days, but occasionally feel the need for a fix, and so it was last weekend. On Saturday, I caught the trailer for what appeared, at first sight, to be a programme about edge of town suburban (sub-urban !) housing development. As this is a subject which can really get me going, I felt an instant surge of adrenalin. Many places are threatened with such development just now, not least in the West Midlands, and Worcester in particular. However, the programme trailer turned out to be for a US horror film made in 2004, called "Dawn of the Dead".

Sure enough the action is set on "the edge of town", supposedly the US City of Milwaukee (?), and opens when the heroine, a nurse, is involved in the admission of patient with a "bite" that turns nasty : very nasty, indeed, as it happens. In fact, a bite like this and you're one of the "undead", or a human blood devouring zombie. Very soon there are very few survivors of this outbreak, and those there are take refuge in an edge of town shopping mall, which happens to be next to the local gun shop (more of a major ammunitions arsenal). This is just as well, for the only way for healthy sane folk to kill their zombie compatriots is to shoot them through the brains. Needless to say there is alot of this amongst the more general carnage.

The film, which I have to confess was actually rather gripping, is accompanied with a curious sound track which starts off with easy listening rock ballads, and descends into nihilistic grunge. By the end, the cinematography has also disappeared, to be replaced with home movie type footage which reminds you of "The Blair Witch Project", but even more fragmented. This is also rather effective. However, like many intoxicating things, the film leaves something of an aftertaste. Bit like a bad trip, I imagine, never having had a real one. In short, you want to make sure your doors are bolted, just in case the neighbours turn nasty during the night.