Noble Sentiments at a Difficult Time on VJ Day
Chiswick Homefields councillor Gerald McGregor reports back
Cllr Gerald McGregor
August 18, 2025
The King has issued a message to the nation on the 80th Anniversary Of Victory In Japan Day , vowing that the service and sacrifice of Second World War heroes who fought and died in the Far East and Pacific will never be forgotten.
The six-minute address, was recorded earlier this month in the Morning Room at Clarence House, echoes and references the historic audio broadcast delivered by Charles's grandfather, the King-Emperor George VI and released at 7.30am on Friday to mark the end of the Second World War on August 15, 1945.
His Majesty stated: "For the millions of families gathered around their wireless sets, and for their loved ones still serving far from home, it was the message a battle-weary world had long prayed for. "'The war is over', declared my Grandfather, King George VI, in his address to the Nation and Empire on VJ Day 80 years ago today – four short words after six long years of bloodshed, fear and suffering.",
"Seldom can a simple message have resonated with such a potent mix of relief, celebration, and sorrow for those who never lived to see the glow of freedom's new dawn."
"We recall, too, the prisoners of war who endured years of brutal captivity: the starvation, disease and cruelty that tested the very limits of human endurance.
"Innocent civilian populations of occupied territories faced grievous hardships, too.
"Their experience reminds us that war's true cost extends beyond battlefields, touching every aspect of life - a tragedy all-too vividly demonstrated by conflicts around the world today."
At all levels in our society we should spend a few moments thinking about what has been said and the messages that have been sent. My own father was serving in the Indian Army, working for South East Asia Command under Lord Mountbatten, preparing the operation to liberate Malaya. VJ day was not the end of wartime service for him as he only finally returned to the UK after serving through to the end of 1947, but it was the end of hostilities for which he was eternally grateful
From National Commitment to Local reality in Hounslow
The summer months are difficult for Local Authorities with the impact of staff holidays and decisions being deferred and meetings delayed. Councillors feel that this year this impact is not managed well we start to lose confidence in the reality of Local Authority work.
The local political map is now seeing the consequences of some irregular behaviour by the council leadership and the failures of policy in a multiplicity of areas are now hitting home. The lack of keeping control in the council is best shown by the collapse of a regular Borough Council and Area Forums calendar and where scrutiny and audit is perfunctory to say the least. No wonder people are less inclined to support what is going on or rather what is not going on.
The street lighting controversy and the darkness into light that it took a public petition to get the council to review a simple policy decision that made women feel unsafe at night in public places;
the continuing spectre of the darkness of Watermans Centre as a cultural centre that could and should be revitalised for the benefit of Brentford;
the toing and froing of how to support electric vehicles drawing sparky comments about the imposition of street chargers, the loss of parking spaces and the quality and use of council contractors;
the departure of a number of contracted agencies generally across the transport spectrum does not bode well for cycling policy, pedestrian safety or future financial calm;
the latest figures on migration locally show that residents of Hounslow are voting with their feet, our population is actually going down:
and in Chiswick active disruption to traffic patterns by the council now makes the High Road a constant all hours no go area for public transport and emergency vehicles, so making the pavements constantly dangerous for the elderly and young alike with electric powered scooters and bicycles a menace to safety and comfortable living;
the lack of effective pavement weed control that leaves pathways disfigured and which endangers our population and now the news that toxic chemical compounds are to return to use!!!.
In all of this the guiding hand is often through an un-controlled officer team policy response which is buckling and bending administration at Hounslow.
What are the political leaders of Hounslow doing?
When you are led by politicians who don’t live in Chiswick it is difficult to have a coherent and value-led policy that benefits the most prosperous part of the Borough. Too often the guiding hand is a dead weight and not a value improvement and Chiswick suffers further contempt as it supplies the Council Tax levies that are spent elsewhere;.
When the majority party (who are constantly and enviously sniping about Chiswick) deliberately misunderstand the nature of creating prosperity in the eastern sector of the Borough it is hard to take criticism about privilege (that having a successful career leading to prosperity means), it is difficult to show willingness or forgiveness when things just go so wrong.
The main wrong is that so little has been done to lift an underclass out of poverty, whilst others who are unequal to that drive for attainment should somehow be justified in being given state handouts as benefits in compensation when no effort is being shown.
What are we now facing at all levels of Government?
Result: political paralysis, vicious internal point scoring and infighting, economic floundering and loss of relationships with other communities; social stress created at all levels; encouraged by unprincipled extremists at national level of both left and right who want to get power and share out spoils (as if public funds are held not in trust but to be pillaged) and authority and administrative discipline are fouled by the constant attempts to gain from private deals and influence behind the scenes.
The evolving picture across the whole of Europe and North America gives an indication of what we might be in for.
Cllr Gerald McGregor
gerald.mcgregor@hounslow.gov.uk
07866 784821
DEMOCRACY: DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 2025
Monday 13 October: Chiswick Area Forum - Normally at Hogarth Hall, Chiswick Town Hall, Heathfield Terrace, Turnham, W4 4JN, but moveable around Chiswick (please check the website). Meetings are open from 6.30pm allowing residents to meet officers of Hounslow Council in Adult and Child care Social Welfare, Education, Housing and Services
Council Meetings - Borough Council
- Tuesday 16 September 7.30pm
- Tuesday 25 November 7:30 pm
There is public access for these meetings via a direct lift from the ground floor to the Council Meeting Room
6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow TW3 3EB
Council Meetings – Overview and Scrutiny Committee
- Monday 18 September 2025 7.00pm
6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow TW3 3EB
Council Meetings – Audit and Governance Committee
- Tuesday 4 November 7:00 pm
6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow TW3 3EB
Anyone can attend public meetings of the council. Most meetings take place on the 6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, TW3 3EB. Hounslow House is fully accessible. The nearest tube is Hounslow Central which does not have step-free access. Parking in local roads is limited.
Emergencies
You can report emergencies outside office hours by ringing the council on: 020 8583 2222.
CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLOR SURGERIES
Chiswick: Every Saturday from 9.30am to 10.30am at Chiswick Library (the seven Conservative councillors take this surgery in turn).
Gunnersbury: First Saturday of the month from 10am to 11am at The Gunnersbury Triangle Club, Triangle Way, off The Ridgeway, W3 8LU (at least one of the Chiswick Gunnersbury ward councillors takes this surgery).
CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLORS and CONTACTS
Chiswick Gunnersbury ward
Cllr Joanna Biddolph joanna.biddolph@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 703446
Cllr Ron Mushiso ron.mushiso@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 702887
Chiswick Homefields ward
Cllr Jack Emsley jack.emsley@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 396017
Cllr Gerald McGregor gerald.mcgregor@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784821
Cllr John Todd john.todd@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784651
Chiswick Riverside ward
Cllr Gabriella Giles gabriella.giles@hounslow.gov.uk 07966 270823
Cllr Peter Thompson peter.thompson@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 395810
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