Saturday 12 January 2008

With an innate interest in modern languages, and an avid interest in foreign currency markets, I was beginning to have several ideas as to where my future lie, firstly in freelance interpreting or secondly in international banking. However it was considered that I had not done sufficiently well in my exams to pursue either of these lines, so in 1980, having left school, I entered college to pursue a BEC National Diploma in Business Studies with Travel and Tourism option. This not only gave me the opportunity to pursure further studies in the French language, which I'd begun at school, but also to take up Italian also. I revelled in it. By virtue of studying the travel and tourism option, which I hadn't even considered, having been weak in geography at school, this gave me the opportunity to also pursue my interest in the foreign currency markets.

Much was happening on the Political front nationally around this time, and coincidentally my own views were being modified too as I was beginning to think for myself. 18 months into their governance, and what were Thatcher and co. doing to help me?? I was making my way in spite of them. Keith Joseph may have come from, I think I'm correct in saying, the CBI, but what did he know about real people, particularly teenagers just starting out in life, on the ground. Mrs Thatcher was definitely making her mark on the world stage, but she was too close, in my opinion, to Reagan. Geoffrey Howe was a commendable Chancellor of the Exchequer and one had to also have respect for Lord Carrington at The Foreign Office. He was a natural diplomat.

However my life and views seemed to change in one fell swoop by four very single minded intellectuals, who saw a gap in the political spectrum for the birth of a fourth major political force in Britain. Roy Jenkins, Dr David Owen MP, Shirley Williams MP and last but not least, collectively known as 'The Gang of Four' brought a new vision to Britain which to me was like a breath of fresh air, and, ultimately, life changing.

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