Now I am 80.

Yes, I have run my race and I’ve won. I have reached 80! I have reached the age of maturity, even though I still remain largely immature. I am a child of the post-war Polish emigres in the UK who settled here after the most heroic, dramatic and tragic experiences in the Second World War. My parents, my Saturday schools and my years as a scout have imbued me with a deep love and sense of duty to Poland as my true country of origin, even though I have spent my life in the comforting surroundings of Britain to whom I am grateful. I want to salute and thank my wife Albina for moving here from Poland and for surviving 53 years of marriage and giving my life full support, as I pursued my interests, and for bringing up our son Sandro, now living in Finland but visiting us today, of whom we remain immensely proud. I would like to salute my friends, so many of whom have now departed permanently, who have accompanied me on this journey through the Polish Solidarity Campaign, through my years as a social campaigner and as an Ipswich, and later, Ealing Councillor, my years in Kimpton Brothers and the London Chamber of Commerce, my activities as spokesman for the Polish community in the Federation of Poles in Gt Britain, and the POSK community centre where I am still a Director. But most important of all is still the future with more exciting journeys with my wife, more books to write, and the fervent hope of future generations surviving in an exciting and menacing future. 6th September 2026

The West was not to be identified solely with colonization

Dear Editor of I Paper, A good try by Afua Hirsch to identify Western values solely with colonialism (“Trump shows us what the “West” really is: a made-up history of white colonisers” 01.05.26) but I don’t buy it. Western values are built on the Latin tradition of individual free will and individual responsibility for their own behaviour which combines the best tradition of Roman virtues and Christian values. Western civilization was built on the cult of the individual long before any of those barbaric countries underwent the Renaissance or acquired any colonies. The more advanced Eastern civilizations indeed treasured Greek philosophy and Roman law, but they did not adopt it for themselves. The Magna Carta and the Rights of Man had no connection with colonialism. To take another example, Poland chose to accept the Christian faith from Rome, rather than from Byzantium. Its earliest history was written in Latin. By the XVIth century Poland had evolved into adopting the cult of Greece and Rome and setting up a parliamentary republic with a constitutional elected king. Western values for sure, but Poland had no colonies or imperial traditions and protected Jews from persecution in Western Europe. Yours sincerely Wiktor Moszczynski

Trump wants to use violence

Dear Editor, In answer to your headline "Trump wants to use violence" (04.04.26), there has been numerous evidence in the past of Trump's exceptional physical meanness and belligerence, even during his first presidency. At a public appearance with police forces from around the U.S., he mocked the way police use their hands to protect the heads of suspect criminals they arrest as they place them in their cars. Also, he urged the military to use waterboarding and other forms of torture during interrogation and had to be corrected by the Defense Secretary General Mattis. No other dictator, not even Putin or Xi Jinping, boasts about wanting to use torture, even when they do use it. Yours sincerely Wiktor Moszczynski