CAN politics ever be fun? I may be about to find out. The Freedom Association is to hold its Northern Festival at Harrogate on Saturday and I have been asked to give a talk.

The association was formed following a meeting of Ross and Norris McWhirter with Lord De L’Isle VC in 1975. Ross was murdered later that year by the IRA. An early member of the Association was the England cricketer Alec Bedser. The association is not allied to any political party and its chief aim is to promote freedom of speech. Amen to that.

It looks as if I shall be in good company. I’ll be talking about defence spending which, I shall argue – since Russia is flexing her muscles in eastern Europe and there is a violent Islamic insurgency on three continents – should be maintained at two per cent of GDP at least.

Nice too to be back in my native Yorkshire. I grew up in the rather less posh city of Leeds and I noticed that Harrogate folk referred to their home town as "Herrowgayte", while we oiks in downmarket Leeds called it "Arrygut". It was rumoured that Harrogate was so genteel that even the birds paused their singing to allow the terminally prosperous to enjoy their afternoon nap.

OUR well-paid MPs are still on their long summer holidays and so we are still in what is called the silly season. Why, I can’t tell, since the House of Commons strikes me as being a pretty silly place with all the shouting and bawling that goes on. And in the silly season politics usually goes off the agenda. Not this year, though, with that elderly gentleman Jeremy Corbyn dominating the scene and threatening to destroy the Labour Party we know and love, as a prelude to destroying the country we know and love if he gets to be prime minister.

People say Mr Corbyn is so loony left that no one would vote for him come the 2020 election. I think a lot would vote for him: there are so many of our fellow countrymen these days who believe in fairyland and are ready to cheer on anyone who promises to give them something for nothing.

What I find hugely amusing is that Mr Corbyn looks as if he’ll win the Labour leadership even though he was nominated by parliamentarians who stated they had no intention of voting for him. Margaret Beckett has already apologised for backing him. I am looking forward to seeing Frank Field in sackcloth and ashes too.

THE other big talking point is the refugee crisis and immigration, which everyone now admits is out of control. In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher was told that 25.000 foreigners migrated to this country every year. “Gosh!” she said, “that’s a town the size of Grantham every three years.”

The latest figure is well above 300,000. That’s a city the size of Birmingham every three years. The consequence is that the character of our nation is being changed beyond recognition. And this is only the start of it. I believe that we are about to see truly massive shifts in population as millions attempt to flee wars and terrorism all across the Middle East and northern and sub-Saharan Africa. I think we are going to see immigration on a scale not experienced since the Germanic tribes and other eastern hordes swamped – yes, that is the right word – the Roman Empire in the 5th century.

Only I wonder if we still have the freedom of speech to mention the matter?