Brexit - Irish Squeaky Bum Time

The warm and cosy delusions of those opposed to Britain remaining in the European Union had, sooner or later, to come up against the chill wind of reality. And for many of those thus deluded, the moment of truth has finally arrived. Their dream is crumbling before their eyes. There is nothing they can do about it except to lose the plot, as they invoke imagined past glories to ward off the real world.

It would take a heart of stone not to laugh. And few observers have a heart of stone. But what has provoked the onrush of reality? Simples. While the Tories have had difficulty agreeing to be seen in the same room, the EU side has compiled a Draft Legal Agreement on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. This derives from the agreement reached last December. And once again, the problem is with the Irish border.

As the BBC has reported, “The EU's draft legal agreement proposes a ‘common regulatory area’ after Brexit on the island of Ireland - in effect keeping Northern Ireland in a customs union - if no other solution is found … Unveiling the draft agreement, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier called on the UK to come up with alternatives”.

That is, alternatives to doing no more than squabbling amongst themselves. Theresa May decreed the draft unacceptable: “no UK prime minister could ever agree”. The Europhobic press will applaud her tomorrow. But they, too, are in a state of delusion. On Murdoch-owned Talk Radio, Julia Hartley Dooda invoked the memory of Mrs T: “Margaret Thatcher would have told the EU to ‘get stuffed’ over the Irish border”.

Meanwhile, the Mail On Sunday’s not at all celebrated blues artiste Whinging Dan Hodges entered into the panic with gusto: “If it's true - as the Times reports - that Labour and Barnier are now directly coordinating their Brexit positions, then Corbyn and Starmer are playing with fire”. That’s how he goes wrong so often - taking the Murdoch press on trust.

And talking of the Murdoch shilling takers, Iain Martin was on hand to scoff “Here it is. The EU plan to annex Northern Ireland. Appalling. What an organisation”. When told this was as a result of the December report, all The Great Man could manage was “Don't be a muppet”. It was, as he was then told, in Paragraphs 45 and 49. Reading. Try doing it.

One pundit who was also not for reading Paragraphs 45 and 49 was Iain Dale, who pontificated “Watching Barnier at his self-preening worst. He is clearly trying to interfere in the constitutional affairs of a sovereign nation. I do wonder if this time he really has overreached himself. His terms are simply not ones the UK government can accept”.

The Press and Pundit Establishment was so full of itself after disaster was averted last December, telling anyone who would listen that Britain would make a great success of Brexit, that many of them failed to read what was in the document.

It was left to David Allen Green to explain “The EU simply put into legal form what the UK had already agreed to back in December, and such is the nature of UK politics this is a major event”. Quite. And, remember it well, those who have gone off the end of the pier in no style at all at today’s news are typical of “The commentators who count”.

They are out of touch with the real world. So no surprise there, then.

Sun Brexit Savings FAKE NEWS

Yesterday, the Murdoch goons at the Super Soaraway Currant Bun were back on Brexit propaganda duty, combining the anti-EU narrative with smearing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. “BREXIT BARGAINS … Here’s some of the high street savings we could make after Brexit - if Jeremy Corbyn DOESN’T become PM” proclaimed the headline.

The Sun - so clueless they can't work out his P45

How would a change of Government do that? Well, it wasn’t quite that simple: “Prices on everyday goods could FALL once we’re free of EU tariffs - provided we don’t stay in a customs union”. It was a calculated hit piece in response to Jezza’s speech earlier this week. It was also a pack of lies, despite telling those readers “According to experts Britain will be able to slash tariffs on everyday items such as butter if we quit the customs union”.

How many experts would that be? Er, none, actually: the Sun’s only source was “Jayne Adye, Director of pressure group Get Britain Out”. Not exactly a neutral source, then. Still, what could we save in the Sun’s brave new Brexit world? Well, there was “Mozzarella-type cheese”, “Cherry tomatoes”, “Butter”, and “LG 43in Flatscreen TV”.

And the inmates of the Baby Shard bunker could count on one notable endorsement: the member for times long past Jacob Rees Mogg was pleased to tell his followers “Thanks to the Sun for calculating the huge savings for us all outside the Customs Union, except for the one on cigarettes which no government would pass on”. Quite so.

But then reality intervened, courtesy of Jonathan Portes of KCL, who brought bad news for the Murdoch goons: “This is fake news, which the Sun will be retracting. All these "calculations" are wrong. Astonishing @Jacob_Rees_Mogg should promote it”. And a few examples of what made it Fake News came from Steve Peers at the University of Essex.

“First of all, no tariffs are charged on goods coming from the EU (obviously) or from countries with which the EU has a free trade deal. That includes South Korea (TVs). That means that the majority of these products sold in shops haven't been subject to a tariff. So no saving”. And when it came to those bananas the Sun featured?

“The EU has FTAs with some developing countries and reduced or zero tariffs with many others. So for bananas, most African and Caribbean bananas don't face a tariff; Latin American bananas do”. Then came the Sun’s sums problem.

“The S*n calculates its ‘savings’ based on the *retail price* of the goods. But tariffs (if charged at all) apply to the value of the product when it's *imported*. That's obviously less than the final retail price, due to VAT, shop markup etc”. And the paper’s inability to understand tariffs: “on butter in particular, the S*n doesn't understand the tariffs. This is an area where tariffs are based on the volume, not the import price. See this thread. Bottom line … the tariff adds 15p, not £1, to the cost of non-EU butter”.

As Portes said, that makes the Sun’s article Fake News. And now it has been pulled: all the reader sees is “WHOOPS! We can’t seem to find what you’re looking for”.

They can’t even seem to find what they’re looking for, either. So no change there, then.

Twitter SUSPENDS Tommy Robinson

After Mark Rowley, the retiring head of counter-terrorism at the Metropolitan Police, used a speech to warn about the rise in far-right terrorism, and named people like Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen and former EDL main man Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, the reaction was instantaneous. Lennon declared that he would “find” AC Rowley, and fired off a series of Islam-bashing Tweets.

As a result of this, a number of complaints were made to Twitter. And overnight, Lennon’s account has been suspended, not for a few hours, or a day, but for a whole week. He is now limited to sending DMs. He cannot send Tweets, Retweet anything, or perform Likes or follows. It is, apparently, not the first such suspension that has been handed down to Lennon. But what is certain is that it will, in the retelling, not be his fault.

That is despite making a direct threat against a senior serving Police officer, and then making a number of claims about him which are, at the very least, questionable. And his way of establishing another channel of communication may not last long.

Lennon’s former side-kick Caolan Robertson, who is busying himself promoting pro-am Motormouth Katie Hopkins’ favourite subject, the claim that white farmers are being disproportionately attacked, injured and even killed in South Africa, has taken time out to help his old friend. He has decided to lend Lennon his Twitter account.

“Tommy has just been banned for 7 days on Twitter for tweeting THIS. With him now & he will be sending tweets via this account until his is restored” told Robertson late yesterday. This was picked up by Lennon’s followers, one of whom responded “Tommy @TRobinsonNewEra Robinson got a 7 day Twitter ban (according to @CaolanRob http://archive.is/m4zlh)”, then went on to claim “What was Tommy banned for? He was banned for stating a fact”, although the link is not a reliable source. Again.

And while the highly sound Resisting Hate people have Tweeted “Robinson suspended from Twitter for seven days for Islamophobic content. We will be reporting his other Islamophobic tweets today too”, that point about Lennon’s new communication channel not lasting long needs to be revisited: using Robertson’s Twitter feed to get round his suspension is against the Twitter terms and conditions. Oh dear!

What also needs to be borne in mind, and not just by Lennon and his followers, is that Twitter is a company which is well within its rights suspending access for those who it considers are running (for instance) hate speech campaigns. And if that company could ban the likes of Milo Yiannopoulos for life, they will have no compunction handing the likes of Stephen Yaxley Lennon a seven day suspension.

Moreover, those opposed to Lennon’s brand of alleged hate speech are free to make representations to Twitter, and indeed any other social media provider, objecting to the content he is putting out there. All are allowed to practice free dissenting speech.

So this may not be the last suspension Stephen Yaxley Lennon experiences. The solution to his problem is straightforward, and is in his hands. That is all.

Daily Mail Mosley Hypocrisy

High on its moralistic horse this morning, the obedient hackery of the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre at the Daily Mail has been joyously putting the boot in on press campaigner Max Mosley, having discovered an election leaflet from the early 1960s from a campaign in south Manchester. Mosley was, at the time, supportive of his late father’s far-right politics. All this was previously known. But that is not where the Mail is at.

Mosley is a tireless campaigner for more effective press regulation. The family trust set up in the name of his late son Alexander has helped fund independent press regulator Impress. He has donated funds to help Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson (Mosley is now a Labour member).  And he has recently indicated possibly taking legal action to stop the persistent repetition of untrue and gratuitous smears against him.

Which c***said I'd just f***ing well shaved off my f***ing Hitler tache, c***?!?!?

This makes him a prime target for the Dacre boot boys, for whom press regulation means having a sham regulator like IPSO under their control. Losing control of press regulation cannot be countenanced. Anything Leveson related is to be ignored at first, then dismissed, smeared, undermined, discredited, whatever it takes to see it off. And someone with the money to take them to the cleaners - that is the proverbial red rag to the bull.

Hence the all-hands-on-deck full-on treatment this morning, starting with the thundering front page headline “The Mail accuses Max Mosley - who bankrolls Labour’s deputy leader - of racist thuggery, and asks … DID F1 TYCOON LIE TO ORGY TRIAL?” They don’t know, but hey, nudge and wink, and besides, it’s for Rupert Murdoch, and he’s a pal.

Supporting the lead article is another piece which tells readers of “Mr Mosley's own participation in the far-Right politics of his parents, Sir Oswald and Diana, Lady Mosley, at whose marriage in Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels' home Adolf Hitler had been guest of honour” and talks of “Sir Oswald's Union Movement (UM) - the post-war reincarnation of his Jew-hating Blackshirts of the British Union of Fascists”.

Mosley has, of course, long repudiated those politics and those views, and the Mail has very little room to talk on either Nazi support, or indeed anti-Semitism. The paper’s grovelling backing for the Third Reich, and indeed Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts, in the 1930s is the stuff of newspaper legend, as is its righteous opposition to Britain accepting Jewish refugees from Germany. The Mail applauded the annexation of the Sudatenland.

The paper now taking such a high moral stance on political thuggery has its own previous in that area. As has been noted, “In the early 1930s, Rothermere was so close to Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists that Daily Mail staff began to mimic their dress - wearing black shirts to work”. The Blackshirts were thugs, and violent with it

The Mail’s admiration for Oswald Mosley and his far-right politics was not confined to the 1930s. Nor had it been extinguished by the early 60s, the time when Max Mosley was still backing his father’s Union Movement. When Oswald Mosley died, the Mail told its readers that he had been a “much maligned and much misunderstood political giant of his era”.

Oswald Mosley died not in the early 60s, but in 1980. I’ll just leave that one there.

Euston Road Is The New Irish Border

After Jeremy Corbyn pitched a commitment to maintaining a customs union with the EU yesterday, one might have expected the Tories, despite the inevitable yah-boo response, to at least up their game to grownup level. But that expectation has been dashed this morning, after London’s formerly very occasional Mayor Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson went on the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme.

Bozza was challenged over the response to Jezza’s pitch, with host Mishal Husein reminding him that the CBI, which represents around 200,000 businesses, had welcomed the commitment to having no hard border on the island of Ireland. The alleged Foreign Secretary retorted that he had spoken to “a few” businesses who disagreed, which, knowing his propensity to dishonesty, he most likely hadn’t.

But worse was to come: Bozza told Ms Husain that the Irish border could be policed in the same way as London’s congestion charge. Before a Government minder could shout “Stop”, he was off: “There’s no border between Islington, Camden and Westminster, but when I was mayor of London we anaesthetically and invisibly took hundreds of millions of pounds from people travelling between those two boroughs without any need for border checks”. Crikey, readers! The Euston Road goes all the way to Donegal!

Quite apart from not having to carry a passport when popping in to the Euston Tap for a beer before getting on the train north, the whole idea was bonkers. The congestion charge system reads number plates. It can’t tell you what, or indeed who, the vehicle concerned is carrying. Friend or foe? Guns or butter? Duty paid or unpaid?

Border post of the Euston badlands in days gone by. Or maybe not

The ridicule was instantaneous. In the Commons, Stella Creasy asked Philip Hammond to set out the benefits of a “customs union between Camden, Islington and Westminster”. Hammond, pretending not to have listened to Today (like heck), ducked out of that one by replying “I'm sure when I go home and reflect on it, the deep meaning of that question will become clear to me”. Theresa May’s spokesman had to spin for his life.

“I thought the foreign secretary was making a comparison to demonstrate our overall approach … and that is that 110,000 people crossing the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland annually will continue living their lives as before, travelling freely. Just as Londoners travel across boroughs each day”. Very witty, Mr Wilde, very witty.

But our Foreign Secretary - yes, he really is in charge of the FO - could only ramble on “It's a very relevant comparison because there's all sorts of scope for pre-booking, electronic checks, all sorts of things that you can do to obviate the need for a hard border to allow us to come out of the customs union, take back control of our trade policy and do trade deals”. How the heck can you pre-book a vehicle inspection on a border?

At least Michel Barnier, speaking in Brussels, knew the exact significance of Bozza’s remarks. “What counts here is what the British prime minister says” was his diplomatic, yet succinct, summing up of yet another embarrassment to our country.

Bozza being a clown is not a problem. Being a clown in charge of the FO definitely is.

Migrant Hating Bigot IS A MIGRANT

Through Jacob Rees Mogg’s ill-advised attendance at its annual gathering, the presence of the Traditional Britain Group is moderately well-known, as is its representative Gregory Lauder-Frost, who likes to give the impression of being a Brit through and through, and a noble one at that. But research by a Zelo Street source has shown that Lauder-Frost is not of noble stock, and was not born in Britain. He is, whisper it quietly, a migrant.

He's not a Lauder - he's a very naughty boy

And considering the stance of his group, that puts him in what Spike Milligan might have called A Very Difficult Position. Immigration is a TBG staple: indeed, in 2013, his keynote address was on “Immigration and the threat to the nation”. In 1990 he told the Telegraph “Most of the refugees [to Britain] are economic migrants, and the government should deport them as soon as possible”. Migrants are, for him, A Very Bad Thing.

The man from TBG was not even born Gregory Lauder-Frost, but plain Gregory Frost (his younger brother, Stephen Frost, died in 1997). Nor was his connection to the entertainer Harry Lauder any more than tenuous. Let’s start back with his mother’s grandfather.

Gregory Lauder-Frost’s mother had a grandfather called Matt Lauder, who was the brother of Harry Lauder. But while one brother went on to fame as an entertainer, Matt was registered in the 1901 census as a “Coal miner hewer” living in Hamilton, near Glasgow.

Whatever will Jacob think, caught sitting with a pretentious commoner?

Matt Lauder had a son, also called Matt. They emigrated to Australia, but by the early 1920s had emigrated again, this time to the west coast of the USA.

In 1924, Matt Junior married Elsie Myee Upfold, an Australian, in Los Angeles. Their daughter Cecily Lauder was born there in 1925. She was Gregory Lauder-Frost’s mother.

Oh the irony

And although Matt Lauder Junior became a US citizen in 1930, the family later emigrated once more, this time back to Australia. Matt Junior was on the electoral register in New South Wales by 1943. And it was in that part of the world that his daughter married.

Cecily Lauder married Wallace Frost, described on the marriage certificate as a “Boilermaker”, in Newcastle, NSW, in April 1948. Their second son Gregory was born there in 1951. Born plain Gregory Frost. To a family comprised mainly of economic migrants. And not in Mayfair, as he likes to claim nowadays.

To Cecily and Wal, Gregory Frost, delivered in a Salvation Army maternity hospital in Mereweather, Newcastle, NSW. And not anywhere near Mayfair

Lauder-Frost likes to tell the tale that he was born in his maternal grandfather’s house in central London. This is bunk. A scan of the electoral rolls for Westminster up to 1965 does not show a single instance of anyone called Lauder.

As to the Harry Lauder heritage, the great entertainer’s son died in the Great War, his wife died before he did, and the estate passed to his niece, who was not a direct relation of Lauder-Frost. After she passed away, it was auctioned off.

So there you have it: the head of the anti-migration Traditional Britain Group, who want to revoke the passports of economic migrants, is a migrant himself, not British by birth, and from a family composed significantly of economic migrants.

You really couldn’t make it up. But plain Gregory Frost from Oz has done just that.

Tommy Robinson Linked To Terrorism

The threat of far-right terrorism was illustrated by the recent Finsbury Park attack, in which a van was driven into a group of worshippers outside a Mosque. And as the BBC has reported, “Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, who will retire from the Met Police next month, said four extreme-right terror plots were disrupted last year”.

In his speech at Policy Exchange, he went on to name names: “While they have not been involved directly in terrorism, he singled out Tommy Robinson, who founded the English Defence League (EDL), and Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of Britain First, as voices from the far right who stir up tensions”. This has not gone down well.

Indeed, Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, has not only contested AC Rowley’s analysis, but threatened him directly, although his first reaction was the usual calling of “liar” on anyone disagreeing with him: “Stop telling the truth shall I? Lie like all the other journalists shall I”. Everyone’s out of step bar him.

Then he sold the pass. “I’m gonna find Mark Rowley”. Threatening a serving Police officer. That’ll go down well with the Met. Or maybe not. And when the BBC’s Daniel Sandford merely observed that threat, he was off again: “I would say I’ll find you too Daniel but no need as my live stream already exposed your sorry arse”.

From there, the excuse generation was ramped up. “So counter terror chief can't see difference between a democrat who denounces political violence & someone who promotes it as God's will? That failure encourages political violence” he claimed.

“Do you think Mark Rowley or his Muslim replacement [!] will denounce the war crimes and terrorism perpetrated by the founder of Islam (the source of Islamic terrorism)?” Eh? And more: “Across the UK we have 2,000 mosques with people following a book that preaches hatred & violence. Are there 20,000 clubs in the UK where people meet daily to preach hatred against Muslims?” Plus it wasn’t fair to pick on him.

“This is an unbelievable & unfair attack on me by a leading police officer, equating me with anjem choudry. anjem choudry calls for the murder & enslavement of people . I simply oppose it”. The reaction of some of Lennon’s followers suggests this this opposition does not always inspire peaceful feelings elsewhere.

Nor does Lennon’s ignorance of operational policing inspire confidence in the reliability of his testimony: “PC [!] Mark Rowley (Head of Counter-Terrorism) was responsible for Westminster police being unarmed at the gates of Parliament. Too scary for the tourists to see machine guns. PC Palmer was stabbed to death by a Jihadi because of that policy … Why wasn't Rowley sacked?”. Defamation lawyers may find that one interesting.

The fact of this particular matter is that AC Rowley has come to his conclusion on the basis of the evidence before him. Stephen Lennon being abusive, defamatory and threatening towards him merely reinforces his case. Nor will it profit his cause.

The Police are concerned about far-right terrorism. Fact. End of story.

Toby Young - Tories Fixed It For Him

After the loathsome Toby Young resigned his sinecure as a board member of the new Office for Students, the questions began to be asked. How had those making the appointment missed Tobes’ incendiary Twitter excursions? What suitability did a partisan right-wing propagandist have for such a role? Hadn’t any other suitable candidates come forward? Was Tobes the best they could find? Seriously?

We now know the answer to all of those, and if the minister concerned, Bozza’s younger brother Jo Johnson, had an ounce of principle in his body, he would resign in shame. Sadly, in accordance with the rest of his family’s forays into public life, he doesn’t, and so he won’t. Put directly, commissioner for public appointments Peter Riddell’s report says, more or less, that the Tories fiddled the selection for Tobes.

His report (see it HERE) makes it clear that there was a failure to do due diligence on the one candidate for whom it should have been done, and done comprehensively. Moreover, it’s entirely possible that Tobes would not have put himself forward for the role, but for the intervention of Jo Johnson - who contacted him about applying. Alright Tobes, how about you apply for this nice little earner we’ve got here? You scratch my back, and all that.

Worse, it is clear that one candidate who was considered highly suitable for the role later handed to Tobes was vetoed by Downing Street - in other words, by a process of direct political interference in the Civil Service, a body which is supposed to be independent of such machinations. Why? “There had been a desire amongst ministers and special advisers not to appoint someone with close links to student unions, such as the National Union of Students”. Think about that. Tories excluding someone for union membership.

But it is on the subject of due diligence, and particularly Tobes’ social media past, where Riddell’s report is at its most scathing. The candidate vetoed for union membership had social media pored over comprehensively: “the social media activity of the initially preferred candidate for the student experience role was extensively examined”.

Not Tobes, though. “Notably, no such exploration or research was made on other possible appointees, including Mr Young”. This prompted further adverse comment. “Mr Young’s reputation as a controversialist, in itself hardly a secret, should have prompted further probing to examine whether what he had said and done might conflict with his public responsibilities and standards expected on the OfS board”. And there was more.

“The rapid disclosure of what were described as offensive tweets in the days after his appointment suggests that it was not that hard to find them, that not much delving was required”. And on top of all that, “The report also details the DfE’s repeated efforts to minimise or delay requests for information about the appointment process from the commissioner’s office”. The Government tried to obstruct the inquiry.

Tobes’ mates put him up to applying for the job. They then failed to check his - rather easily available - social media past. Then they tried to frustrate efforts to find out how the appointment came to be made. All of that reflects not so much on Tobes, but his pals in the Government. Jo Johnson should resign, or be sacked. And now.

Another attempt to find jobs for the boys by a discredited Government. No change there.

Corbyn Seizes Brexit Initiative

After last year’s General Election, the Tories were in an all-round shambles, especially on the subject of Britain and the EU. Initially, Labour was content to follow Theresa May’s motley rabble, but by the end of the year, as I noted at the time, she was making a mess of Brexit. Jeremy Corbyn had the opportunity - indeed, the necessity - to show leadership.

As ever, J K Galbraith’s definition of leadership bears revisiting: “All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common; it was their willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership”. Brexit is now the major anxiety of the British people.

Someone must lead, and that person is not a Tory: it is all the cabinet can do to turn up for a meeting and not fall out with one another. Having a clear and agreed position on Brexit is out of the question for them. It was with that background that Corbyn made his pitch today on a visit to Coventry. And as the Guardian has reported, he “has attempted to outflank the Conservatives with the business community by placing the customs union firmly on the table if Labour took over Brexit negotiations, triggering a cautious welcome from industry representatives”. So much for Labour being anti-business. And there was more.

“In a move that resulted in praise from the CBI and Institute of Directors, as well as the former Tory chancellor George Osborne, the Labour leader said his party wanted ‘a new, comprehensive UK-EU customs union’ after Brexit … The customs union policy would prevent Britain from signing independent trade deals, but Corbyn insisted that the country should still be involved in EU-wide negotiations”.

In realty, the UK does not have the resources to embark on independent trade deals. This much-heralded Brexit dividend is almost certainly another Tory chimera. And Jezza pushed one or two craftily populist buttons as he went, telling the audience he was “not prepared to ask the British people to eat chlorinated chicken”.

Onlookers noted the positive business reception, while not reacting well to the Tories’ yah-boo spoiling tactics. “Whatever you think of Labour's Brexit shift, the Tory reaction is staggering: ‘A cynical attempt to play politics with our country's future’. Remind me again, just why did the Tories promise an EU referendum?” asked one Tweter.

Mark Devonport of BBC Northern Ireland noted that Jezza “got” the necessity of keeping the Good Friday Agreement in place, which meant no hard border with the Republic, while Nick Eardley of BBC Scotland told “Corbyn says Labour open to supporting some EU agencies after Brexit like Euratom. ‘It makes no sense for the UK to abandon EU agencies and tariff-free trading rules that have served us well,’ he says”.

This was all positive news. And as for Frank Field pretending - in his dreams - that Labour taking this position was “ratting” on its voters, Mike Smithson of Political Betting had some news for him. “Latest Brexit tracker LAB voters … Brexit right 25% … Brexit wrong 69%”. This will also appeal to swing voters - and indeed, anyone who craves leadership.

The Tories have merely squabbled. They have failed to lead. Corbyn has now shown leadership. He has given his side, and many others, hope. That is all he needed to do.