Nigel Farage - You’re A Fraud

The potential collapse of Tory support, to the point where consideration is being given to the idea of the Lib Dems becoming the opposition after next month’s General Election, has also seen an increase in poll ratings for Reform UK and its self-appointed Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage. But with the poll ratings has come - at last - serious scrutiny.

Our free and fearless press, and those in the broadcast media, have woken up to this potential threat to the UK: Farage urged what became Brexit for so many years, and the result has been to hobble the country’s economy, to precipitate a state of national decline of the likes not seen before. Now he wants more. That this may mean more decline has not passed unnoticed.

So what never got done in the past - genuine scrutiny of Farage, his team, and his backers - is now happening. After all, that same media gave a free pass to disgraced former alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson too, and look where that got us. Now Farage is under pressure, and the edifice of bonhomie is cracking. He is being exposed as a fraud.

Worse, his sometimes wacko ideas on how the world is ordered have provoked ridicule, and from the right-wing press, disgust. Today’s Mail goes for Mr Thirsty, howling “FARAGE: THE WEST ‘PROVOKED’ PUTIN … Fury as Reform leader suggests Nato was to blame for invasion”.

There is a problem with Reform UK and its supporters claiming that Ukraine looking to join Nato, and indeed the EU, was what triggered the invasion by those in the service of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and his gangsterist régime in Moscow, one of timing: Ukraine’s move to join Nato and the EU came AFTER the invasion. So it could not have been some kind of provocation.

On the domestic front, Reform UK’s Contract With Britain (or perhaps that should be Contract ON Britain) has seen the BBC’s Nick Robinson tell Farage “In your manifesto there are promises to spend more on health, more police, more soldiers, tax cuts for this group, tax cuts for that group, tax cuts for the rich, tax cuts for the poor, everybody gets everything they want. It's like Christmas”, telling him he’s offering 50% more than Labour in 2019.

Exit ... stage right

Worse still, the promise to leave the World Economic Forum is unachievable - mainly because Britain is not a member of the WEF. And the long-standing commitment to leave the ECHR is worrying, given that this membership guarantees the right to a fair trial, the right to due process - when Farage spends so much time talking up deportations. And it gets worse still.

As David Clark has pointed out, apropos the Farage flagship feature, “This is why Reform UK deserves the designation far right. By talking about ‘invasion’ and framing immigration as an issue of national security, Farage is endorsing the conspiracy theory that it is being driven by a hostile foreign interest. It’s a fascist dog whistle”. Couple that with leaving the ECHR.

He blames Net Zero for “de-industrialising Britain”. Because it can’t be Brexit that done it. He claims exports are up, Britain going from 7th to 4th in the export league. Except this is only in services, not goods. Robinson pulled him up again on the infamous and swiftly-reversed Liz Truss “mini-budget”.

“You're laughing but you said on the day of the mini budget: Today is the best Conservative budget since the 1980s.. Is that the judgment of someone who deserves to be Prime Minister?” Ah well, responded Mr Thirsty, “Some of the thinking was right, the delivery was wrong, the timing was appalling”. No, the thinking was wrong too: handing rich people a tax handout is not the way to go for growth. Propensity to save v propensity to spend, and all that.

Also, Reform UK’s stance on climate change is in the wacko category. But, although the increased level of scrutiny is welcome, the thought enters that this may have been too late. Maybe Farage will win in Clacton. Which would, perversely as it may seem, be a good thing. Because then he would have to turn up to the Commons. Where he would get ridiculed more often.

And would finally be exposed as a fraud. Pity the country is screwed, mind.

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Corbyn v Bozo - Starmer Was Right

After a party leaders’ special edition of BBC Question Time yesterday evening, the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog concluded “that’s proceedings over. A bit of a snoozefest”. But after seeing this morning’s faux outrage from the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press, that opinion was hastily recalibrated.

The Beeb’s “Key takeaways from BBC Question Time election special” tells why: “why did Sir Keir [Starmer] back [Jeremy] Corbyn in the 2019 general election … Fiona Bruce [asked] whether he had meant it when, in 2019 he said Jeremy Corbyn would be a ‘great prime minister’ … He finally added he thought Mr Corbyn would have been a better PM than Boris Johnson”.

But for the right-wing press, and indeed the Fawkes massive, Bozo was their hero, his defenestration a shameful casting off of someone who had won such a conclusive election victory in 2019, albeit aided and abetted by some downright poisonous attacks on the then Labour leadership, and arguably by some within the Labour Party trying to throw the contest.

So this morning, Staines and his gofers have offered any of their readers not yet asleep this revision of history: “Keir Starmer said last night that Jeremy Corbyn would have been a better Prime Minister than Boris Johnson … An outlandish remark considering Corbyn would have sent the country into ruins”. Bad English, bad argument, bad upcoming losers.

But good for their relationship with the press, where the increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph has told readers “Starmer: Corbyn better than Johnson as PM … Labour leader pinned down during debate over support for MP forced out of party”, while the Mail has gone Full Dacre on it.

“CORBYN WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER PM THAN BORIS, KEIR CLAIMS … Starmer’s extraordinary answer in TV grilling by voters … The Labour leader was left squirming on live TV as he was grilled over his support for his predecessor, who he twice tried to make PM”. So is the Mail right to go into maximum pearl-clutching mode? We can more usefully consider the Jezza v Bozo question by looking at the one issue to hit the UK early in 2020.

And that issue was the Covid-19 pandemic. Bozo hesitated, acted later than he should have, and somehow became enamoured of the idea that “Herd Immunity” could save the day. Remarks such as “let the bodies pile high” did not help his cause. But Bozo’s worst Covid minus point was the revelation that Downing Street had become Party Central during the pandemic.

While the little people had significant restrictions placed upon their freedom of movement, in Number 10 there were parties where staffers and other hangers-on indulged themselves freely upon whatever bottles were to hand, with the result that many became not only Elephant’s Trunk And Mozart, but physically sick to boot, hurling their hoops on the wall to wall.

Jeremy Corbyn’s abstemious inclinations would not have countenanced such behaviour. And, as John McDonnell would have been Chancellor of the Exchequer, there would have been no chance of Covid-spreading wheezes like Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out To Help Out scheme. Jezza would have done Covid better. But the right-wing press would have moaned all the way.

And on concluding the Brexit negotiations, nothing could have been worse for the country than the frankly inept approach of Bozo and his supposed expert negotiator “Lord” Frost. Nor would there have been the infamous “VIP Lane” via which so many hundreds of millions were spaffed up the wall, to use Bozo’s happy phrase, with precious little to show for it.

So why is Corbyn not still in the Labour mainstream? Ah well. That has more to do with a new authoritarian and control-freak mentality emerging from the Labour NEC than Starmer personally. But he must tackle it sooner rather than later. The control-freak episodes were not Tony Blair’s finest hour. And they will not end well for Labour. Even though Starmer was right last night.

Corbyn would have been a better PM. Although we’re not allowed to admit it.

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Reform UK - Unfit To Govern Whelk Stall

After reading the headline “UKIP candidate also works as porn star ‘Johnny Rockard’ [Geddit?!?!?]”, Isabel Oakeshott mused “Beyond parody. I thought UKIP was grown up enough to vet candidates these days?? Epic fail!” But that was back in 2015, and she is less effusive right now, after UKIP’s successor organisation Reform UK messed up in the very same area.

Another fine mess ...

The party’s self-appointed Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage had already been the subject of media cynicism over the costings behind its manifesto commitments, which he was told directly did not add up. He and his pals then lied about the figures’ veracity. which generated yet more cynicism. But worse was to come. A lot worse. It was back to candidate vetting.

And what made Reform UK and its leading lights look yet more stupid was that they openly admitted what had happened - or, as it turned out, what they claimed had happened, before they were exposed as more stupid still. You think I jest? Rob Hutton’s initial response was “How am I supposed to write anything funnier than this Reform press release?”

Several Reform UK candidates had been called out for wacko, racist or downright fascist views. This, the press release told, was someone else’s fault. “Reform UK has consulted lawyers about suing the company to which it paid £144,000 to vet over 400 of its candidates in April but which failed to return a single piece of research”. Did someone see them coming?

There was more: “Vetting dot com is co-owned by Colin Bloom, a former Conservative adviser who once worked as a faith engagement adviser under Boris Johnson, who rewarded him with a CBE … Reform UK is now exploring legal action, as well as potentially involving the Police”. Do go on.

“Richard Tice, the chairman of Reform UK, said: ‘They promised a deep dive, particularly on social media, and adverse press checks, received our candidate data but then delivered absolutely nothing … Suddenly, a round of stories appear in the Times and elsewhere after nominations close, including some stories that are 15 years old. Something feels very wrong, and I have instructed lawyers to pursue this matter vigorously’”. Any more claims?

... we got ourselves in to

As if you need to ask. “Mr Farage said ‘This is an establishment stitch-up. The owner of the vetting company has deep links to the Tory party, and they have some serious questions to answer’”. Reform UK may also have some serious questions to answer after what looks like potentially actionable comments from Farage (who is himself part of the establishment).

What say Vetting? “Everyone’s working assumption was that the election would be in the Autumn, giving us the Summer to complete this work. Given the explicit need for candidate consent, as well as our systems needing basic personal data like dates of birth, our automated software was not able [to] process Reform’s candidates with the data that was provided when it was provided … Mr Bloom has not had anything to do with the UK Conservative Party since 2022 and remains politically neutral”. It then got worse.

Tom Witherow concluded “In that statement they say ‘our automated software was not able process Reform’s candidates with the data that was provided when it was provided’. That suggests that Reform did not provide the data required to do checks, or the candidates' consent forms, or it did so too late”.

Also, the Vetting FAQs contain this nugget: “Q: Are you an outsourced background screening company? A: No, we provide you with the ability to complete your own background screening in house”. Which suggests this was just a means of helping Reform vet their own candidates more rapidly.

Or, as Frances Coppola told Mr Thirsty, “Nigel ... you bought a licence to use their platform to carry out YOUR OWN CHECKS”. This is shaping up to become an outstanding example of why no-one should trust Reform UK with anything - especially their vote. More stupidity than the stupid faculty at the University of Stupid in Stupid City. And all by their own admission.

Reform UK, who went to catch a toe-hold in Parliament - and dropped it.

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Oh Tommy Tommy - Facing Jail Again

It had all seemed so promising: Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, had produced another of his mind-numbingly tedious videos, had gathered his fans in central London, and had declared that there would be the ultimate gathering of the faithful on July 27th. He was back! No surrender, no going back! What could possibly go wrong?

What indeed. This blog has not always given groups like Hope Not Hate a free pass - after all, when Lennon came after his critics, including me, in his usual doorstepping, harassing, threatening manner, they were absent elsewhere - but this time they have stepped up to the plate and, by their actions, put The Great Man in one of those Very Difficult Positions.

So what’s going on? Nick Lowles of HnH has told “Tommy Robinson has been charged with contempt of court after he is alleged to have broken a court order preventing him from reporting lies relating to the Jamal Hajazi case”. Moreover, “He will appear at the High Court for Directions on 29 July”.

The HnH feed had more. “In April 2023, we submitted a dossier of evidence and an open letter … to the Attorney General, showing how Tommy broke a court order relating to the Jamal Hajazi case … We brought to light that Tommy had aired a documentary … in breach of a court order … Our research team uncovered Tommy promoting the film around the world & interviewing a number of far-right activists”. So what say Lennon?

As if you need to ask. “I'M FACING 2 YEARS IN PRISON … Support my legal fund here”. Ah yes, the grift goes on. There is more. “I'm amazed that I get to hear about this first from a far left Antifa linked Communist hate group run by a man who you would never employ as a baby sitter. What does that tell you?” It tells me that Lennon is on the smear once again.

“A man who you would never employ as a baby sitter” is dog-whistle code for PAEDO. “Antifa” is something Lennon doesn’t understand, except that it’s LEFTY and BAD and probably FORRIN. “Communist” is Ye Olde Red Scare tactic from the 1950s. And, as for “hate group”, who is it who turns up mob handed on his critics’ doorsteps in an effort to intimidate and silence them?

Lowles already has enough to fire off a Letter Before Action in Lennon’s general direction. But for Lennon, life right now is excellent: he has arrived in Canada for events in Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton. Sadly, in the meantime, he has demonstrated to the world that he has learned nothing on the subject of Contempt of Court, as one example from his feed shows.

This is potentially in Contempt of Court, and very obviously so: “remember the Syrian child Jamal who had a little bit of water poured over him, it was global news, the Syrian was invited to parliament . Every famous commentator spoke about it yet they all remain silent on these Muslims children abducting a homosexual Scottish child , tying him up & telling him they would behead him, we have a corrupt judiciary & a corrupt media”.

Lennon is, it seems, driven to make such unfortunate statements by his obsession with Islam, trying to frighten his followers with claims that Sharia Law is being implemented in the UK (it isn’t), that Muslims are going off to fight for ISIS (not easy as there isn’t ISIS any more), and suggesting to those who dislike far right attacks on them that they should leave the country.

So hung up on his irrational hatred of Islam is Lennon that he has now posted a graphic from train operator LNER titled “What is the story of Eid ul-Adha?” which goes on to talk of Ibrahim having a dream “which he believed was a message from Allah asking him to sacrifice his son Isma’il as an act of obedience to God”. Those who know their Old Testament will recognise this.

It is the story of Abraham and Isaac. Except, in Islam, they are called Ibrahim and Isma’il. The same story which is also in the Torah. But so full of bile is Lennon - and, apparently, ignorant of the Christianity he claims to support - that he goes off on one about it. And, sadly, so do his followers.

If Lennon is jailed for this alleged Contempt, he will have richly deserved it. Then perhaps he can get himself a real job. And get a life. That is all.

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Question Time Bust - Bad Timing

For a supposedly unbiased and impartial political debate programme, what would be the worst time to be exposed as exhibiting right-wing bias? Well, how about two and a half weeks before a General Election, with the party favoured by one of the board of the Corporation that commissions your show expected to suffer a result somewhere between heavy defeat and wipeout?

Moreover, the party expected to come to power has a deputy leader in place who has called for that member of the Corporation’s board to resign. So it was very good timing (for those who suspected right-wing bias), but very bad timing (for those responsible for delivering the programme concerned) when the BBC’s allegedly flagship debate show Question Time got called out.

It was The Conversation (article and data HERE) which sounded the warning with the headline “BBC Question Time: analysis of guests over nine years suggests an overuse of rightwing voices”, going on to tell “Like most public service broadcasters worldwide, the BBC believes that impartiality is a core tenet of its approach to covering political debate”. There was more.

“Coverage should be unbiased, balanced and objective, with no favouritism towards any side. This is monitored by the UK’s media regulator, Ofcom … our researchers compiled a dataset of all editions of the programme from September 2014 until July 2023 - a total of 352 programmes with 1,734 guest slots across the nine seasons, filled by 661 different people”.

Some people get to go on rather more than just once, then. But do go on. “Given the format of Question Time, it is not surprising to find that both Labour and Conservative politicians were well represented throughout the nine seasons”. There is a table showing how many appearances some politicians racked up. But then comes bad news for the Beeb.

“Removing politicians from the list of most frequent guests shows that several high-frequency panellists are being used, most of whom come from the political right … [these are] typically opinion columnists who contribute to rightwing press outlets such as the Mail or the Telegraph, or who make appearances on right-leaning broadcasters like GB News and TalkTV”.

Do go on. “The Spectator wields significant influence, with the top five most frequently used panellists all writing for the magazine. In contrast, there is no comparable influence from leftwing publications”. So who are these “top five most frequently used panellists”? Who’s top of the Question Time Pundit Pops? Or perhaps that should read “joint top”. Here they come.

Isabel Oakeshott. Well, knock me down with a feather. And flap mouthed bigot Julia Hartley Dooda. Both on 13 appearances. Before we (eventually) get to the most-featured left-leaning voice, who is Ash Sarkar of Novara Media on six invites, we pass Kate Andrews of the IEA on 12, Tim Stanley also on 12, and Camilla Bloody Tominey on a mere ten shows.

The right-wing supporting cast also includes, all on seven appearances, the Speccy’s editor Fraser Nelson, Melanie “not just Barking but halfway to Upminster” Phillips, Peter “droning on and on and on and on and on” Hitchens, and former Screws and Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan.

What say The Conversation to that? “The regular appearances of panellists such as Isabel Oakeshott and Julia Hartley-Brewer - the two most frequent non-politician guests in our analysis - raise questions about how producers choose guests”. Liz Gerard observed “You know it ‘feels’ like this, but the statistics are stark. There are no voices from the left in this list. Does it mean there are lots of left wingers appearing once or twice? Apparently not”.

As to that party favoured by one of the BBC’s own board, the name in that frame would be Robbie Gibb, a “Thatcherite Conservative”. As Angela Rayner has already called or him to resign, it’s highly likely that a Labour victory next month could see him sent Down The Road. And an overhaul of Question Time - to represent voices from across the political spectrum more evenly.

Question Time was for a time, but not necessarily for all time. That is all.

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Kate And A Media Obsession

The most telling giveaway of election coverage, the revelation that this is a campaign destined to develop not necessarily to their favourite team’s advantage, is when it vanishes from the front page. Today is one of those days, the impending loss of power by the Tories replaced by an even more inexplicable obsession - the Royals, or rather, the Royals the press likes.

That means Royalty that does not complain about the sick and creepy coverage served up by our free and fearless press. Which leads us to the return to duty of the Princess of Wales. The former Kate Middleton has had her share of creepy coverage over the years, only out-creeped by what was dished out to her sister Pippa, in the years before the latter married.

The Moniker coined - most likely by the Daily Mail, under the less than benign leadership of the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre - and applied to Pippa was “Her Royal Hotness”, the kind of toe-curlingly embarrassing, borderline vomit inducing, and bang out of order leering misogyny that only the inmates of the Northcliffe House bunker can get away with nowadays.

So Kate has had treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer. So have millions of 42-year-old women, most of whom then pick themselves up and get back to work, family, home, and the rest. For them, there is no press coverage, and certainly not the fawning, creepy and obsessive diet served up this morning, telling readers in no uncertain terms what to think.

The crawling tone is set by papers like the Sunday Brexit, still called the Express, proclaiming “IT’S JUST KATE TO SEE YOU AGAIN … Princess steps out for first time in six months”, and the Murdoch Sun on Sunday simpering “Princess Back On Parade … Kate wows in return to duty after cancer shock … SUPER TROOPER”. Headline writer revealing their age.

But these were a mere hors d’oeuvres for a much more sick-making entrée: cue the Mail on Sunday telling readers “Day That Lifted The Nation’s Hearts … On cue, the sun broke through the showers to shine on her - and the whole world said in unison … It’s lovely to see you too, Kate”. The name on the by-line, to no surprise at all, is that of Sarah “Vain” Vine.

The underlying aggressiveness in the headline is so obvious: the whole world thinks like this, so if you don’t, not only are you not the Mail’s kind of people, you risk incurring the displeasure of the Vagina Monologue and his attack dogs if you so much as utter a peep in protest. Thus the fear of the press at any thought of the monarchy being binned is revealed for all to see.

Moreover, the MoS is not the worst in the crawl-fest: that honour goes to the increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph, and the irretrievably batshit Allison Pearson. “Our Fair Lady lifts nation’s spirits [headline writer even older than the Sun’s] … On a cold, grey day, Princess proves a tonic at Trooping the Colour on her return to public life after cancer treatment”.

BIG INTERCOURSING DEAL. Cue Ms Pearson.

“Two words. Thank you. Thank you Princess of Wales for being an absolute trouper and attending Trooping the Colour on a cold, grey day when lesser mortals with your illness would have stayed home, tucked up in their jim-jams [that would not have got past the subs in Bill Deedes’ day]. Thank you for sacrificing the privacy that is so much needed to get you back to full health”.

Whatever that means to those not in possession of servants, unfeasible amounts of money, the most upmarket of property portfolios, a Government prepared to step in and foot rather a lot of the bills, and a media class ready and willing to shit all over anyone who objects to the whole circus.

The Monarchy will endure for as long as it enjoys the support of the people over whom it continues to rule. Our free and fearless press shows that it is an integral part of an Establishment frightened at the thought of reality intruding and the Royals vanishing from view. After all, if they go, what part of the power structure not based on merit will go next? Best keep the proles in line.

Which means more fawning copy when deemed necessary. Ho hum.

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Nigel Farage - Real Anti-Semitism

Groups like the so-called Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, so keen to kick the Labour Party over anything they can call out as anti-Semitic, have developed a blind spot when it comes to the far right. And they don’t get much further far right than Reform UK’s self-appointed Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage, who has a most interesting back story on the subject.

Anti-Semitic dog-whistling ...

Nige is getting a significant amount of media exposure during the General Election campaign, merely because the Tories are doing very badly, and Reform UK are doing relatively well. Added to this is the usual witless drivel from the Punditerati about Reform UK either replacing, or merging with, the Tories after the latter get the shellacking to end all shellackings on July 4.

As always with the far right, the media class is a major contributor to their rise: as it is in the UK, so it is in France with the Rassemblement National of the Le Pens, and indeed con merchants like André Ventura in Portugal with his one man band Chega. But in Farage’s case, the anti-Semitism remains unchallenged - even by groups who are supposedly there to call it out.

Take, for example, Mr Thirsty’s live-on-air rant on LBC in the days before they disposed of his services: “there are other very powerful foreign lobbies in the United States of America, and the Jewish lobby with its links to the Israeli Government is one of those strong voices”. Jewish in the USA equals foreign.

There was more. “Well, in terms of money and influence, they [the Jewish lobby] are a very powerful lobby … There are about six million Jewish people living in America, so as a percentage, it’s quite small, but in terms of influence it’s quite big”. Anti-Semitic tropes, anyone? Da Jooz running everything, divided loyalties? This, too, was not an isolated lapse.

Take, for instance, those dog-whistles that say “Jews” or “Jewish”, but use the code of nudge-nudgery. Like “Goldman Sachs”, for instance: “Goldman Sachs and big business lost the referendum” [HERE], "If Goldman Sachs are leaving London for the US, why aren't they going to their beloved European Union?" [HERE], and “Goldman Sachs & JP Morgan donating to Remain in EU campaign: the unholy alliance of big banks and big politics” [HERE].

... so why isn't it being called out?

Or the “Globalists” dog-whistle, as in “We are beating the globalists” [HERE] on Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse), “2016 was the year that nation state democracy made a comeback against the globalists” [HERE], and “The globalists are sticking together. They realise that there is a new movement across the West fighting for national democracy” [HERE].

Or how about both those dog-whistles together? “London is ranked the best financial centre while Frankfurt is 11th. We're all sick of the constant threats from Goldman and the globalists” [HERE], and of course “Rishi Sunak is a Goldman Sachs globalist, so this sellout of Brexit is not surprising. The Tories must be crushed” [HERE]. Then comes the ultimate anti-Semitic dog-whistle.

Yes, it’s SOROS! “George Soros' US money has been flowing into Europe in a huge way for many years” [HERE], “George Soros has spent billions in the EU to undermine the nation state” [HERE], “The Soros-funded attempt for a second referendum has failed” [HERE], and “Anyone who attacks George Soros is labelled an anti-Semite; however, the truth is that he funds the most appalling anti-Semitism seen in modern times” [HERE]. Oh What A Giveaway!

Nige, sadly, conflated “Jews” and “Israel” to stand that claim up, which, as any fule kno, is an anti-Semitic trope. He was still at it this week, claiming that he was being attacked by “the mob”, who were “professional protesters”, and funded by “The Soros-es”. So where is the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism?

Not, it seems, on Farage’s case. And this matters: perversely, even with Labour posting leads of over 20% over the Tories, Reform UK may be about to do something UKIP, under Farage’s leadership, could not, and that is to get him elected to the Commons, aided and abetted by many in the media class who he has played like marks for too many years.

You want real anti-Semitism? Forget the main parties. Nige is your man.

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Tory Desperation - Bozo Bigotry

Almost four weeks of campaigning still to go before the General Election, and the Tories’ attempt to remain in power has all but collapsed, after Rishi Sunak absented himself from part of the 80th anniversary D-Day commemorations, apparently because it was Forrin. One of his own cabinet, Penny Mordaunt, has had to distance herself from the action. Today’s headlines are dire.

The i Paper has “Tories in despair as Sunak D-Day gaffe ‘destroys’ election hopes”, while the Daily Brexit, still called the Express, admits “TRULY SORRY! PM’s ‘unreserved’ apology to Daily Express readers for ‘mistake’ over D-Day departure”, while the Guardian simply tells “Furious Tories turn on Sunak over D-Day snub”. Labour need do very little to win next month.

Worse, the fear among many Tories is that this will cede second place in the popular vote to Reform UK and their self-proclaimed Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage. So, in this moment of desperation, who would step forward to steady the ship, hopefully without making things worse?

Sadly for the Tories, that person was disgraced former alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, and worse still, the conduit for Bozo’s latest stream of consciousness rant was the Daily Mail, ruled over by its editor in chief, the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre. It was under Dacre’s editorship that the Mail launched its viciously anti-Semitic attack on the memory of Ralph Miliband, as a means of hobbling his son Ed.

This matters, as can be seen by the headline: “Sir Keir Schnorrer plans to slink into No10 as silently as Larry the cat - then lock us back in to the dungeon of Brussels, like a ball-chewing gimp”. ITV political editor Robert Peston heard the dog-whistle long and loud, and liked it not at all.

“Boris Johnson today calls Starmer ‘Sir Keir Schnorrer’ (see attached). ‘Schnorrer’ is the Yiddish word for beggar and scrounger. It is pretty offensive. It was part of the lingua franca of my grandparents and of my childhood. I find it unsettling to see Johnson appropriating it to describe someone whose wife is Jewish - and especially when he says ‘if Schnorrer gets in, he will immediately begin the process of robbing this country of its new-found independence and make the UK the punk of the EU’”.

What the f*** have I got to do with this, c***?!?!?

He ended by adding “What do you think? Am I being over sensitive?” To which those responding in the affirmative were mainly out there on the right, few of whom seem to have noticed that Bozo has form for anti-Semitism, including in a book he wrote titled Seventy-Two Virgins.

As one letter to the Guardian noted, the book “describes ‘Jewish oligarchs’ who run the media, and fiddle the figures to fix elections in their favour … He portrays a Jewish character, Sammy Katz, with a ‘proud nose and curly hair’, and paints him as a malevolent, stingy, snake-like Jewish businessman who exploits immigrant workers for profit”. There was more on The Great Man.

“As editor of the Spectator he chose to publish articles in which the notorious racist Taki Theodoracopulos boasted of being ‘an antisemite’, argued black people ‘have lower IQs than whites’ and praised Enoch Powell as a ‘great man'. Johnson defended Theodoracopulos, calling him a ‘distinguished columnist’”. Put that alongside Dacre’s past form, and look what you get.

Had Bozo just used a derivative of the word “snore”, to suggest Starmer was boring, there would have been no grounds for Peston, or anyone else, to feel uncomfortable about the headline. Although Bozo and the Mail could still be in hot water over the obviously BDSM use of the word “gimp” (including the word “dungeon” in the headline makes that one difficult to defend).

Even if action is taken, the Mail will take some shifting to remove the reference. What is worse is that we are still almost four weeks out from the poll - the derogatory content is only going to go in one direction. The problem the Mail has is not lawsuits, though, but the fact that their star columnist Bozo is damaged goods. He resigned in disgrace. Even the Tories wanted him out.

The Mail may have given up on Sunak. But they still want to hobble Labour.

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Why Labour Puts Out The Begging Bowl

Fighting a General Election is an expensive business, especially for parties looking to field candidates in every mainland seat. That means 630 or so candidates to get nominated, an equal number of deposits to pay, and thousands upon thousands of leaflets, along with all the other campaign material that helps to bring those all-important swing voters into the fold.

This does not trouble the Tories; the party of the establishment may be about to get the shellacking to end all shellackings, but it never seems to be a problem tapping their grotesquely overmonied donors. But Labour is having a problem, if the veritable tsunami of begging emails sent regularly to party members is a guide. Trust me on this: Labour members get lots of them.

Reminders of the alleged funding gap between the two main parties are frequent, usually accompanied by the suggestion that the email recipient bung The Red Team a quid. Or maybe three quid. Or five quid. Remember, they didn’t want to have to ask the favour, but look at that funding gap.

At which point a question occurs: was this not the party that, in the days when Jeremy Corbyn was leader, was flush with cash? Well, yes it was. And then came the lawsuits, along with Labour’s response to them. When an edition of the BBC Panorama strand titled “Is Labour anti-Semitic?” was aired, several of those involved were called out by the party as, effectively, bad faith actors.

So seven of them sued Labour, as did the programme’s presenter John Ware. Then, after Keir Starmer became leader, came the rumours that Labour was to settle with those suing. The Guardian noted in its report “The Guardian understands legal advice provided to Labour under Corbyn’s leadership suggested the party could win the case”. Was new legal advice sought?

We don’t get to know. But, as the Guardian continued, “The Labour party has apologised 'unreservedly' and paid out a six-figure sum to seven former employees and a veteran BBC journalist, admitting it defamed them in the aftermath of a Panorama investigation into its handling of antisemitism”.

And then came another lawsuit. Make that more than one. A leaked internal report suggested that Labour HQ was working against the Corbyn leadership. For instance, “The report claims private communications show senior former staff ‘openly worked against the aims and objectives of the leadership of the Party, and in the 2017 general election some key staff even appeared to work against the Party's core objective of winning elections’”. There was also criticism of some of those Panorama whistleblowers. And there was more.

Labour took legal action against five people it claimed had leaked the report. Meanwhile, nine people who claimed their data had been misused also sued. But despite the advocacy of, among others, Mark Lewis of Patron Law, the case dragged on until it was dropped in September last year. It wasn’t the first high profile legal action that Lawman Lewis has seen fail recently.

Meanwhile, the action by Labour against Seumas Milne, Karie Murphy, Georgie Robertson, Harry Hayball and Laura Murray dragged on. Until it, too, was discontinued, the BBC reporting today “The Labour Party has abandoned longstanding legal action against five former members of staff who have been accused of ‘conspiring’ against Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership”. Do go on.

“The action is estimated to have cost the party millions of pounds, which critics said could otherwise have been spent on the general election campaign”. Did someone say millions plural? Indeed they did: “The most recent documents presented in open court last autumn showed that Labour had spent £1.5m on legal action, and estimated it would spend nearly £900,000 more … The party's final costs are likely to be higher, as these figures don’t reflect the full cost of the litigation”. Three mil? Four??

Now imagine what many Labour members will think, reading that report, or other similar ones in the press, and then getting more of those begging emails, along with requests to leaflet, canvas, and the rest. The party may well be 20 points ahead in the polls. But that news will hurt.

And it’s all self-inflicted. By the current leadership. Can you spare a quid?

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Farage - The Con Man Returns

As if there were not enough charlatans, spin merchants, one trick ponies, habitual liars, and other practitioners of self-aggrandisement in play during the run-up to next month’s UK General Election, yesterday brought one more con man into the mix. Reform UK’s self-appointed Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage was back in the swimming pool. As the resident turd.

The inevitable news came as Mr Thirsty told his adoring followers yesterday “I will be making an Emergency General Election announcement at 4pm today”. He would take over as head man of Reform from Richard Tice. And, as ITV News then told, he “has said he will stand as the Reform UK parliamentary candidate for Clacton, Essex, in the General Election”.

Thus performing two functions likely to move the dial: One, taking votes from the Tory right, and Two, frightening Muslim voters, and indeed many others who are not white, back to Labour, or, in some areas, the Lib Dems. The net result of all that, whether Farage is elected or not, will be to move the Tories closer to Absolute Wipeout. And probable third party status.

That, though, was not a good enough excuse to plaster Mr Thirsty all over the media, something that has carried over onto many front pages this morning, with the increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph proclaiming “I’m back to lead the revolt”. What intercoursing revolt? More accurate was the Guardian’s “Tory alarm as Farage takes control of Reform UK”.

What a difference Combover Crybaby Donald Trump’s conviction makes: Farage was on his way to the USA to lend his backing to the increasingly incoherent orange lump; 34 unanimous Guilty verdicts later, no he isn’t. So what would his USP be? Same as before. He’s dog whistling potential voters with scare stories of Scary Muslims™. Same old racism.

Having accused British Muslims of “split loyalties” (recycling an anti-Semitic trope as Muslim bashing to make it acceptable), of their being a “fifth column”, and more recently claimed that a Muslim proclaiming “Allahu Akhbar” was something deeply sinister, rather than merely saying “God is Great”, which he wouldn’t complain about if the speaker were Christian. Or Jewish.

(c) Steve Bell 2016

By this morning, the habitual lying had kicked in, as he told Mishal Husain on the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme that there were entire streets in Oldham where no-one spoke English. But Ms Husain, like the Beeb’s Ben Thompson, was not persuaded this time round of Farage’s righteousness. Which caused The Great Man to get tetchy and even abusive. It won’t get any better for him.

Not when he is on record as saying “Richard Tice probably does want me to replace him. But do I want to be an MP? Do I want to spend every Friday for the next five years in Clacton?” As the previously best placed candidate, Labour’s Jovan Owusu Nepaul should have that one ready to roll out to any and every voter who even hints at voting for The Thirsty One.

What Reform UK’s opponents should also point out is that this is a party that still wants to dump the country’s problems on migrants, wants to leave the ECHR (why? Oh, I dunno, maybe cos it’s FORRIN), and even wants to leave the World Health Organisation, because Covid Lockdown Conspiracy Theories. What next, leaving the UN? Leaving NATO?

And why do so many media opportunities open up to someone whose party has (for instance) no MPs and just eight councillors, when (for instance) the Greens can muster a regularly re-elected MP and hundreds of councillors? Why pay attention to Farage, who has no plan, and will take responsibility for nothing? Why take any notice of this flap-mouthed con artist?

He gets to take part in the TV debates. Then he’ll most likely lose - for the eighth time - and work to use his newly heightened profile to drag the Tories even further to the right. Screwing over the UK through advocating for leaving the EU was not enough for him: now he wants to screw over UK politics as well.

Which means he needs to be held to account, and exposed for the Spiv he is, and always was. He has no solutions, no plan, and no right to shit on us all.

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Luke Akehurst - “Really Nice Guy”

The tone deaf attitude of those in the Westminster bubble - whatever their stripe - has been on show in the run-up to July’s General Election, with party insiders lining up, or being lined up, for seats some way from their stamping ground. And going for the distance record for Labour has been professional lobbyist and backroom organiser Luke Akehurst of Labour Files infamy.

Luke Akehurst

Akehurst has been imposed as the prospective Parliamentary candidate for the seat of North Durham. This is well north of 200 miles away from Oxford, where he resides, and where he was a councillor until losing to the Greens. Adding fuel to this particular fire is that his day job, at time of typing, was as Director of an organisation called We Believe In Israel. What that?

This entity came out of the British Israel Communication and Research Centre, founded after the beginning of the Second Intifada. We Believe in Israel is BICOM's pro-Israel advocacy organisation in the United Kingdom. So Akehurst advocates for Israel, which is fair enough, and he makes no secret of his role, or, indeed, where his sympathies lie - with Israel.

The problem comes when, as is expected given the overall polling numbers, he becomes an MP, which is a full-time job in itself. He can’t be lobbying for any other organisation, whether it’s a nation state, multinational organisation, or anything else, at the same time. We’ve seen enough lobbying scandals with the Tories. So when is Akehurst going to commit to only being an MP?

And no, this is not and cannot be about anti-Semitism: that would mean conflating Israel with All Jews, which, as the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism points out, is in itself an anti-Semitic trope. Nor is Akehurst Jewish: he is, though, an unswerving Zionist. One who has garnered a significant amount of adverse comment, so that the propaganda machine has been deployed.

This has resulted in a most favourable item in the Guardian, which concedes “he has stridently defended Israel’s actions in Gaza as proportionate” before deploying the soft soap, an unnamed colleague claiming “One of the things that’s interesting about Luke’s reputation is that he’s much nicer than the internet thinks he will be … People who don’t like him turn up to have a row with him, and find a really nice guy”. Let’s see how “really nice” he appears.

After one Tweeter declared “I am a LP member and I would have voted for Dave Nellist in Erdington”, he responded “Name and CLP please”. The same Tweeter’s “I know of Birmingham, Coventry,Bristol, Oxford and London CLP members who doorstepped for Nellist” brought the response “Names please”.

Threatening, much? Maybe he was joshing. Er, maybe not: “I'm on the NEC and therefore responsible for upholding the rules of the party and you appear to have committed an auto exclusion offence”. Maybe the beatings will stop when morale improves. Maybe anyone on the left who came out with that would have been all over the right-wing press for some time afterwards.

There is also Akehurst’s (admitted) belief that the UN is anti-Semitic, and the jaw-dropping claim that Jews were “politically black”. That’s quite the reach, after Martin Forde’s report detailed what was described as a “hierarchy of racism” within Labour. Anti-Semitism was dealt with promptly, as it should be, but anti-Black racism was, apparently, not. Maybe things have changed.

What, then, of this “really nice guy” rocking up at Pelton Community Centre yesterday to meet his adoring team? Predictably, there was a protest outside, and it has been alleged that some in the local party were less than totally impressed when they were refused the opportunity to question The Great Man. Some most unfortunate video footage is now in circulation.

Gary Spedding, who campaigns for Palestinian rights, and also against anti-Semitism, summed it up: “Today protestors who turned out against Luke Akehurst's candidacy were subjected to - threats and intimidation - physical violence - Islamophobic and anti-semitic remarks - Nasty insults and harassment”. Responding with “Name and CLP?” won’t impress anyone.

Maybe he really is “a really nice guy”. Or maybe that claim is total horseshit.

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Oh Tommy Tommy - Still A Racist

It was back in late April 2017 that Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, knocked very loudly at my front door in the dead of night to claim - wrongly - that I had been telling lies about him. He had taken grave offence to having been called a racist. So in the cause of free speech, he would do his best to deprive me of my ability to do just that.

Lennon rocked up the next night too, and thus The Curse Of Zelo was, and indeed remains, upon him. A variety of scrapes with the law, and unsuccessful legal actions, later, and he is still telling packs of lies about anyone and everyone who done him wrong. Today, his particular bête noire is something else that is untrue - the claim that there is “two tier Policing”.

In pursuit of leveraging this claim for the benefit of Himself Personally Now, The Great Man has fronted a gathering of the Gammonati in central London today, accompanied by washed-up former minor thesp, never-was chanteur, and dead on arrival failed politician Laurence Fox. This would show the world that Lennon was not only active, but in London!

And there was more: not only would there be that gathering, Lennon would première his latest video production, an item called Lawfare. The cops requested a sight of this magnum opus, but at this point Lennon bristled. “I made the film, I’m a journlalist [yeah, right], and I’m going to play the documentary. It’s unreasonable and overreaching of the Police to interfere”.

Was it now? Do go on. “There’s nothing inciteful, nothing that breaks the law, it’s not inflammatory towards other communities, I promise you that. We had people asking to play videos of Mohammed. There’s nothing like that happening, I assure you … we’re talking about freedom of speech, we’re talking about the Government, the establishment and [abuse of power]”.

Lennon is then asked for a sight of the video. His response is unequivocal. “Lads … lads … straight up, you’re not viewing it … your job, and our job, is to facilitate a peaceful protest. Obviously if you try and prevent the airing of the film, you know you’re not going to do that. You know you’re going to provoke a serious reaction, and cause chaos”. Is he making threats?

Whatever. Let’s compare Lennon’s assurance that there was “nothing like” Mohammed, and test the claim by studying the banner behind which he and Dear Dear Larry marched. A banner that said “THIS IS LONDON, NOT LONDONISTAN”. That would suggest very strongly that Lennon flat-out lied to the cops in that phone call. And it would suggest he is still a racist bigot.

Reinforcing that thought is the appearance behind the banner of failed amateur kidnapper Danny Tommo. Further reinforcement was provided by little children loudly shouting “Allah! Allah! Who the fuck is Allah?” with video provided by racist organisation Turning Point UK, who told “Young children join in on a chant criticising Allah at the anti-two-tier policing demo in London”.

The “peaceful” protest was interrupted - but peacefully, you understand - by several of those attending giving Nazi salutes. Nick Lowles of Hope Not Hate saw two Lennon fans outside a phone box and mused “Nice to see Tommy Robinson supporters relieving themselves in public”. Usually, they take turns to use the phone box as a pissoir. Not the Lennon brains trust.

But let’s cut to the chase here: this is just another excuse to dust off the Islamophobia, with another chant, “Allah Allah you’re a c***”, providing yet more of that reinforcement. And the Islamophobia is, in itself, another excuse to start smearing all brown people as “Pakis”, a loaded and blatantly racist term. Lennon claims it’s not about Mohammed, or racism. He is lying.

The Nazi salutes, the little kids effing and blinding, the clear attempt to smear London Mayor Sadiq Khan, the use of the loaded hate term “Londonistan”, and above all, the refusal to give the Metropolitan Police a sight of his not-really-inflammatory-towards-other-communities film, brings us to one conclusion: Lennon was a racist when I called him out for it in 2017.

And he’s still a racist. One who is promoting Himself Personally Now.

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