tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44331443362992881352024-03-19T08:48:20.662+00:00Zelo StreetTim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.comBlogger12948125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-72581262724190514182024-03-15T13:21:00.003+00:002024-03-15T13:21:58.374+00:00Tory Extremism Farce EXPOSED<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>Cost of living crisis, an underperforming economy, energy bills still far too high, water firms pumping raw sewage into rivers and out into the sea, councils going bust across the country, a health service in constant crisis, life expectancy falling, the well-off becoming more well off while the poor become poorer, all topped with a generous dose of rampant corruption.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="206" data-original-width="244" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_o8DhOs3DRKYWsg47twtwqIb8Vk7RaviPcduCsY5Sh5eXO89wmkqoQu_gwsJIduiCeRE9l9NK8kPPsc8kuCZ3-KpE_rRQo0j76pVl81GaB-ypKRZlCL0CxiytofZFwC8JzJGywAyHNeukYxxdvMtgyGBXdBzrHNCZpUPZevY9BavEiiryJ5O6emN2qycJ/s1600/Gove11.png" width="244" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>The Elmer Fudd of the Tory Party is back</i></div><div><br /></div>That is what the Tories have bequeathed the UK: small wonder their poll ratings see them on a path to losing the next General Election so badly that they may well win fewer than 100 seats. Maybe fewer than 50 seats. So what would The Blue Team like to put forward in order to provide a little momentary interest? They would like to talk about Extremism. Seriously.<br /><br />And so it came to pass that Minister Still Desperately Trying To Look Relevant And Failing Miserably Michael “<i>Oiky</i>” Gove brought forth A New Definition Of Extremism. We only had the last one from 2011, but the new one has been touted as “<i>Narrower and more precise</i>”. Go on then, let’s see the wording.<br /><br />Extremism is “<i>the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance, that aims to: 1. negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others; or 2. undermine, overturn or replace the UK's system of liberal parliamentary democracy and democratic rights; or 3. intentionally create a permissive environment for others to achieve the results in (1) or (2)</i>”. But then a problem entered.<br /><br />Its name was Hester. Frank Hester. Who he? As the BBC has told, “<i>Electoral Commission records show Mr Hester has donated more than £10m to the Conservative Party in the past year - including gifting Mr Sunak a £16,000 helicopter journey</i>”. He also “<i>allegedly said veteran MP Diane Abbott made him ‘want to hate all black women’ and should ‘be shot’</i>”. There was more.<br /><br />“<i>The tech boss apologised for making ‘rude’ comments about the former-Labour MP but said his remarks ‘had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin’</i>”. Not much, they didn’t. And it got worse. “<i>The prime minster called the comments ‘racist’ and ‘wrong’ but argues Mr Hester's apology should be accepted</i>”. Sunak declined to give the dosh back. Then it got worse still.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="347" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIrVRqQ5SheOOV900iEX9awvXz4T1uu0aDrav_81ItoFGGMCbC7RuAbsNmg25o3R_QkDOU5ClXmGyWTHoMR14cqDaYtWRDYslPdK0C4tAmXDlPEzB25nTLdxggx_Dx_tw2dtInetrCv96dbWZzWgBXfxfLUVN_ZKmpAV7uuUbEmHCB3Q9U-sZ9XayqTM_J/s320/Mosque1.jpg" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Yes, “<i>on Thursday, news website Tortoise Media reported that the Conservatives were ‘sitting on’ an extra £5m cash donation from Mr Hester that had yet to be declared - taking the total to over £15m</i>”. Just sitting on five million notes. As you do. So there we apparently have an individual pushing hatred and intolerance, which could lead to violence. So has he been nicked?<br /><br />As if. Hester’s alleged outburst also, arguably, undermines UK democracy, especially if Sunak thinks it’s OK to keep the money. Had he been poor and black, he’d already be in custody and facing a handful down the Scrubs. Worse, Gove then gave a get out of jail free card to Paul Marshall.<br /><br />Who he? <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamBienkov/status/1768261882257805329">This from</a> Adam Bienkov of Byline Times: “<i>Michael Gove asked if GB News funder and Tory donor Paul Marshall, who liked and shared multiple far-right, Islamophobic, homophobic, conspiracy theory posts, is an extremist. Gove says he ‘deplores’ this ‘attack’ on Marshall, who he describes as a ‘distinguished philanthropist’</i>”. For some value of “<i>distinguished</i>”.<br /><br />But Gove is going after a raft of organisations advocating for Muslims. This <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/14/ministers-and-officials-to-be-banned-from-contact-with-groups-labelled-extremist?CMP=share_btn_url">from the</a> <i>Guardian</i>: “<i>A draft version of Gove’s ministerial statement, which has been seen by the Guardian, names several prominent Muslim groups, including MEND (Muslim Engagement and Development), CAGE, Friends of Al Aqsa, 5Pillars and the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) as ‘divisive forces within Muslim communities’</i>”. So says the author of Celsius 7/7.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Hester <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/12/tory-donor-frank-hester-no-room-for-the-indians?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">is quoted by the</a> <i>Guardian.</i> “<i>Addressing a number of staff members on a crowded balcony for the meeting at the TPP headquarters, overlooking the railway line in Horsforth, Leeds, Hester asked if there was ‘no room for the Indians, then?’ He then said: ‘Climb on the roof, like on the roof of the train there maybe?’</i>”. Laugh? I thought I’d never start.<br /><br />Extremism: dumping on Scary Muslims™ while accepting millions from nailed-on, er, extremists. The Tories are the pits. <i>But you knew that already</i>.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd7Sin60McKCc9KAMlBJNtq2o0Tov8AqnUIrAsJrPCWNOY7wANoR8mjqh9oXaLld3MBtC5IPqxGNBMdJhyphenhyphenz4XwavCgKTt_2WG1EJIBB7eujmlIk7-uJ0LtKSnBZi4tlPkaFW_Fs7uTzQdQQ4mB50hFXNHRu-WtxNLnB2hO7OJnMDBCDo_e22_MHfqJxpQy/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-25783102444107098052024-03-13T13:04:00.000+00:002024-03-13T13:04:20.062+00:00Guido Fawked - Wootton v Rayner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>It is not only the inmates of the Northcliffe House bunker who harbour a creepy obsession with Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner, as has been demonstrated in no style at all by the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog recently. What has also been demonstrated is The Great Guido’s stinking hypocrisy when events go against them.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="334" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJebZ1Ajots1Wo-jXaIqExJFWi1m1OOdnnUr3Zho8405bRDw23IPdK49j_OQt7ZFADiqFV13iHocp51_N1aZJ6wp0XrgXqL2g0LIa2e3XI2Q2pTsejPgrl-6Gl_UhxWSwuPzFVD26ONjnDP3ZqMUh9-DmxENvgwHYHmrgBKvlXR44tbXvqwmjRKmjM1WqQ/s320/Wootton11.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Behold The Great Guido's new hero</i></div><div><br /></div>The alleged “<i>journalists</i>” <i>chez</i> Fawkes have yet to post another attack on Ms Rayner today: this may not be unconnected to one plank of their defence being kicked away yesterday by an outbreak of reality. The subject on which the attacks have been made is an unsubstantiated claim that Ms Rayner somehow avoided paying tax on the sale of a former council house.<br /><br />Rather than investigate the claim thoroughly, there has been a succession of highly charged headlines implying guilt on Ms Rayner’s part, <a href="https://order-order.com/2024/02/26/tories-reckon-rayner-dodged-tax/">from</a> “<i>Tories Reckon Rayner Dodged Tax</i>”, <a href="https://order-order.com/2024/02/29/angela-rayners-dodgy-council-house-dealings-explained/">and</a> “<i>Angela Rayner’s Dodgy Council House Dealings Explained</i>”, via the <a href="https://order-order.com/quote/fing-liar-angela-rayner/">not at all subtle</a> “'<i>F***ing Liar Angela Rayner'</i>”, the quote marks doing some seriously heavy lifting, to the <a href="https://order-order.com/2024/03/11/lying-angela-rayner-cant-hide-from-media-forever/">equally charged</a> “<i>Lying Angela Rayner Can’t Hide From Media Forever</i>”.<br /><br />As Sir Sean nearly said, I think we got the point. But then, yesterday, came <a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/labour-mp-angela-rayner-cleared-28798066">an item from the</a> <i>Manchester Evening News</i>, headlined “<i>Labour MP Angela Rayner cleared after police investigation … A complaint was made to GMP about the Ashton-under-Lyne MP</i>” and telling that “<i>Angela Rayner has been cleared by police following a complaint by another Greater Manchester MP</i>”.<br /><br />Do go on. “<i>Labour's deputy leader and Ashton-under-Lyne MP has denied claims of wrongdoing relating to where she was registered as living after her marriage in 2010. Conservatives have also accused Ms Rayner of hypocrisy after it was revealed last month that she sold her ex-council house in Stockport at a profit of £48,500</i>”. Labour MPs not allowed to do that, then?<br /><br />The Tories should have stopped and thought at the news that “<i>According to the Mail on Sunday</i>”. But “<i>Bury North MP James Daly asked GMP to look into whether Ms Rayner gave the correct information in official documents and to investigate whether she broke electoral rules</i>”. Police say NFA.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="376" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxRrVo7uapc3p687eYNj1_mLtfKHR-k4tNNmtXrsiJUaHaEzl1kVdYCIAath_DNpmnUS1bJklMV9DH5SmEJ1s81CXoUXOUCOiNCR6YjV4TO2aSoazygwNvXK8PdV8m9UM8-4on1Q9zyTYV_0Yfq6ijU69BTgHtqwYbL88NtZr1wNmJldKrNdeUhZ8qyiTJ/s320/AngelaR1.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Evening all</i></div><div><br /></div>At which point, Fawkes watchers may have experienced a measure of <i>Déjà Vu</i>. <a href="https://order-order.com/2024/02/21/exclusive-metropolitan-police-investigation-of-dan-wootton-finds-no-evidence-met-decides-no-further-action/">Like the headline</a> “<i>Metropolitan Police Investigation of Dan Wootton Finds No Evidence, Met Decides No Further Action</i>”, going on to tell “<i>In the summer of last year a number of lurid allegations were made by Byline Times about Dan Wootton … Wootton has lawyered up against Byline News</i>”.<br /><br />Is it <i>News</i> or <i>Times</i>, Fawkes folks? Sloppy sub-journalism. Must do better. But <a href="https://order-order.com/2024/02/22/exclusive-woottons-lawyers-send-letter-before-action-to-byline-times/">there was more</a>: “<i>Dan Wootton’s lawyers have sent a letter to Byline Times, its editor Peter Jukes, and the journalists Dan Evans and Tom Latchem, informing them that Dan will be going after them for a ruinously large sum in damages and costs</i>”. And quoting ZXC v Bloomberg.<br /><br />This, of course, is a studied response and nothing to do with Wootton having instructed Griffin Law, the domain of Staines’ pal Donal Blaney, he of Young Britons’ Foundation fame. The Great Guido also claims “<i>Byline Times maliciously chose to name Dan for political reasons</i>” and talks of an “<i>attempt to destroy Dan’s reputation</i>”. However, one item is missing.<br /><br />And that is the minor point that Gammon Broadcasting™ News (“<i>Bacon’s News Channel</i>”) has decided to dispense permanently with the deeply unpleasant Wootton’s services (so have the <i>Mail</i> titles), but neither has been in receipt of any communication telling them that poor Desperate Dan has been subject to an attempt to destroy The Great Man’s reputation.<br /><br />Yet, as I type, there has been no word from the Fawkes rabble telling that Ms Rayner has also been told by the cops that there will be No Further Action. But it is highly likely that there will be more bad faith attacks on the Labour deputy leader, whether from Staines and his assembled creeps, or the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press, or both.<br /><br />Once, the Fawkes blog was really independent. No longer. Staines always wanted to be part of the establishment club. <i>What an unprincipled crawler</i>.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdaaR8UTK4VfH8HJuL8BuFyWAhwidy_J2HBY3emEp53GKKDrPCnpe2gtF7mI34cAji7ba9IuuaECWyDaTmyfaZjTxYTTKi6p3eM6niwdJIuywUW94_AazPQ-3JuijiSsCxplZgRuKisHrO-zs2E0wZGHARaweARIybIGkJ8Qhq7p0A8H_1BBstMAzc3OUx/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-33510811125248922722024-03-11T17:37:00.000+00:002024-03-11T17:37:06.235+00:00Portugal’s Messy Election ResultSo the election was held, and now the various parties have to live with the result - but maybe not for long. The centre-right PSD, being most of the Aliança Democrática along with the CDS-PP (who were wiped out in 2022) and the People’s Monarchist Party, gained all of two Deputados. The outgoing centre-left PS lost a lot more. So AD <a href="https://cnnportugal.iol.pt/">had the most seats</a>.<div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCeXqzaUlwqkmZx5zWN7nOoYHNQ3nP5Y6tuscgrT3UyQ4vK5PINq3utCqmTumzz-cjOMSfEvywlYGJj0UhQscm2aswnKIbpG55eAD6lkmpon9XsSzxN0Z54h33lYKnchYe6rKcwyCP9poOZwc7DfLt4cHR4lHe1PZ1D5nGDqv6R9j6_WhAiW_sLJQCzPe/s320/Montenegro1.png" width="213" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Luís Montengro ((c) EPP)</i></div><div><br /></div>But that gave them just 79 out of the 230 Deputados. Which brings us to the big winner from yesterday’s elections, Chega, and its deeply unpleasant leader André Ventura. They conned their way to 48 seats on the promise of some kind of change, of cleaning up Portuguese politics, neither of which they will accomplish. But too many in the country’s media, especially its broadcast media, have not sufficiently exposed Ventura’s vacuity.<br /><br />AD, under the PSD leader Luís Montenegro, would have a majority with Chega. They won’t get that. They may make an agreement with the so-called Liberal Initiative, which is billed as “<i>pro-business</i>”, but in reality is the local version of The Tufton Street Gang, though the latter won just eight seats.<br /><br />87 is way short of the 116 majority line. And the only other party out there on the right is Chega. Underscoring the fact that Montenegro has to own the mess was PS leader Pedro Nuno Santos conceding the contest and saying explicitly that his party would go into opposition. He saw the bed of nails and decided that his team were not going to lie on it. So why the problem?<br /><br />Ventura and his party are not going to take responsibility for anything; it will all be someone else’s fault. UK politics watchers will recognise this as “<i>doing a Farage</i>”: Mr Thirsty initially lauded the Brexit deal presented by Boris Johnson, but more recently has declined to take any responsibility, because this was not “<i>his</i>” Brexit, which would have been a far superior proposition.<br /><br />Worse, Montenegro has previously denounced Ventura, rightly identifying him as a xenophobe, a racist demagogue. So now, even with IL on board, and perhaps two of the four seats still to be declared, even if Chega abstained on his budget vote, 89 seats would be vulnerable to the centre-left and left taking him out. Because they would be able to muster 93, also assuming that the PS take the other two of those four yet to be declared. A word about that.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="546" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFHxBH3ePhEPQjMj6OAinMei5BKG882ciW4aCFfteauxaXjT1AQLdmYTm3-KRYdHP7Jt9OqR3EEo_PmpT5akLe5e5eqFcX1Sml_oWH0Ezm_l8-Lh1IV26jf7MmI6zXuKHEtTRuWiSBFbXwzpFrDcF81I9cpzpOiRm-EyXZLxO6xVA8-xzwPPog0HsfVXW/s320/Ventura2.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>André Ventura. And his twitchy right arm</i></div><div><br /></div>Portugal’s post-revolutionary constitution ensures that no citizen is disenfranchised, even if they reside outside the country. So two seats in the Assembly are for citizens who live elsewhere in Europe, and two for citizens who live elsewhere in the world. These will not declare for at least a week.<br /><br />Chega could help Montenegro by backing his budget, but here a problem enters: further down the road, this taking of responsibility could be held against them. Ventura and his pals will happily vote something down - that’s easy - but making a positive choice to support something - that’s hard.<br /><br />The BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68526833">notes that</a> “<i>The Chega leader said his party was ready to help build the next government. But even though he has watered down some of his policies … there seems little chance of him having any role at this stage</i>” but cautions “<i>Former centre-right leader Luís Marques Mendes said there had never been an election night like this before: ‘I think we'll have fresh elections early next year’</i>”. By which time the voters may have rumbled Ventura.<br /><br />All that the left and centre-left have to do is to choose their moment. Unless Ventura and his gang are prepared to make a positive choice and back Montenegro. But if they back AD, and AD turn out to have got something wrong, that would rebound against them. Of course, the Chega claim that everyone else in Portuguese politics is corrupt could also work against <i>them</i>.<br /><br />That would occur if anyone in Chega, or linked to them, were to be caught with their hands in the till. Ventura is adept at playing the victim - think Trump playbook - but his support is yet fragile. At least there was one big positive from yesterday’s contest, and that is turnout, which, at 66%, was far higher than two years ago, and a high turnout is always good for a democracy.<br /><br />Meanwhile, eyes are on the President to nominate a PM. <i>No pressure, now</i>.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdHNxkvKwkdUSYXd4SjA1OVVU93wtGe3OggVBVtkl9pIDtacpXwPfBR7ysPWpXKQcyJiS0Hc-hmYd2Io_mbKWXCT6nw4XR8xafQuasvzad6OPUscIJ0VfRrLC1nFBSno4FJtkjRlip1sPj0kT2nVk0Uo3Wr7KJueHDUyLyDtSD6qsvCWtl1gyJZsEWnAD/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-30031777489092396662024-03-09T12:28:00.000+00:002024-03-09T12:28:26.161+00:00Brillo Faces Humiliation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>With many out on the right increasingly worried about the possibility of the increasingly desperate and downmarket <i>Telegraph</i>, and the equally increasingly alt-right <i>Spectator</i> magazine, being sold off to a vehicle bankrolled out of the UAE, and headed by a former CNN main man, their knight in less than shining armour has appeared to oppose the move.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="542" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSUFQSwKLKqdR_AlVuOVkxrS7u6Ikwy4THntuh1gGFTCiXYjsGXSEEYlVi5mRl8jg-7Z6Tc6vq4yjAEn16gCItWZ3J42Wd8ICq6Epzo93oKxQRDQOJhOeIAGf91KpKZvwI7TPSmR_DtlcJJWHuIpUWf3gA-T85RwlaAu-pYy4kloKCKcwORgBl5Ru_PA9M/s320/Brillo41.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Step forward former Murdoch editor Andrew Neil, Brexiteer without equal, well, apart from his residing in an EU member state, that is. Brillo clearly approved of the news from <i>Spectator</i> editor Fraser Nelson, who told his followers “<i>It’s looking more likely that the Emirati bid for the Spectator and Telegraph will be blocked by parliament</i>”. Until the next election, maybe.<br /><br />Still, Neil was bullish <a href="https://twitter.com/afneil/status/1766050812302672008">as he responded</a> “<i>If so it will be a job well done. And one in the eye for IMI, their know-nothing-about-Britain US frontman, Jeff Zucker, and their hired hand, George ‘Fees’ Osborne</i>”. Sadly for him, Zucker <a href="https://twitter.com/TheNewsAgents/status/1766102537487212717">has been speaking to</a> former BBC man Jon Sopel, now of The News Agents.<br /><br />“<i>Andrew Neil, sometimes media executive, chairman of the Spectator, who I know you’ve met, said ‘the idea that these two vital vehicles of mainstream centre-right thought should be owned by Arab money, and controlled out of New York by a left-wing Democrat, beggars belief’. He said that the idea is absurd</i>” told Sopel as Zucker listened patiently. So what say Mr Z?<br /><br />“<i>This may come as a shock, but Andrew Neil is quite the hypocrite on this …the reality is that Andrew Neil was interested in working with us, until we didn’t have any interest in having him work with us. I proposed to him … that he be the chair of an editorial trust board for the Spectator. He said that was too small for him, because he already, essentially, had that role</i>”. Do go on.<br /><br />“<i>But he did say to me that he’d be interested in being the chair of a combined editorial trust board for the Telegraph and the Spectator, and suggested that, in that role, he could also act as a shadow editor of the Telegraph, because he felt the newspaper needed one. He also wanted to know how much such a role would pay. We said no thanks. And ever since that day, he’s been one of our most vocal critics, and I think that says all you need to know about [him]</i>”.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="362" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh239tKWUvWi0qzxKX3alGghj6BDmI3hGSYLDrxHFmGpEEUgC8ZUUbtro8_UMV28T1zfmjG0MDn6-RCNudF0hbccGBfrcIZJKfUCuMk216QAiUwtxCU4TYtG2Gj9gKXSb3TRxuUU1edkbbGpGrmbMBMvMan-Y-Cb3rpKKNqAsJK_EWMa-FX66ZWdeVQml9/s320/Zucker1.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Jeff Zucker ((c) <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/27865228@N06/4569281976">David Shankbone</a>)</i></div><div><br /></div>OUCH! And he wasn’t finished. “<i>Since I am sure he’s going to deny this … let me be very clear about something. He did not make that request just of me … and I can also tell you, that when I spoke to folks at both the Telegraph and the Spectator about his potential involvement, they were all quite pleased to learn that he would not be around</i>”. DOUBLE OUCH!! Come on Brillo!<br /><br />“<i>Mr Zucker’s memory is playing tricks on him … I have no interest in a role solely designed to give Mr Zucker editorial credibility, which he lacks</i>”. But Jeff Zucker, with his background, does not need Andrew Neil to give him credibility. The rest of Neil’s rebuttal airily pours scorn on Zucker. But one thing is lacking. And that is any threat of legal action against Zucker.<br /><br />Moreover, whatever desperate measure the Tories dream up in order to block the Redbird IMI takeover of the <i>Tel</i> and <i>Speccy</i> is highly unlikely to survive a change in Government in the UK, which may occur sooner rather than later. So what’s with the idea of blocking that takeover? <i>Simples</i>. It guarantees that both titles will back the Tories into that election. And when the Tories lose, folks like Neil and Nelson will discover just how disposable they are.<br /><br />After all, there were no howls of protest when the <i>Evening Standard</i> and <i>Independent</i> were taken over by the Russians - Russians very close to that country’s security agencies. Or when “<i>Arab money</i>”, to use Brillo’s happy phrase, bought a stake in the latter publication. Nor was there such organised opposition when another foreign takeover of the <i>Tel</i> happened.<br /><br />That being Conrad Black buying the <i>Tel</i> and <i>Speccy</i>, among other titles. Nor was there the same scale of protest when Peter Oborne resigned from the <i>Tel</i> after the paper failed to cover the HSBC Swiss tax-dodging scandal, apparently in fear of offending advertisers (though Brillo criticised the <i>Tel</i>).<br /><br />The time of Andrew Neil as a player, a major influence in the UK’s right-wing press, was for a time, but not for all time. <i>Just rejoice at that news</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFeLTtNi_OJR0-UV_WUHs89qHdBXX21-TmHAwlo18iCGPQKk9WpNIvmQi4T3onehuukOSWOFiyybT1EmpOeNcP33nFNx-iHJYSFDAE83NHTSi0GR3dMdkXr0gjdsRxle8eLjFcCydz2PpMb0nD9Qkq9-RpNmMmIO2JREbPGbkQeCU2D9NcO_7Bv6iZbMT/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-83769054980463356272024-03-07T15:25:00.000+00:002024-03-07T15:25:08.556+00:00Farage Does Another RacismFresh from his attempt to smear former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has come another racism from former Brexit Party <i>Oberscheissenführer</i> Nigel “<i>Thirsty</i>” Farage. Nige has seen that Jeremy Hunt (the former Culture Secretary) has allocated public funds for a memorial honouring the sacrifice of Muslims who fought for Britain in two world wars, and elsewhere.<div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="294" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk3GLVwJT0z3XjP155QfLDXs_MdPWWYmr1yvUQorW7XQXgrm-_8CMqrc5sTjB74M_uw7Ii95TPW6Yk1QFMYyfRzzTtx3Zxi7nUq3Xp0Ul048OOptNOu8CZJJJpjCsZudNrFpjMYWawXcOb_q82SSxXWmeOi63kpZKPui0rmdqDVUtv2auBmjXGEgDizOjS/s1600/Farage76.png" width="294" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>In another example of He Wouldn’t Have Said That About Jews - not even Farage would have gone there - The Great Man <a href="https://twitter.com/Otto_English/status/1765678075558199328">told his audience</a> of adoring <i>Gammonati</i> “<i>At 12.30, up got the Chancellor of the Exchequer. His opening sentence I simply could not believe</i>”. The offending passage was played back. “<i>Well, here is my response. I went to the local cemetery</i>” said Nige.<br /><br />“<i>Over 100 years ago, we had men of more brain and foresight than our Chancellor. They decided at the end of the First World War, and continued it through World War 2 as well, that everybody, regardless of race, rank or religion, would be buried beneath the same headstone. The principle was equality in death, recognising the contribution of all</i>”. There was more.<br /><br />“<i>Indeed, if you go to a big Commonwealth war graves cemetery in France, or elsewhere, what you’ll see is a stone of remembrance that says ‘those of all faiths and none’. We thought about this more than 100 years ago. We do not need Jeremy Hunt putting forward the idea of a memorial to a specific religion. It is just plain wrong</i>”. Cue fervent <i>Gammonati</i> applause.<br /><br />Yeah, that’s telling all those Scary Muslims™! Who do they think they are, eh? But, as Captain Blackadder might have observed, there was only one thing wrong with Farage’s argument - it was bollocks. For starters, if you go to a big Commonwealth cemetery, as Farage suggests, you will soon see that his claim about “<i>the same headstone</i>” is yet another from his roster of lies.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="596" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMXgf49wAS6AFZ81_hblWHnBjGbkRJ61xsdXlxT8QgZWDKADl9F3s7ynA5KpJF5c4k8sC-4SMg0jXvU85d1fLZKQLXH9W8sQ3ZBphC-83diavlGWl34sz73xxzPpRzItyxvQxwffFZO9GCsemI-tZSfGma9XQtYMpZxdNF-p9is53aceLIU0xRMrumbN54/s320/MuslimHS1.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>The "same headstone" in practice</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Christians generally have a headstone in the shape of a cross. Jewish soldiers have the Star of David on theirs. And Muslims? At the very minimum, the crescent moon and star will be present, and most likely with some Arabic script. So Farage couldn’t find any examples in Whitehaven, where he was presenting his burst of straight-talking bluster and intolerance?</div><br />Maybe the area didn’t have many non-Christian soldiers billeted there, or indeed, living there before and during two World Wars. But I have news for Mr Thirsty: the British Indian Army, which by 1945 had grown in number to around two and a half million, is agreed to have contained around a million Muslims. Of which tens of thousands gave their lives for the Empire.<br /><br />Indeed, the National Muslim War Memorial Trust <a href="https://www.muslimwarmemorial.org/education/the-role-of-muslims-in-ww2/#:~:text=By%20World%20War%20II,%20the,Nazi%20Germany%20in%20North%20Africa.">has pointed out</a> “<i>By World War II, the British Indian Army had grown significantly to 2.5 million. Of this approximately 1 million were Muslims. Muslims mainly from India and African countries fought on three continents and played a decisive role in Britain's first major land victory against Nazi Germany in North Africa</i>”.<br /><br />Winston Churchill told, in a letter to Franklin Roosevelt at the height of the Second World War, “<i>We must not on any account break with the Moslems, who represent a hundred million people, and the main army elements on which we must rely for the immediate fighting</i>”. They fought to liberate us from totalitarianism. Farage missed that. Why might that be?<br /><br />You might wish to ask that question. <i>I couldn’t possibly comment</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO8AJjjoZJgms0ZcXynTNZj0D3KfuryQd_bJL3IwF2ojHrrIHZn2K2nqvh6j0Ivawdqb_2EdAwN7tm2LOxZs0wV-DWAnDc8OF2uz-PENblqjBdg1QxJYzbzmEaPVjWi4b8sPQKSz9MUboVykwBpLvBRjtcucFsClXmRWvfYqbdSynWHqEH2seaRjjgo7x6/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-83799577887605684242024-03-05T12:40:00.000+00:002024-03-05T12:40:33.323+00:00Corbyn Sues FarageAnd so it came to pass that former Brexit Party <i>Oberscheissenführer</i> Nigel “<i>Thirsty</i>” Farage <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68471403">overstepped the defamation line</a> in no style at all, live during a broadcast on Gammon Broadcasting™ News (“<i>Bacon’s News Channel</i>”), perhaps thinking that, as his target was former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, it was a free hit and there would not be any blowback.<div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="294" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdPYRTBfo9ljEQa0a7Z-UFQrf7kkhyYBW5r5T4wWzaOdxi92aV7A5XmnLjuDp096xPlhpGgDahLG6xkqIDCJ7dGzJpyZdwEPbzyabSy-TI2CKbJPkfEJw7eVg8qsqJCm_ehyuzh_Aahx6DckUnFLndGa27Q7UmTWMf4Nv31BFPszDnvQIo10PsKv7lFBJI/s1600/Farage76.png" width="294" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>After all, his taking out the smearing iron was on the subject of anti-Semitism, and Jezza had had every last drop of that dumped on him by his detractors, whatever the fact of the matter might have been. So what did Mr Thirsty say? Here it comes, and don’t forget: what Farage <a href="https://twitter.com/JerryHicksUnite/status/1764725550810009643">said was highly</a> defamatory.<br /><br />“<i>I said the Jewish community in North America had been massively successful in law, in business, and yes, they did campaign for what they wanted, they did it within the law, they did it quite successfully, but I was never a subscriber to the madcap conspiracy theory [we’ll see about that later] that the Jews run the world. But I’ll tell you who was - yes, Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour leader that you supported. Yes, Jeremy Corbyn!</i>”<br /><br />It was not long before examples of Jezza not subscribing to what, using Farage’s happy phrase, was a “<i>madcap conspiracy theory</i>”, were appearing all over Twitter, X, or whatever Muskrat’s calling it this week. Worse for Mr Thirsty, there are plenty of examples of him crossing the anti-Semitism line out there. Including what he actually said about North America.<br /><br />Before LBC kicked him out, Farage <a href="https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2017/10/nigel-farages-jewish-problem.html">told listeners</a> “<i>there are other very powerful <b>foreign lobbies</b> in the United States of America, and the <b>Jewish lobby with its links to the Israeli Government</b> is one of those strong voices</i>”. The US Jewish lobby, according to Farage, was a “<i>foreign lobby</i>”.<br /><br />Could it get worse? Don’t ask. The Board of Deputies <a href="https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2020/06/nigel-farage-theres-real-anti-semitism.html">were not happy</a>: “<i>In a tweeted video message this month, Farage said the UK faced ‘cultural Marxism’ [origins in Nazi ideology] … said companies who pulled TV adverts from rightwing TV shows were being pressured by ‘Soros-funded organisations’ [trope of the ‘Disloyal Jew’]</i>”. And his <i>Newsweek</i> interview?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="346" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzjNHYugbSrQhteZucepOyH0H01fsh8wzM7Mk-MvP9jHplFdQ_0CM4lth9exJH2WhyphenhyphenvT2hANhD9ye4fUhQ8maixXQSJ7oQi58-CCC637t6AsLy4E2NN00aPcfDjcf5Xqi5CqXE8NDW4Fj6VhsP_e-DwhT7xfo9Rdkgj-C9GRUFSptwhb1ogfXJ6dM8vkv-/s320/OldBailey1.png" width="318" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>“<i>Farage talked about ‘unelected globalists shaping the public’s lives based on secret recommendations from the big banks’ [‘Globalists’ being code for ‘Jews’ or ‘Jewish bankers’] … Goldman Sachs was the only bank he mentioned by name, echoing another common theme from far-right antisemitism</i>”. We need look no further than Ms Thirsty’s Twitter feed to see examples - rather a lot of examples - of these characterisations.<br /><br />“<i>Orbán's Hungary is standing up to George Soros and closing him down, I wish we all did the same … Another anti-Brexit plot backed by George Soros. This man will stop at nothing … The Soros-funded attempt for a second referendum has failed … London is ranked the best financial centre while Frankfurt is 11th. We're all sick of the constant threats from Goldman and the globalists</i>”. Goldman and the globalists? They got an album out, have they?<br /><br />There was more. “<i>We are heading towards a world where the democratic nation state has made a comeback against the globalists … We are beating the globalists! … Obama and Merkel are holding a losing party for the globalists! … The globalists are sticking together</i>”. And he wasn’t finished.<br /><br />“<i>Goldman Sachs and big business lost the referendum … Congratulations to former EU Commission President [José Manuel Barroso], now over at Goldman Sachs. Global corporatism! … If Goldman Sachs are leaving London for the US, why aren't they going to their beloved European Union? … Goldman Sachs Chairman thinks those who want border controls are 'xenophobic'. Badly out of touch</i>”. You get the picture. So will Jezza’s lawyers.<br /><br />Farage will find many instances of Corbyn condemning anti-Semitism, denouncing Holocaust denial, and showing solidarity with Jewish groups. He will have rather more difficulty standing up his smear of the former Labour leader. He will lose this one - should he decide to defend it.<br /><br />Nigel Farage will have to pay up and say sorry. <i>Just rejoice at that news</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9oZ5aRRJs70Z56MXVdN4SOyc_gdza961l8bIJuMPaCugOXclQOK9JxQ0GSNRPGMOCQyemRYFPl4nb2R3veyFPJa7pvUuOXIKEDfOfOmngRyqgIWV7QejZyeMwNct8orVaki3OYr1Mgdwi9JbRXHhLoMRetHGhyphenhyphenmgS0ZybO0rajnIPbLFZ_42oVdPOj1B0/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-75938091752431996512024-03-03T11:57:00.000+00:002024-03-03T11:57:49.123+00:00Tory Dog Whistling - Enough Is Enough<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>All too often, when you need to show how debased politics has become, the opposition rides to your rescue. Today’s <i>Mail on Sunday</i> has demonstrated this superbly, carrying <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-13150187/islamophobic-expel-extremism-britain-robert-jenrick.html">a screed of no observable fact</a> from Robert Jenrick, a former minister whose resignation was a great relief to all those who wished it had happened rather earlier. And the subject is Scary Muslims™.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="314" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhucpIWvWBs01k-nvJlG73UFX2yB-0QCu4EwDL_lo420wMSNn0hVVH7UBBhafkhAXrShRPoG1epFY_uuLOX_sB-ylv57gCi6jOcq_UEjx46U3nF9_aFIADHoo_XIh_G1JPbt2ks6XOf0HOzc5hLdQyU6tRiwsGIcCyd9UTGBVsUjVvKgxm_u98LVTYMxdne/s1600/Jenrick1.png" width="314" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Robert Jenrick. Claims to be a former minister</i></div><div><br /></div>This brings not so much a dog whistle as a foghorn, devoid of facts but heavy on nudge-nudgery and forthright bigotry. So let’s start at the very beginning, as it’s a very good place to start. “<i>It’s crystal clear to the British public we have a serious issue with Islamist extremism [no citation] … Just this week we saw the strength of the alliance between the hard-Left and Islamists on full display, with George Galloway’s brand of sectarian politics proving a decisive vote-winner in Rochdale</i>”. Democracy is bad when you don’t like the result.<br /><br />But do go on. “<i>As Immigration Minister I grappled with the link between uncontrolled mass migration and extremism</i>”. Which is not an easy task, as there is no “<i>uncontrolled mass migration</i>”, and no link between this fictitious concept and extremism. And then we’re on to the Small Boats™.<br /><br />“<i>A not-insignificant number crossing in small boats turn out to be national security threats that require surveillance from our security services [no citation]. While most arrivals don’t pose a direct threat, they are from countries that are statistically more likely to possess values and beliefs … at stark odds to our own</i>”. Guilt by association. And no citation. Again.<br /><br />“<i>Despite the rise in far-Right activity, the threat still overwhelmingly comes from Islamists</i>”. And once more it’s a No Citation. He’s worried about MPs’ safety. Er, who killed Jo Cox? And <a href="https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2018/06/terrorist-admits-mp-murder-plot.html">who plotted to kill</a> Rosie Cooper? It was the home grown far right. And who hosted a hate preacher in the Commons?<br /><br />That <a href="https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2017/10/tory-mp-plays-race-card-again.html">would have been</a> Bob Blackman. As in, one of Jenrick’s fellow Tory MPs, who hosted the Islamophobic and indeed anti-Christian Tapan Ghosh, who explicitly endorsed Geert Wilders, and held a meeting with Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson. Ghosh talks about the Muslim “<i>reproduction rate</i>”. He endorses fringe wackos such as Breitbart.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="430" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCTRjo4SbU0OmY-gXYiiEMbtRj35N0Dc7pUxBxALmg_MMWUbE3NfXNEYZbXGyI02mEKrKLavFKas3obL0ZUE2unJ5Q0BWcTYgPXLJqKXMaiiEz699ofnHCTTKzt4p4oWIBjk1EKkNavA4zpFvWptUT42OVho9YPLQkSDpaxVY1OFEUjJH1j09-3FBQMMys/s320/Mail338.png" width="235" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Jenrick does not allow this to trouble him as he continues “<i>Islamists make up 75 per cent of the security services’ caseload, but a culture of political correctness has meant roughly a quarter of referrals are for those espousing Islamist views</i>”. WOKE WOKE WOKE WOKE WOKE. Let’s misuse the language! And, guess what? You got it - No Citation.<br /><br />And he’s not finished, sadly: “<i>Our intelligence services are stretched and so rightly apply a high threshold before engaging. That means plenty of less dangerous - but still hateful - extremists don’t qualify</i>”. What kind of offences is he talking about? Walking on the cracks in the pavement? Looking at officers in a funny way? Wearing a loud shirt in a built-up area?<br /><br />Then he goes there. “<i>We must immediately end the two-tiered policing that has consistently let extremists off the hook</i>”. <b>There is no such thing as “<i>two-tiered policing</i>”</b>. And there’s more. “<i>Would the police have intervened to prevent ‘from the river to the sea’ being emblazoned on the Palace of Westminster if it was a racist far-right slogan? I strongly suspect so</i>”.<br /><br />Why doesn’t he mention that the current Israeli ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, used the phrase? Or is that more of Jenrick’s “<i>two-tiered standards</i>”? So what’s his solution? “<i>To forge a more cohesive and united society we must end the disastrous experiment with mass migration. That task is virtually impossible when more than a million people arrive in the country every year</i>”. Two things here. <b>One</b>, there is no “<i>experiment</i>”.<br /><br />And <b>Two</b>, the increase in non-EU migration is a direct consequence of leaving the EU. Which Jenrick’s party botched. Moreover, if the immigration numbers were to be significantly reduced, the economy would suffer. Because there would be fewer people in productive employment and paying taxes.<br /><br />The extremism of which he speaks would be reduced if he, plus 30p Lee, Liz Truss and Suella Braverman, were to stop encouraging it. <i>That is all</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqnQ3zHiq0j3SJa8LnBGJ2MA_90Ml1lLBbRJL5voLB-98K1lxr8lpHo_XnHPudWPrXlvxb4DJMcjH_IuaR8cD9W9VSFuw6tqkoU4rMTPE_a6lV8yNWzOHkqNMQPRZLlLfXLhyYrH5TDF65wrPl83A7fNC_PONhVEDburdFHgnUaRP8O2eyb7YVb1ivMnl8/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-49075567371484945212024-03-01T12:35:00.000+00:002024-03-01T12:35:52.117+00:00Guido Fawked - Spanker Spanked<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>The perpetually thirsty Paul Staines memorably told Esquire magazine that “<i>the lying in politics is on an industrial scale</i>”, momentarily missing the fact that he and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog contributed rather a lot of it themselves. And nowhere was this more obvious than in their dealings in political matters in and around the constituency of Rochdale.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="602" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKywzM-5f8Z9sJZQcn86G07Zy__zp0adWyDLSk9JCnW685vN-Jh_G1UKTWiINx9EJhMcXqzbOn3gy4OA8JPIQ85mh7nf66uTHiFbD_aHfjBkjFbfhDm83eUQHihz_EZSga4l8o7Ll5VbmiYGGjfBzBVW0fNVFoo5mliVvIHiAJYp7ypfctPuZYi62hCq6-/s320/WP_20141216_20_53_21_Pro.jpg" width="212" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Behold the arbiter of good journalistic practice</i></div><div><br /></div>One highlight stands out: the <a href="https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2018/07/alex-wickham-anatomy-of-lie.html">flat-out lying about</a> then Greater Manchester Mayoral hopeful Andy Burnham, whose draft manifesto for the Labour nomination had been leaked to The Great Guido. Seeing a redaction in the text, then teaboy Alex “<i>Billy Liar</i>” Wickham invented a reason for the redaction. Reality soon showed that he had chosen … poorly.<br /><br />It also showed the bad faith nature of the Fawkes rabble: others did the making up and other invention, never themselves. Staines’ roster of personnel may have changed over the years, but that nasty undercurrent still holds sway. So it was when sitting MP Tony Lloyd died and a by-election was called - bringing one political career momentarily back from the dead.<br /><br />Who that? Step forward disgraced former Labour and independent MP Simon “<i>Spanker</i>” Danczuk, whose one accurate observation on his own career was “<i>There’s no fool like an old fool</i>” after the Murdoch <i>Sun</i> splashed a front page on another of his momentary liaisons with a much younger woman. Spanker was to stand for his old seat. For the Reform UK Party.<br /><br />The latest incarnation of the Brexit Party, domain of <i>Oberscheissenführer</i> Nigel “<i>Thirsty</i>” Farage, is now headed by out-of-touch property magnate Richard Tice (he’s not very nice). Polling in national opinion polls at around 10%, there were high hopes that Danczuk could reclaim his old seat. The party duly got a favourable <a href="https://order-order.com/2024/02/13/reform-says-they-are-the-party-of-rochdale-not-gaza/">press release recycling</a> from the Fawkes mob.<br /><br />“<i>With Labour imploding in Rochdale William Hill now says they are no longer the favourites … Reform UK and their candidate Simon Danczuk’s campaign is now concentrating on stopping Galloway. Their simple message to those with Labourite views is that Labour is too distracted with Middle-Eastern politics to be focussed on the important issues. Reform spokesman Gawain Towler tells Guido: ‘If you care about Rochdale not Gaza the only person left in this fight is Simon’</i>” told The Great Guido. But this was total crap.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="624" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52egMv9WBo1L7PEMxhQCL0AasEUwZKnjr902q3HaqQkDKYhyphenhyphenIYMJywbzguKjYmPef4esV1XHFrRa6rg7LtlirIQnPJpIBynT8qNj4RcGHXJT_NAcp564iRsXHgmlSjJAoImHwLKyIZPAIzB4AkuYAD3FFr6lrNSOs9M4S3fXXGUGvD-pYXl1y9mrmsKad/s320/Danczuk17.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Exhumed political career isn't. Good thing too</i></div><div><br /></div>As the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68443430">reported after</a> the by-election result was declared, “<i>George Galloway is back in Parliament with a resounding win in the Rochdale by-election after a campaign in which the Gaza war was a running theme</i>”.<br /><br />Galloway, wearing a hat, but not because he’s over-sensitive about his continuing encounter with male pattern baldness, you understand, memorably told “<i>Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak are two cheeks of the same backside and they both got well and truly spanked tonight here in Rochdale</i>”. The actual Spanker came 6th. His vote share was 1.9% down on the Brexit Party’s 2019 showing. And well short of that 10% Reform UK national poll rating.<br /><br />So The Great Guido faithfully <a href="https://order-order.com/2024/03/01/galloway-and-tice-go-tit-for-tat/">reported the excuses</a>. “<i>Reform UK came 6th last night, after Tice told party representatives to leave the election count for their own safety as a mob gathers outside … Tice pointed fingers at a ‘sudden increase also in the size of the postal vote’</i>”. Yeah, right.<br /><br />If Reform UK were so popular, why the warning to leave the count? And why blame the postal vote, which carried the 2016 referendum over the line for Leave? But no acknowledgement that the Fawkes rabble once again got it wrong, despite their sneering dismissal of actual journalism.<br /><br />As in <a href="https://order-order.com/2024/02/29/wootton-wins-apology-over-false-allegations-article-from-guardian/">their telling</a>, apropos Dan Wootton and his instructing lawyers to go after a variety of people, “<i>The next question is whether or not Byline Times will [settle]. The six or seven figure bill might encourage them to. If they choose to double down, it’ll spell the end of the outlet. And an end to its particularly paranoid form of conspiracy theorising masquerading as gutter journalism</i>”. After their Rochdale conspiracy theory about how popular Reform UK was.<br /><br />What say Frankie Leach? After <a href="https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2019/06/another-guido-pack-of-lies-exposed.html">being on the wrong end of</a> “<i>conspiracy theorising masquerading as gutter journalism</i>”? <i>Away with you, Guido</i>.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7TH9B9p9MtCXFrEV52Pla3E1Lf7_pt9bGUrE-HSrC-y6ljTFUneVaiuUj5yFvueDzCmC6Ltdmpsexo70nzxWX3MmSMmeyln319Nyi01PhBhVBSD6CVFx-DiN46MwBGVgODic9dh9j0oqyxQoUAyZDFg0vHps7IsAHpPJq3KRdJCYH_JDU9Rj_a-qRvBEv/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-5973640339810372082024-02-26T16:25:00.000+00:002024-02-26T16:25:02.709+00:0030p Lee Does Another Racism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>And so it came to pass that all the attempts by the Tories to drive the issue of bigotry round the houses until the next issue provided a little momentary interest were for nothing. Lee Anderson, already minus the party whip, has declined to say sorry for doing a racism with his attack on London Mayor Sadiq Khan, but instead has done another racism. And a conspiracy theory.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="354" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfbHXt7b6usI5Kb4NCdwgZ6Qn_N3ASi_OaD52gu4ho3vy_YNP0OaXSgI24VTQaaCPKvQpFuGIGgH2TqInmel7azH3q8WE1mO2KL2iS7QGlHXcSWBqUQrmHM9rrYu49u2qXjGuTA399Osw_8ZjttdNFADoe_mDPwhdbbdp7Wyil-XcONEnCUZCtLN8JbjA/s320/Anderson12.png" width="270" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>As the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68392621">has reported</a>, Anderson told Gammon Broadcasting™ News (“<i>Bacon’s News Channel</i>”) that “<i>I don't actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they've got control of [Sadiq] Khan and they've got control of London… He's actually given our capital city away to his mates</i>”. The Scary Muslims™ done it!<br /><br />After he lost the whip, 30p Lee mused “<i>Following a call with the chief whip, I understand the difficult position that I have put both he and the prime minister in with regard to my comments. I fully accept that they had no option but to suspend the whip in these circumstances. However, I will continue to support the government's efforts to call out extremism in all its forms - be that anti-Semitism or Islamophobia</i>”. And how would he express this support?<br /><br />Sadly for the Tories, he would express it by doing another racism, along with a screaming dog-whistle of a racist conspiracy theory. “<i>If you are wrong, apologising is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength … But, when you think you are right, you should never apologise because to do so would be a sign of weakness</i>”. So what made him right, and Mayor Khan wrong?<br /><br />His <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/26/lee-anderson-stands-by-attack-on-sadiq-khan-and-launches-fresh-broadside">remarks were</a> “<i>born out of sheer frustration at what is happening to our beautiful capital city … Politics is divisive and I am just incredibly frustrated about the abject failures of the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan … Hundreds of people had been arrested for racist abuse on these marches [showing solidarity with Palestinians] and we barely hear a peep from the mayor</i>”.<br /><br />Do go on. “<i>If these marches were about something less fashionable, Sadiq Khan would have been the first to call for them to be cancelled. It’s double standards for political benefit</i>”. You may not have heard the dog whistle, but the racists did. <b>That’s the “<i>two-tier policing</i>” racist conspiracy theory</b>.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="347" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_d8A9iVh_LswMf6Yry0VLB4ggmm7e6EhuXiyKWxieP0UCrzCHLWjyGwdVc3Z8glBTZW7qobKwpDoDqNhOPOd4yxXmPlSNSWNToVBwf5D7sJjMXrJkYBt8jXMY0QREiMOWCpkkL-3DnoVvlKnr6NHq1sBWRyrP1x8Zi0quTrKo97McIBlson3QIIMPD-Ko/s320/Mosque1.jpg" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Added to that, Anderson is lying about “<i>hundreds of people … arrested for racist abuse</i>”. The BBC has revealed that “<i>Religious/racial abuse has been listed as the reason for arrest in a total of 30 cases … 11 in October … 11 in November … Eight in December</i>”. Figures for January are not yet available. Then there is the suggestion that Khan has operational control of the Met.<br /><br />Let’s take this nice and slowly, for 30p Lee and all the others who think that the Mayor of London could call off the Palestine solidarity marches. Sadiq Khan does not, <i>repeat does not</i>, REPEAT DOES NOT have operational control over the Metropolitan Police. And the only person who can direct the Met to outlaw those marches is the Home Secretary, James Cleverly.<br /><br />Who is not the Mayor of London, not in the Labour Party, and not intervening to have any of those marches called off. Sadly, nailing Islamophobia is less straightforward as the cross-party group which devised a definition of that racism had its findings kicked into the long grass by the Tories - possibly because it would expose the bigotry of our free and fearless press.<br /><br />It would certainly cause editors to think twice before giving a platform to the likes of the deeply unpleasant Kelvin McFilth, <a href="https://twitter.com/miqdaad/status/1762002223024771265">who is still courted</a> by the papers, and indeed GB News. And Trevor Kavanagh asking about what we are going to do about “<i>The Muslim Question</i>”, <a href="https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2017/08/trevor-kavanagh-pants-on-fire.html">only to pretend</a> he didn’t know that wording was loaded. Nor did his editors. Yeah, right.<br /><br />It might also stop Tories indulging in Muslim bashing, like Paul Scully, <a href="https://twitter.com/miqdaad/status/1762064524905992413">who today</a> “<i>talks about ‘changing neighbourhoods’ and Muslim ‘no go areas’ in Tower Hamlets and Birmingham</i>”. Miqdaad Versi noted “<i>Not realising ‘no go zones’ are a typical false & Islamophobic trope from the white supremacist & far right fringes, shows the depth of the problem</i>”. Remember Andy Ngo.<br /><br />Lee Anderson is a racist bigot. <i>As are too many Tories and pundits</i>.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2khWRylVfYDMhEMJdt-1S-4RwFVvl9pwTqRfDglhOCQBlibTHx2ta2EFc4sNV7NdRt_SDS7Oaz2B0t1W_fDUq0CSb_qj5PymZNx7iXzyS7TcPT5PWfCiIanNFEK8VpIp3xhoOFX_ZC51GQXLo19UZMXUmhufpGzl9cpP9XdwftrbOi7RoG3tg7CmdEKSv/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-87203608123369520552024-02-25T14:10:00.000+00:002024-02-25T14:10:19.737+00:00Liz Truss - Remove The Whip. NOW<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>No action was taken by the Tories following the outburst of bigotry in the Commons by Robert Jenrick, or the support of that outburst by Penny Mordaunt. And no action was taken following the throwing of petrol on the fire by Suella Braverman. But Lee Anderson had the whip removed after he did a racism with his attack on London Mayor Sadiq Khan.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="486" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1O3I3Nvik-OE0ZXioqKrxJDDQ8JBFeffmTkKkY7WRckI1Rp7uFIFmiqILG5jm7hxjUfbcX7soJwNU-MU2KRZjAG9GDtUo8b0hiefhS-eVoMPMnf8B1oUQ79g-6fl2aO0RO7cl27BbMyvS_vPK8CSafp24q_AK9BLbQnBJAX6r4tO2gkonn1UNSQJKQxg3/s320/Truss1.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>30p Lee will, however, continue to be accommodated by Gammon Broadcasting™ News (“<i>Bacon’s News Channel</i>”), which should surprise no-one, given that the broadcaster’s main money injecting man is Paul Marshall, who has just been exposed as having an Alt Twitter account which re-Tweets and likes a range of Muslim bashing wacko conspiracy theory bigotry.<br /><br />Worse for the Tories in two ways is, <b>One</b>, that it has been strongly inferred that Anderson would not have had the whip removed had he apologised, and, <b>Two</b>, that the worst of the lot remains unpunished. Mary Elisabeth Truss, formerly, and fortunately briefly, comedy Prime Minister, has been to the USA, where she has been keeping some seriously dodgy company.<br /><br />As before, she has claimed that her Premiership was undermined by something called The Media. But that media includes the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press, which <a href="https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1760962567218847943">praised her</a> unconditionally. The <i>Daily Mail</i>, in particular, told its readers “<i>COMETH THE HOUR, COMETH THE WOMAN</i>” and “<i>AT LAST! A TRUE TORY BUDGET</i>”. So true a Tory budget that it came close to crashing the economy. And it got worse. A lot worse.<br /><br />She proceeded to share a platform with the deeply unpleasant Steve Bannon, <a href="https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1761046622044041289">whom she asked</a> “<i>Would you work with Nigel Farage to restructure the Tory party?</i>” That’s a whip suspension in one. Bannon proceeded to call Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, a “<i>hero</i>”.<br /><br />How would Ms Truss respond? How would a statesmanlike and credible former Prime Minister have responded? How would any person with a hole in their arse and brain plugged in have responded? How would Nietzsche have responded? Sadly, Ms Truss does not operate on that intellectual plateau, and so she just nodded along with Bannon. And it got worse still.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="472" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEUX9PXimhRF8eY6md5hBL73c_IoJ32kXXKh2yeeV1wKAcGoHZIu-2rmhFQEMkn4j6CD96YrV3wZgeRRI7Rid2yf6U4uuShsbtSqp0M9UY8XGBShRLLTxWi10dUydyie7cc768hX1sUNxu4WZv_H1xZqfbdd-FbnMA3sVhkxugWmjeGa8xmMqMd2ujJPn9/s320/Bannon1.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Liz Truss is attending this year’s CPAC. She <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnJCrace/status/1761162074044936334">has delivered a speech</a> to the gathering. The same gathering which Jack Posobiec has addressed, raising his fist <a href="https://twitter.com/lowles_nick/status/1761013652558147864">as he proclaimed</a> “<i>Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely. We didn’t get all the way there on Jan. 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it</i>”. Still want to give her the benefit of the doubt?<br /><br />Nick Lowles of Hope Not Hate asked the obvious question. “<i>Where is the media and political outrage at Liz Truss, a (short-lived) former British Prime Minister, addressing a conference where speaker after speaker glorify the storming of the Capitol on Jan 6 and promise worse is to come?</i>”<br /><br />His problem, sadly, is that rather too many in the media and politics are prepared to downplay or even dismiss the bigotry. Like the BBC (hello Robbie Gibb) dismissing 30p Lee’s racism <a href="https://twitter.com/miqdaad/status/1761471236020809765">with the headline</a> “<i>MP suspended over criticism of London mayor</i>”. Oliver Dowden, still deputy PM, <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamBienkov/status/1761680581761376754">declared</a> “<i>I don't believe Lee Anderson said those words in any way intending to be Islamophobic</i>”. <i>Spectator</i> editor Fraser Nelson <a href="https://twitter.com/jdportes/status/1761688266414121153">is also in downplaying</a> mode.<br /><br />“<i>Genuinely racist and anti-Muslim slurs are very rare in British public debate</i>” he pontificated, for some reason not noticing the amount of genuinely racist and anti-Muslim slurs that appear in the magazine, and on the website, of which he is supposed to be the editor. Remember “<i>My own view is that there is not nearly enough Islamophobia within the Tory party</i>”?<br /><br />And Ms Truss is probably safe when Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham <a href="https://twitter.com/darshnasoni/status/1761693395347488969">has to tell</a> Laura Kuenssberg “<i>You basically laid bare the Tory Party's problem.. you see ambivalence when it comes to Islamophobia. If the ‘they have got control’ was related to Jewish people that would straightaway be called out as anti-semitism. But there's a double standard here</i>”.<br /><br />Liz Truss should have the Tory whip removed. But her party, and its media allies, are already circling the wagons. <i>The Tories’ racist sickness exposed</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAL-zY2DbET-BxHrsmWfoFwOmFRpQJYByEH9MM2hZ7dD5Oy31PjtKMrNFxLslBajQNXFjKaBm57CFaP6iuGuE3JWesz5thZDfsO6kLEC-Pulok1L0sBNpoDTk37U1TKPl8T1Ql6MUgJGSp5O62g9w78QH-KL7X5jWOiEWZ9Yvvox6tJM5Yc7EVRJuP-piF/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-12530857807659793462024-02-23T13:03:00.005+00:002024-02-23T13:03:59.326+00:00Muslim Hatred And The Media<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>Nothing, but nothing, comes close to the sustained hostility, nay, bigotry displayed not only by our free and fearless press, but also broadcast media and rather too many of what Robin Day memorably and rightly called “<i>here today and gone tomorrow politicians</i>”, towards Muslims. Demonisation does not even begin to describe it. It had gone too far a long time ago.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="347" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXc0dfGQ9I3L4bWWn109r6sqK7i09MlthVgZt7QVqv8EIAjDbAzWs1f08XYCIedw3jEFsdDaHQcjOrBmqznbhW_EZC-RvSda5K6QJdTK9SKPyeREQG8hCRbfBrkno6DLqnHDQ7VIvRQD4IOTf5SndlIJ4NOopo82Bv6kP6SfRm_mZqBYsjV1unP80at03/s320/Mosque1.jpg" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Now, it has got out of hand to such an extent that it has passed the wayside station known as Hate Speech and is gathering speed towards Underclass. Yes, followers of The Prophet are the new <i>Untermenschen</i>, the latest attempt to dump on them for no good reason at all being the debate earlier this week on calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, and for the slaughter there to stop.<br /><br />It <a href="https://twitter.com/miqdaad/status/1760734360498753672">really kicked off</a> when Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle told those gathered in the chamber that MPs face “<i>frightening</i>” threats. Allied to former Brexit Party <i>Oberscheissenführer</i> Nigel “<i>Thirsty</i>” Farage telling “<i>By the 2029 General Election we will have a radical Islamic party represented in Westminster</i>”, the translation of “<i>threats</i>” into “<i>Scary Muslims™</i>” was on.<br /><br />Flap-mouthed bigot Julia Hartley Dooda saw protests at the Commons and instantly converted this into more of those Scary Muslims™: “<i>‘We have slept [sic] walked into this’ … Julia Hartley Brewer reacts to ‘outrageous scenes’ taking place across the country influenced by ‘Islamist Ideology’ … ‘a highly political, highly violent ideology called “Islamism” is sweeping on [sic] nation’</i>”.<br /><br />The loathsome Toby Young joined in, setting the bar yet lower: “<i>If Keir Starmer browbeats the Speaker into breaching Parliamentary rules because he fears Muslim Extremists will attack his MPs, what would he do in office to appease the same mob? Ban cartoons of Mohammed? Make disrespecting the Qur’an a hate crime? Repeal the Terrorism Act?</i>”<br /><br />So now it’s terrorism! And it’s Hamas!! You think I jest? Along came Tom Harris to <a href="https://twitter.com/MrTCHarris/status/1760421896187715720">make the connections</a>: “<i>The intimidation of MPs is not coming from both sides in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Only one side's supporters believe it's okay to threaten and intimidate democratically elected representatives … Hamas supporters reckon they can get their way by violence and intimidation. Shocking revelation, eh?</i>” What violence? What intimidation?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="382" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirlOEz9eUkx6nk6fex-PlSoLUuhQpp6ISmti3yqwXsfL5-4KxNBxqcRQD065IQGyqXIjmTAlwqzXMKHZ4wTnct3cujOYE6FIJzEkG5987-x0tCkYbASScrvTA7M-4AC985EZhC7Xo42lGJhhctpZfunMYzsfrM_3_dgOYRlHkYPlHFUUMyx7aow_SXLgfI/s320/Telegraph230224.png" width="199" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>One hates to come over all Neil Kinnock, but here we have a former Labour MP - A Former Labour MP - scuttling round media outlets seeding hatred. Peaceful protest is violent! It’s Hamas! One Tweeter <a href="https://twitter.com/K4rmaRules/status/1760636604207579145">posted a photo</a> of this supposed Muslim horde. Except they weren’t. They were white and elderly.<br /><br />And then came the opportunist Tory politicians, for whom no barrel scraping went low enough. Leading off was the Creep’s Creep, Robert Jenrick, <a href="https://twitter.com/Haggis_UK/status/1760657315923927108">claiming</a> “<i>We have allowed our streets to be dominated by islamist extremists.... & now we're allowing islamist extremists to intimidate British members of Parliament</i>”. He was, sad to tell, not alone in this view.<br /><br />Previously sort of sensible Penny Mordaunt chipped in “<i>I could not agree more with my right honourable friend</i>”. Would anyone care to top that? Here’s Suella! “<i>Suella Braverman says Islamists are in charge of Britain now</i>” <a href="https://twitter.com/TelePolitics/status/1760907608251113668">announced the</a> increasingly desperate and downmarket <i>Telegraph</i>.<br /><br />It should not need saying that wanting an end to the gratuitous slaughter of little children and their mums, to be annoyed with your elected representatives for trivialising the matter, and exercising the right to protest does not make you extreme. It does not make you an Islamist. It does not make you Hamas. It does not make you violent. <b>It makes you human</b>.<br /><br />Jew hatred was a feature of 1930s Britain: the hostility that those such as Nicholas Winton faced, just for organising the <i>Kindertransport</i>, was real. It took the Holocaust to stop that. The mass killing of millions of Jews stopped that hatred from passing the dinner party test. How much more slaughter of innocent people will have to take place before Muslim hatred goes the same way? You know, the latest hatred to pass the dinner party test?<br /><br />It’s high time the press and politicians gave their heads a shake. And stopped pouring out the hatred. Then showed a better example. <i>Just a thought</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGc8JRlVvx73S5Jadg5u1Mg7H8U2KjRB04J5FLMMPe3Y2obnTtTaGSHxolnX5x5wvLoWOioJH5hhac4cR4ITm_nvhyphenhyphenjpVZpow6aPQDqXXCtCko_SJFmisGuu8oZHde11s7yxFUmI4uBjmC9neENrsdx8d9kKUb-AVIuCu7mUM0XXkNDC3mxqHPQU18LcU2/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-90089362190763666792024-02-22T11:42:00.000+00:002024-02-22T11:42:02.830+00:00Labour’s Gaza Shame - Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>It was a day designated as an SNP opposition day. So it should have surprised no-one that the Scot Nats put forward a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, no ifs, no buts, no get-out clause, no conditional statement. Then Labour put forward its own amendment, to demand an “<i>immediate humanitarian ceasefire</i>”. And then came the Speaker.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyNNdn_oNSs6uCFx12e2ydpyIQRzHA4kzTKT4E4BUrXB_rgK2K43ruy4dx6UfFBQWQ_baWkD6_4BGTDdMP1uC2SG9PBNG-ADVzW-s5MGCi9nK0nVsg14xL9tn4gK6AiorM3L-zj9v7naudGD7O7L7tWID0dMjGKuUOAAIMDxk95b6PYhGjPrZP22JKCDcf/s320/Hoyle1.png" width="296" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Mr Speaker is very sorry ...</i></div><div><br /></div>Lindsay Hoyle waves his arms and otherwise flaps a lot. He generates significant amounts of hot air. Yesterday, he went against recent tradition by allowing the Labour amendment to go first, which, as the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68366512">report put it</a>, prompted “<i>fury from both the SNP and the Conservatives</i>”.<br /><br />So why was the Labour amendment an equivocation? Beeb again: “<i>Labour's amendment, which called for an ‘immediate humanitarian ceasefire’ noted that Israel ‘cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence’ and called for a diplomatic process to deliver ‘a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state’ … While the initial motion tabled by the SNP went further, calling for an ‘immediate ceasefire’ and an end to the ‘collective punishment of the Palestinian people’</i>”. Meaning what?<br /><br />Meaning this gave the Israeli Government the old get-out ploy. Also, “<i>Sir Lindsay's decision meant Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer avoided another potential rebellion over the party's position on Gaza as Labour MPs were able to show their support for a ceasefire without voting for an SNP motion</i>”.<br /><br />Was this merely Keir Starmer getting lucky? Apparently not: as Nick Watt of <i>Newsnight</i> <a href="https://twitter.com/nicholaswatt/status/1760315363542122769">told</a>, “<i>Senior Labour figures tell me [Commons Speaker] was left in no doubt that Labour would bring him down after the general election unless he called Labour’s Gaza amendment</i>”. An amendment which got round Starmer ordering his MPs to abstain on the SNP motion.<br /><br />That could have caused cracks to appear in the ostensibly solid and united Labour edifice, the possibility of open revolt among some shadow ministers. It may not have been caving in to Labour threats, but you could see it from there. In any case, what was stopping The Red Team from just giving its MPs a free vote? What was wrong with just saying “<i>ceasefire now</i>”?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="466" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWCo_NLwlSdhIR4L4Oatw1InqsW8AjEtIUZTWfH3nFwV3DjOYu9pZwYP3-Sltw013SpvAMcnO3gr3UdGCVD225gozwbTIOeBWdyZ3bmKZ5xHv8e1Pa2dM7OJ9Wkzz0uUXUOWNjiS-2IdX-_6CYFmRUXt3TGG_IGHE6pK7AquaQvr9GnSK9zXEaylAWEFZ/s320/Starmer1.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>... to have let an opportunist politician off the hook</i></div><div><br /></div>Ah well. While the BBC Politics <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1760382663347638573">feed told</a> “<i>‘I regret how it's ended up... it was never my intention for it to end up like this’ … Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle says he ‘tried to do what he thought was the right thing for all sides of this House’ as he apologises for his decision</i>”, there was uproar outside the chamber as protesters voiced their displeasure at MPs’ behaviour.<br /><br />And then came the inevitable fallout. Nick Watt <a href="https://twitter.com/nicholaswatt/status/1760325133959303475">again</a>: “<i>Looking like [SNP] MPs minded to sign the Will Wragg EDM expressing no confidence in [Commons Speaker]. One Tory: When the Tories and SNP agree then something big is afoot</i>”. Owen Jones <a href="https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/1760327443989012616">had his own take</a> on the matter.<br /><br />“<i>Labour blackmailed the Speaker into violating Parliamentary protocol so they could shield Israel from the charge of collective punishment … Any political journalist worth their money should be clear that’s what happened … The Speaker allowed himself to be bullied and should resign</i>”. The problem is that too many journalists were whining “<i>look over there</i>” at the protesters.<br /><br />Who could be smeared as “<i>extremists</i>”, or worse, merely for wanting an end to the slaughter, and then getting justifiably angry when their elected representatives used the exercise to put the frighteners on Lindsay Hoyle, and otherwise show the world that their priorities did not include stopping thousands of women and children from being blown apart in Gaza.<br /><br />Journalist Sol Hughes surveyed the wreckage <a href="https://twitter.com/SolHughesWriter/status/1760600112521171267">and concluded</a> “<i>I was once in some Courtroom training. A Barrister explained that if you ask a witness a question, then look away when they answer, they'll raise their voice to get your attention , so you can try make them seem angry + unreasonable. It's how Labour are treating Gaza protests</i>”. And all for what?<br /><br />The Speaker may have been fatally undermined. Meanwhile, the killing goes on. And Starmer’s Labour treats it as a game. <i>Bad, bad mistake</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPnmu_C7nKukhx4EJHT1ff50GK3bT6DJzLBpUk2HtAqtj_q4iU3kwcoaAJU-4TdW8xVMceIXqEzrw5CSVkBJXQAF_JZHwn8ZTzdUSSNOh5JWHydRJAEQsvGNsm1WZfx9AkStEqC8fzoaIrUeD-8ftN5OfUeSzmZLK2GDqpGqG7CkosafFYNw8oy0MmaP36/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-23958756343039298962024-02-20T12:53:00.000+00:002024-02-20T12:53:25.073+00:00Julian Assange And JusticeAnd so came the last opportunity for Julian Assange to avoid being extradited from the UK to the United States: the current court hearing is to challenge a decision by Priti Patel, then Home Secretary, and also the 2021 High Court ruling that he could be extradited. He has been incarcerated in Belmarsh Prison since being dragged from the Ecuadorian Embassy in 2019.<div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="540" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhHB4kvYMEGdc076UeuqDqVXcGygtrzFp54_qDD7vu7peHUhN97VxAiKKot13uWGi336ukTMg9_Y7l10hj5pOAyEDEXm6aGg-MdA_Z9eCEIcQqIdjBvWUWnBNyafpcdtD4pg2iMQr9PaTwkbvj_wqu-vV5f4HgMxta5CxsVAVHbSgZc1A0DgjsVwF03xgW/s320/Assange1.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>So what has Assange allegedly done to warrant his being banged up in Belmarsh? The US authorities claim “<i>Conspiracy to commit computer intrusion</i>” and violating the 1917 Espionage Act. Why so? That is all down to the information released by WikiLeaks. Information which showed the USA, its security agencies, and its armed forces in a very poor light indeed.<br /><br />In other words, he blew the whistle on some seriously deadly behaviour. He also did not endear himself to the US Democrats by publishing information suggesting the party was biased against Bernie Sanders, in the run-up to the party’s 2016 Convention. He was also critical of combover crybaby Donald Trump. But Trump was later to speak highly of WikiLeaks.<br /><br />As the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-68344106">has reported</a>, “<i>On the campaign trail, Trump heaped praise on Wikileaks, saying at one rally that ‘Wikileaks is like a treasure trove,’ and ‘Boy, I love reading Wikileaks,’ at another</i>”. So would he cut Assange some slack? Er, no: “<i>But in 2019, when asked about the prosecution of Assange, Trump said: ‘I know nothing really about him. That’s not my deal in life.’</i>”<br /><br />If Assange thought Trump might look favourably upon him, he was sorely mistaken. For Trump, everything is transactional: if Assange, or anyone else, is no longer any use to him, does not confer any benefit upon him, then they are simply discarded. He’ll get nothing out of Trump. And, as Wikileaks was behind the leaking of Hillary Clinton’s private emails, he’ll get nothing out of Joe Biden either. The current President has been silent on the matter.<br /><br />Some will point to Assange’s behaviour being, shall we say, challenging. He can be a right royal pain in the neck. But that is not a criminal offence: were it so, most of the Parliamentary Conservative party, along with their lobby group pals, and most of their press hangers-on, would now have been banged up.<br /><br />Countries that might have given Assange asylum are most likely frightened of the USA turning on them - whoever is in the White House. And now there is the issue of his health suffering as a result of his imprisonment. Ominously, the BBC report now tells “<i>Julian Assange's lawyer says the Wikileaks founder is not in court today as he is unwell</i>”. How unwell is then spelled out.<br /><br />“<i>Assange's wife Stella [told the BBC] that he would not survive being extradited from the UK to the US as he is physically and mentally extremely weak … [his brother] said his health was in 'a very delicate position' and he was ‘going through immense amounts of suffering’ at Belmarsh Prison, where he has been since 2019</i>”. Years of confinement take their toll.<br /><br />So why continue with the extradition? After all, the WikiLeaks trove “<i>are said to have originated from former US soldier Chelsea Manning. Back in 2013, Manning was court martialled and sentenced to 35 years in prison for charges relating to this leak. But this sentence was later commuted by then US President Barack Obama after she'd already served four years in prison</i>”.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="346" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibNThDOVaS9fAmnc1VcbTl-K-zdwZk6oQiqu0f3qPDe1Vl-OIJtK7FnVFe2BsEjhQ7nB8vauoL3rUVEDxRDniWHaE3h5z2HYp9eu08rqUXacRdLppBHaxUKUcRBUO6xQTT0kAKsV_yufAg7zvbvYi8MDldu4L7kjY5zKeUNpxUo_FI-k_TpxctnYCLWKzY/s320/OldBailey1.png" width="318" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>More suspiciously, as Wikipedia <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange">notes</a>, “<i>Under the Obama Administration, the Department of Justice did not indict Assange because it could not find evidence that his actions differed from those of a journalist</i>”. But then, “<i>During the Trump Administration, CIA director Mike Pompeo and Attorney General Jeff Sessions stepped up pursuit of Assange</i>”.</div><div><br />So Trump spoke with forked tongue. Again. Looking at the case now, there seems no point in continuing the pursuit of Assange, especially given Chelsea Manning has been free for some years. Being a difficult SOB is no excuse for imprisoning someone in a maximum security jail. So why not just free him and have done with it? Ah well. They have to make an example of someone.<br /><br />That’s how the same They keeps everyone else in line. <i>Sad but true</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2L3QRKtQuPP8WiyWDHwiw0r0Hg9SHl3tEF-G4ymGA6VtTjzi8G7BmUgIL31zzT213flaoPDfGBKg0hpjdmMbja_aXusdKgeFTE_LNzgjCjIIKj63UYDjABsv9O2rUHh5TGJO3BUSFEPuZ8zHR3FsDjkC40yjxPy_2hkJd8zL9nt_7DBdcI5EbT3KjxxYC/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-85483924568605465422024-02-18T13:00:00.000+00:002024-02-18T13:00:50.069+00:00Trump - Why He’s Toast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>There may or may not be a General Election in the UK this year. But there is no such uncertainty in the USA: the Presidency, all of the House of Representatives, and a third of the Senate are up for grabs come November. For the increasingly wacko Republican Party, that means getting behind combover crybaby Donald Trump. But here a problem enters.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="399" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE1NGT9RSP9ukkciQ4iCWdmrgWFIK4NJ-ZNsi8qEXZ5xiBH4ohMSMYS8ppZZ02aPMRE6LxvmeHKK_OzeAC4siAK8gPp6E5JyEhIIzxOqTwZIFqssSFh4HFc1jK-Bs7KJxBsvb5AjBfdk0fTNp0SNB1uzlHicAr7_xzsf2uKbXhOUWJMZUy01FhZ7YFEBjq/s320/Trump14.jpg" width="318" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Donald, where's yer hairspray?</i></div><div><br /></div>The Donald is mired in a series of court cases. Including the just-delivered judgment of Judge Arthur Engoron in a civil fraud case in New York. As the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68323086">correctly reports</a>, “<i>Donald Trump's latest legal loss hits him where it hurts most because it takes aim at his very identity. For decades, he has marketed himself as a genius business mogul who made it big in one of the world's most cut-throat cities</i>”. Not any more. And why should that be?<br /><br />“<i>Judge Arthur Engoron's ruling in a civil fraud case - related to the inflation of property values and lying on financial statements to obtain better loan terms - undermines Mr Trump's entire narrative. It instead paints him as a fraud and inflicts a massive blow to his business empire and wealth</i>”. A fraud.<br /><br />Trump “<i>has personally been banned from holding any directorships for three years and his company cannot secure loans with financial institutions registered with [New York] city during that time either … He has been hit with an enormous financial penalty of $355m (£282m; €329m) - which jumps to more than $450m once interest is included - that far exceeds how much cash he has to hand</i>”. He will appeal. But that will only make matters worse.<br /><br />The reality is that Trump is not the multi-billionaire he would like the world to believe. Paying that penalty will mean getting a loan, which will be difficult because financial institutions now know where he’s at, and will demand any property used to secure that loan be independently valued.<br /><br />In other words, they won’t take his word for it. And if he chooses to sell some of that property empire in order to pay the fine, the world will see just how much it’s really worth. Lawyers will begin to ask for payment up front, because something else that is becoming better known is Trump’s habit of not paying his bills in full, or in some cases, not paying them at all.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="346" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj75jWS6p6_Erky4Hz_RBGJKefmVpqErISL9H05SeSJOqDOTiOroG4up535CQUgG28NCGE75p4jkpP_X-mHt1jsAj3A2pg-yIUVDu8xiyWwHDoueJYIkamj8j8ORJ03ysr0_kqH0Uk0VW3Pk316y2k_FA72_jAPeAUNFv2EP0CTZCQ0mpVGKM-4J10SpvZ3/s320/OldBailey1.png" width="318" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hundreds-claim-donald-trump-doesn-t-pay-his-bills-n589261">noted that</a> documents reviewed by <i>USA Today</i> included “<i>More than 200 liens since the 1980s that were filed by contractors and workers who said they were stiffed … Records released by casino regulators in 1990 that show 253 subcontractors on a single project were not paid in full or on time</i>”. As well as not paying workers minimum wage, or overtime.<br /><br />Making money by stiffing suppliers, refusing payments for spurious reasons, and not even paying workers. As well as, it seems, fiddling property values and lying about it. But this is a tycoon who has his own Boeing 757, isn’t it? Well, maybe. But that aircraft is over 32 years old, it will cost him more and more to run, and you don’t skimp on maintenance on a 757.<br /><br />Trump Force One, as it is known, has not, as far as is known, flown this year. It won’t be worth much now. So getting to all those other court cases won’t feature it. But the lies will continue, if not from Trump himself, then from members of his immediate family. After Judge Engoron handed down that penalty, it was son Eric who was first out of the dishonesty traps.<br /><br />Eric claimed his father “<i>built the skyline of New York City</i>”, to which Rick Larios <a href="https://twitter.com/ricklarios/status/1758888911495950817">responded</a> “<i>Take random photos of NY's skyline...none will show Trump labeled buildings. If you were paying homage to NY's skyline, it would feature the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the World Trade Center, the Woolworth Building, the UN, etc. But not Trump</i>”.<br /><br />And MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell had <a href="https://twitter.com/Lawrence/status/1758874895151181884">heard enough</a>. “<i>Think about the size of this Eric Trump lie. Not one building visible in the NYC skyline is a Trump building. Now imagine the media reaction to Hunter Biden telling a lie of this size tomorrow</i>.” Maybe those media double standards will fade a little as those pushing them realise what a fraud Trump really is.<br /><br />The people want to know if their President’s a crook. Well, he’s not the President, but he is a crook. <i>Shame on those promoting him</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSzvMdWBVAfNkgTIG5sq737GbO5niIPZN_JWnoCWdLJCk8kVZ2HQN4NUlek0Sr6cdfzp9koXM7TEc8qkaK9dk361fU0yAHcfqAYXSGJtgzwr24sTr7YpLKUHlRYhtoeGxerFK3rS1GgdUxrCnDB7PG14RbZ1wablt98Mqo23SrqaLl-w4bWPUIU9vut-E-/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><br /><br /><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-69103377284272284152024-02-16T13:53:00.000+00:002024-02-16T13:53:37.636+00:00Voters Already Decided - Told You So<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>Last month, I <a href="https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2024/01/labour-press-and-pundits-wrong.html">concluded that</a>, whatever dirty tricks the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press deployed in order to frighten their readers back into line and support the Tories would not work. The electorate had already made its mind up, and that meant The Blue Team was toast.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="605" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdBR4bblStY_JXe_xjGzM9XWZbwMY_bHFc9R1UfohRS2u5URlvsYQhcT6-zURnmJEb5HFhz9S0RMCru4DQfNOs3tmF-saE9ypGXX-Gfe5F-LytpDZAEE2esUIzQpVFXvZJgpjYHDGWaUydF5PdqnYFalD0wO0ErhsrIBTtp0JTLncV5KtYuiZGQYr6O4mP/s320/Conservatives1.jpg" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>And so it came to pass: despite Labour being given a week of torrid press, most of it self-inflicted and thoroughly deserved, the Tories have just experienced a double horror show overnight, with two safe seats lost in by-elections in the constituencies of Wellingborough and Kingswood. If the swing in the former were replicated nationally, only four Tory MPs would remain.<br /><br />That swing was only 0.7% short of the 1994 record set when Labour took Dudley West. It was well ahead of the swings achieved by Labour last year in Tamworth, and Selby and Ainsty. It may not have helped the Tories that their candidate was the girlfriend of disgraced former MP Peter Bone, whose departure via a recall petition was what sparked the contest.<br /><br />So what were Rishi Sunak’s excuses, apart from stating the bleeding obvious - that his party is finished and on its way out? As the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-politics-68277176">has reported</a>, “<i>The prime minister says midterm by-elections for incumbent governments ‘are always difficult’ and ‘the circumstances of these by-elections were of course particularly challenging’, after Labour overturned big Tory majorities in both Kingswood and Wellingborough</i>”. So challenging that they lost.<br /><br />Any more? “<i>But, despite Labour’s swing in Wellingborough being credited as the second largest since the second world war, Sunak says ‘very low turnout’ is to blame and results also show ‘there isn’t a huge amount of enthusiasm for the alternative in Keir Starmer and the Labour party’</i>”. The turnout in both Wellingborough and Kingswood was not low for a by-election.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="352" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgusp0RSBCeRiEKB9e0yEO0gUhMos7WGXYSj4J14H6s_lFYWJ-ddoEEQ1TOAVUXYEW1GVXmGicOeduqWLOo05thYor_78NLn-gNDQKstXz9a8_lRNqKNvkgqwXsT4Xq55cXDO_23LkOHN_lHSusWUKFYAGtEl3PAa-JFQY_Sn0atr9b72Wrn5GaIVibvDe8/s320/TAF.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Why are voters’ minds made up well before the General Election? <i>Simples</i>. The Tories are pursuing fringe votes with needless culture war tactics: sending desperate refugees to Rwanda, picking on Trans people, trying to frighten the electorate against Muslims, pretending only they can sort out all the strikes that are mostly of their own making.<br /><br />Rail strikes? Could have been sorted long ago, but Sunak and his pals are rail haters and don’t mind damaging the industry - they want it damaged. Doctors taking action? The Tories could have sorted that, too, but they detest the NHS and would like to see it gone, replaced by a far more expensive system of health insurance. And the voters have them sussed.<br /><br />Worse, scratching the racist itch and kicking followers of The Prophet has backfired spectacularly: Reform UK, formerly the Brexit Party, has scooped up more than 10% of the vote in both Wellingborough and Kingswood. Without any obvious assistance from former <i>Oberscheissenführer</i> Nigel “<i>Thirsty</i>” Farage. The hardcore Brexiteer vote has abandoned the Tories.<br /><br />The result is that Sunak and his fellow Tories are Dead Politicians Walking. Nothing they do will turn it round. Also, as former <i>Sun</i> editor David Yelland <a href="https://twitter.com/davidyelland/status/1758392612392743172">has noted</a>, “<i>Overnight results show that, not since the 1930s, has the British popular press been so out of touch with the British people. The proprietors’ agenda is not the people’s agenda</i>”. The propaganda ain’t making it.<br /><br />So the Tories are not yet down and out. <i>But you can see it from there</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZh7ZPYX8r2K9-eNYmg6VhTE6RcKRrnwcrP_kDaxuTMO1_Hl7ALObmR7uFOoUYLCMpx89gyJ8LST8fVY2WKnCLt2r7MVcmUQcrOI-vvtiV1Mb5fXg_fiwXl6adR9XckohM9YRLfG3KaF6Mom_-QuYXP1NwHiW9N7o8PeSN6INAT143pNc8d3ETm3-_rlI/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-36677120541935841762024-02-14T13:11:00.001+00:002024-02-14T13:11:48.197+00:00Guido Fawked - Racist Mask SlipsWhen someone tells you who they are, as the saying goes, believe them the first time. The adage is certainly true of the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog, who have just done a racism so egregious that it has now been pulled. It is shocking but not surprising.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="602" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQP6LYMotAg0Wepb4szlRCHkF-qgubf35qWPxe6KdfxWI5jSczGmXsNFKydrAAvHxOkdhljXNL1h3CsAnrd94g0pK56Krq7rHFNI0hjwH07IZ8MG3B_Ly3zHkWE3dKQ27zStVi2U0b1WmmlV36g89smQatieUIai3CuUp4PlpDtvF9bcwZzMSLS8NC_Czr/s320/WP_20141216_20_53_21_Pro.jpg" width="212" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Look who sits in judgment on others ...</i></div><div><br /></div>After all, that first time came back in the mists of time when Staines was a student in Hull, and a member of the Federation of Conservative Students. As the <i>Guardian</i> <a href="https://brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/disgusting-staines-guido-fawkes-is">reported at the time</a>, “<i>A leader of the Federation of Conservative Students wrote to an organiser of the British National Party proposing joint ‘direct action’ to disrupt the meetings of leftwing students</i>”.<br /><br />For some reason, The Great Guido is most sensitive about this part of his <i>Curriculum Vitae</i>, and the episode never stays on his Wikipedia entry for long. But back to the <i>Guardian</i>: “<i>The author of the letter is Mr Paul Delarie-Staines, the chairman of the federation’s 50-strong branch at the Humberside College of Higher Education. Mr Delarie-Staines, who is in his first year of a degree course in business information studies, wrote on May 22 to Mr Ian Walker, a BNP organiser in Hull</i>”. So what did Staines tell the BNP?<br /><br />“<i>‘<b>I share a lot of your objectives</b>.' These included a return to leadership and statesmanship, the abolition of the welfare state, and ‘the elimination of Communism in Britain - the mass media, the trade unions, and the schoolroom</i>”. Paranoid like Joe McCarthy. And then there is the racism.<br /><br />While Ed Miliband was Labour leader, the Fawkes blog <a href="https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2016/04/guido-fawked-anti-semitism-hypocrisy.html">published two</a> virulently anti-Semitic attacks on him. Both posts are still live as I type. He also sympathised with disgraced former MP Aidan Burley after the latter decided not to contest his seat in 2015 over a Nazi-themed stag party.<br /><br />More recently, the Fawkes blog <a href="https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2021/01/guido-deletes-libel-too-late.html">started calling</a> anti-Semite on people who demonstrably were not, with the odd sly deletion when rumbled. Playing both sides of the racism field just like their pals in our free and fearless press. The Great Guido <a href="https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2020/01/guido-fawkes-backing-nazis-not-jews.html">was caught</a> siding with actual Nazis against a Jewish Labour MP. And <a href="https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2020/09/guido-promotes-anti-semitism-again.html">also got caught</a> using the Nazi-era “<i>Cultural Marxism</i>” trope.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="714" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9exdX-zweWSako93AUlI7XBTPJRt1KTz-0V_QM7Iu97fT6OwEdIz5U1OVekGu9R9a8zyABj1FnIT2BFQJ8ADjTlAaVfTfkFQ9pD6iUTeeNB7dDw5lqpReoDS-5smwgTeo6HDjqhVWN2gAa2T3ri26AwsTCNzrokkDt9s-7DKHUyXEFjLkiwLdgSuGpNEW/s320/Staines861.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>... and look where he's at</i></div><div><br /></div>Which brings us to the incident which caused a panicked Labour leadership to suspend PPC Graham Jones, after the Fawkes blog <a href="https://order-order.com/2024/02/13/exclusive-labour-ppc-graham-jones-recorded-ranting-fking-israel-wants-british-jews-fighting-for-israel-locked-up/">told that he</a> “<i>repeatedly referred to ‘f**king Israel’ and even ranted to Azhar Ali at the now infamous Lancashire meeting that Britons who volunteer to fight for the Israeli Defence Forces ‘should be locked up’ … He claimed - falsely - that it was illegal for Brits to fight for Israel</i>”. Why is that “<i>false</i>”, O Great Guido?<br /><br />“<i>Many British Jews with dual citizenship have gone to Israel to fight … The claim that it is unlawful is an unfounded smear</i>”. But Jones didn’t say anything about dual nationals. This is a logic leap of the kind previously favoured by Staines’ pals at the so-called Taxpayers’ Alliance. Anyone who is not a dual national is breaking the law if they go off to fight for a foreign power.<br /><br />So where’s the anti-Semitism there? Jones says “<i>effing Israel</i>”. Exasperation yes, anti-Semitism no. But Keir Starmer and his pals panicked. And rather too many in and around the right-wing press took the Fawkes rabble on trust. They may have chosen poorly, after Staines <a href="https://twitter.com/shysteee2018/status/1757682281295040743">let the racism mask slip</a>.<br /><br />“<i>The thing that nobody says yet we all know, is that the Labour Party have chosen to seek unsophisticated Muslim community support for numerical reasons at the expense of sophisticated Jewish support</i>” he claimed. And then deleted the effort, but not until after several observers had taken screen shots. That’s straight-up Islamophobia. And straight-up anti-Semitism.<br /><br />Staines and his rabble are driving this pile-on against Labour. And that now deleted Tweet is where he’s at. He told you the first time that he was not only a straight-up racist, but also that he was prepared to play both sides of the racism field. Shame on the right-wing press for going along with him. And shame on Keir Starmer and the Labour leadership for not standing their ground.<br /><br />And shame on anyone who believed the Fawkes rabble because they wanted to believe it, rather than it being factually correct. <i>Same old, same old</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrkJpLAM8_LiaFUOE0wKm6KdJUG7KbeXH5URKggFsf0rvrcG2XSK4sNm3i_s8rBMWZzkpZgHFJio80DIEau3KJ8AxQS5jEFiVUcEa4NnuGrV25iBDJndqWZ9XpzKMXrqAniYQdGCQbnENT5b0m8CfCOlSLlX94deQpHZbcYCXbjqNIna_ptUgFTwmmjD_I/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><br /><br /><p></p>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-82118974904225966472024-02-13T15:58:00.000+00:002024-02-13T15:58:02.287+00:00Starmer’s Luck Runs Out In Rochdale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>It was ITV politics editor Robert Peston <a href="https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1757343782435987965">who concluded</a> that, thus far, Keir Starmer had been lucky. That he has: our free and fearless press has not given him a fraction of the stick they gave Jeremy Corbyn, the electorate hates the Tories so much they are not so bothered with the occasional Labour wobble, and the poll leads keep on growing as the Tories foul up again.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="466" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJZ1s79cXNP-A849eIu5dTP4w-Fggu9G0ov8Pwir0XSOh_sQptDvDRam_RR3jM9DJ5TxYjuAGXs4UzirIu4pccILiahxS7LbNcpwaGhymF-V0H1v6rkhfkvKaRuVPdtL2uBLWbnN6pBBRXnyqIoSzjndmac6P0UvfGmwfNoE9ujoC8i1W1RiR8ht20uMr9/s320/Starmer1.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>But, as Hari Georgeson and the Buddha reminded us, all things must pass. The upcoming Rochdale by-election has shown Labour overseeing the political shit-show to end all political shit-shows, ending up with the party disowning its own candidate and so most likely to lose a safe seat.<br /><br />Where did it all go wrong? The first bit is straightforward: Azhar Ali, who won the selection battle, was not subjected to due diligence for his past utterances. So the right-wing press did the job Labour omitted. And they soon discovered that Ali had been peddling the wacko conspiracy theory that the Hamas raid on southern Israel on October 7 last was an inside job.<br /><br />But then a problem entered: this discovery had occurred after the deadline for nominations. Labour could not submit another candidate in Ali’s place. So a number of voices who had previously passed severely adverse comment on anything to do with Corbyn’s leadership thoroughly devalued themselves by parading before the media to support Ali. Because Ali was a Blairite. He was one of them. They would therefore deem black to be white on his behalf.<br /><br />John Rentoul, that most arch of arch-Blairites, <a href="https://twitter.com/TalkTV/status/1757083512287474151">told TalkTV</a> “<i>It’s very uncharacteristic in my experience of him, to be parroting a conspiracy theory</i>”. It was clearly an isolated incident. Louise Ellman <a href="https://twitter.com/alexnunns/status/1756839489043906580">made her excuses</a>. Ali had previously been supportive of her. Adam Langleben mused that “<i>in any other by-election</i>” Labour should have pulled their candidate. But not this one.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="266" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62ysb-tFIW0Oiyom2B2nPB_jg-RzSrqxyEYdCtfKM9ajetvGCcj47HjeGYOLau0p2UF5wgom6zQbbsY5QtUXagONm-zFqdCjOzFOb8BMY0Bq7LhfnGanRpcq0GxaddGV1A_H_6drN0KwjKU6V-XsNkCeK3QsR2ZmVcbrKCn_3VM8VlYEARdaxUQUwVmAs/s1600/EpicFail1.png" width="266" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Mike Katz asserted that Ali “<i>has a mountain to climb</i>” to repair his relationship with the Jewish community. All three are apparently part of the Jewish Labour Movement, which had previously applauded Starmer kicking groups that had been supportive of Corbyn out of Labour. It’s almost as if they are flexible enough on principle to make allowances for someone on “<i>their side</i>”.<br /><br />And then push came to shove: the <i>Mail</i> had more evidence of what should have been picked up in a proper due diligence exercise. Like the one not performed by the Labour leadership. At this point, Starmer about turned and pulled party support from Azhar Ali. A safe Labour seat lost because of factionalism, stupidity, stubbornness and basic ineptitude.<br /><br />So it was that Louise Ellman <a href="https://twitter.com/SaulStaniforth/status/1757319966385201257">appeared on the</a> Radio 4 Today programme to explain why she had given Ali a free pass yesterday, but not today, and it was quite right that he had been dumped. The <i>Mail</i>, for its part, approved of Starmer’s action so much that, for once, their front page splash referred to him by his Christian name, a privilege usually reserved for Tories.<br /><br />Labour’s leadership can count itself fortunate that the Tories are in such a mess, and highly likely to lose both by-elections coming up later this week, as to change very few minds. Where their luck has run out is that claims of having zero tolerance of anti-Semitism have been shown to be complete bunk. And dumping on Corbyn shown to be a complete sham.<br /><br />Blair didn’t need to behave like this. Nor should Starmer. <i>That is all</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAEdHDn2yqZ6-UIpBkLp2mS1azOVTkq5_Cfnt3Wk-MXtoVYX5P7IM_Ay6KY74lCc1_3AQFFtN0Lma2Lj87HQObgVpSRMpqjup8IedizuUD-6kT748AFqA0C6iqEfupkEukD_OHcTcElzCS79kvbaU-CB8CE4W5hF_pSqyjMdmnSfpEfByQ42mup_bkjR1-/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-31748704543605193052024-02-11T11:36:00.004+00:002024-02-11T11:36:52.324+00:00Traitorous Reality Bites Tories<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>Last week, Tucker Carlson, formerly a host for Fox News Channel (fair and balanced <i>my arse</i>), was granted an interview with Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, leader of the gangsterist régime in Moscow. Carlson trowelled on his scoop, accusing other journalists of not bothering to interview The Great Man. In reality, others were refused interviews, or they later came to some harm.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="530" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhit-pg0B3urcU8I0I7NYtCOTcUsd4NSpVxYuRXJwF0SQUiu1lwFvsmGzfd3cm_txdoJ6V_tjkpEEGMpqhlF_tZFLLrqY6zliQOy5UFZZiHu_90wj60H-s2VhqazxnQD7JmJ3_7R7thXdnZT02DXmmzKJf1eK-6qNoI6jsIbpsOxo2EUCX-3IMzZn-WGhhT/s320/Bozza28.png" width="299" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>The interview was a campaign destined to develop not necessarily to Carlson’s advantage, as Putin went off on an ahistorical rant, pausing only to call out Carlson for applying to join the CIA, another less than successful episode in his past. Also, it was made clear to Carlson that too many attempts to interrupt his interviewee might not be viewed in a favourable light.<br /><br />One of those gloating over Tucker’s lack of luck was disgraced former alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/columnists/article-13066311/BORIS-JOHNSON-Putin-Tucker-Carlson-interview-stooge-Hitler-charade.html">dashing off a column</a> for the <i>Mail</i> headlined “<i>Putin's interview with his fawning stooge Tucker Carlson was straight out of Hitler's playbook. I pray Americans see through this unholy charade</i>”. Hitler gave interviews? You learn something every day.<br /><br />But do go on. “<i>He was to be the stooge of the tyrant, the dictaphone to the dictator and a traitor to journalism … In his fawning, guffawing, slack-jawed happiness at having a ‘scoop’, he betrayed his viewers and listeners around the world … He didn’t ask tough questions</i>”. Says the clown who hid in a fridge and chickened out of a sit-down with Brillo. And there is more.<br /><br />In his conclusion, Bozo tells his audience “<i>remember Charles Lindbergh, remember the America Firsters, remember how many American legislators at first opposed involvement in the war with Hitler … You cannot make America great again by selling out Ukraine and allowing Putin to use violence to rebuild the Soviet empire</i>”. Make America Great Again? Who does he mean?<br /><br />Yes, Bozo is aiming at those enamoured of Combover Crybaby Donald Trump, especially Republican members of Congress who have blocked further US aid to Ukraine. But here a problem enters for both Himself, and several of his fellow Tories: they haven’t exactly been hostile to Trump, and one leader Trump’s actions may help the most is … Vladimir Putin.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="458" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrkjQABiyTBjPfFo1_JlL9Wj0Gt8a55mDCjU0YON5nY9GmRID3Evxx-pIKuKRRbRTqYO8xfINGHE1VN3FZrs8oeb0qobTZ9A_qOQ6j7Is_-O5irP_96qK3cWRgh9pfO3Nc0PQ0cj9mLeS-WppZmnW4RI1TiroW0QdV4VGA3H1EP3RJKqQZyGUh6mSbFL0l/s320/Putin1.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>For those countries not paying into NATO at a rate that meets with The Donald’s approval, there came a chilling message yesterday. “<i>Trump says he would encourage Russia to attack NATO allies: ‘I said I would not protect our NATO allies. In fact, I would encourage Russia to do whatever the hell they want’</i>”. Trump backs a dictator. Cos he wants to be one himself.<br /><br />In the past, the UK may have been supportive of Francisco Franco, the Greek Colonels, Augusto Pinochet, Suharto’s “<i>New Order</i>”, Ferdinand Marcos, and other leaders disinclined to test their popularity with the electorate without being able to fiddle the result. But such support would take place behind the scenes, be less than vocal, even that given Pinochet by Mrs T.<br /><br />But now, Tories are lining up to back Trump, which means they are at the very least willing to go easy on Vlad, a warmonger whose aggression, in case they hadn’t noticed, is happening on the eastern fringe of Europe. Bozo goes to Kyiv to be supportive of Ukraine one minute, then backs Trump, a stooge for Putin, the next. Another of George Smiley’s “<i>unfortunate chains of events</i>”.<br /><br />Jacob Rees Mogg, the member for times long past, <a href="https://twitter.com/Otto_English/status/1756583927135805806">has asserted that</a> Trump is “<i>a friend of the UK</i>”. Miriam Cates has claimed that the world was a “<i>safer place</i>” when Trump was in the White House. And Jake Berry declared that Trump would make a “<i>much better President than Biden</i>”. The Tories’ candidate for London Mayor, Susan Hall, has been positive on Trump.<br /><br />Maybe this does not matter so much because the Tories, even with the fawning support of most of our free and fearless press and the phalanx of Astroturf lobby groups in and around Tufton Street, are about to go down to a monumental General Election defeat. But it should be borne in mind the next time they start banging on about patriotism, and, indeed, democracy.<br /><br />The reality is that the Tories <i>are not as patriotic as they want us to think</i>.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXnQFUcOueOmP7SlIFVQIrk9OqdvSzvX9dnnB8k7V_ZUfEpGuhveJEVXCusddf47hNby5NC36xYWUJuP5e4ni8_amhDxqafLuIOGs7nUWD7glTAdkeYhYdS7GuaPeQKAoamUyaYuxqkQJf_Ri7fNnK5nW8glDRYWP2Sflm4mB7uh_WrZLq7oHb_e-qaQV/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-3287347640209586982024-02-10T13:03:00.000+00:002024-02-10T13:03:09.658+00:00Harry Humiliates Mirror - And MorganHot on the heels of former <i>Screws</i> and <i>Daily Mirror</i> editor Piers Morgan having his piss-poor show cancelled by the Murdoch mafiosi in another round of cost-cutting at broadcast media noise floor occupant TalkTV has come the news that Morgan’s former manor, the <i>Mirror</i> titles, have been given what <i>The Italian Job’s</i> Mr Bridger might have called A Good Going Over.<div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="376" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIz8kDZ6JygYAe1Gej4OfJAE2M23-AHTXDJ5V3aMRy3KfQeg5EMwZBq07e8C-rgIE-x8o9VhzhBeEYeTg78yvek-mg5_LwHk4TUbMdsT4toH8Kq1XfDAL1x-6UzlAyP_GlFCFhkWpgQnR4E0PgBdqfbg6L0pcDQdx6eVMkUdP8OfcF4QouyhL21i1WjzDg/s320/Harry2.png" width="293" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Evening all</i></div><div><br /></div>Worse for The Great Man, this has been dealt out by someone Morgan hates with a passion: along with his legal team, the Duke of Sussex has concluded his lawsuit against Reach, the current owners of the <i>Mirror</i>, very much to his satisfaction and on his terms. As <i>Press Gazette</i> <a href="https://pressgazette.co.uk/media_law/mirror-publisher-told-to-pay-some-costs-of-harry-hacking-trial/">has reported</a>, “<i>Prince Harry has settled the remaining parts of his phone hacking claim against the publisher of the Daily Mirror, the High Court has heard</i>”. There was more.<br /><br />“<i>The Duke of Sussex, 39, sued Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for damages, claiming journalists at its publications were linked to methods including phone hacking, so-called ‘blagging’ - gaining information by deception - and use of private investigators for unlawful activities</i>”. And more.<br /><br />“<i>In December, a judge ruled that phone hacking became ‘widespread and habitual’ at MGN titles in the late 1990s and was practised ‘even to some extent’ during the Leveson Inquiry into press standards in 2011 … Thirty-three articles in Harry’s claim were examined during the trial last year, with 15 articles found to have been the product of unlawful information gathering</i>”.<br /><br />And then comes the bad news for the <i>Mirror</i>: “<i>A further 115 articles were in his claim, which may have been the subject of a further trial … However, during a hearing in London on Friday, his barrister David Sherborne confirmed a settlement had been reached between the duke and MGN</i>”.<br /><br />It had? “<i>Sherborne said the publisher will pay Harry ‘a substantial additional sum by way of damages’ as well as his legal costs, and that it would make an interim payment of £400,000</i>”. To which Byline Investigates <a href="https://twitter.com/BInvestigates/status/1755936710200840218">added</a> “<i>Earlier in the hearing this morning at the High Court, the judge ordered MGN to pay around £2 million for losing the 'generic' part of the case about systemic crime and lies at the paper between 1998 -2011</i>”. Ouch! And it gets worse.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="308" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3zXJ9qawshlPSxluSKvIM1YMxwDJYXuRCS6LUWn4wUCMi5qfvCoMWE8MTzYCJfe1urV1ei3UhSZ7AuwS0gjaBKbV07Wzo_zzSuiojanNP1QpP_xFWyTsUlpjGBCrHAO0V-aB3BZZGNO1CXxq9mZIUkwLCJgF6UUA51AQRrohUeAIiHZ4ePyVpbOuXojkL/s1600/Moron180.png" width="308" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>And what's more, Ron ...</i></div><div><br /></div>Harry’s statement told “<i>Everything we said was happening at Mirror Group was in fact happening, and indeed, far worse, as the court ruled in an extremely damaging judgment. As the judge has said only this morning, we have uncovered and proved the shockingly dishonest way in which the Mirror acted for so many years, and then sought to conceal the truth</i>”.<br /><br />And then came the burn. “<i>Harry, via Sherborne, said Morgan ‘knew perfectly well what was going on’ and that his “contempt for the court’s ruling and his continued attacks ever since demonstrate why it was so important to obtain a clear and detailed judgment</i>”. Remember that the Mirror’s lawyers declined to call Morgan as a witness. Could be something to do with unreliability.<br /><br />Moreover, it’s not over yet: as the BBC report <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-68243338?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=65c61eb757478648da6f823f&Morgan%20knew%20%E2%80%98perfectly%20well%20what%20was%20going%20on%E2%80%99%20-%20Harry&2024-02-09T13:26:22.063Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:f25d19ec-e95b-4cfa-a4fa-34fd094cead4&pinned_post_asset_id=65c61eb757478648da6f823f&pinned_post_type=share">has noted</a>, “<i>the prince vowed to continue his ‘mission’ to shine a light on press intrusion ‘through to the end’</i>”, adding “<i>he didn’t come for the money - he came for vindication and now has his sights on Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail, and News Group newspapers, which publishes the Sun</i>”. <i>Mail</i> and <i>Sun</i>, eh?<br /><br />Remember that when those titles splash another round of bad faith smears against Haz and Megs. Remember that Morgan used to be an “<i>editor at large</i>” for <i>Mail Online</i>, and that his deal to front the now defunct <i>Piers Morgan Uncensored</i> was reckoned to result in him trousering a cool fifty million from the Murdoch mafiosi. And don’t forget what campaigning group Hacked Off have told us about possible ramifications from the Harry v Mirror action.<br /><br />Like this part of Harry’s statement: “<i>It is now for the police to pursue charges of perjury against any senior employees or ex-employees at the publisher who misled the first part of the Leveson Inquiry in their denials of knowledge of phone hacking</i>”. Maybe aimed at the <i>Mirror</i>. And the <i>Mail</i>. And the <i>Sun</i>.<br /><br />Why does our free and fearless press keep hating on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex? You might wish to ask that. <i>I couldn’t possibly comment</i>.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAgePntQnY7ZKF3fmMGSkSHvIHL7ThpySVc0hvgXCFYbRnRUN91Pgib6LP2MpqlLja1lT9cSVmWk8DiN01Z6hR4x_3GdkZnfc_PY5GVCgwDfUfRqZFStngZK8_SUj6-CRMqoM0pC0CO9PBnplFdWdO8v8A7Wadtt_7Hk6Atd0vSEIRx2t_5ZOqDnza5-SS/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-52157881043903850242024-02-09T12:11:00.000+00:002024-02-09T12:11:08.262+00:00So Farewell Then Piers Morgan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>One almost feels sorry for Creepy Uncle Rupe and his UK deputy, the twinkle toed yet domestically combative Rebekah Brooks, at their vain attempts to emulate Fox News Channel (fair and balanced <i>my arse</i>) in Britain. Not only is the potential audience unsustainably small, but their entrant TalkTV has competition for the attention of conspiracy theorising wackos from Gammon Broadcasting™ News (“<i>Bacon’s News Channel</i>”).<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="308" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3WcRLTpf8-ojEG4JtGyzzVCIiC4pAILORyVjYi1WYNcS3ZPYGakY3HCA5zu6Uu9pxnAAJG-j3JMwz9-CC1tMrhQ0GFH739gyaryrUBbXEN7F-1F1mZ3Jub1NOCe6K6tKGSZ5VjHN5zqSl-Cnl3QuXqFiaDAWXD3tUvhkn-cDWe0qfwyCWuaQatmVCWSYl/s1600/Moron180.png" width="308" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>And what's more, Ron ...</i></div><div><br /></div>So when Rupe cut a deal for the services of former <i>Screws</i> and <i>Daily Mirror</i> editor Piers Morgan, reputedly for around 50 million Dollars, Sterling or Euro (whatever the currency unit concerned, he overpaid, and then some), it was the highest of high risk scenarios. Or he just sprayed his dosh up the wall.<br /><br />The result of this deal was yet another iteration of <i>The All New Percy Moron Show</i>, the format tried previously on CNN with a measure of success not unadjacent to zero. Morgan took over Larry King’s 2000 hours Eastern slot and the ratings, after a few days’ improvement, just carried on down the pan.<br /><br />CNN tolerated Morgan for just over three years before cancelling his show; the Murdoch mafiosi have now demonstrated that their patience does not extend as far. As the <i>Guardian</i> has now reported, “<i>Piers Morgan has announced he is leaving his TalkTV daily evening show, less than two years after its launch, to focus on his YouTube channel</i>”. Then came the excuses.<br /><br />“<i>The Piers Morgan Uncensored channel has grown to 2.3 million subscribers since 2022 … He described the channel as having a ‘startup mentality’ and said the change would allow for longer interviews with bigger guests supported by more clips. Some of the interviews will be shown on TalkTV</i>”.<br /><br />Do go on. “<i>Morgan, 58, said: ‘It’s clear there’s a huge global demand for the content we’re making, but the commitment to a daily show at a fixed schedule, with all the editing and time sensitivities that involves, has been an increasingly unnecessary straitjacket … People are watching the content on YouTube rather than conventional television and I have no problem with that … You can’t defy audiences or tell them how they should be consuming’</i>”.<br /><br />There was more of this self-justification. “<i>I could happily interview Elon Musk for three or four hours tomorrow and the audience would lap it up [this audience is strong on masochism, then]. But the nightly restriction of having to go into a studio at 8pm when sometimes there is nothing happening and literally fill time? Nobody wants that. The question becomes, why do it?</i>” If only this excuse had been dreamed up before the show aired, eh?<br /><br />The reality is that Morgan’s TalkTV show has lasted less than two years before being pulled from the schedule. Its ratings have been lamentably bad. TalkTV gets rather better value for money from flap-mouthed bigot Julia Hartley Dooda and its resident Tub Of Lard impressionist Mike Graham. Meanwhile, the channel, and GB News, are shipping money at a rate somewhere beyond alarming. Why this should be is not hard to figure out.<br /><br />Fox News manages a decent audience, but across the whole of the USA, a country with around 335 million inhabitants. The UK has 67 million, or one-fifth of the US total. And the British version of Fox News was late enough to the party for GB News to become established first. It ain’t rocket science.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="342" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnHHy_8BW8LxEzblDDkb6mzJa-4A9Dc0cwijzNwmKaJ9fUtLFe-9DdJyQawmzpnvN3VV1DYtVqMxUL-u4TQSzZ1LSU4itqgsrdiOpdAz7eqAZ7_P2HYcbAR08_ahoGIkxKG-9mt6kp7vrNmhX4ltEHLbQAt4q8YznOo7S8MMaop2qjeNClCm-QaiOUM_0e/s320/Blofeld1.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>This organisation does not tolerate failure. I have decided on the appropriate action</i></div><div><br /></div>The perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog <a href="https://order-order.com/2024/02/09/murdoch-sacks-morgan-youtube-channel-spin-doesnt-add-up/">are claiming that</a> it is most likely Rupert Murdoch personally pulled the plug on Morgan’s TalkTV show. As the deal was for three years, presumably Morgan will be able to spend more than a year doing nothing and still be paid millions of currency units for doing so. Nice work if you can get it.<br /><br />More time for The Great Man to blag a table at the Chiltern Firehouse, or wherever One Has To Go To Be Seen Alongside Genuinely Famous People nowadays. More time for him to reflect on the bridges burnt at the <i>Mirror</i> and ITV <i>Good Morning Britain</i>. And more time for him to know that accusations of involvement in illegal information gathering lap ever closer to his shore.<br /><br />Piers Morgan was for a time, but not for all time. <i>Just rejoice at that news</i>.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbxdu_ALa5d9VMn0rARvRGU7tQNPS3r0LBH9HwUD2OZ2eFzOUG2ku__9wO5la09OKPe-splG1UjkyFvdwmu00DJZZnTxE2iZ40iLpyJKlFC3uk0C3hluywVn9VKE3G_f-377oJknAKqzwskh5mOgclfCArUetO8mZdVrUO1WtrgXBL6spiWtPhW54gRXe4/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-31693577742309857962024-02-08T15:19:00.001+00:002024-02-08T15:19:54.809+00:00Sunak - Not Waving But Drowning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>He had all morning to rehearse the jibe. All that time to polish the delivery, to hone the attack line. What he did not have was the common sense, the decency, to pull it when the circumstances dictated. So on he ploughed, the delivery poor, the attack line ineffective, and in those changed circumstances utterly tone deaf. Rishi Sunak was in a hole, and still digging.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="278" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjtMA0l1NRDxiRpb7GdBluwxGLXnGjwQJwD-qxw4ptjBzPw4k5qivjEZJzgTr_bd8kg-HrsTCy41pRnOAS2lT7MDi7IbjZZ55Txq6IWVbu3SYsHH-EzOPcRQ_2U71TO2qd1SsWjld5xiJzkMVETHYKM5E0vZSzDl8R7XbMDvWTtomFxOgGeuZILTA6MgBN/s1600/Sunak1.png" width="278" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>His previously delivered trans jibe went down like a cup of cold sick at PMQs yesterday because the mother of Brianna Ghey, a trans teenager murdered partly for being trans, was in the Visitors’ Gallery. Keir Starmer did not have to do so much to rub salt into Sunak’s freshly self-inflicted wound. The PM was urged to apologise. He declined. Because it was someone else’s fault.<br /><br />It was? “<i>To use that tragedy to detract from the very separate and clear point I was making... demonstrates the worst of politics</i>” <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1755567383094149121">he said of</a> Starmer. But it was Sunak who delivered the jibe about the Labour leader not being able to define a woman. Starmer merely pointed out that his opposite number had loused up again. It’s all going a bit Gordon Brown and John Major.<br /><br />As in everything is bad for Sunak, all his efforts to wrest back the political initiative fall flat, and the polls are heading south. The difference with Sunak is that he is unable or unwilling to apologise when he fouls up, a recent Tory innovation brought to us by his now disgraced predecessor Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson. Then, as daytime became evening, it got worse.<br /><br />The Tories put out a Party Political Broadcast. Here, Sunak was the star, his sole prop a whiteboard. But a problem soon entered: his handwriting was indecipherable, <a href="https://twitter.com/McN_lty/status/1755297779394437488">and he was unable</a> to spell the word “<i>mortgage</i>”, although to be fair to him, he’s so filthy stinking rich as to not need such proletarian devices when it comes to shelling out on the next <i>Bijou Petite Maison</i>.<br /><br />That whiteboard also had Sunak abbreviating “<i>cost of living</i>” to CoL. Except his scrawl was so bad, it looked like LoL. All of this in a PPB that had been pre-recorded. Didn’t anyone pick up on this? Or are the Tories now so past caring that the person involved just thought “<i>stuff telling him, I can’t be arsed</i>”.<br /><br />Could it get worse still? Don’t ask. Business and Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch, thought of as a future Tory leader until she intervened, <a href="https://twitter.com/KemiBadenoch/status/1755243156218482780">put out two</a> Tweets <a href="https://twitter.com/SamCoatesSky/status/1755350846496194821">apparently cleared</a> with No 10. “<i>Every murder is a tragedy. None should be trivialised by political point-scoring. As a mother, I can imagine the trauma that Esther Ghey has endured. It was shameful of Starmer to link his own inability to be clear on the matter of sex and gender directly to her grief</i>”.<br /><br />No, Sunak loused up and Starmer pointed out the lousing up. Have <a href="https://twitter.com/KemiBadenoch/status/1755243158177296762">another go</a>. “<i>As Minister for Women and Equalities I've done all I can to ensure we have take the heat out of the debate on LGBT issues while being clear about our beliefs and principles. Keir Starmer’s behaviour today shows Labour are happy to weaponise this issue when it suits them</i>”. Take the heat out? Er, no.<br /><br />But at least it couldn’t get worse than that. Er, it could, couldn’t it? Certainly could. Cue John Stevens <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-laura-trott-invents-comments-32073461">of the</a> Mirror: “<i>Tory Cabinet minister Laura Trott invents comments by Brianna Ghey's mum in bid to defend Rishi Sunak</i>”. Ms Trott “<i>told Sky News that Brianna Ghey's mum Esther had said she did not want to make her daughter's death 'about trans issues’</i>”.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="352" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSI7qcPfilU1w3syFRYrJirQ5JAvK9DBXHZm1TDZK8GAj5RqKqGtsYof6yLTnpBruOyLLpO96r5ugAr5QMqQdRI5i51ZJ23oIlbxqZn8M9B2AOetSXC0k2zpLkeD7ELT3TV9mfvcb4cv7Z7wtaJTeTSsk7Rc345Fy-pWFLVeJ0PCjQzRAHEzn5-tnVtqI/s320/TAF.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Sunak then dug himself deeper this morning with a dentist’s surgery photo-op, only <a href="https://twitter.com/johnestevens/status/1755570283946090602">for it to emerge</a> soon afterwards that the dentist was not taking NHS patients at present. With demand for NHS dentistry, shall we say, well in excess of supply. Plus he’s still not saying sorry for lousing up yesterday.<br /><br />Rishi Sunak and his pals have been well and truly rumbled, despite the cover provided by the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press, without which he and the Tories would already be history. As one Tweeter <a href="https://twitter.com/EsmaCannon/status/1755341111072055328">put it</a>, “<i>He has the emotional and cultural depth of a skid mark. All he really loves is the accumulation of money</i>.” Meanwhile, NHS waiting lists get longer, the strikes go on, the cost of living crisis continues, while the Tories play at Culture Wars.<br /><br />The only surprise is that 20% of voters still back them. <i>Takes all sorts, eh?</i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX-DG6axPW-lbTPF3e-gWtrY5CwxNaIXP1bKvqZAZLECtzQPPjtxFAgbs_NYY-I2I33T9ZhZyI0OMOh7GqcBvcDypAzIM1dPx_Ei1VyOa9QJzyYOt8drytO9I1L-RWGPGyl_B7eN07COFUGcScdJFVDPWmApSLPgcyPaBj_EFyvxxOrXAdjOJgKfUhHuMX/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-19092189584333568882024-02-07T12:17:00.002+00:002024-02-07T12:17:33.123+00:00King Has Cancer - Haz To Blame<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>On Monday last came the news which would keep our free and fearless press in front page headlines and why-oh-why punditry for days afterwards: the King had cancer. This had been discovered during his recent prostate surgery, though what part of the body was affected was not told. Charles is 75, and half the population will get some kind of cancer in their lifetime.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="570" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrUyN2L-KY4bqCUHfIFmLkVYLSaua8W33sH-iiQrzPXtXjV24ol0Yd9oxZBMgNkJqMcXAfC-ILywukdSmqMXfHTIflKFW7TGdffP1cUsTdbOJVh39GUe8MzjjuKpRpxYa3LpkSO7HYzLXfFBmFkn5BR6WNwkg_eFvDl6CkoyQv_Lr1cx8SnXTZQLIa_Moz/s320/SarahVine14.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Sarah Vine - only hinting ...</i></div><div><br /></div>So it should not have been such a shock. Nonetheless, every front page, including the <i>FT</i>, gave the Royal condition due prominence yesterday. What was also given front page billing was the Duke of Sussex hastening to be by his father’s side, though by today, the spite and bad faith merchants at titles like the <i>Daily Mail</i> were already using this to kick Haz.<br /><br />Hence this morning’s headline “<i>HARRY SPENDS JUST 45 MINUTES WITH CHARLES … and Duke and William have no plans to meet at all</i>”. Yes, he got the first London flight out of Los Angles, endured an eleven hour journey, was then driven straight to Clarence House, and this was WRONG and BAD.<br /><br />This spiteful and hate-generating drivel is reminiscent of Lyndon Johnson bemoaning the constant negative press coverage he received as the Vietnam war went from bad to worse for the USA, reportedly telling an aide “<i>If I went down to the Potomac and walked across it, tomorrow’s headline in the [Washington] Post would be ‘President can’t swim’</i>”.<br /><br />But at least the <i>Mail</i> has not (yet) sunk to the level of blaming Charles’ condition on his youngest son. Or tried too hard to kick Megs while they’re at it. Sure, Sarah “<i>Vain</i>” Vine approached the bad taste line <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-13052287/SARAH-VINE-deeply-scarring-relationship-father-Harry-Meghan.html">with her column today</a>, but stopped short of saying that the Sussexes Done It. “<i>Harry has - to put it mildly - been at war with his father for the past few years</i>” she begins.<br /><br />Do go on: “<i>as well as having to cope with the death of his beloved Mama, the King has been left utterly heartbroken by his younger son’s attacks, both on him personally, on Queen Camilla and on other members of the family</i>”. No citation. Try again: “<i>it’s clear from the depth of Harry’s rage and resentment that he is a troubled soul … nothing pains a parent like seeing their children fighting</i>”. Nearly saying it. But not saying it. Then she gets close.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="232" data-original-width="288" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiETyVh99Ce8Tn_7sCCeaTeWzb-Xso8D8RUxcnKVRoFi4YRhkaY1PR3LlMfWNLeLECcMB752-G3mmJ9Jgb4f6U5Aryg3wPkBgFAgOR1-shOM8_qPxkBZqSyTdnQgABHfwngaIt-vzgWdddls_kw_KahlHzCIeo-9yAn4DJBV0UiRQWK8GZsL06wvrHh6QKH/s1600/Parry10.png" width="288" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>... while Mike Parry actually goes there</i></div><div><br /></div>“<i>If I were Harry and I were being brutally honest with myself, I might feel a slight tinge of concern that the current family breakdown might not be the best medicine for his father’s ill-health</i>”. Nudge nudge, wink wink, eh Squire? But over at Gammon Broadcasting™ News (“<i>Bacon’s news channel</i>”) there is no such reticence. This morning, fascist bigot Mike Parry <a href="https://twitter.com/GBNewsSpin/status/1754952878718931114">has gone there</a>.<br /><br />Here’s his pitch. “<i>Could the stress of having to sort out the Harry situation of the past two years have contributed to his illness? Because we know that stress does contribute to illness. Stress can give you heart attacks. Stress can give you nervous conditions, and I believe if you ask top doctors, they’ll say yes, it could be responsible for at least enhancing the King’s anxiety</i>”.<br /><br />Cue someone billed as a Top Doctor being summoned to back up this hokum later today. But there was more. “<i>And that anxiety in itself might have worked its way physically into his body … I mean, the more you worry about things in life, you do inherit medical conditions, without a shadow of a doubt. Like for instance heart … who’s to say that can’t affect you in other areas of your body with other diseases?</i>” Thus speaks an expert on, er, nothing at all.<br /><br />Yes, who’s to say? But as the Tweeter known as GB News Spin Room reminded us, “<i>Mike Parry claimed on GB News that the stress of dealing with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, was causation for The King’s cancer diagnosis. No point complaining though, Ofcom think this is totally fine</i>”.<br /><br />Plus GB News will probably throw him a few more biscuits for being the first one to say what more of their dubiously talented roster of gobshites will be saying very soon. I mean, it’s only FREEZE PEACH, innit? From there it’s not far to Haz and Megs having open season declared on them. Who was it that took out a lawsuit against the Mail’s publishers? What a coincidence.<br /><br />GB News leapt from gutter to sewer long ago. <i>So at least they’re consistent</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCoDMBjub93s83SnQQwsGDmjGzQfc56ApCiWQ0rnQIrIWXjX3EYVB7HtzcW_4PKcuad-1nlNZtq7eFlxmkH5QYcrDcAlUcPmyYKsQYwHnTc1HcgJVyVj5V74DduaHm1CAcsWUxE8tRKuKJBVrU70hawd2zhoz416EywL-_STFXWhBqtuEmyx0SxebGm-zN/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-4232881037497285212024-02-06T14:14:00.002+00:002024-02-06T14:14:45.694+00:00Popular Conservatism ISN’T <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>Today has seen the launch of PopCon, or Popular Conservatism, a bold and indeed brave concept, given that the Tories are registering a consistent opinion poll deficit to Labour of more than 20%. Who its front man is, is not totally clear: while Liz Truss, the UK’s most useless post-war Prime Minister, appears to be fronting for it, another unpopular individual claims credit.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="486" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpXJ5HMGGQUBVuRiH0CkvabUz5jhDV0KfLmeiXCCT_2QBbXWLydv-HyENP9uzF9p-5KtPG7TMWPg-31ArgTeF2NmqsM9fhDI_h7b7CRt4QFoW7b-qM-8nI8i_tfRaix3VqLLeg6Bimif2m3htOJBZlUDnzKC6eTrn7RrZ2lOysUkRsm7oOF_AgDDvgA9NS/s320/Truss1.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Back in the spotlight for one day only</i></div><div><br /></div>That would be Mark Littlewood, head man at the IEA, an Astroturf lobby group that would rather not reveal who funds it. Littlewood, a spiv of no fixed loyalty, says it’s his show. Whatever. Ms Truss has spoken to a gathering numbered just about in three figures to tell the world that she is still around. Meanwhile, her first choice as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, has done the rather more decent thing and <a href="https://twitter.com/KwasiKwarteng/status/1754794663234384224">announced</a> he is leaving politics.<br /><br />Having come close to crashing the economy less than two years ago, and then ousted as PM after just 50 days, to the great relief of all those who wished she had never been let in to 10 Downing Street in the first place, Ms Truss could have kept quiet. That would have been the sensible thing to do. But sensible and Liz Truss have a singularly transient relationship.<br /><br />So what superior insights <a href="https://twitter.com/faisalislam/status/1754846151751151657">did she have to offer</a> those attending? Get this slice of hokum: “<i>successive Conservative leaders and Governments have discovered that a majority in the House of Commons is no longer enough to turn us away from the path of Blairite declinism</i>”. And to that I call bullshit.<br /><br />“<i>Blairite declinism</i>”? Is that when the NHS was decently funded? When councils were not staring bankruptcy in the face? When roads were decently maintained? When folks had a little more discretionary income, the ability to splash out on stuff once in a while without having to cut back on other spending? When Prime Ministers didn’t go round crashing the economy on the say-so of spivs and chancers in those Astroturf lobby groups?<br /><br />Y’know, I rather like the sound of that there “<i>declinism</i>”. But let’s hear from Ms Truss herself. “<i>Wokeism seems to be on the curriculum…there is confusion about basic biological facts, like what is a woman. Look at the net zero zealots…if you listen to the Today programme, I don’t recommend it, you’ll hear demands for more public spending</i>”. More misuse of the word “<i>woke</i>”.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="434" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFPlNoM_KP0EoN_FmGdnNBbjWsiO2MHVjorhlK51j8vtV3afrKASRWrEr-bQcj9NUXuar7A6G1wa5Iej1qvFLFJT1y9kyMRgyNuQO_xbLZxOJFcB7Qd6W1TuXAzVLa8JxU8v_yYcvE-k7tWcKIL158Ih50utcdVMJ8WcVlrZycKCIsFQcP4mXYqLBRNYrB/s320/Littlewood1.jpg" width="258" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>And look who's behind it all</i></div><div><br /></div>As Rob Hutton <a href="https://twitter.com/RobDotHutton/status/1754833639584481403">noted</a>, “<i>So far, Popular Conservatism is pro-cigarettes, pro-Covid and pro-carbon emissions. Not clear what the party has got against voters' lungs</i>”. Lewis Goodall <a href="https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1754836564260065752">added</a> “<i>Liz Truss says she doesn’t get invited to London dinner parties</i>”. Perhaps it’s because she’s talking crap?<br /><br />It’s the same sob story: as with the railway sell-offs, so with Ms Truss and her disastrous time in office, the refrain is consistent. If only we’d been allowed to do it properly, all would have been well. The rail transport industry, and later the whole economy, would have been utterly screwed, but it would have been achieved in accordance with the purest of orthodox economic principles.<br /><br />So who was brave enough to rock up to this gathering of the irretrievably irrelevant? Beth Rigby of Sky News <a href="https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1754837823255904694">observed</a> “<i>lots of MPs here including Liz Truss, Jacob Rees Mogg, Lee Anderson, Andrea Jenkyns, Priti Patel, Wendy Morton, Alec Shelbrooke, David Jones</i>”. Plenty of those about to be turfed out of the Commons come the next General Election.<br /><br />What they heard was a combination of paranoia and ignorance: as Faisal Islam mused, “<i>noteworthy that at PopCon ex-PM Liz Truss listed the Cameron-created Office of Budget Responsibility as one of the quangos and bureaucracies built up under Blair and ‘taken over by the left’ from which Cons haven’t done enough to ‘take the power back’</i>”.<br /><br />But what she is selling is popular, honestly. Lewis Goodall <a href="https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1754837823255904694">again</a>: “<i>Truss says Britain is full of ‘secret conservatives’ - again echoing Bennism. The voters are there really, they just have to be inspired with a true ideology</i>”. No, Britain is full of not very secret pissed off voters who have had enough of the Tories. Ms Truss and Littlewood are deluded if they believe otherwise.<br /><br />One Conservative clown car, right now, is one too many. <i>That is all</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBMSiL-T53yqp2laaLXivJlMVqsMyC8FNftispbuWz8IggC5Yi97OI7iWHMBYYKxJJz3-SMB7Oq4wqmm29dlILG4KUUIrSKIC9sXqIsvvPV3sNeCqntikuYKMF_giNZ-YqxUwchoFcZFZCuk-8K9q9W8N92XSUFh-i9pERNO3XAANkzsPsMH_XA0DoJHOz/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-77304024159249435372024-02-04T16:51:00.001+00:002024-02-04T16:51:34.395+00:00Spanker Danczuk Is Back<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p></p>Adding to the list of upcoming by-elections, and making a change from all those formerly safe Tory seats that The Blue Team is about to lose badly, former veteran MP Tony Lloyd sadly passed away recently, creating a vacancy in the Greater Manchester seat of Rochdale. It is an odds on Labour hold: the rest, apart perhaps from the Lib Dems, might as well not turn up.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="624" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFRXqjT0jp9OCOhgXQOz4OnytOaaLx8xOKks5cq33CzWJRvVxap3WtVZUsumrYklfgEz9JntGn-rINDlZj2X1y0eBLWpFg1yNRU_TU4HdNvdvX2DNplo3rQym_i-rqmNTWEJbQmgR9Siwu68hkD74QN-965KutH3QkkTl-P9GWSzk4hNcz90UNkHrjQ7ng/s320/Danczuk17.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>The Rest includes Reform UK, what used to be known as the Brexit Party, but is no longer led by former <i>Oberscheissenführer</i> Nigel “<i>Thirsty</i>” Farage. So what would a sensible Reform UK choice have been? What would a rational party have done? What would Nietzsche have done? Sadly, this is not a party where sensible and rational are on the menu. Hence their candidate choice.<br /><br />Answering the question “<i>who would be the least suitable candidate for a by-election in Rochdale for any party</i>” in one, back from the political dead zone has come Simon Danczuk, who has lurched sufficiently to the right since Labour decided they could get along fine without him to support the Tories’ policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda. But here a problem enters.<br /><br />Spanker has recently become married (for the third time) to Claudine Uwamahoro, a Rwandan beauty therapist whom he met on a business trip to, er, Rwanda. He is 57. She is 28. So he’s all for deporting people to Rwanda, while his third wife moves the other way. The <i>Mirror</i> <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/i-swapped-rwanda-rochdale-marry-31072646">had more</a>.<br /><br />She arrived in the UK last August and “<i>now splits her time between his homes in Pimlico, central London, and Rochdale, Lancs, where he was MP</i>”. Wonder how he paid for a place in Pimlico. Whatever. While his remarrying is not a problem for his candidacy, Danczuk’s past conduct will enable any of his opponents who want to make something of it to have a field day.<br /><br />There is, for starters, that most unfortunate incident in the Flying Horse pub, where Spanker is alleged to have lived up to his nickname while in what appears to have been an excessively overtired state. Fortunately for him, his pals got him out of the pub before he got thrown out, and the licensee declined to comment on the matter, far less make a complaint.<br /><br />More troubling was a <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/politics/25658518/simon-karen-danczuk-mp-candidate-rochdale/">recent headline in</a> the Murdoch <i>Sun</i>: “<i>Shamed MP Simon Danczuk is standing as Reform candidate after remarrying in wake of split from Karen Danczuk</i>”. Ah, remember “<i>selfie queen</i>” Kazza D? Might she decide to rock up for a little free publicity? And what was that “<i>Shamed</i>” all about? Ah well. “<i>He was suspended from the party and blocked from standing in 2017 after being caught sending explicit messages to a 17 year-old girl</i>”.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="326" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-2huJEYIwXzwLWNkzxSlJMNSBUzDPQ9iScm162w5R7OnQI_ejCPhcV3WrGwW2ks3LBAvRBbJexPv1-PczrXxpBzm-Btf7eb0cg37oaP7pRocdhc-XOllI7DawF5Ew5VTW-rBa3FsNRw7Pc0va58D7xlM6dX2n8XtOWeHbO6X-IWsPQZvOS7usm0xlZH8/s320/ReformUK1.png" width="312" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Ah yes. That kind of “<i>Shamed</i>”. But do go on. “<i>He apologised for the texting scandal, admitting it was inappropriate and stupid and declaring: ‘There is no fool like an old fool’</i>”. But that was only scratching the surface. The <a href="https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2017/06/simon-danczuk-my-part-in-his-downfall.html">charge sheet</a> is a long one. Like his <a href="http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/simon-danczuk-expenses-hypocrisy.html">hypocrisy over</a> MP’s expenses, and <a href="http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/simon-danczuk-youre-nicked.html">subsequent paying back</a> of a five-figure sum he had over-claimed, are well known.<br /><br />There is more. A lot more: the <a href="http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/simon-danczuk-abandons-flood-victims.html">abandonment of constituents</a> when Rochdale was inundated with flood water, drunken <a href="http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/simon-danczuks-bar-meltdown.html">threats against a</a> neighbouring Labour MP, arrest and temporary imprisonment by the Guardia Civil at Orihuela <a href="http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/simon-danczuk-is-arrested.html">following yet another</a> heated bust-up with ex-wife Karen, the splashing of another grubby and opportunistic fling with a much younger woman <a href="http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/simon-danczuk-expulsion-beckons.html">over the front page</a> of the Murdoch <i>Sun</i>. Ah yes, I remember it well.<br /><br />Spanker and his co-writer Matt Baker brought us <i>Smile For The Camera</i>, from where the myth came that they were the ones who first told the world about former Rochdale MP Cyril Smith’s behaviour. But that had happened back in 1979 when Rochdale Alternative Press had published a number of allegations, these then being brought to a wider audience by <i>Private Eye</i>.<br /><br />On top of all that were allegations of dirty tricks against his then political opponents. When the <i>Sun</i> tells “<i>The Rochdale byelection is expected to be one of the most toxic races for Parliament ever</i>”, what they don’t say is that Danczuk may have brought some of that toxicity with him.<br /><br />First Reform UK MP? He’s got no chance. <i>Another lost deposit beckons</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIcXtDKfAtGCqA-CcSKGeJtKtXUCeaQj3O35Ker7qHszC9TriC87dECxmgtnPWhgg2zlT_kALyE2BDPr2Ixa0T8eTFlA3g2LhYw66T9U6HwIRkLqao2cEuHYnrSB8O_mA23kErLITuNnLL4U_fyR4wUzn04-kJZCSYlTvwN4_sgRNHbeLwXkcNfUqriysn/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p></div>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-66426798500202746532024-02-02T12:26:00.000+00:002024-02-02T12:26:32.116+00:00Fascism Arrives As Your FriendThe new month begins with a warm afternoon - by English standards, that is - and the temperature at 19º. It is quiet and peaceful in Pinhal Novo, part of the Setúbal district, a historically big left-voting area, the place where the then Mayor refused to turn out to greet The Queen in 1985. But outside the north entrance to the station, a loud and hectoring voice can be heard.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1404" data-original-width="1445" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl26oIcZyG0djLBHX6yHX601Q1UoD_E08NsomlEK8T-5tTY48OkBdgh48yToZxkt9_GWIboRC-g18nhcSZgdY-OnW_N1rnxUfarUV6TiZZjOZntzSiD1TUPNfPX2Jh3UM5ZoD8JsqyUKiKKrPOIdNvBlpj55edLyrjmkPlhx5ob4d91mAYyrevmnMh3JiZ/s320/IMG_2188.jpg" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>An innocuous looking awning ...</i></div><div><br /></div>Campaign mode has arrived: there are elections to the Assembly of the Republic, the Portuguese Parliament, on March 10. The previous Parliament was dissolved by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa when long-serving Prime Minister António Costa resigned last November after being made a suspect in a corruption investigation into contracts for lithium mining.<br /><br />Had this been the UK, and the Tory Party, there would most likely not have been a resignation, but Costa was adamant: he had not been charged with any wrongdoing, but the mere suspicion of impropriety meant that he had to do the decent thing. This has played into the hands of the The Fash: the far-right in Portugal is seeking to emulate its sister parties elsewhere.<br /><br />And thus the audio being broadcast from a makeshift awning outside Pinhal Novo station. This is of selected speeches made by André Ventura, who leads CHEGA (“<i>enough</i>”), third largest party in the 2022 elections, which is running on a single issue, “<i>LIMPAR PORTUGAL</i>” ("<i>To Clean Portugal</i>").<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="546" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii4jKmTCO8YPnBnJBU9pFrKBuww5wmjz02RbgME8LKAu6FyVeVp7SE12DBbcvwNvNLrEk4PfNV4EdHKwOAb_ri44zEBkDTpdHt0A4dWvcr8d-BXbu7M9zMlb0ernuqEliOgbLDVD2XyomXn0aCzrsUEV7zdDrwqRJE4RLkfFh-ePhboCwwKQdq-FltxItA/s320/Ventura2.png" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>... is part of his journey ...</i></div><div><br /></div>Ventura contends that, more or less, all the other parties are corrupt. He alone can clear out the corruption. Allowing those accused the benefit of due process seemingly does not enter. We are not told the method by which the cleaning takes place. And those who know what demagogues sound like may have a serious problem on hearing Ventura’s broadcast words. Gone is the video showing a clown-like, Chaplinesque, figure. Only the audio remains.<br /><br />It sounds chilling. The howling tone, the repetition of phrases and initial parts of sentences, the clearly rehearsed screaming rhetoric, the staged pauses for applause, all sound reminiscent of a range of dictatorships, most notably that of 1930s Germany. If Ventura claims not to have listened to Hitler’s oratory, he is most likely lying. His party has already begun using another Nazi tactic.<br /><br />As in the staged Parliamentary walk-out: the NSDAP made increasing use of this as it gained seats, the idea being to delegitimise the relevant assembly. The idea that “<i>only he can deal with the problem</i>” is also out of the dictator playbook, used regularly in Portugal by Antonio de Oliveira Salazar to justify his continued presence, along with rigged, or absent, elections.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="280" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv-JV0QvkmXd3LPkOaKyFe5ov4jsvpilQMSxplEcbW6KqjImWzJy31t7Kb_PRAmr2bRcryAFMXgn_dm2GlcFx04n6kDQBT2o6ZTsjnEts20RMdmrdZLtNQiCq5esHWQ45fcFQR3bsYnfqR2Vx7cTHfSaZ6xq-IjyuiKnwlkdY1SEiZiO7CoJ28Tt23roke/s1600/Chaplin1.png" width="280" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>... from figure of ridicule ...</i></div><div><br /></div>The effect of Ventura’s hectoring on those passing on their way to and from the station can be gauged by those looking after the CHEGA stall not repeating the playback, thus sparing their audience. And, apart from scarves being given away to unsuspecting schoolkids, few seemed bothered. But come the election aftermath, their parents just might be.<br /><br />Ventura has previously called for a new dictatorship. He wants to proclaim the Fourth Republic, which is more or less the same thing. His party conference passed a motion declaring that women who have abortions should have their ovaries removed. He told a black <i>Deputada</i> that she should be returned to her country of origin. He wants to put Portugal’s Roma population in camps. He has been caught making a Nazi salute. But there is one saving grace.<br /><br />Like former Brexit Party <i>Oberscheissenführer</i> Nigel “<i>Thirsty</i>” Farage, Ventura talks the talk, but when it comes to taking responsibility for anything, will be Absent Elsewhere. The idea of him pursuing power is as a dog chasing a car: were he to catch it, he wouldn’t know what to do with it. But he wants to be a kingmaker. Someone else will exercise power. And it will all be their fault.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="287" data-original-width="460" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzypCKhFAL8aaoaoM_uMKWh9-7dEGRG4nx8UzzIhvDE4TaDmle6CdDVOqV2YfelRdZQ67TkbamAROnRP5mR_rv51_MKK5z6MOcixrcSkYh0gOXlA3BbUYAMNz4rFHGJX74v6ZnJ1QqvMHADtg-lTbD12bIdWNwvRLy646NU4bJ5UfZzqg5Hu4Bplrar_T/s320/Hitler1.jpg" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>... to a very bad place indeed</i></div><div><br /></div>Nor will he be comfortable with being asked whether he will celebrate 50 years of the Revolution in April. Or if his cleaning up his country will entail summary judgment on anyone accused of misconduct. Or to whom his brave new world will be accountable. Or to confirm that those Who Are Not White are still considered equal in the world of his overwhelmingly white party.<br /><br />Why that might be is clear: Ventura has stood behind a banner proclaiming “<i>Portugal Não É Racista</i>” (“<i>Portugal is not racist</i>”), but his own pronouncements demonstrate that he is just that. CHEGA is the name, and scratching the racist itch is the game. Would the voters care to play?<br /><br />It is not only in the USA that democracy is on the ballot this year. Like Farage, another fringe loudmouth amplified by a complicit media for ratings, Ventura will claim he is just voicing the people’s concerns. In reality, both are bad faith actors whom their respective countries could well do without.<br /><br />Remember well that howling rhetoric. Remember whence it came. That is where CHEGA is headed. <i>Ventura does not have the answers he claims</i>.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="2821" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgufxWZ5h5LoiuaPfWJ4R3FKD9dLONZymn2WaAu1blHTsS8_oFcU4hp0Rmtt5FFBdWTW0FOAhoqRFJdYtJGgduCHwM91polcuB5b7vJJeConr389J3xUT5oXCjs6xMhz9zfwffQnpv_fipOoF4gw-WnCR6hfANR4PxiwyrjLOWKSuiaR2Y1g2CE9ffLOMX9/s320/IMG_2229.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Enjoy your visit to <b><i>Zelo Street</i></b>? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at<br /><br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton">https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton</a><p></p>Tim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.com5