Suella And The Bonzo Dog Band

I'm gonna get you in my tent, tent, tent, tent, tent

Where we can both experiment, ment, ment, ment, ment

Yeah, yeah it's so convenient, ent, ent, ent, ent

Let's take a taxi to my tent

Suella Braverman, for some reason elevated to the rank of Home Secretary, despite clearly being totally unfit for high office except for her proficiency in blaming everyone else for her deficiencies, may never have heard of Viv Stanshall, the Bonzo Dog Band, or the song from which those lyrics come, but she shares one obsession with the late musician, and that is tents.

So tested by the existence of tents is Ms Braverman that she wants to see fewer of them. The FT has told its readers “Suella Braverman pushes to restrict tents for rough sleepers … Proposals include new civil penalty for charities giving tents on public nuisance grounds”. Yeah, proper rough sleepers don’t need tents, do they? They have no problem with getting soaked through and frozen stiff, right? And too many of them are FORRIN!

You think I jest? Here is the Home Secretary in her own words: “The British people are compassionate. We will always support those who are genuinely homeless. But we cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice”. Yeah, it’s one of them Lifestyle Choices! There was more.

“Unless we step in now to stop this, British cities will go the way of places in the US like San Francisco and Los Angeles, where weak policies have led to an explosion of crime, drug taking, and squalor” says another of those Here Today And Gone Tomorrow Politicians from the party that has, since it came to power in 2010, overseen a 74% increase in the number of rough sleepers.

But do go on. “Nobody in Britain should be living in a tent on our streets. There are options for people who don’t want to be sleeping rough, and the Government is working with local authorities to strengthen wraparound support including treatment for those with drug and alcohol addiction”. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham was not impressed.

“Just when her policies are leading to a big increase in rough sleeping”. But she wasn’t finished. “What I want to stop, and what the law abiding majority wants us to stop, is those who cause nuisance and distress to other people by pitching tents in public spaces, aggressively begging, stealing, taking drugs, littering, and blighting our communities”. Have I got news for her.

Taking drugs is always bad when the Tories’ wrong sort of people do it. But those who have plenty of money, and with whom the Tories often mingle, can snort away to their hearts’ content. That includes many in and around the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press. If Ms Braverman wants to be consistent, she should go after them too. She isn’t, and she won’t.

Littering is another area where she and her fellow Tories won’t act consistently. Hence many who are not homeless having developed the habit of not bothering with such trivialities as litter bins. And as for Tories and stealing, with all those billions sprayed up the wall on the Covid pandemic and the VIP lane, well, if she wants to set an example, she knows where to look, and it isn’t inside the tent of some poor homeless person.

As for the idea that living out of a tent is a “lifestyle choice”, to use her happy phrase, consider what pundit Marina Purkiss said about that: “A lifestyle choice, to me, is going vegan, or switching to an electric car. Last time I checked, it wasn’t being homeless. And I think it shows how completely out of touch, insensitive, and heartless she is”. She and many of the media class.

We have Government ministers pushing the idea that peacefully showing solidarity with the Palestinian people is a form of hate, that bombing the crap out of defenceless civilians is self-defence, and that demonstrating empathy is a form of anti-Semitism. So it is entirely predictable that this mindset now claims that the homeless keeping dry, and less cold, is a lifestyle choice.

This Government is gripped by sickness. Hopefully it will be terminal.

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Proms - Fascism Season Starts Early

Proms. THE Proms. The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented By The BBC. From July to September, a daily series of concerts of classical music priced to be affordable to as many of the population as possible (a seat up in the Rausing Circle could be had for around £16 this season). A series of concerts that owes its continued existence to the Beeb.

To end each season of Proms concerts, there is the Last Night Of The Proms, complete with the post-interval nationalism of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March #1 (“Land of Hope and Glory”), Rule, Britannia, Henry Wood’s Fantasia on British Sea Songs, Jerusalem, and a good rousing outing for the National Anthem to round things off. And the waving of flags.

Ah, the waving of flags. Something which the headbanger Brexiteer tendency approves of when it is Union flags or flags of St George that are being waved, with those from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland tolerated. But waving the flag of the European Union? Sacrilege! High DYAH they?!? High utterly GHESTLY! Also, it provides the excuse for another whipping up of hatred.

And so it came to pass: first, the more factual and detached version from the Guardian. “The sight of hundreds of European Union flags at the Last Night of the Proms has prompted outrage from Brexiters and a call for the BBC to investigate. Those waving the EU flag in the Royal Albert Hall appeared to outnumber those waving the union flag”. And then the screamingly batshit.

Who would care to go first? Here’s the Mail to howl at the moon: “Viewers of the Last Night Of The Proms last night were up in arms after thousands of EU flags were spotted in the crowd … audience members in the historic venue brought out the blue and yellow flags during a rendition of Rule Britannia, a traditionally patriotic song”. Why oh why oh why oh why. There was more.

“Flags have long been an integral part of the Proms, with the final concert showcasing traditional British orchestral anthems - and some audience members using the night to demonstrate their political ideology [however] the EU emblem dominated TV screens … Some audience members could also be seen in EU patterned suits and berets”. TRAITAHS! STRING ‘EM UP!!

You think that was bad? Here’s the Daily Brexit, still called the Express, turning up that howling just a little bit more. “The BBC has come under fire after a ‘seething mass of remainers’ that ‘hijacked’ Rule Britannia were shown waving EU flags during its Last Night of the Proms coverage”. Do go on.

“The coverage - which featured footage of the crowd waving of EU flags during the traditional performances of patriotic anthems Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory - has been blasted as ‘disgraceful’ and ‘nauseatingly woke’”. EH? In what way is the waving of a flag showing that one is “alert to injustice in society, especially racism”? But there was worse to come.

Gammon Broadcasting™ News (“Bacon’s News Channel”) was howling yet louder. “The BBC has sparked outrage following its coverage of the Last Night of the Proms, with a former Tory MP calling for an inquiry into flag-waving pro-EU activists. Hundreds of European Union flags were being waved throughout the final performance of the summer festival”.

There was more. “Thomas Arne’s 1740 classic Rule Britannia, which is synonymous with the end-of-season concert, was seen as a tipping point for many on social media”. A succession of Brexiteer idiocy was cited in support. Nile “Chauncey” Gardiner wibbled about FREEDOM. Without realising that FREEDOM includes the FREEDOM to wave your chosen flag.

It’s nothing more than an early start to the Poppy Fascism season: it was not so long ago that ITV presenter Charlene White was bombarded with sexist and racist abuse for the heinous crime of Reading The News During Early November While Not Wearing A Poppy. Now we can add Proms Fascism: FREEDOM to wave flags, providing they are agreeable to Brexiteers.

Freedom of speech and freedom of expression. You either support both, or you’re an authoritarian and a fascist. Hello Mail, Express, and GB News.

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Michael Gove - We Have To Talk

The absence from public gaze of Cabinet Office minister Michael “Oiky” Gove had been accompanied by a swirl of rumours, not least because of his recent divorce from appalling self-publicist Sarah “Vain” Vine. But press coverage came there none. Until the human embodiment of Elmer Fudd rocked up - literally - in an Aberdeen nightclub.

And it was then that radio silence was broken as the Daily Record told readers “Michael Gove raves at Aberdeen club in bizarre clips as ‘merry’ Tory minister leaves punters stunned … The senior Tory MP displayed some questionable dance moves in the small hours during this solo visit to Bohemia in Aberdeen city centre last night”.

There was more. “Bizarre clips shared with the Daily Record show the 54-year-old two-stepping, arm waving, hip jolting and head banging with fellow ravers, who allegedly bought the top-earning politician drinks all night … Gove is originally from the Granite City and was back in his hometown enjoying a night on the tiles following last month's news that he and wife Sarah Vine are to divorce”. But Gove was, it seems, more than merry.

Singer Emma Lament told the Record “Michael Gove walked into O'Neills at around 1.15am, the pub was just about closing. I'm almost sure he was by himself … The Tories aren't too popular in Scotland but people were generally quite nice to him. It's fair to say he'd had a good few shandies when he arrived at O’Neill’s”. He had not merely been to the Rub-A-Dub and become Elephant’s Trunk And Mozart. He was totally wasted.

The article also includes photos showing Gove duly making an idiot of himself, but moving right along, we come to the Press Excuse Brigade, characterised by the Mail telling “Newly-single Michael Gove throws some dad dance moves as he parties the night away 'alone' in an Aberdeen nightclub”. Nothing to see here, but just in case there is, we’ve wheeled out the quote marks. But no-one was making the obvious point.

Gove is 54. He is a senior cabinet minister. The Government of which he is a member has its hands full with Afghanistan, the Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit fallout and a whole lot more. What the merry fuck is he doing off his head in a nightclub? One cynical Tweeter looked at the scene and quipped “Ya da's handlin' the divorce well then”. Others weren’t so sure.

Alastair Campbell, who is also a Scot, responded “Please tell me this is a deep fake done by the Russians to undermine credibility in our government, our politics and our way of life”. But, sadly, it wasn’t. One Tweeter added “ministers have been ‘working tirelessly’ over the last week to evacuate British nationals and Afghans, with the priority being paddle boarding and throwing shapes”. And then another serious point was raised.

“This is not a photograph of a 54 year old man in charge of his life. Furthermore, if Murdoch is protecting him he is misguided and doing him no favours”. It had been suggested that there was some kind of injunction involved. Well, if there was, it didn’t stop the Daily Record spilling the beans on Gove’s excesses. Or absence from Government.

Michael Gove gives the appearance of going off the rails. Our free and fearless press would not keep schtum were he a rock musician, a Premier League footballer, or indeed a press regulation campaigner. So which particular cat has got their tongues this time?

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Teaboy Takes Eurovision Too Seriously

Another sign of a world returning to some kind of normality following the Covid-19 pandemic arrived yesterday evening with the staging of the Eurovision Song Contest, this year coming from Rotterdam, following the tradition that the previous winning nation should stage the next event. Italy won, a feat they first achieved back in 1964.

What time is it Eccles?

There was irreverence, kitsch, mild outrageousness, and humour both intentional and unintentional, and not just from Graham Norton. A contest designed to bring nations together in the aftermath of World War 2 long ago shed any idea of taking itself too seriously. Viewers try and predict winners, get it totally wrong, and accept it’s all part of the fun. Until here in the UK, someone realises our entry garnered the dreaded Nul Points.

NUL POINTS!? But that’s for Norway! We can’t get NUL POINTS! I mean, who won the war? Yes, someone who should know better wheeled that one out: stop forward Tom Harwood, former replacement teaboy to the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines at the Guido Fawkes blog, and soon to be part of the presenting line-up at Gammon Broadcasting™ News (“Bacon’s News Channel”). Teaboy Tom wanted to talk war. And FREEM!

“Without the UK half these countries would not be free to perform in any song contests. Arguably the other half wouldn’t either. Their thanks? Nil points”. He forgot to mention the USA, the Empire, and, whisper it quietly, the former USSR, without which the Nazis would not have been defeated. Still, minor point, eh? But there was more.

Lewis Goodall of Newsnight decided to wind Harwood up a little. “I too would much prefer a song contest based on a sense of national gratitude about the events of the Second World War. Why has no one come up with that?” And it worked. “I think every year we should forgo the contest and simply hand out points to the countries that were most courageous and successful at standing up against Hitler”. Ri-i-i-ight.

He seems to have forgotten saying “We deserve to lose. Badly” and then going into Fawkes spin mode at the sight of the dreaded Nul Points. “Final results. This is a good deal for Britain. A good deal”. But at least “France have not won. Just rejoice at that news and congratulate our forces and the marines”. France is part of Argentina already!

How could the UK have done better, then, O wise one? “If we’d have put the United Kingdolls up we’d have taken this hands down”. I’m sure whoever oversees the UK entry will, er, not be taking him up on that. But there was a small consolation for him. “Everyone’s speaking English so we take the moral victory”. You reckon?

The winning entry, from Italy, was sung in, er, Italian. Just like their winning entry in 1964. Some people can’t get on board with the idea that a contest where the UK’s past winners have included Buck’s Fizz (bad) and the Brotherhood Of Man (worse) is always going to defy anything approaching highbrow analysis. Or that, like the EU, the UK first of all didn’t want to play, then when it did, got all upset because it didn’t always win.

In the words of the UK’s 1977 Eurovision entry, which was a runner-up (those were the days, eh?) we are now at Rock Bottom. Maybe cos we’re not very good at it, eh Tom?

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Roger Daltrey - Would Get Fooled Again

The succession of enthusiastic Brexiteers to discover that Project Fear was in fact Project Reality grows by the day. The fishing industry was an early addition, meat processors and exporters followed soon after, financial services and European stock marketeers have since been added to the list, and now has come Roger Daltrey.

It's the way he tells them

The frontman for The Who, or THEE OO as it is more correctly spoken, has proved the old law that some Slebs are best keeping out of those areas of life about which they pretend to know a lot, but in reality know very little. Daltrey was bullishly, even aggressively pro-Brexit before the event, and did not care who knew it. So we soon did.

Asked in March 2019 if Brexit would be bad for rock music, Daltrey responded “No. What’s it got to do with the rock business?” How would bands tour in Europe? “Oh dear. As if we didn’t tour in Europe before the fucking EU. Oh give it up. If you want to sign up to be ruled by a fucking mafia, you do it … like being governed by FIFA”. And there was more.

Talking to the BBC Radio 4 Front Row Programme in 2018, he claimed “It’s nothing that can’t be solved. I mean, we used to work in Europe before Europe was even thought about [!], or the EU was even thought about [not in his case, he didn’t]. We had the golden period of the 60s and 70s. Come on … wake up a bit”. And yet more. Revealingly more.

“I’m not against Europe at all, it’s Brussels and the construct of Brussels and the democratic deficit of it [did he not know about the European Parliament?]. There’s no direct link between the voter, and to get through to those people who run our lives [yes there is], and there’s far too many people on far too many gravy trains soaking us dry”.

One wonders how vocal he has been at the news of all those Tory Party donors and hangers-on securing multi-million pound contracts on the back of the Coronavirus pandemic, and without competition. We should remember that Daltrey just sang the words and Pete Townshend actually wrote them. He can’t actually see for miles and miles.

So today’s news should not come as a surprise. As the BBC has reported, “Some of the UK's biggest music stars have written to the government demanding action to ensure visa-free touring in the European Union. Sir Elton John, Liam Gallagher and Nicola Benedetti are among 110 artists who have signed the open letter. It said they had been ‘shamefully failed’ by the government over post-Brexit travel rules for UK musicians”.

Who else signed? As if you need to ask. “Ed Sheeran, Sir Simon Rattle, Sting, Radiohead, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Kim Wilde, Roger Daltrey, Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis, and Judith Weir, Master of the Queen's Music”. As Fred Flintstone might have said, hold it … HOLD IT! Roger Daltrey? The Beeb reporter saw that too.

“The Who frontman Daltrey has also signed despite telling the BBC Radio 4's Front Row programme in 2018: ‘It's nothing that can't be solved’”. He also claimed falsely that there was a democratic deficit, no direct link with voters, and no EU in the 60s and 70s, when the EEC, the EU’s forerunner, began life with the Treaty of Rome. In 1958.

Daltrey’s credibility, to paraphrase the words of My Generation, died before he got old.

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Laurence Fox Told To Pogue Off

In the last few weeks before a Christmas when many families may not even be able to see one another, one tradition can still be observed, if not enjoyed: the annual ritual of putting the boot into the BBC, because, well, they did something to the festive season. After all, bashing local authorities for Winterval is getting a bit stale, what with it not actually banning Christmas. So on to the Beeb’s seasonal offerings it is.

Probably knowing that someone else would make it up if they didn’t spell it out, the BBC has admitted “BBC Radio 1 will not play the original version of Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl this Christmas, because its audience may be offended by some of the lyrics. The station said young listeners were particularly sensitive to derogatory terms for gender and sexuality”. What version would they play, then?

“It will instead play an edited version with different lyrics sung by MacColl. But the 1987 original will still be played on Radio 2, while 6 Music DJs can choose between the two versions. A BBC spokesman said: ‘We know the song is considered a Christmas classic and we will continue to play it this year, with our radio stations choosing the version of the song most relevant for their audience’”. So the Beeb is not banning it altogether.

That, though, was not enough for all the Beeb bashers out there. The rotten BBC had FORCED someone to do something, or maybe not do something. One Tweeter wasn’t impressed by the Damascene conversion of the outraged: “I personally couldn't care less about which version of Fairytale of New York is played but 'defund the BBC' trending cos gammons are livid that a homophobic slur won't be broadcast is just outstanding. ‘CHRISTMAS IS RUINED IF I CAN'T HEAR F*GGOT 40 TIMES A DAY!’”

Also, it seems The Pogues weren’t fussed, as Kaya Burgess of the Times pointed out “The Pogues seem perfectly fine with the BBC (or whoever) playing versions of 'Fairytale of New York' with alternative lyrics. This is all you need to know. Put the tiresome annual debate back in its box. Step away from the hot takes. Go about your lives”.

But one contrarian voice would do no such thing: step forward Laurence “not even slightly bigoted and/or racist” Fox, minor thesp and piss-poor musician, to whine “Here we go again. The cultural commissars at the @bbc are telling you what is and isn’t appropriate for your ignorant little ears. Wouldn’t it be nice if we sent the (proper) version to the top of the charts? #DefundTheBBC”. What say the world outside his bubble to that one?

Sadly for Lozza, that world included The Pogues, whose official Twitter feed gave him short shrift, responding “Fuck off you little Herrenvolk shite”. They also Retweeted this comment by journalist Harrison Brock: “This is all I’m gonna say on it for the whole year: the word itself being in ‘Fairytale of New York’ doesn’t bother or offend me. But straight people being so angry & outraged at its removal and literally fighting and arguing for the right to sing it bothers me deeply”. That is a most telling, and shaming, comment.

Laurence Fox is still not bigoted. But you can see it from there. Very clearly indeed.

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Nigel Farage - The Mask Slips

Sometimes those triumphantly putting the boot in on anyone to the left of Genghis Khan allow their enthusiasm to run unchecked to such an extent that the mask slips, and we see what really drives the jingoism, the proud patriotism, or more like the faux nationalism. So it was recently with Brexit Party Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage, whose recent pronouncements show just what an upstanding member of society he is not.

Spot the difference, if any

Nige had been flogging his inflatable-boats-full-of-scary-brown-and-black-people dead horse a little too hard, and being chauffeured around the UK making a nuisance of himself and potentially putting hotels out of business was not universally popular, but then along came the Proms. This presented a prime target, but also revealed his bigotry.

“So the BBC may drop Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory from The Proms because the Finnish conductor is too woke. Why not drop her instead?” Although this scored him lots of clicks, and some media appearances, it showed his crude xenophobia and caused conductor Dalia Stasevska to receive abuse and threats - because Farage was lying. She has no control over which pieces are played at the Proms.

Still, remember Farage fans, “The woke agenda is to make us ashamed of who we are”. Yes, being aware of social injustice, and especially racism, is making Nige ashamed. Ashamed to be exposed as a racist. With a side order of lying: “The only thing that needs cancelling is the BBC itself”. Very good Nige: the BBC has been running the Proms since 1927. Were it not for the Beeb’s continued sponsorship, there would be no Last Night.

And if you don’t believe Farage is a nailed-on racist, check out what he is Retweeting: an article telling readers “New York University moves to implement racial segregation in student housing”. To borrow the words of Gore Vidal, Farage, like William F Buckley, would have been over at the Wallace headquarters stitching hoods.

The racism was underscored when he responded to news that some of those seeking asylum in the UK had secured legal representation, and that this had meant any move to deport them to another country could not proceed, by ranting “Left wing legal idiots won’t stop until our country is overrun”. Great Replacement conspiracy theory, anyone?

Anyone still think Nigel Farage is about patriotism, rather than just bigotry? After the latest figures on net migration showed a rise in non-EU entrants, he frothed “In 2016 we voted to take back control of our borders and this government was elected on that mandate. Conservative voters will be very disappointed by these figures”. The idea that the economy needs some inward migration is not allowed to enter. It’s just racism.

And not just any old racism, as he trailed his latest column for the increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph by telling his followers “The silent majority has begun to stand up against this cultural Marxist revolution”. Many wish he would be silent for a change. Moreover, the anti-Semitic conspiracy theory is a little too obvious.

Nigel Farage isn’t a patriot. He isn’t interested in making the UK great, independent, world-leading or distinctive. He’s just a bigot who whips up hatred against brown people, black people, Jewish people, and anyone who doesn’t speak English. Deal with it, Farage fans.

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Dan Wootton - A Lying Shit

The Murdoch Sun’s deeply repellant and obscenely overpaid “executive editor” Dan Wootton has once again been doing his master’s bidding and laying into the hated BBC for all he is worth, which, admittedly, is not very much, other than his being useful for filling in potholes. He achieves his goal by talking well, but lying badly.

Dan Wootton - a talentless creep

“IF there was any doubt the BBC is a blundering, woke mess of an organisation, no longer fit for purpose, then the last seven days should have changed your mind” he splutters in the opening to his latest column, going on to claim “90 per cent of the country reacted in fury to liberal snobs in London deciding singing Rule, Britannia! or Land Of Hope and Glory makes us backward racists who tacitly approve of slavery”. Which is not true.

He also claims the Beeb “virtually ignored” the story, which is another pack of lies. On he drones, projecting “The BBC no longer reports the real news of the UK, it tries to shape it” [no citation, and none will be forthcoming, because he’s just doling about abuse. And more lies]. Desperate Dan characterises the BBC as “the Guardian-reading, quinoa- munching vegans of London’s Islington”. It’s just sneering abuse. And it’s not funny.

Because his previous Sun column - to which he links in his latest one - went way beyond the pale, not that the creep will face any sanction for it. Here’s what he claimed: "Rule, Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory are under threat of being dropped altogether from the Last Nights of the Proms”. Note incorrect punctuation of Rule, Britannia!

But do go on. “According to the Sunday Times, this is because a 35-year-old Dane called Dalia Stasevska, backed by some BBC executives, wants to decolonise the event in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement by reducing ‘patriotic elements’”. Ah yes, the old “someone else already quoted it so it’s not my fault, honestly” ploy.

Dalia Stasevska - a talented musician

The Murdoch Sunday Times certainly did not couch whatever they said in the terms Wootton uses. What Dan also doesn’t tell his readers is that his intemperate rabble-rousing has has unpleasant consequences for Ms Stasevska, as the Standard has told.

“BBC Proms conductor Dalia Stasevska has spoken out about the controversy surrounding the performance of traditional anthems during the ‘iconic’ Last Night. Ms Stasevska said she was ‘honoured to be part’ of this year's event, but added she had been the subject of a ‘good deal of inaccurate speculation’ over its format”.

They aren’t “anthems”, though - leave that level of ignorance to Darren Grimes. Do go on. “On Thursday, the Finnish musician said she had ‘played no role in deciding the traditional elements of the programme’, but ‘false speculation’ had sparked threats towards her and her family”. Her statement goes on to detail her role in the concert.

“In recent days there has been a good deal of inaccurate speculation about my role in determining the format of this year’s Last Night Of The Proms. This false speculation has led to abuse and threats towards me and my family which is why I am speaking out.For the record I have played no role in deciding the traditional elements of the programme, I recognise these are an important part of the event”. Dan Wootton. Lying again.

Wootton should apologise. But shits like him aren’t big enough. No change there, then.

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Andrea Jenkyns And Laurence Fox

This week has seen the right-leaning part of the political and media establishment go through the looking glass in no style at all as they have constructed a straw man out of nothing more than the BBC working within restrictions imposed on live music performances by the Coronavirus pandemic, and looking to keep performers safe, and then knocked it down in a hail of righteousness and flat-out lies.

Andrea Jenkyns (the one on the right)

Perhaps the most egregious lie of all is the pretence that the BBC is engaging in an act of censorship, merely because the scaled-down Last Night of the Proms will feature both Rule, Britannia! and Land of Hope and Glory, but neither piece will be sung (Elgar’s first Pomp and Circumstance March, to which the words Land of Hope and Glory were later added, began life as a purely instrumental work). So, big deal.

What a happy chappie

Well, it was a big deal to not-really-racist-honestly minor thesp Laurence Fox, who urged his fans to download a version of the Elgar with Vera Lynn singing the words. This has topped the download charts, to the delight of ignorant opportunist Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns who trilled “Land of Hope and Glory reaches number 1. A Knighthood for [Laurence Fox]! The king of anti establishment and anti-wokeness. Bravo!”

Yes, a knighthood is so anti-establishment, isn’t it? This did not impress @paulonbooks who responded “And just behind Tucker Carlson in the Gobshite Of The Day Stakes is Andrea Jenkyns with this drivel. Reminder: we pay MPs £81,932 per year”.

Sean O’Connor was also less than totally enamoured of the situation: “what bothers me far more about Mr Fox, with his privileged - yes privileged - position and ‘media visibility’, is his dreadful take on [Black Lives Matter], his spiteful ‘anti-wokeness’ and what appear to me to be some really awful views and opinions”. Also, others encourage him.

Justin Webb (no relation) put it succinctly. “What I object most to is this mechanism [Fox leveraging his fan base for clicks and donations] being facilitated by someone like [Jeremy Vine on Channel 5] who absolutely should know better. Fox has the right to an opinion, but not to airtime or national exposure. Broadcasters shouldn't be leveraging his dog whistle racism for clicks”. Also, the clinging to so-called “tradition” is misplaced.

As one Tweeter put it, “Reminder that not only has the BBC dropped Land of Hope & Glory from Last Night before & no one wet their pants, but the Conservative Party dropped it from their conference that year as well”. That was in 2001, after the 9/11 attacks.

And as for the incessant “woke” whinge of right-wing mouth artists (as well as Piers Morgan), perhaps we should consider the definition given by Oxford Dictionaries: “alert to injustice in society, especially racism”. Perhaps Ms Jenkyns, whose salary and expenses are paid by We The People, could explain why it is suddenly A Very Good Thing to be opposed to those alert to injustice in society, and especially racism.

Laurence Fox is free to be as anti-anti-racist as he chooses. That is not what we should be seeing from those paid from the public purse. Hello Andrea Jenkyns.

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