Labour’s Loves Long Lost

So with the Government polling well behind Reform UK, a limited company under the control of self-appointed Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage, and now also polling behind a revitalised Green Party, someone in the Starmerbunker has clearly decided that action must be taken to attract voters back to The Red Team. So what is on offer this week?

Shabana Mahmood ...

What would the Labour Party, of which Harold Wilson said was “a moral crusade, or it is nothing”, offer voters? What would a sensible and inclusive party have done? What would Nietzsche have done? Sadly, Labour no longer operates on that intellectual plane. Moral crusades are out. Dog-whistles are in. Performative cruelty and aping Reform UK is also de rigueur.

And so it came to pass that Shabana Mahmood, recently elevated to Home Secretary, told how she was going to be tough on migrants, if not on the causes of migrants. Asylum seekers will only be able to remain in the UK temporarily. If their country of origin is deemed “safe”, they may be deported. And their jewellery may be confiscated to pay towards their accommodation.

This, Ms Mahmood has told, is the only way to see off “dark forces … stirring up anger”, which is not only muddle-headed, but total horseshit. All the changes will do is to embolden the far-right to try and drag migration policy further in their chosen direction. It will not move Labour’s poll numbers, well, not in an upwards direction. Reform UK will profit; so will the Greens.

What else is on the menu? This from the BBC: “Those granted asylum will have to wait 20 years to apply to settle permanently. Previously, they could begin this process after five years … Human rights laws around how the right to family life is interpreted in migration cases will change”. Yes, New New New Labour is going to get tough. Really tough. And it’s really pointless.

If the asylum system is not working, as Government sources are suggesting, then there is stuff all use blaming the poor souls who have endured warfare, prejudice, and the danger of crossing the Channel in an inflatable boat. The system should be overhauled so it works, asylum applications are processed promptly and the amount of accommodation needed reduced to a minimum.

... and her real boss

Instead, the jewellery grab has been confirmed by A Home Office Source: “We will not seize items of jewellery at the border - we aren’t coming after anyone’s sentimental items of jewellery. But where people have a large number of high-value items, we would expect them to contribute to the cost of their accommodation”. No seizure at the border. But maybe somewhere else.

Well, one hates to go full Neil Kinnock, but here we have A Labour Home Secretary of Pakistani heritage - A Labour Home Secretary of Pakistani heritage - scuttling round newsrooms issuing deportation threats and signalling a weakening of Human Rights legislation. Farage and his fellow bigots will think that all their birthdays have come at once.

And it is they who will claim credit for New New New Labour coming over all tough. While Reform UK’s poll numbers may not improve as a result, those voters leaving Labour for the Greens will continue to sap the former’s numbers as they boost the ratings of the latter. Whoever dreamed up this reprehensible set of measures has damaged Labour badly. Very badly.

So it should come as no surprise that increasingly well-regarded Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is not the only name being touted as a replacement for the beleaguered Keir Starmer. Angela Rayner, a genuinely caring and effective politician, is another name in the frame. The only counter of the Morgan McSweeney cabal is to suggest Wes Streeting.

Who is so popular that he almost lost his seat at the last General Election. Thus the cluelessness of McSweeney and his acolytes: while hacks in and around Westminster like Streeting, very few others do. Moreover, McSweeney’s only successes thus far have been in breaking the rules, plus smearing his own party leadership, and throwing the 2019 General Election.

With him effectively in charge, Labour is doomed. No change there, then.

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Maccabi Tel Aviv And No Anti-Semitism

Here’s the BBC scene-setter: “The government has said it is ‘doing everything in our power’ to overturn a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending a football match in Birmingham and is exploring what additional resources could be required. On Thursday, Aston Villa said the city's Safety Advisory Group (SAG) decided that fans of the Israeli club should not be permitted to attend the Europa League fixture on 6 November over safety concerns”.

What, then, was the problem? “On Thursday, West Midlands Police said it had classified the fixture as ‘high risk’ based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including ‘violent clashes and hate crime offences’ between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans before a match in Amsterdam”.

Dead right there had been hate crime offences. Like the Maccabi Tel Aviv “fans” chanting “Death to Arabs … we will win, we will win, let the Israeli army win … fuck the Arabs … we will take your girls, who love to party … when we rape them, we will shout ‘today is death’ … you’re the whores of Arabs … we are ashamed of you … we will fuck you … and then drink your blood”.

In addition, let us not forget, to the physical violence meted out by said “fans”. Taking all of that to Birmingham, finding a few non-white taxi drivers to rough up, going looking for brown people to kick, it does not require much application of the grey matter to see why the decision was made.

But whoever was speaking for Starmer and his beleaguered Government, this was merely an excuse to claim it was all about WAAAAH WAAAH WAAAH ANTI-SEMITISM! BBC again: “‘No one should be stopped from watching a football game simply because of who they are,’ a government spokesperson said.” Meaning what? And, right on cue, Heeeeeeere’s Keir! Go on PM: “we will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets”. This is total crap.

But This Was The Word, and so it came to pass that new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood declared “Antisemitism is a stain on our society that shames us all. Every football fan, whoever they are, should be able to watch their team in safety. This Government is doing everything in our power to ensure all fans can safely attend the game”. It’s not about anti-Semitism.

Aston Villa has a significant Jewish fanbase. They are, as with all other Villa fans, allowed to go to the match. It’s NOT about anti-Semitism. It’s about being able to safely Police a “high-risk” fixture where the visiting “fans” have significant previous for violent and racist behaviour. This simple fact was not allowed to enter the out-of-touch world of the Pundit Establishment.

And who would like to, er, kick off for the assembled hackery? How about Michael “Oiky” Gove? “Jews not welcome in Birmingham: official”. Conflating Israelis and “all Jews” is an anti-Semitic trope, as per the IHRA definition. Who else would care to fall into this trap? Have a guess.

Yes, the Mail’s not even slightly celebrated blues artiste Whinging Dan Hodges, and his missing question marks: "The Maccabi Tel Aviv ban has become the acid test for this government. Are Jews going to be properly protected on the streets of Britain”. Conflating Israelis and “all Jews”. That’s real anti-Semitism. Well done Dan. Open mouth, insert boot.

And while Tim Shipman of the Murdoch Sunday Times, Kevin Schofield of the HuffPost, Jon Sopel of LBC, and Camillas Tominey and Long were valiantly attempting to toe the establishment line and gaslight the public, the pollsters at YouGov brought bad news: despite the “agree with what we say or you’re an anti-Semite” line, a majority of the public agreed with the ban.

By a majority of 42% to 28%, with Labour supporters registering a yet bigger margin of 47% to 22%. As Rivkah Brown put it, “Politicians and pundits can scream until they're blue in the face that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans are innocent victims of flagrant antisemitism, but the British public knows what's up”.

The public does indeed know. It’s an operational decision by those in and around Birmingham and Aston Villa. Once again, Starmer loses the room, and so do a worryingly high number of journalists. Do better, folks.

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Oh Tommy - Now Threatening MPs

Infamously, Nigel “Thirsty” Farage, now self-appointed Oberscheissenführer of Reform UK, claimed after the 2016 EU referendum that the result had been achieved “without a shot being fired”. As so often with the far-right, he was lying: Labour MP Jo Cox had been murdered by a Britain First supporter. And Ms Cox was not the only MP to be killed carrying out their duties.

Tory David Amess was, like Ms Cox, murdered at a constituency surgery, as recently as 2021. Both killers were given whole life sentences. Which brings us to yet another incoherent self-pitying outburst from Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, in response to an MP doing nothing more than asking a question in the House of Commons.

Daisy Cooper, who represents the constituency of St Albans, which returned her to Parliament last year with a vote share of 56.6%, used Prime Minister’s Questions this week to pass adverse comment on Lennon, which, given she enjoys Parliamentary Privilege, and Lennon is so supportive of free speech (ho ho ho), one might think would not cause him a problem.

Here’s what she said. “The far right, hate preacher Tommy Robinson, who is currently on trial for allegedly refusing to comply with counter-terror Police, claimed that his legal costs are being paid by Elon Musk. It is outrageous that a man who has so much control over what people read online every day could be funding someone who stokes far right extremism on our streets. If this was Putin, the Government surely would act”.

Daisy Cooper MP

So what say the great champion of FREEZE PEACH to that? As if you need to know. “WHAT A DISGUSTING PIECE OF SHIT!!! This lying (citation needed), censorious (lie), authoritarian (even bigger lie) masquerading as a liberal democrat is none other than the Deputy Leader of her party”.

Lennon’s schtick is that Ms Cooper has not posted sufficiently, or perhaps that should be “not in accordance with his requirements” about Grooming Gangs. About which he later claimed “the fact that the MAJORITY of 'grooming gangs' are in fact MUSLIM”, which is another lie.

Ms Cooper maintained her stance in an interview with Andrew Marr on LBC. Which only sent Lennon off again. “CALLING OUT THIS LYING, SLANDERING PIECE OF SHIT FOR WHO SHE IS … I don't give a shit about you, you're a crybully and filthy smear merchant … What a piece of filthy shit she is … Her 'values' have led to the industrialised rape and enslavement of generations of British children”. Another one to keep.

Because that last sentence is actionable. And it gets worse: above a video clearly showing Ms Cooper’s Commons intervention, he sniggered “We have them rattled [Elon Musk] just wait till I get my not guilty verdict”. And another one to cut out and keep: that is a nailed-on threat against the MP.

Those of us who have had this SOB rock up on their doorsteps in the dead of night know what that means - either he’s going to attempt to confront Ms Cooper, or he doesn’t mind if one or more of his followers confronts her, or both. Thus the asymmetrical application of free speech in Lennon Land: he can have it, and get away with anything he says, but anyone exercising it to pass adverse comment on him is a legitimate target for intimidation.

So complete is Stephen Lennon’s commitment to keeping women safe (ho ho ho) that he has no problem with threatening, defaming and intimidating them, merely for exercising the same free speech right that he claims to support. But then, he was lying about that one, too. Ms Cooper is probably going to have to step up the security around herself and her staff.

Not that Brave Tommy gives a shit about the consequences of his self-pitying rantfest. In addition to him being a bully, a liar, a racist, and a serial player of victimhood, he’s also a stinking hypocrite. He would be little more than a tiresome irrelevance, except that he is also a malign influence on others, some of whom may take his rant as a green light for more intimidation.

It’s high time that Lennon’s little wild west show ended. This time for good.

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Oh Tommy Tommy - Racist Liar

Quite apart from the campaigns of harassment, the gratuitous violence meted out seemingly on a whim, and the baseless claim that he gives a flying foxtrot about his adoring followers, there are two things about which Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, is especially sensitive. One, he hates being labelled racist, and two, everyone else tells lies bar him.

I have to tell The Great Man that he’ll have to hate being called racist for some time to come, because he is a racist, and that when it comes to telling lies, he is standing in a terribly draughty glasshouse. Both these traits have come to the fore in the past week, after he was condemned for inferring that a grandparent taking his grandchildren to play at a local park wasn’t.

Moreover, the grandchildren were white, and the grandparent was black, which should be no big deal, but in the warped and paranoid, yet righteous, world of Stephen Lennon, such a combination was, for reasons he somehow managed not to disclose, Streng Verboten. So it was that he took to Twitter, X, or whatever Muskrat’s calling it this week, and smeared the grandparent.

As the Guardian has reported, “Family in fear after Tommy Robinson shares video of black man with white granddaughters”. Do go on. “Olajuwon Ayeni racially abused and falsely labelled a paedophile as far right weaponises clip of family in park”. And how did Lennon manage to accomplish this task?

“A family say their lives have been ruined after a video of a black man and his brother playing in the park with his white granddaughters was shared by Tommy Robinson and weaponised by the far right … Olajuwon Ayeni, a musician from Redcar, North Yorkshire, has been racially abused and falsely labelled a paedophile in the week since the family video was stolen from the TikTok account of his wife, Natalie, whom he married five years ago, and shared by extremists online”. There is more. Rather a lot more.

“On Tuesday, the couple’s local MP, Anna Turley, was forced to write a letter providing a reference of good character for Ayeni when he was suspended by his management after the online disinformation … ‘I’m devastated to receive the email from my management’ Ayeni said”. So what did Lennon do?

“The far-right activist wrote on his X account: ‘Wtf is even going on here? Where are the parents?!’ Lennon … has not removed the video despite numerous replies debunking it and calling for him to delete it”. He has, it seems, now removed the video. After the damage had been done. After he’d played the race card and lied about the subject of the video.

Worse, this is not the first time Lennon has Done A Racism. After Wing Kingz in Milton Keynes declined to serve him, we got “I’ve gone to Milton Keynes, with my children, to have dinner at a new restaurant. I’ve gone in, I’ve sat down, and then I’ve been told I need to leave. They can’t give me an answer, just who I am … d’you know what I found, it’s a black-owned business”.

It’s DA BLACKS! That’s after he used the P-word. After lying several times to justify his harassment of journalist Lizzie Dearden. And he’s still at it, telling his followers “Tower Hamlets send the whole squad out to remove the St George's Cross put up by patriots. Every one of them an import”. Imports.

Whoops, another racism! And there’s another on the way. “Pakistanis blocking the roads of Manchester to celebrate independence day for Pakistan. Ask yourself, 'if a war broke out between Pakistan and the UK, which side would these rats be on’? The enemy within.” Rats. Enemies.

What about that right to protest? “Typical Liberal wet wipes want a 'review' of a violent, pro Hamas, pro terrorist, far left revolutionary group that literally carries out sabotage attacks on British Military bases?” Four lies? Five? Whatever. Have another go. “Behold the pro Palestine, pro illegal migrant, stand up to racism, socialist worker far left, professionally organised demonstrators.” Keep making it up. Keep blaming others. Keep being racist.

Stephen Lennon gets branded racist. Because he is racist. Likewise, he gets called a liar. This time he targeted an innocent man. And didn’t say sorry. Because saying sorry is for the little people. What a total creep.

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Oh Tommy - Bravely Ran Away

Not much time passes before Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, appears in the news, and usually for all the wrong reasons. His latest appearance is no exception: yesterday evening, emergency services attended a man who had been rendered unconscious, in the vicinity of London’s St Pancras station. We know Lennon was involved. He said so.

Paramedics worked behind a makeshift curtain to return the man to consciousness, while treating his injuries, which had left a large pool of blood on the floor. The victim has been transferred to hospital, where his situation has been described as “serious but not life-threatening”. As the news spread, so did the spin from Lennon’s pals, which did not help his cause one bit.

First out of the traps was Avi Yemeni, a deeply unpleasant individual who “reports” from Australia for Ezra Levant’s far-right propaganda outlet Rebel News. He was quite sure what had happened: “Tommy Robinson was ATTACKED at St Pancras Station … Tommy is okay … The attacker not so much”. But he was lying, as Lennon and his pals later admitted.

That, though, was not the point: what Yemeni did was to get the excuses in as early as possible. That Lennon had laid out the unfortunate individual now - hopefully - recovering in hospital was confirmed on video by The Great Man himself, telling anyone who would listen “he’s come at me, bruv”. In other words, he decked the other bloke. As the BBC account makes clear.

“The British Transport Police (BTP) is investigating an alleged assault at St Pancras station in London … It comes after footage emerged on social media appearing to show far-right activist Tommy Robinson walking back and forth near a motionless man lying on the floor at the station … The clip does not show how the man ended up on the floor”. And the BTP want a word.

“The BTP said its suspect was from Bedfordshire. It added that detectives were continuing to investigate the incident and bring the suspect into custody for questioning … In the footage, a man who appears to be Robinson walks next to the person lying face-down on the floor, near some stairs. A commuter looks to be trying to stop the man thought to be Robinson from moving around and calls for help”. And then came another admission.

This time it was a Twitter/X user who calls himself Mike Hacks, who was trying to defend Lennon, but just happened to drop the ball as he stated unequivocally “A pre-emptive strike is totally legal”. In other words, The Great Tommy decked the other bloke, and he also struck the first blow.

And so it came to pass that Lennon let the world know just how innocent he thinks he is: what that BBC report also tells is that “a 42-year-old male suspect had boarded a flight out of the country in the early hours of Tuesday morning”. Running away before the cops interview him, and well before they have the chance to potentially charge him, and remand him in custody.

Worse for The Great Man, he is supposed to be hosting one of his “free speech” - as in freedom for Himself Personally Now to shoot his mouth off, while no such freedom is given to his critics, who can expect him to rock up on their doorsteps and have their addresses doxxed - next month. If he turns up, he gets nicked, and if he appears via video link, admits he’s a coward.

Worse still, given Lennon’s history of violently assaulting others, the cops might just oppose his being given bail, thus ensuring he doesn’t get to headline his own gig. All the BTP needs to do is to cite the flight risk, because flight is exactly what Lennon just did. May have been to mainland Spain, may have been Tenerife, may have been the Algarve. He’s not beyond the law.

And he’ll soon find that if the Guardia Civil come looking for him, or indeed the GNR if he chose the Algarve, there is only so much aggressive gobshitery they will tolerate before moving directly to having the cuffs applied. This time he’s in real trouble, made worse by him and his pals either lying about it, or owning up that he not only did it, but also threw the first punch.

Stephen Lennon could be back in the UK rather sooner than he would like, and in less than luxurious surroundings. Just rejoice at that news.

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Oh Tommy Tommy - Back In Court

And so it came to pass that Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, was released from jail early, not because he had scored some kind of victory over the hated MSM and the alleged Deep State, but because he had agreed to withdraw a variety of untrue and defamatory claims against a Syrian refugee - and not to repeat them.

To show how badly he had not been treated during his period of incarceration, Lennon appeared unshaven, as if shaving was banned for those doing a stretch in the old chokey. But he had not forgotten his faithful followers, for whom he teased the prospect of another of those FREEZE PEACH rallies, as in freedom of speech for him, but not for anyone of differing view.

What, then, would attendees as the latest Lennon rally have served up to them? Grok, from the world of far-right hero Elon Musk, has helpfully summarised the narrative. “Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was released early from prison on May 27, 2025, after his sentence for contempt of court was reduced”. There was, sadly, more.

“Upon his release, he immediately resumed his public activities, criticising what he referred to as ‘Islamic rape gangs’ and announcing plans for a large ‘Free Speech Festival’ in London. His release has sparked reactions from both his supporters (only two of them, eh?), who view him as a champion of free speech, and his critics, who accuse him of promoting Islamophobia”.

And, as Jon Stewart might have put it, two things here. One, if he really wants to tackle child sexual exploitation, and indeed, grooming of young people as a whole, he could start in his own back yard. Louise Raw, who you can tell as she’s a doctor, informed The Great Man “While you were away watching movies and going [to the] gym at our expense, even MORE far right men have been exposed as paedophiles”. Rather a lot of them, in fact.

Do go on. “You REFUSE to speak on this. Why are the far right covering up this scandal?” She concluded “you’ll see your one time close friend RICHARD PRICE here. You founded the EDL with him. AFTER he was on the sex offenders’ register, the EDL called him a ‘hero’. WHY WON’T YOU ADDRESS THIS? WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?” Questions Lennon’s rally won’t address.

Moreover, Two, this is just another playing of the “Look Over There” card. As the Guardian pointed out, “Tommy Robinson, the jailed far-right activist, has been charged with harassment of two journalists … is accused of two counts of harassment causing fear of violence between 5 and 7 August last year”.

Oh? Do tell. “He will appear at Westminster magistrates court on 5 June 2025, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). ‘We have authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, 42, with harassment causing fear of violence against two men,’ a CPS spokesperson said”. And there was a coda.

“The far-right figure is facing a separate trial in October next year over an accusation that he failed to provide the Pin for his mobile phone when stopped by Kent police in Folkestone in July 2024”. Out of clinky just in time to appear in court, with the distinct possibility that he gets, er, sent back to said clinky. And I have more bad news for The Great Man.

Having had Lennon rock up on my doorstep in the dead of night - twice - in an act of harassment, I have to tell him that, should the prosecution require more evidence of his modus operandi, I will be more than willing to provide it. There is also the case of his turning up at Lizzie Dearden’s place and harassing her and her partner, for nothing more than reporting what happened in court.

Come to think of it, I can recall another three acts of harassment perpetrated by Lennon in the recent past, all justified by peddling a pack of lies about those he harassed. He lied about Ms Dearden’s reporting. He lied about me. Now, Lennon’s pals claim he is “fighting the [Daily] Mail”. It’s a criminal charge he’s facing. So he isn’t fighting the Mail. It’s just another pack of lies.

But the plea for donations is as predictable, and real, as ever. Except that, this time, Lennon really does face being banged up for a handful. Sad, really.

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J D Vance - You’re A Moron

Those who thought that the vice Presidency of J Danforth Quayle, the one who had problems spelling such complex words as POTATO (to which he insisted on adding a spurious E), defined the most stupid holder of that office, have now been asked by the current incumbent, J D Vance, to Hold His Beer. Because Vance is not merely stupid. He is a bona fide moron.

This should come as no surprise: he is, after all, Veep to Combover Crybaby Donald Trump, the individual (one hates to use the dignifying term “man” in this instance) least suited to be President since, well, the proclamation of the Republic back in 1783. Trump is monumentally stupid. So his deputy must, to preserve the dignities, be yet more stupid. Vance is ideally suited to that.

Just how stupid Vance really is was demonstrated yesterday in the full glare of publicity: he addressed the Munich Security Conference, to tell all those Goddamned YURPEENS just how wonderful Himself and his world view were. He lectured them about FREEZE PEACH and MOXY, as if the USA had both, and YURP had neither. This went down like a cup of cold sick.

Which may have had something to do with there being no curbs on freedom of speech anywhere in western Europe, while the Trump gang are excluding those who do not toe their particular line from press briefings, and accompanying The Donald on Air Force One. Trump and his supporters have significant past form for harassing media folk of inconvenient view.

Also, as the Guardian pointed out, “Many in the hall were swift to say that Vance had still refused to accept that Trump lost the US presidential election in 2020, a refusal that ultimately resulted in a mob of the president’s supporters attacking the US Capitol”. Trump’s acceptance of MOXY is the kind where he wins. Vance is too scared, or stupid, to accept reality.

And get this claim: “For years we have been told everything we fund and support is in the name of our shared democratic values, everything from our Ukraine policy to digital censorship is billed as a defence of democracy, but when we see European courts cancelling elections and senior officials threatening to cancel others we ought to ask ourselves if we are holding ourselves to an appropriately high standard”. Whoops, flat-out lie time!

As with Reform UK’s self-appointed Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage claiming that the EU interfered in member states’ elections, this is total crap. Vance’s stupidity extended to believing that his audience would not have a grasp of reality superior to that of Himself Personally Now.

It also extended to believing he would secure more approval by cracking this year’s Lamest Joke Ever™. The BBC’s Frank Gardner noted “He made a joke at one point saying, ‘if American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk’. And then he paused for the applause, to be met with absolute dead silence”.

False equivalence. Paranoia. More stupidity. Meanwhile, in the USA, supposed land of FREEZE PEACH and MOXY, judges are under attack for upholding the law, when that law goes against one of Trump’s executive orders (an executive order is not law, and the President cannot make law without the agreement of Congress). Instead, Vance kicks YURP.

But YURP enjoys freedom of speech, and of expression, rather more than the USA right now, with media outlets self-censoring to keep on the right side of the Trump gang. Vance is too stupid to see that comparing western European Governments to totalitarian states, while his own country is ruled over by an enfeebled man-baby and an unelected Nazi, is not a good look.

Good of him, though, to remind YURP that it needs to look after itself rather more, and depend on the Trump régime rather less. Vance could do worse than letting us all know what his country’s position on Ukraine really is. Because, right now, we don’t know. Except that Trump gives the impression he is about to sell the Ukrainians down the river.

Then he can learn a bit more about YURP. And stop being a moron.

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It Was The Sun Wot Done It

And so it came to pass that News Group Newspapers, the official title for the UK chapter of the Murdoch Mafiosi, arrived at the High Court for what was expected to be an eight-week trial over allegations of unlawful behaviour brought by Prince Harry and former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson. And very soon after, NGN caved in and waved the white flag.

Rather than see the likes of the twinkle-toed yet domestically combative Rebekah Brooks, still NGN’s CEO, cross-examined over what the Murdoch press did to get their stories, and answer all those inconvenient questions about mass email deletion and other less than totally ethical practices, they admitted, for the first time, that the Sun was involved in breaking the law.

Yes, after shelling out more than a billion notes settling claims against the Sun, while denying that It Was The Sun Wot Done It, the Cosa Rupra grudgingly admitted what had been suspected for decades. Without that admission, Haz would not have settled, whatever the scale of the cash mountain on offer. Which was, it seems, in excess of £10 million.

In other words, had the trial gone ahead, even if Haz and Tom had won, they would have had to be awarded more than that sum in order to avoid being hit with the bill for both sides’ costs. It was the kind of risk that put paid to others’ determination to go to trial. This time, NGN will pay for everything, which may well cause the final bill to exceed £25 million. All to stop it going to trial.

As the Guardian told, “The Duke of Sussex has settled his high court legal action … against the publisher of the Sun, News Group Newspapers (NGN) … NGN offered ‘a full and unequivocal apology’ to Prince Harry ‘for the phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them’ at the News of the World”.

There was more. Haz’ barrister David Sherborne added “I am pleased to announce to the court that the parties have reached an agreement. As a result of the parties reaching an agreement I would ask formally that the trial is vacated … NGN offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the serious intrusion by the Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for the Sun”. And who worked for the paper then?

Not only Ms Brooks, but also former Screws and Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan, something which should be borne in mind whenever The Great Man passes adverse comment on Haz and Megs, which happens rather a lot.

Sherborne, meanwhile, wasn’t finished. “The truth that has now been exposed is that NGN unlawfully engaged more than 100 private investigators over at least 16 years on more than 35,000 occasions. This happened as much at The Sun as it did at the News of the World, with the knowledge of all the editors and executives, going to the very top of the company”. Do go on.

“What’s even worse is that in the wake of the 2006 arrest of a royal correspondent, there was an extensive conspiracy to cover up what really had been going on and who knew about it. Senior executives deliberately obstructed justice by deleting over 30 million emails, destroying back-up tapes, and making false denials - all in the face of an ongoing police investigation. They then repeatedly lied under oath to cover their tracks - both in court and at the Leveson public inquiry”. You read that right. Carry on.

“Far from being relics of a distant past, many of those behind these unlawful practices remain firmly entrenched in senior positions today, both within News UK and other media outlets across the world, wielding editorial power and perpetuating the toxic culture in which they continue to thrive”.

Anyone might think he was referring to the currently under-fire Will Lewis. Here on Zelo Street, there is quiet satisfaction that the story first picked up on in July 2009 (see HERE, HERE and HERE) continues to - rightly - embarrass our free and fearless press - and not just the Murdoch chapter of it.

Any more to come? You might wish to ask that. I couldn’t possibly comment.

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Ivor Caplin - Hello BBC

You might not have heard of Ivor Caplin - at least, not until last weekend brought the news that he had been arrested after a vigilante sting. But the reporting of his being stung and subsequently arrested should ring alarm bells - not because some media outlets are reporting it, but because some are not, even those whose preferred political stripe is at odds with his.

Ivor Caplin

Caplin is 66 years old. He is also openly gay. Neither of these attributes is improper or illegal. What is potentially illegal is the idea of that person allegedly showing interest in sexual activity with someone under the age of consent. And that is what caused Caplin to be stung, by a vigilante group supposedly on the hunt for potential paedophiles. And it gets worse.

He had spent eight years as a Labour MP, representing Hove. Later, he spent a short time as chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, the organisation that expended considerable energy undermining Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party. That he was part of the political establishment was shown by the number of senior party figures who followed his social media feed.

On which subject, it gets worse still: Caplin’s feed on Twitter, X, or whatever Muskrat’s calling it this week, featured a succession of images depicting young men, not merely in a state of undress, but also featuring displays of genitalia, sometimes in a state of obvious arousal. Yet, it seems, no-one at the top of the Labour Party had the time to say “Er, ma-a-a-a-ate”.

Also, to quote his Wikipedia entry, “In June 2024 Caplin was suspended from the Labour Party due to ‘serious allegations’ made about him. The allegations were not made public”. And then, “In January 2025 Caplin was arrested by Sussex Police on suspicion of engaging in online sexual communications with a child, after being involved in a sting operation carried out by a group of anti-paedophile activists”. Were the two events in any way related?

We are not told. But it is the latter event where reportage has been so selective. The increasingly alt-right Spectator magazine has informed its readers, but, it appears, the primary motive here is because the arrest came “days after attacking ‘unacceptable’ Elon”. First name terms, natch.

So the Speccy’s motivation is kicking anyone who criticises “Elon”. Apart from that chapter of the brown tongue brigade, not so many other mainstream media outlets have the news. The Mail has told “Ivor Caplin, 66, the former MP for Hove, was released on bail after spending the night in a police cell, with officers launching an investigation into the alleged incident”. Do go on.

“He was stopped by a group of activists on Saturday who claimed they had arranged to meet him posing as an 'underage boy’ … Mr Caplin denied the claims multiple times on video before the group called the police. Mr Rowland [leader of the group enacting the sting] claims his group handed their 'evidence' over to officers who arrested the former MP”.

But the rest of the mainstream press pack has said very little, despite Reform UK and its self-appointed Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage, and of course the Spectator’s hero “Elon” making sure they tell their followers. And one mainstream source that would have been expected to carry the news has said nothing at all as yet: step forward the BBC. Silence. Not even crickets.

Starmer speech, Sturgeon-Murrell separation, “Five-minute fines”, Meghan delaying her Netflix show, a fall in the value of Sterling, what Kemi Badenoch says should happen to Tulip Siddiq, calls for yet another “Grooming gang” inquiry, monitoring “Elon’s” social media whingeing, all feature. But nothing about a former Labour MP who just happens to be an establishment figure.

As Owen Jones has summed up, “The big questions about Ivor Caplin are who knew what, when, and what action did they take”. The Labour Party, and especially all those who followed Caplin on Twitter/X, knew about all those images he posted. So what action was taken? And what about a little of that investigative journalism from the BBC? Just a mention, eh?

Or is the establishment closing ranks? Bit of a sad hill to die on, mind.

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Banksy And Wiggy Ha Ha Ha

Reform UK’s self-appointed Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage has at least one principle which he maintains unwaveringly, and that is the concept of strong borders. No-one should complain at nation states deciding for themselves who is let in, and who is not. But now a problem has entered, and it concerns one of his Bestest Pals from the recent past.

During the campaign leading up to the 2016 EU referendum, Nige was backed to the hilt by the self-styled “Bad Boys of Brexit”, those being businessman Arron Banks, and his slippery sidekick Andy Wigmore, the pair giving the appearance of being the very personification of J J Hunsecker and Sidney Falco. Banksy and Wiggy were, also, big Trump backers.

So it was no surprise to see Banksy wanting to celebrate the return of The Donald to the Presidency, at a rooftop venue in Washington, DC. But here, as Caroline Wheeler of the Murdoch Sunday Times has told, a problem entered, as in, Banksy didn’t. Here’s what she had to say about it.

“Arron Banks, the multimillionaire businessman who helped fund the Brexit campaign, is unable to attend his own £150,000 party celebrating Donald Trump’s return to the White House after he was denied entry to the United States … [he] was due to host 300 guests at the lavish ‘Stars and Stripes and Union Jack Party’ on the ­rooftop of the historic Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington this Friday night”. Except, now, he wasn’t. Do go on.

“Invitees include the president-elect and members of his family, Elon Musk, the US senators Rick Scott and Pete Ricketts, and the former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. The guest of honour is Farage … But Banks set to miss the occasion after his electronic entry permit to the US … was blocked. His business partner, Andy Wigmore has also had his entry to the US denied. The pair claim it is a ‘political decision’ and criticised the Biden administration”.

What was that about sovereign nations controlling their borders? How did Nige and his pals put it … “taking back control”? How will Isabel Oakeshott spin that one? And when will the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog mention it (no word as yet)?

But all is not lost for Banksy. According to the Mirror, “A furious Mr Banks appeared to mockingly declare that he would instead cross the border from Mexico ‘along with the hundreds of thousands of gang members’ to join the party”. Of course he would. I mean, that “Open Tex-Mex border” claim must be true, mustn’t it? Wouldn’t be just a right wing pack of lies, would it?

The Mirror also had more on Banksy’s response. “Mr Banks blasted the decision to deny him US entry, branding it ‘a political decision and revenge for the failed Russia Hoax’. In a long statement, he ranted about President Joe Biden being to blame and hit out at the ‘dying fake media’”. Rather than the more prosaic explanation, which is that he was just refused entry to the USA.

Nige was, of course, all sympathy. “He was also backed by Reform UK leader Mr Farage, who posted online: ‘Arron Banks is a good man and a friend of America. It is astonishing that US Citizenship and Immigration Services have denied him entry for the inauguration.’” And Banksy wasn’t finished.

“I was accused of Russian collusion in the Brexit campaign, investigated and cleared by the National Crime Agency … I would estimate it cost me over £100million in lost business and legal fees. My businesses were de-banked and attacked by vicious opponents during this period. All for supporting Brexit and President Trump”. All of which has stuff all to do with his entry denial.

As a spokesman for the US embassy in the UK put it, “Visa records are confidential under US law, therefore we cannot discuss the details of specific visa cases”. Of course not: they can leave the discussion aspect to Banksy, Wiggy, and Mr Thirsty to pontificate that it’s all so terribly unfair.

While many others look on, try unsuccessfully to suppress the urge to laugh out loud, and conclude “Oh dear, how sad, never mind”.

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Elon Musk - A Suitable Case For Treatment

Appallingly entitled and obscenely overmonied migrant Elon Musk is yet another example of what happens when there is no-one present during the time he was supposed to be growing up to say NO. Errol Musk, his father, was maybe too busy getting his own step-daughter pregnant.

Son Elon, who has been rambling and ranting about “Grooming Gangs”, had no problem being seen out and about with Ghislaine Maxwell, pal of the now deceased Jeffrey Epstein. Maybe there was, once again, no-one there who could have told him that this was Not A Good Idea.

Musk Junior’s attacks on the UK Government are yet another example of how this supposed genius trusts far-right disinformation, and what looks like a combination of ego, paranoia and ignorance builds on that misplaced trust to show that The Great Man not only does not know what he’s talking about, but also believes that all those bots and trolls backing him are real people.

So it was that he declared “America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government”. What’s he proposing? Invasion? Who in the UK voted for him? Whisper it quietly, but the most recent poll asking voters their attitude to Musk brought forth a mostly negative response. Also, he had already showed UK voters what a complete clown he is.

Having previously had Reform UK Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage cosy up to him, suggesting that an unspecified number of Musk millions would be deployed in support of Nige’s limited company, sorry, party, he yesterday about turned and told his adoring followers “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes”. Yeah, right.

Reform UK is a one-man band. And that one man is Farage. None of the other Reform UK MPs would have a snowball in hell’s chance of matching the electoral performance achieved by Mr Thirsty, either as head of UKIP in days past, or the Brexit Party in the last European Parliament elections in which the UK participated, or at the last General Election with Reform UK.

Then, overnight, it got worse. On Reform UK, he more or less endorsed Rupert Lowe: “I have not met Rupert Lowe, but his statements online that I have read so far make a lot of sense”. That’s Reform UK stuffed, then. And yet worse. “Starmer must go. He is national embarrassment” he concluded, as he quoted someone talking well, but lying badly. Then came “Starmer is complicit in the crimes”, followed by the opening of a new front, with “Gordon Brown committed an unforgivable crime against the British people”. WHAT?

Musk quotes Radio Genoa (yes, Radio Genoa) claiming that the Southport attacker was a Muslim (he wasn’t), then sneers “Prison for Starmer”. Could he get more unhinged? Don’t ask: “Am starting to wonder how anyone made it through childhood in Britain without severe trauma”. And so he comes to quoting Visegrád24. Another source of far right disinformation.

He quotes Ian Miles Cheong, who is so close to the action in the UK, as he lives in … Malaysia. And, just to be on the safe side, congenital liar and peddler of far-right disinformation Peter Imanuelsen, who claimed for some time to be in Sweden, and calls himself Peter Sweden, but in fact lives in the Not Really Swedish At All town of Northallerton. In the UK.

And now he’s back to defaming politicians. “Gordon Brown sold those little girls for votes” … “British legal system is not serving its people” [there is no “British legal system”, as Scotland has its own] … “Starmer was deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes”. And then came the pièce de résistance, which confirms Musk as totally barking.

Once more quoting Visegrád24 on calls for a new inquiry, he declares “What an insane thing to say! The real reason is that it would show how Starmer repeatedly ignored the pleas of vast numbers of little girls and their parents, in order to secure political support. Starmer is utterly despicable”. But all those bots and trolls back him, so that’s all right then. Except it isn’t.

Elon Musk may be rich. But, sad to say, he can’t recognise reality. End of.

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Musk Stupidity Puts Farage On Spot

Among the few discernible principles to which Reform UK’s self-appointed Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage is still prepared to cling is keeping his, and his party’s, distance from Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson. The grim memory of what happened to former UKIP leader Adolf von Batten is still fresh.

Yes, Batten cosying up to the Even Further Right Than Kippers, and the party’s vote imploding as a result, still haunts Mr Thirsty. But now he has a problem with that stance: his bestest new pal Elon Musk, the obscenely overmonied and also self-appointed sidekick of the President-Elect, Combover Crybaby Donald Trump, has become enamoured of Lennon.

And thus the problem: Musk has convinced himself that Lennon’s accusations about the violent assault on a young Syrian refugee at a school in Huddersfield are true, despite Lennon having pleaded guilty in a court of law to spreading, and continuing to spread, false claims about the young refugee, notably in what he grandly called a “documentary”.

As a result of his court appearance and guilty plea, Lennon was sent to prison, where he remains. Cue Muskrat: "Why is Tommy Robinson in a solitary confinement prison for telling the truth? He should be freed and those who covered up this travesty should take his place in that cell”. He didn’t tell the truth, there was no cover-up, full stop, end of story.

Or rather, it will never be the end of the story when so many who unquestioningly follow Lennon, Musk, or both of them, are prepared to believe that Bill Gates, George Soros, the WEF, a sundry convocation of so-called “Globalists”, and no doubt others, somehow control the UK, and perhaps all manner of other countries. And so it begins.

Musk has called Lennon’s defamatory “documentary” “worth watching”, and proclaimed “Free Tommy”, on the back of calling himself “Kekius Maximus” on Twitter, X, or whatever he’s calling it this week. His new profile image is Pepe the Frog, and as the BBC puts it, that’s “a meme that has been used by far-right groups”. At least it wasn’t Naughtius Maximus or Sillius Soddus.

So what is Farage to do? Reform UK has its East Midlands conference in Leicester today, but don’t expect Nige to even mention the issue of his own volition. He wants Musk’s money, but knows that cosying up to Lennon will damage his brand as surely as it did with UKIP. But it is an issue he cannot ignore, because Musk’s ranting has gone on to a new level.

What level would that be? Here’s a sample: “[Keir] Starmer was complicit in the RAPE OF BRITAIN when he was head of [The] Crown Prosecution [Service] for 6 years … Starmer must go and he must face charges for his complicity in the worst mass crime in the history of Britain”. This, it must be stressed, has no evidence to back it up, and is potentially highly defamatory.

And it got worse: as ITV has reported, “On Thursday, Musk … called on the King to dissolve Parliament, sharing a post that asks if King Charles ‘should Dissolve Parliament and order a General Election... for the sake and security of the country?’, with the comment, ‘yes’”. Those who believe the Gates, Soros and WEF paranoia have no problem with Musk sticking his oar in.

For them, this is just another Knight In Shining Armour who, like their hero Farage, is merely “telling it like it is”. The problem for our free and fearless press, as well as the Labour leadership, is that they have all been routinely lying to the voters for years, so are on very shaky ground calling out Musk, Lennon, Farage et al for lying, even though in this case they are right.

Added to that is the continuing attempt by the far-right - which includes Farage and his pals - to demonise Muslims, and brown people en masse, by inference. Mr Thirsty is as guilty as Musk or Lennon on that count. Meanwhile, an increasing number of British citizens live in fear, as the bile is poured out and too few people stand up for the actual rule of law.

Nigel Farage can no longer trim and deflect. He must face reality.

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Khan K Exposes Press Racism

Whenever there is an accusation of racism levelled at our free and fearless press, they close ranks, issue forthright denials, and of course restate the claim that they wouldn’t dream of such things, they have all cleaned up their acts since Leveson, and generally attempt to get everyone to Look Over There at whatever dead cat they can, in the meantime, dream up.

It was the same when the increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph was called out for anti-Semitism in the wake of its attack on George Soros. It was the same when the Mail, under the less than benevolent control of the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre, launched a viciously anti-Semitic attack on the memory of the late Ralph Miliband. Now it has come round again.

And again, it is the Telegraph and Mail being exposed as racist newspapers, after both of them launched a spiteful and petty assault on London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has been knighted in the New Year’s Honours. Khan has won three terms as elected Mayor. He has helped to reduce the capital’s chronic pollution. His free school meals initiative helps the least well off.

He has also tried his best to keep a lid on public transport costs. His prospectus has won through against a variety of Tory opponents, two of whom, Zac Goldsmith and Shaun Bailey, have since been ennobled. By complete coincidence, you understand, there was no press outcry about rewarding failure by sending Tories who failed to the Lords.

But enough of that: let’s see what the Mail and Tel have ponied up for the delectation of their unfortunate readers. The inmates of the Northcliffe House bunker have howled “PM’S ‘REWARD FOR FAILURE’ AS SADIQ KHAN IS KNIGHTED … London Mayor row risks overshadowing New Year Honours”. A row which the Mail and Telegraph have concocted. So it’s their fault.

Not that they will admit that. But do go on. “SADIQ Khan has been handed a knighthood in the New Year Honours - prompting furious claims of a ‘reward for failure’ [you said that already] … Leading Tories pointed to his ‘track record of failure’ in the capital, including over tackling knife crime and dramatic hikes in council tax, congestion charges and emissions levels”.

Emissions have not seen a dramatic hike, but hey ho. They probably mean the ULEZ, which failed to get Khan defeated last time round, much to the annoyance of the same right-wing papers that are now pouring out spite. The Telegraph offers “PM knights Khan in ‘reward for failure’ … Starmer accused of putting party before country as he hands honours to ‘cronies’”.

Those quote marks are doing seriously heavy lifting. So what else is testing the Tel? He allegedly “waged war on London’s drivers with the Ultra-Low Emission Zone and capitulated to unions over Tube strikes”. He did? “He … handed Tube drivers a 5 per cent pay increase”. And ended a disruptive series of strikes, which don’t affect the Tel’s rich bosses, so they don’t care.

There is more of this tedious drivel. But one person escapes any criticism, and to no surprise, that person is the disgraced former Prime Minister and occasional former Mayor of London Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, who bequeathed a mess to Sadiq Khan which he has had to sort out. And it was Bozo, let us not forget, who brought the ULEZ to London in the first place.

It was Bozo who foisted a thousand vanity buses onto TfL, for which a premium over conventional buses had to be paid. It was Bozo who shelled out tens of millions on the Garden Bridge fiasco. It was Bozo who spaffed millions up the wall (his own happy phrase) on the impractical Thames Estuary Airport study. It was Bozo who caved in to George Osborne and relinquished TfL’s subsidy from central Government. And so on.

But Bozo escapes the ritual and spiteful slagging off because he’s a Tory, he’s one of their own, and he’s white. Sadiq Khan, for all his efforts to make life better for all Londoners, will get no more than abuse, because he’s a Rotten Lefty™, he’s brown, and he’s a Muslim. The attacks are straight-up racism.

The racist and hopelessly out of touch right-wing press don’t care about ordinary Londoners. Sadiq Khan does. But you knew that already.

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BBC Farage Promo BLOWS BACK

Whether well-intentioned or not, what the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason did, live on air last week, was to polish the political turd that is Reform UK’s self-appointed Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage to the point of apparent endorsement, or at the very least, acceptance of his legitimacy. It did not take long for reality to intrude on this establishment love-in.

Chris Mason

Here’s what Mason said: “Never before have we seen a man as rich, with a megaphone as large, so willing to get stuck in to politics not just at home but abroad, and that is pretty profound in its consequences. Little wonder Nigel Farage’s domestic political rivals are fretting, frankly, about just how influential he’s proving to be at the moment”. Added to that was another telling remark.

“Nigel Farage is a man who is a master of political storytelling”. The problem with that comment, and Mason should know how serious a problem it is, is that Farage is, as I have concluded after observing so many of his claims, a congenital liar, in addition to being a racist bigot and a con man.

Worse, Mason’s knowledge of media history is woefully lacking. Maybe he never heard of Max Beaverbrook. Or perhaps he forgot about Rupert Murdoch. Maybe he also missed who is handing Farage that large megaphone of which he speaks. That would, whisper it quietly, be the BBC, which has once again given Mr Thirsty a seat at the Question Time table to dispense his lies, bigotry, and worst of all, his false prospectus.

What Farage is so keen to dispense to his all too easily persuaded followers was demonstrated in the aftermath of a deadly attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg. A man drove his car into the crowds attending the market: thus far, five have died, and more than 200 have been injured. The suspect was originally from Saudi Arabia. Cue Farage.

“We have allowed people who hate us and our values into Europe. Christmas is their target. Any guesses why?” he mused on Twitter, X, or whatever his pal Muskrat is calling it this week. He’s not making accusations, you understand, he’s just a concerned citizen asking the kinds of questions that lead those being dog-whistled to the conclusions required by Himself Personally Now.

The problem for Farage was that, although the suspect was Saudi Arabian, he had arrived in Germany to take refuge because he was an ex-Muslim, someone who had renounced Islam. Worse still for the occasional MP for Clacton, the suspect had endorsed German far-right party AfD, and had spoken approvingly of Stephen Yaxley Lennon, aka Tommy Robinson.

This mildly inconvenient fact has been brought to us by, among others, Shashank Joshi, defence editor at The Economist, who has told "German attack suspect: 'I can say from experience, everything that [Tommy] Robinson says, what Musk says, what Alex Jones says, or anyone who is called radical or right-wing extremist by mainstream media - they are telling the truth’”.

Joshi goes on to quote further from Der Spiegel. “The alleged perpetrator A. is obviously a fan of the AfD, according to an evaluation of … his social media accounts by the SPIEGEL. Eight years ago, he wrote on Twitter that he wanted to start a project together with the AfD: an academy for ex-Muslims”. Musk has endorsed AfD. Farage has endorsed them too.

Even former Murdoch editor Andrew Neil has urged caution: “The Saudi doctor behind last night’s deadly Christmas market massacre in Magdeburg appears to be not quite what many on social media rushed to assume”. And why target a Christmas market? Isn’t Christmas a Christian thing? So it is. But Jesus of Nazareth is also a revered prophet in Islam.

So those killed and injured could quite easily be non-Christians. None of this helps get Mason and the wider BBC off the hook, of course: they keep giving Farage the megaphone, then say “look, he’s got a big megaphone”. Overnight, Farage has shown the BBC who they are promoting. Lying, dog-whistle racism, and the con that is Reform UK. Not a good look.

Nigel Farage has scored more than five million views with that Tweet. The dogs have been whistled; more rabbit holes dug. Hello BBC Farage fans.

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Farage + Fawkes = Violence Hypocrisy

The perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog, now overseen by “Lord” Ross Kempsell, were in their element last Friday, talking up the far right for all they were worth, while jeering at those rotten Labour people who were, of course, total poo. This version of the far right was Reform UK, and their Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage.

Violence? What violence?

“Reform Kicks Off Runcorn & Helsby Campaign With Amesbury Sucker Punch Letter … Reform Running Punchy Runcorn Campaign” leered the Fawkes post, going on to proclaim “Reform is out of the traps early with a new letter campaign across Runcorn and Helsby. The party has gone for two visual elements: A massive picture of Nigel and a snapshot of sitting MP Mike Amesbury ‘allegedly’ thumping a constituent”. All first name friends, eh?

There was more. “The expectation is of course that a by-election is inbound”. They think that Mike Amesbury is going to go to jail for a significant stretch, do they? And that on the back of previous Fawkes headlines “‘Frodsham Bruiser’ Amesbury Suspended” and “Helsby Hellraiser’s Greatest Hits”.

But then a problem enters: this is yet another example of The Great Guido using the same tactics as their fellow members of the press establishment, choosing not merely what to publish, but what not to publish. And when it comes to Reform UK and gratuitous violence, the Fawkes massive are likely to end up in one of those Very Difficult Positions.

That’s because James McMurdock, the Reform UK MP not as well known as Farage, Richard Tice (he’s not very nice), Rupert Lowe, and 30p Lee Anderson, and who is sitting on a majority of just 98 votes in the constituency of South Basildon and East Thurrock, has a past which does not sit well with his usual smiling bonhomie. Because it includes domestic violence.

Ross Kempsell, sorry, "Lord" Ross Kempsell

This from the Guardian: “The Reform UK MP James McMurdock was apparently detained as a teenager for repeatedly kicking his then girlfriend, it has emerged, despite him previously claiming she was hurt after he pushed her …[he] spent 21 days in a young offender institution after kicking the victim ‘around four times’ in an incident outside a nightclub in Chelmsford when he was 19”. Who hasn’t confused pushing and kicking in the past?

And there was, once again, more. “Later in July, the mother of his former girlfriend told the Mail that the new MP was ‘a monster’ who had ‘left marks on her body’, saying: ‘It took two security guards to pull him off her.’” Reform supporters have been busily passing it off as a youthful indiscretion.

And yet more. “According to a copy of the court register extract, the magistrate explained that McMurdock was given a custodial sentence that ‘was not suspended in light of serious nature of the offence’. Such an offence ‘requires immediate punishment’, the extract said, adding that a pre-sentence report appeared to show a ‘lack of willingness to comply’”.

Before The Great Guido joins the “20 years ago” chorus, perhaps Stanies, Kempsell (sorry, “Lord” Kempsell) and their pals could explain why it would have been OK for Farage’s pals, but whatever Rachel Reeves may or may not have been employed to do 20 years ago is fair game to dig up and rake over again and again and again, ad infinitum, and indeed ad nauseam.

The Fawkes rabble are stinking hypocrites. But you knew that already.

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