Farage Migrant Threat = MORE LIES

Maintaining his public profile is proving challenging to occasional MP and Reform UK Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage. So it was that The Great Man decided to resort to what he does best - talking well, but lying badly. This was accomplished by claiming that someone who is not in the UK had in fact arrived in the UK, and made a death threat against him.

Also, the target of Farage’s latest pack of lies was one of those Not White Chappies, he had a distinctive gun tattoo, and was most likely one of those Scary Muslims™. So, including a video from the Not White Person, off went Nige. “This illegal migrant has made a threat on my life and is now in the UK. He is the kind of person we are letting into our country”. This was not true.

There was no illegality, the individual concerned was not a migrant to the UK, because, whisper it quietly, he was not (yet) in the UK. So he was not “the kind of person we are letting into our country”. So far, so straightforward, and so dishonest. Farage being a racist bigot, congenital liar, and con man, film at 11. The lie was so blatant that not even his own media outlet was buying it.

Yes, Gammon Broadcasting™ News (“Bacon’s News Channel”), being thus far the only broadcaster or press source to report on Farage’s latest lies, could not stand up his claims. His followers on Twitter, X, or whatever Muskrat is calling it this week, lapped it up, though, some asking Mr Thirsty when he was going to join the calls for mass deportation. That’s as in mass deportation of people who are not white and/or are Scary Muslims™.

So over to GB News. “Nigel Farage has claimed an ‘illegal migrant’ has made a threat on his life after a video showed a young man making aggressive hand gestures while talking about the Reform UK leader”. Aggressive hand gestures? Ooh yes, that’s an instant deportation. In Farage world, that is.

Do go on. “The Clacton MP, who was twice assaulted on the 2024 General Election campaign, broke his silence on the heavily-circulated footage tonight”. Broke wind more like. It’s just attention seeking. Have another go. “Farage had earlier highlighted how TikToker Mada Pasa was posting about his attempt to reach the UK by crossing the Channel”. And?

“Pasa, who is believed to originate from Afghanistan, posted more than 60 videos about his journey across Europe … He gained nearly 20,000 followers, amassing 230,000 likes and millions of views”. Yes? Yes yes? Yes yes yes? “There was no evidence from the video to suggest Pasa has reached British shores”. Even GB News admits Farage is lying.

But there was more. “The Reform UK leader also shared Pasa's video which was riddled with expletives … During the video, Pasa said: ‘English man Nigel. Don't talk s**t about me. You not know me … I come to England because I want to married with your sister … Don't talk about me more. Delete the video. It is not good my friend, you do not know me. I am going to come to England”. He’s not in the country. Also, he’s taking the piss.

Any more? As if you needed to ask. “Pasa was heard saying ‘pop, pop, pop’ after making hand gestures and headbutting the camera … He added: ‘I'm TikToker, I'm not gang, I am not mafia I am Mafia's Papa.’” In other words, he’s just another attention seeking bore. Bit like Nigel Farage.

Nigel Farage is still a racist and congenital liar. But you knew that already.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton

Anti-Migration Fan Now A Migrant

Some have left the UK for well thought out reasons - and with all due modesty, I include myself in that category - while others have departed for reasons dependent on their ability to reinvent reality. In the latter category, we see Plastic Padré Calvin Robinson, who is staunchly, even virulently, opposed to immigration, making an exception for Himself Personally Now.

Calvin Robinson

Robinson, an appallingly immodest being with much to be modest about, has had a chequered recent career: he was a governor at the Michaela School in Wembley (yes, the one where Katharine Birbalsingh is head teacher), but then he wasn’t; he was a senior fellow at wacko right-wing lobby group Policy Exchange, but then wasn’t, and trained for the clergy with the C of E.

But then he wasn’t C of E either, ending up in the Nordic Catholic Church, which really exists, but very few have heard of. He espouses the kinds of views that get folks an entry to media outlets like Gammon Broadcasting™ News (“Bacon’s News Channel”), but they sacked him for siding with the deeply unpleasant Dan Wootton. The press still likes him, though.

That includes the increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph, the Mail titles, and online outlets like Spiked, so named because it should have been long ago. He has espoused Islamophobia, passed severely adverse comment upon anything he can label as “woke”, and above all he has opposed immigration. Then came his defining moment of rank hypocrisy.

Yes, he was about to do a little immigration of his own. Here’s the schtick, first the Tweet: “It is with a heavy heart that I announce I am leaving the United Kingdom. Starmer's dark Satanic Mills are not for me. But I will be back. For now, it is time to regroup. I will not cease from mental fight, nor shall my sword sleep in my hand”. Full of crap as usual. And the longer version?

“I mentioned at the end of the last show … that I am looking to leave the United Kingdom … I have been called to a parish elsewhere. I will announce where when it’s appropriate … it’s been accelerated by the current state of affairs in the United Kingdom … it doesn’t feel like people are ready to fight yet, there aren’t enough people awake yet”. Wow! Zap! DULL!

And there is more. “It feels like, in other parts of the world, there are people who still believe in freedom, still believe in Christ, and are willing to fight for what’s right, and I’m hoping that in joining them, and becoming a soldier among many, that we can regroup, we can build an army (speaking metaphorically). We need to be stronger, as Christians, as Brits”.

Sadly, he may be back. “I will make a stand in the next General Election, but in the meantime, I’m going to work as a full-time parish priest in a parish elsewhere. London is no longer safe [no citation], I have moved out of London, I’m a nomad at the moment, floating around without a home, but I’ve been offered a home, and am going to serve and administer to good people, good faithful people [and] hope to come back stronger”. Yeah, right.

Not so much giving one another a sign of peace as peace off. So where’s he going? Ah well. That we do not get to know - yet. Maybe he’s just having an extended visit to Ireland; after all, they (mostly) speak English, so he won’t have a language problem. Perhaps he’s off to mainland Europe.

Well, so long as he doesn’t rock up anywhere in the Greater Lisbon area. One rumour currently circulating is that Calv is bound for Spain; perhaps he will minister to the likes of Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, who does appear to be indulging in the kind of sinful behaviour which may be tempered by a little more confession, and a little less grifting.

But few in the UK will miss him. The media opportunities will all too rapidly be taken over by another in the seemingly endless line of far right gobshites; one more stinking hypocrite only serves to show how full of the proverbial so many out there on the right really are. Immigration, for them, is the reddest of red lines, except when they choose to rewrite the rules in their favour.

One more rabid rat is now leaving the sinking ship. Just rejoice at that news.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton

Election Day Press Shame

The day has finally dawned, when, if the latest poll is to be believed, Labour will sweep to a tally of well over 400 MPs, with the Tories facing something between annihilation and wipeout. The conclusion to the election campaign is as obvious now as it has been since Rishi Sunak went to see Brian in late May, his pals bet on the election date, and Labour were thereby alerted.

Turnout looks as if it may be on the high side: good. Sunak might, just might, provide the ultimate Portillo moment of the night as it looks possible that he could lose his seat. Five-figure Tory majorities are set to fall across the country, with at least one poll suggesting that Esther McVey in true blue Tatton could be a casualty. The Tories may end up with fewer than 100 seats.

If The Blue Team does worse even than that low bar, we could be looking at their being replaced as the official opposition by the Lib Dems. All of the foregoing is shaping up to provide excellent spectator sport after polls close at 2200 hours. But for one group of observers, there is a fear and foreboding in the air. They are the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press.

While the Murdoch Sun has done a screeching U-Turn during the week, going from attacking Labour to telling their remaining readers that Keir Starmer and his pals are actually the winning team, and the Sunday Times has also backed The Red Team, the daily title under the editorship of the deeply unpleasant Tony Gallagher has gone into fence-sitting mode.

Not so the Daily Brexit, still called the Express, which is pleading with any readers not yet asleep to back the Tories. The increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph has invented a Labour council tax raid. The Mail is trying to get readers not to back Reform UK. It is in a blind panic.

“Soaring taxes [no citation], uncontrolled immigration [no citation] … rampant wokery [meaningless drivel], betrayal of women’s rights [should be right up the Mail’s street, then], Net Zero mania [there is no mania], weaker defence [no citation], surrender of our Brexit freedoms [what ‘Brexit freedoms’ would those be, then?] - and votes at 16 to ‘rig’ future elections [is that in the Labour manifesto? I blinked and missed it]” And the “Supermajority” crap, too.

As well as the blatantly dishonest “You can stop it”. Right now, those Daily Mail readers with whom the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre had his imaginary “conversations” are queuing up at polling stations to vote out his preferred party of Government. After 14 years of ineptitude, corruption, waste, cronyism, cruelty, gaslighting, dishonesty, and rampant self-interest.

But what frightens the press more is that they have thus far failed to coax any assurance out of the Starmer team that there will be no return to Part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry, and the associated prospect of properly independent press regulation. No assurance that the press will be able to carry on behaving as badly as they see fit. Hence the panic, more lying, and scare stories.

Because a Government with a three-figure majority need not fear what all those obscenely overmonied hacks and pundits do in their efforts to derail whatever agenda is put before Parliament. If Labour triggers Leveson 2, not all the press lobbying in the Western world will stop it. Seeing what the press got up to for all those years will begin to turn the public’s heads. Good.

Worse for the press, the proliferation of poverty, those thousands of food banks, many working full time and still unable to make ends meet, will count against them. Why buy a paper when those who contribute to its production have so little understanding of how difficult life is for those hardworking people whom they claim to champion? They don’t care. Like the Tories.

The voters listened to the press, and their pals in all those Astroturf lobby groups. It got them a country that is in serious decline, a health service that is on its knees, roads that are literally falling apart, public transport that is either absent or expensive, a Police service that is mostly ineffective, and all they see is rich people filling their pockets. Then they see the press.

A press supporting more cruelty and more poverty. Don’t forget to vote.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton

Oh Tommy Tommy - You’re An Illegal

One thing Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, dislikes is when he believes people are not being totally honest. “You’ve been telling lies about me” was his opening gambit when he rocked up on my doorstep in the dead of night. It is so very different when the boot is firmly on the other foot, as it was yesterday evening in Canada.

The Mail, friend of right but not far right, told that “Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, appears to have been detained by officers outside the Carriage House Hotel and Conference Centre in Calgary. Video footage showed the far-Right activist being taken away in handcuffs by a team of police as he laughed and protested that the arrest was 'absolutely insane’”.

Do go on. “He could be heard asking an officer: 'What have I got a warrant out for?' They replied: 'You've got an outstanding immigration warrant, we'll talk about it in the vehicle.' Robinson was then put in a car and driven away. It appears the 41-year-old was later released, but he claims to have now been prevented from leaving Calgary”. Are they keeping the SOB? Good!

There was more. “The English Defence League founder later tweeted: 'OK I'm free, well sort of. None of this makes sense, I'm now detained in Calgary, prevented from leaving the city … These conditions stop me from continuing my tour of Canada and meeting with guests for podcasts. I'm not even allowed to leave to travel home’”. Cos they took his passport. Carry on.

“Robinson had been speaking at an event called 'An Evening with Tommy Robinson', organised by far-Right media website Rebel News and its founder Ezra Levant … He also had a speaking event booked in Edmonton tonight, with the exact location not revealed to ticket holders until this morning - but this is now in doubt. Then this Sunday, Robinson also had a similar engagement in Toronto”. A bad case of Griftus Interruptus, it seems.

Levant could be seen in the video of Lennon’s arrest pleading with Police officers to let him know where his pal was being taken, so bail could perhaps be arranged. The Great Man confirmed later to Levant that his passport had been taken and he could therefore not leave the country.

Why he got nicked was spelled out by Nick Lowles of Hope Not Hate. “Stephen Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson) has been arrested in Canada on immigration violations. It appears that he entered the country claiming he had no convictions .....whereas of course he has loads. He will claim to be the victim, but the truth is he lied. Simple as that”. Telling lies, is he?

He won’t like that a bit. He might even have to drive 150 miles or so and doorstep himself loudly in the dead of night, doxxing the address as he goes. Then he can loudly blame someone else and doorstep them loudly in the dead of night, doxxing their address too. Then he can loudly start another grift from his adoring fans. By that time he will of course be telling THE TROOF.

After being released by Calgary’s finest later last night, Lennon took on an air of mild panic as he realised that being told that when he goes home is not down to him might mean he gets held in Canada for long enough to stop him attending his own celebratory event in late July. This, too, will be someone else’s fault, rather than his own doing for lying to get into Canada.

Which means that, yes, he is now an illegal immigrant. One observer of this situation mused “Tommy Robinson must be delighted to see how effectively Canadians deal with illegal immigrants”, and Louise Raw, who you can tell as she’s a doctor, reminded us that Lennon “has previously been caught travelling under TWO DIFFERENT FALSE PASSPORTS”. So he has.

So Lennon might miss his July event? Tough. He should have thought about that before lying to the Canadian authorities. If he doesn’t appear before the courts on the 29th, he’ll be in even deeper shit. And that appearance - linked to his facing a contempt of court charge and yet another stretch - really would put the lid on his freedom. Which would, once again, be all his own fault.

Stephen Lennon’s comeback tour got cancelled. Just rejoice at that news.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton

Don’t Mention The War, Sorry, Brexit

Perhaps the most surreal aspect of the General Election campaign is that the party most likely to form the next Government - Labour - is steadfastly refusing to recognise the elephant in the Economy room. The Elephant which has resulted in higher taxes, a decline in the UK’s ability to trade freely with its nearest neighbour, and therefore its attractiveness and competitiveness.

The name of the Elephant is Brexit. And Labour would rather not mention it, so frit are they of the fury that would rain down upon them from the general direction of our free and fearless press should they dare to Go There. This level of cowardice before gaining power gives every impression of enduring after Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves take up residence in Downing Street.

But at some time, Labour will have to talk about the Elephant. Meanwhile, the Lib Dems are unencumbered by Labour’s cowardice, and John Sweeney, who is now fighting Sutton Coldfield for them, has put it directly: “I remember listening to the Brexit result in my little backyard and then it started to drizzle. Our wonderful country was conned something rotten: we have ended up with a broken economy, a blighted future and our national security endangered”.

And his solution? “The sooner we are back in the European Union the better and, if elected, I shall campaign for that … Vote for me and I shall fight for you”. Fight is the right word. Because the overmonied and intolerant part of the media class, less affected by Brexit, will fight to keep it.

They will always be able to summon a member of the punditerati to tell whoever reads the final article that the UK imposing economic sanctions upon itself is a small price to pay for the benefit of keeping all those FORRINS from making decisions that affect Brits. Screwing over farmers? Throwing the fishing industry under the nearest bus? Not their problem.

While the comfortable part of the media class can still dine at their reassuringly upmarket restaurants, can still summon tradespeople to patch up their over-valued properties, can still get domestic help without breaking the upmarket bank, and can still use the app to hail a private hire vehicle and therefore keep the hoi polloi away from them, Brexit will be excellent.

Typical of that media class is one Iain Martin, who claimed “‘The Office for Budget Responsibility says UK GDP will be around 4% lower every year than it would have been had we remained inside the EU,’ reports the [Observer]. This is not what the OBR says”, only to be Community Noted and for Jonathan Portes to tell him “This is *precisely* what the OBR says”.

In the meantime, Edwin Hayward, who has written a little on the subject, has put together a thread (HERE) where he groups the benefits of EU membership under the headings of Economic Benefits, Freedom of Movement, Education and Research, Consumer Rights and Protections, Health and Safety, Workers’ Rights, Environmental Protection, Citizenship and Legal Rights, Data and Digital Rights, Cultural and Creative Industries, Trade and Business, Security, Political Influence, and Future Potential.

Put yet more directly, improving the lot of all those Ordinary and Hard Working People without sinking yet deeper into decline and a vicious cycle of higher taxation, and without Sterling losing all remaining credibility, is going to be, er, challenging without returning to the EU. With or without another poll.

It will also involve not giving con men like Nigel “Thirsty” Farage and his ability to talk well, but lie badly, equal status with leaders of democratically constituted political parties (which Reform UK, being a limited company with no internal democracy, cannot claim to be). Treat him on merit. Or lack of it.

But above all, Labour has to have the courage to talk about the EU. To be straight with the voters. This may well risk the bad faith lobbyists who lied and conned their way to success last time to crawl out of the Tufton Street woodwork. So what? They will have to be faced down whatever happens.

The average Polish citizen will soon be better off than their British counterpart. John Sweeney is right. The UK has to rejoin. That is all.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton

Oh Tommy Tommy - Facing Jail Again

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton

Kemi Badenoch Sells The Pass

Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch represents the constituency of Saffron Walden, sitting on a majority of more than 27,500. As such, she is one of the few Tories likely to survive even the most serious swing away from her party come the General Election. This means she can afford the occasional lapse into serious stupid territory, such as her latest “Brexit Freedoms” whopper.

Kemi Badenoch

This has come via the obedient recycling of a press release by the inmates of the Northcliffe House bunker, where readers were told “Pavement dining to become a 'permanent feature of the high street' as Business secretary Kemi Badenoch announces plans to remove red tape for pubs, restaurants and cafes to make the most of 'Brexit freedoms’”. Ri-i-i-ight. Do go on.

“Kemi Badenoch yesterday announced a package of reforms to boost businesses. Plans unveiled by the Business Secretary include proposals to remove regulations that make it hard for pubs, restaurants and cafes to get permission to serve customers outside”. And given the by-line of the Mail’s political editor Jason Groves. Billed as “Brexit freedoms”.

There was more. “Pubs could also be given the automatic right to sell takeaway pints. Temporary allowances were granted during the pandemic but are due to expire next year”. Is this another of those “Brexit freedoms”? Whatever. “Small firms like cafes and corner shops could be permitted to 'self-certify' for some functions, meaning they would not be 'subjected to needless inspections or mandatory training courses' before they can serve customers”. But there is a problem with this meaningless drivel.

Despite quoting Ms Badenoch (or “Mrs” Badenoch in last-Century Mail speak) more or less verbatim, telling “This Government is seizing the benefits of Brexit by reducing burdens on business, pushing down the cost of living, and driving growth in every corner of the economy”, someone doesn’t get it.

One problem Groves did not have with his article was finding photos to illustrate the idea of “pavement dining”. Because - especially in big cities, like, er, London, within walking distance of Parliament, and indeed the Mail’s offices, there is rather a lot of “pavement dining”. And it gets worse.

There is also a significant amount of “pavement drinking”, as anyone who has visited places like the Euston Tap will know. This is on account of most drinking space at such places not being inside the building that dispenses the beer. Outside tables, tall ones for standing, and a more normal height for sitting and eating, are an established feature of many outlets.

For starters, that allows those who cannot manage without a smoke to visit and enjoy the food and drink on offer. And the idea that this is a “Brexit freedom” is bunk. From where I live, a trip across the river to Lisbon brings home the reality that in many of the city’s streets, there is so much outside seating that just walking has become a veritable obstacle course.

Indeed, I can think of one craft beer outlet where all the seating is outside on the street (AMO Brewery on the Rua Bernardim Ribeiro, for those asking). One of the most recommendable Bifanas (look it up) in town, from the hole in the wall at Afonso’s just off the Rua Madalena, has to be consumed standing up, or sitting under the big tree nearby. This is not a rarity.

The demand for seating at the legendary A Brasileira café is for the outside kind. Because guidebook and people watching. And seeing how many punters you can cram on to one of those passing trams (officially 58, which is grim enough, but unofficially rather more). Portugal is an EU member state and likely to remain so. This claimed “Brexit freedom” ISN’T.

But such is the grovelling subservience of the Mail, part of its desperation to prop up the rapidly-eroding credibility of the Government, that it is prepared to have its political editor put his name to this slice of baloney, mainly because Ms Badenoch is seen as a rising star of the Tory party. This is thin gruel to put before the readers. Which just enforces the sense of impending wipeout.

The voters know what pavement dining is like. They’ve visited the EU.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton

Mail Scone Hypocrisy EXPOSED

The National Trust, that most British of institutions, has for the past two years been under sustained attack from a dubious convocation of bad faith actors: the Tufton Street brigade, the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press, and overlapping both of these, a group calling itself Restore Trust, which is trying to get its placemen elected to the NT on the flimsiest of pretexts.

What the f***'s this got to do with me, c***?!?!?

Having accused the NT of “rewriting history” (another pack of lies), these vested interests then failed to get their people elected to the NT, and so then whined about the body being “undemocratic”. Yes, democracy is undemocratic. Most of the wacko propaganda has been invented by the increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph. But not all of it.

So it was that the Daily Mail, claiming an “exclusive” for its non-revelation, declared earlier this week “National Trust secretly makes all its scones vegan - while critics condemn 'woke' use of vegetable-based spread instead of butter”, once again deliberately misusing the word “woke”. There was no secret, but there was another attempt to associate “vegan” with “bad”.

Anyhoo, do go on. “They are the much-loved staple enjoyed with jam and cream at its tearooms across the country … But the National Trust is now risking the ire of diners after admitting its scones have gone vegan - and that they 'may taste different to the traditional version’”. Big intercoursing deal.

Sadly, there was more. “Critics have condemned the use of a vegetable-based spread instead of butter in the baking as a 'virtue-signalling betrayal', in what looks like yet another woke row involving the charity”. A row about people being “alert to injustice within society, especially racism”? What does that have to do with scones? It doesn’t. But the Mail was not finished. Yet.

“Campaign group Restore Trust, which wants to rid the charity of its 'divisive ideologies' and 'activism', slammed the move … Chairman Cornelia van der Poll said: 'It is unfortunate that the National Trust can't even get scones right, let alone bigger issues such as properly looking after the properties in its care.’”. Restore Trust, having lost twice as NT members saw them coming, inventing “ideology” the Trust doesn’t have, and “activism” it doesn’t do.

(c) Kate Whitaker

Only after the Mail tells its readers what to think does it also tell “Last night, a spokesman for the trust said: 'Our cafes serve millions of customers a year and we work hard to accommodate dietary needs and allergies. Our scones are made with vegetable-based spread. This means our iconic plain and fruit scones can be enjoyed by those with dairy allergies and vegans.’”

What it has not told is that there is no secret, and that the Mail has been caught trying to play both sides of the field (again). Celia Richardson, the NT’s communications director, responded to the “secret” dishonesty by reminding us “National Trust scones have been made without butter for many years and we publish all our recipes”. More crap Mail propaganda, then.

And it got worse as she told yesterday “Stand by for the National Trust's Coleen Rooney moment. It's a Wagatha Christie-style discovery, but for scones, and it's big”. Big, y’know, big. BIG! And, just to really upset the Mail, she pronounces it “s-con” - not “s-cone”. So what’s the reveal?

“Yesterday the Daily Mail claimed [the National Trust] has 'secretly' stopped using butter in its scones in a 'virtue-signalling betrayal' of heritage. It now transpires the very same Daily Mail glowingly published our scone recipe in 2018 MADE WITH MARGARINE!!!” Under the headline “National pleasure: Fruit scones”, the Mail had gushed “Celebrate the great British tradition of afternoon tea by serving up some of the truly scrumptious recipes from a new book by the National Trust”. Could it get worse for the Dacre doggies?

It certainly could. “National Trust tearooms around the country are proud of their scones. Serve simply with good strawberry jam and generous spoonfuls of clotted cream for the perfect afternoon tea”. And there was the recipe. No butter. But 115 grams of soft margarine. Gushed over by the Mail.

No secrets, and bang to rights again. The inmates of the Northcliffe House bunker are full of crap. But you knew that already.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton

Bozo Ultimate Hypocrisy

Even those not well disposed towards Labour leader Keir Starmer are beginning to tire of the incessant barrage of bad faith attacks from the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press. But someone out there among those who scrabble around the dunghill that is Grubstreet, or more likely in a position not unadjacent to CCHQ, must think it a worthwhile idea.

And that applies especially to those with nose to grindstone in the Northcliffe House bunker, whose roster of obscenely overpaid pundits has recently been enhanced by the dubious talents of disgraced former alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson. Bozo has warned the Mail’s readership today that they should not trust this Starmer chappie on security matters.

Thus the headline “Sir Keir voted to ditch our alliance with the Saudis, which would have allowed Houthi rebels to wreak even more destruction... Starmer needs to tell us why on earth we should trust Labour with our security”. As usual, you have no need to read the supporting article, with the usual Bozo rambling stream of consciousness, as you’ve been told what to think.

But here’s a hint or two of Tedious Maximus in full-ish flow: “Well, the Houthis had it coming. We had no choice but to act … Of course, there will be qualms. People in Britain will be anxious for what follows. But the lesson is clear. You cannot turn your back on a region. You cannot just disengage from problems and hope that they will not affect you in the future”.

Like, oh I dunno, Afghanistan, perhaps? But do go on. “The spate of Houthi attacks on shipping, if it continues, has the potential to do incalculable damage to the world economy - and to the UK … There was … intensified pressure on the UK government to rescind the historic agreements between Britain and Saudi Arabia - signed under Margaret Thatcher - and stop the flow of arms and military support to Riyadh”. Getting to the point yet?

“One evening, October 26, 2016, all five opposition parties voted to stop supporting the Saudis and to end the military relationship … Look at those MPs who voted in 2016 to axe the UK-Saudi relationship, and let the Houthis get on with it. There’s Yvette Cooper, and Emily Thornberry, and oh yes, of course, there’s the member for Holborn and St Pancras, Sir Keir Starmer”.

Nearly there. “He was totally wrong. He was voting against the interests of the UK’s long-term partners, and effectively in favour of the Houthis … He should explain. He should also explain why on earth we should trust Labour with our security”. Boris Johnson calls security risk on someone else. Ri-i-i-ight.

Here’s the Guardian, from 2019: “A trip Boris Johnson made to Italy for a party held by a billionaire socialite ended with the then foreign secretary at an airport ‘looking like he had slept in his clothes’, struggling to walk in a straight line and telling other passengers he had had a heavy night”.

And where had Bozo been, allegedly without his security detail? Palazzo Terranova, owned by Yevgeny Lebedev, son of a “former” KGB officer. Except that you never leave the KGB, or its successor agency, the FSB. As John Sweeney spelt it out in a video [HERE], UK security agencies were not happy.

“So, Boris goes to Bunga Bunga parties in Italy. Who gives a damn? I don’t. But, and here’s the rub, MI6 did. What concerned them was not what Boris was doing, but where he was doing it - the Russian mountain. I have two sources who’ve told me that MI6 was worried that Boris Johnson, when he was Foreign Secretary, was a security risk”. A cabinet minister added “Boris Johnson, because of his private life, was open to blackmail”. Kompromat.

On top of that, and, apparently, in the teeth of opposition from those pesky security agencies once more, Bozo made Yevgeny Lebedev a peer. So the son of a Russian spy now sits, when he chooses to exercise his privilege, in the House of Lords. The Government has since refused to release details about the circumstances of that peerage award. When Bozo was PM.

Boris Johnson calling Security Risk on others is jaw-dropping hypocrisy of the most blatant kind. That’s how desperate the right-wing press has become.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton

Boeing In Max Trouble

After a grim initial entry into service, with two crashes, which between them involved more than three times the death toll of the de Havilland Comet 1, an aircraft which heralded the beginning of the jet age when rather a lot was still to be learned about metal fatigue and other side effects of the step change in speed, Boeing’s latest 737 variant was settling down to safe, routine service.

But not for the first time, this manufacturer has proved to be its own worst enemy, with another of those in-flight incidents which the airline industry, and especially consumer confidence, can do without. What happened can be put directly: a 737 Max 9 lost a fuselage panel at an altitude of 16,000 feet not long after departing Portland, OR, for Ontario, CA.

The panel is used instead of an exit door in some Max 9 configurations. As the BBC report explains, “The rear mid-cabin exit door is used in dense seating configurations on some Max 9 planes to meet evacuation requirements, but is ‘plugged’ on other planes, including the Alaska [Airlines] flight”. The carrier has taken 65 similar aircraft out of service.

Added to that number are the 79 Max 9s previously delivered to United Airlines. In total, 171 aircraft have been grounded following an FAA directive. The scale of disruption is hinted at by the Beeb also telling “Alaska said it cancelled 160 flights on Saturday, affecting about 23,000 passengers”. The “plugged” door area is held in place by four bolts. All must be inspected.

Fortunately, for those living on this side of the North Atlantic, “The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is following the FAA approach, but flight disruptions on the continent are expected to be minimal. EASA said it believes no European airlines operate Max 9s with the configuration covered by the FAA order. One of the world's largest intercontinental airports, London Heathrow, said there was no impact on flights”. So how bad was the incident?

Potentially, very bad indeed: the panel blew out at just over 16,000 feet, with passengers still having their safety belts fastened. However, as the BBC report reminds us, “The cruising height of a 737 Max is around 38,000ft. At this level, the difference between the pressure inside the aircraft and the atmosphere outside is much greater. Had the door blown out here, the sudden rush of air would have been much more violent, and potentially lethal, especially if passengers were not wearing seatbelts”. And it gets worse still.

OH DEAR

A more recent Beeb report now tells “Alaska Airlines placed restrictions on the Boeing plane involved in a dramatic mid-air blowout after pressurisation warnings in the days before Friday's incident, investigators say”. Do go on.

“The jet had been prevented from making long-haul flights over water, said Jennifer Homendy of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) … Speaking at a news conference, Ms Homendy said pilots reported pressurisation warning lights on three previous flights made by the specific Alaska Airlines Max 9 involved in the incident”. There was more.

“The decision to restrict lengthy flights over water was so that the plane ‘could return very quickly to an airport’ in the event the warnings happened again, the NTSB chief added … ‘An additional maintenance look’ was requested but ‘not completed’ before the incident, Ms Homendy said”. Well, well.

Meanwhile, airlines that have committed to the 737 must be wondering what is going to happen next. A repeat of the Portland incident should be impossible for carriers like Ryanair, who thus far have restricted their new aircraft to the Max 8. But Michael O’Leary and his merry men have an order in for up to 150 Max 10s. Meanwhile, Airbus devotees are sitting pretty.

The problem for the Boeing 737 stems from the original design being rather too close to the ground for newer fan engines. Airbus could take a clean design brief with their A320 family. So the 737 had to have its engine intakes redesigned for the 300 to 800 series, with the infamous MCAS system for the Max. The company now needs to ensure it retains punters’ confidence after the Portland incident. Otherwise it could be in serious trouble.

Also, peak flying could be closer than the industry is prepared to admit.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton

Migration - Tories Screw Up UK Again

Amid all the faux outrage over news that net inward migration to the UK was well into the hundreds of thousands, and not likely to drop to the five-figure level any time soon, few in and around our free and fearless press stopped and thought that, far from being a drag on the economy, those migrants were the only reason that economy had not fallen into recession rather earlier.

They come here, work hard, earn money, pay taxes, spend in the shops, and by doing so keep growth going - just about. But here, for the Tories and their desire to appease their right wing, a problem enters: most migrants now come mostly from outside the previously hated EU. Whisper it quietly, but most of those coming to the UK are in the Not White category.

Not, of course, that any of the papers slobbering over news of a much more restrictive immigration policy were playing the race card, you understand. After all, the policy could not be racist as the bloke who introduced it was himself Not White. That much is true, but those to whom the new rules are now being broadcast by the press certainly are. So how is it being pitched?

As ever, it was the Murdoch Sun (owned by a US citizen) and Rothermere Daily Mail (owned by a non-dom) in the vanguard, the latter proclaiming “BIGGEST EVER CLAMPDOWN ‘WILL SLASH MIGRATION BY 300,000’ … Salary threshold for foreign employees hiked to £38,000 … Curbs on care workers’ families … Now Cleverly flies out to seal Rwanda treaty”.

There was more. “JAMES Cleverly last night vowed ‘enough is enough’ as he unveiled tough reforms designed to slash net migration by 300,000 a year”. And the Sun? “Rishi Gets Tough On Migration … ACCESS DENIED … Plan to slash influx by 300,000 … PM to [the Sun] Enough is enough”. Neither title, nor any of the other right-wing rags, asked themselves the obvious question.

For the less well-off, that would be to ask how the NHS, and wider social care sector, would continue to function if the source of so many nurses and other carers were cut off. And for the well-off, which means most of the obscenely overpaid hacks and pundits feeding us this bullpucky, that would be where their cleaners, Au-Pairs, delivery drivers and baristas would come from.

Just to keep a few bigots sweet. That is how out of touch, out of ideas, and out of courage, the present Government has become. How it has to churn out unworkable and cruel policies in order to appease the press, which in turn churns out the propaganda that helps Tory poll numbers remain in the high 20s, rather than going down the chute into the teens, and then oblivion.

Indeed, quoting from a report from the Resolution Foundation - a body that gets an A rating for transparency from Who Funds You - Tom Bradby of ITV News has mused “Picture a country going backwards, where workers haven't had a decent pay rise in 15 years, public services are on the verge of collapse, and the gap between rich and poor grows year on year”. Do go on.

“That is how Britain was described today in a bleak and damming assessment of its economy. The failure to achieve all but negligible growth has left the average worker a simply staggering £10,000 a year worse off. And we're now lagging way behind countries we used to think of as equals. In Germany, middle income households are 20% richer than their UK peers”.

There was more. “We'd be here all night if we listed the failings identified in the 290 page report. But put simply, in almost every sector, the UK is just not productive enough”. Sam Freedman has added “the UK is the *only* country in Europe where second generation immigrants outperform non-immigrant students. (And first generation don't do much worse)”.

He wasn’t finished: “our immigration is *actively improving* our education system (due to peer effects) … It's also making our system look more equitable because immigrants outperform their socio-economic status”. Put directly, immigration is not merely keeping the economy afloat, it’s also helping the UK in other ways. And the Tories are going to stop all that.

They fouled up the UK only partly. So now they intend to finish the job.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton

Guido I’m A Celeb Claim WRONG

One group of media observers never learns, and that is the cohort willing to take the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog on trust. Rather too much of what emanates from them is right-wing propaganda - such as recycling press releases from the so-called Taxpayers Alliance and the rest of the Tufton Street gang - and there is a significant amount of pro-Tory spin. And then there are the flat-out gaffes.

WRONG

Or, as some might call them, talking well, but lying badly. Today has brought a particularly fine example as the Fawkes folks have attempted to polish the usually unflushable turd that is former Brexit Party Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage, only to find themselves covered in more than confusion.

Nige is the star turn on this year’s series of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, with ITV for some reason ponying up well north of the cool million mark in order to secure his attendance Down Under. And rather than give him a brief mention and point out that he’s a spiv and a congenital liar of no known principle, The Great Guido has sung The Great Man’s praises.

So it was that readers still awake were told at 1059 hours this morning of “Farage’s Jungle Challenge Debut”, with those chez Fawkes gushing “Farage’s debut on I’m A Celebrity last night didn’t fail to entertain, as he was made to stick his head in box of snakes to win tokens. Farage wasn’t concerned about the challenge, joking he’s had experience with snakes before … in the European Parliament”. Laugh? I thought I’d never start.

But there was, sadly, more: “The GB News presenter said he hoped those who hate him will hate him a little less after the show, admitting he could understand why Hancock joined the show last year. Though not sure even a reality show could clear Hancock’s reputation”. Yes? Yes yes? Yes yes yes?

And then came the howler, made that much worse as it had already been rumbled an hour before. “Over 10 million viewed the show last night making it ITV’s highest rating of the year, and up by over 1 million viewers on last year’s launch. So much for the boycott from the left”. Yeah, take that Rotten Lefties™! Nige’s ratings are bigger than yours!! Nyah nyahdy nyah nyah!!!

But, as Captain Blackadder might have observed, there was only one thing wrong with the viewing claim: it was bollocks. We know this as another of those making the 10 million plus claim, Brexiteer Martin “Dipshit” Daubney, had sneered “I’m A Celebrity viewing figures peak at 10.3 million … ITV’s highest rating of the year … 1 million more than last year”. There was more.

“All thanks to Nigel Farage. Some ‘boycott’”! He even helpfully added a link to the ITV press release. But the bad news was not long in coming, as the Tweeter known as Otto English broke it to Daubs gently: “This press release is from November 2022”. Super TV had the right story.

“RATINGS [I’m A Celeb] returned to 6.95 million viewers last night - the lowest launch rating since SERIES ONE in 2002 … It’s down 2.2 MILLION on last year’s opener”. And the time stamp on that Tweet? 0959 hours. That’s a whole hour before The Great Guido. It appears that Daubney then deleted his effort. And the time on the Otto English Tweet? 1019 hours.

So have the Fawkes folks deleted their post? Still live, and still unaltered, at 1520 hours, or five hours after Otto English. Heck, even the BBC has got the story, telling “The return of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! was watched by an average of seven million viewers on Sunday according to overnight ratings … That's just over two million fewer than watched the first episode last year, which attracted 9.1m”. That’s been up for more than an hour.

And even Adam Brooks, aka Essex PR, held up his hands, admitted he got it wrong, and conceded that the viewer numbers were down on last year. But while Twitter, X, or whatever Muskrat is calling it this week, is having a field day at “Dipshit” Daubney’s momentary embarrassment, the Fawkes rabble does not appear to have been called out. Not yet, at any rate.

Good of them to remind us of their gold standard journalism. Or maybe not.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton

Oh Tommy Tommy - WASHED UP LOSER

Last week, this blog considered the appeal against a Stalking Prevention Order being undertaken by Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, and concluded, having listened to his schtick (so you don’t have to), that “Stephen Lennon thinks he’s on to a winner. The evidence suggests not”. And so it came to pass: the judge has delivered the verdict.

That verdict is, to no surprise at all, that Lennon’s appeal against the Order has been unsuccessful. It therefore remains in place, The Great Man must abide by its Ts and Cs for another three years, plus he’s going to have to find a significant sum of The Old Folding Stuff No Cheques to pay the court costs, and for retaining the services of yet another legal team.

What that judge will have had to take into consideration when arriving at that judgment includes Lennon’s tendency to talk well, but lie badly. Lies like “This journalist, who has written 244 articles about me … [They’ve] written 244 news articles about me … [They’ve] implicated me in a terrorist trial which resulted in people threatening to kill my family”. And there were more lies.

“[They were] part of a group of journalists who, ‘to cause a spectacle’ in their own words, live-streamed where my family and children lived … Sent an Antifa extremist who threatened to murder my children”. All this would have counted against him, as would his decision to leave the country for Cuba, and, later, Spain. So what was handed down yesterday was no surprise.

Court News UK told that “English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson was described as a ‘bully’ by a judge after he lost a bid to overturn a stalking protection order. Robinson, 40, confronted [a] journalist … at [their] London home over a negative story [they] planned to write about his use of donations. He turned up at [their] address and began screaming abuse outside her building after [they] began working on a new article about him”.

So what say Lennon to that? “Just a quick update for everyone. I’m enjoying time with my family [you lost, didn’t you?]. I’m pissed off [yes folks, he lost], but again, no jury, and a single judge has ruled against me, not my peers [you really think the result would have been any different with a jury?]”.

There was more. “That seems to be the standard of ‘justice’ I expect these days … Still, there have been wins in this case, which are a matter of court record [and what might they be, other than your opinion?] … I was going to release a video this evening about the ruling and much more”. But you’re not. Because that might land you in a whole lot more trouble. Do go on.

“HOWEVER, there are a couple of ‘grey areas’ that need to be confirmed with the Judge BEFORE any video is released … So, that means tomorrow … I’m not going to be baited into releasing something they may try to fuck me for … before I release anything I want to make sure the Judge is OK with it [might not be any video at all, then]”. Then he signed off with a sneering coda.

“Welcome to the utopian shithole of British justice, where corporate ‘journalists’ only make ‘honest mistakes’”. No, Stephen, you mean actual real journalists. And rocking up on someone’s doorstep in the dead of night, shouting the odds, doxxing their address, making sure you wake the neighbours, and saying you’ll come back tomorrow are not honest mistakes.

Worse for The Great Man, when he arrived at court last week, there was no gathering of his supporters, no fan club, hardly any media attention, and every claim he made was added to the dossier supplied to the Judge. The appeals for money are becoming ever more desperate, and ever more difficult to achieve the target he sets. He is yesterday’s grifter.

There will be no more articles in the increasingly alt-right Spectator magazine, no more gushing meetings with James “saviour of Western civilisation” Delingpole, no more TV appearances. Not even former Murdoch editor Piers Morgan wants anything to do with him, and Morgan is in the desperate category when it comes to getting interviewees into the studio.

The time of Stephen Lennon was for a time, but not for all time.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton

Oh Tommy Tommy - LYING AGAIN

The first words uttered by Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, when he rocked up on my doorstep in the dead of night, were “You’ve been telling lies about me”, which was, in itself, a flat-out lie. Lennon has a distinctly assymetrical sense of truth and lies: everyone else is lying about him, but he tells THE TROOF about everyone else.

Bear that in mind as the action shifts to Southwark Crown Court, where The Great Man is seeking to overturn a Stalking Prevention Order made against him after another of those late night doorsteppings in search of one of those little polite conversations that involve Lennon shouting the odds, making threats, smearing anyone involved, and saying he’ll come back tomorrow.

But let us hear Stephen Lennon speak for himself: outside the court, holding a mic, and telling us THE TROOF. It was all about “An injunction, by abuse of the legal system, to prevent my journalism”. To prevent him harassing an actual journalist, he means. But do go on. “This journalist, who has written 244 articles about me”. No, they haven’t. This is a flat-out lie.

“I’ve got a stalking prevention order. [They’ve] written 244 news articles about me”. It’s still a flat-out lie. Have another go. "[They’ve] implicated me in a terrorist trial which resulted in people threatening to kill my family”. This is another flat-out lie. "[They were] part of a group of journalists who, ‘to cause a spectacle’ in their own words, live-streamed where my family and children lived”. This is, you guessed it, another flat-out lie. Sadly, there was more.

“Sent an Antifa extremist who threatened to murder my children”. And another flat-out lie, except that this time the person who allegedly sent the alleged “Antifa extremist” was someone other than Mike Stuchbery, who also had dead of night visits from Lennon. And his address doxxed.

“You wouldn’t know any of this from these clowns [gesticulates at camera crews from actual media organisations and wakes them from their boredom] you wouldn’t know that from the mainstream media because they don’t show you this”. Perhaps they’re not quite as into pushing flat-out lies. But remember, “this isn’t about stopping me doing my journalism, it’s about stopping you seeing it”. Most convenient when the appeal for money comes.

Was he finished? Sadly, no. “They’ve got an injunction preventing you from seeing what this journalist’s been up to. Cos I am exposing [them]. With my journalism”. Call me old-fashioned and all that, but I never heard harassment and stalking elevated to the level of actual journalism before.

Was there a point to this rant? Have a guess. “Unfortunately, this costs. £20,000 plus VAT for this trial. I’m in here for the next two days, but we have no option but to fight it. I have to fight it cos they’re now using the legal system to prevent freedom of the press”. He’s the press already.

But I have to tell The Great Man that he faces an uphill struggle. There is an injunction out against him forbidding repetition of the libels that lost him an action brought on behalf of a young Syrian refugee. And Lennon has been caught breaking that injunction. Not only that, but all the detail has been gathered up and will have been handed to the authorities prior to his appealing against the Stalking Prevention Order.

Not only that, but Lennon’s decision to leave the UK and head to Cuba, followed by his continuing absence from the country, most recently staying, apparently, in a villa near El Albir, on the Costa Blanca between Benidorm and Altea, will doubtless count against him. Breaking an injunction and then fleeing the country? A most unfortunate chain of events.

Lennon clearly believes he will prevail and have the Stalking Prevention Order rescinded. But I have news for him: all those flat-out lies have been noted by others already, as well as his assertion that the judiciary is “corrupt”. As well as the most unfortunate scenes he made when he aggressively doorstepped the journalist concerned late at night.

Stephen Lennon thinks he’s on to a winner. The evidence suggests not.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton

Spectator Bigot Goes To Portugal

After making my move to Portugal earlier this year, it was inevitable that others would follow: with the inevitability of night following day, the UK is becoming more run down, more indebted and more unloved as the Tories, still backed by our free and fearless press, foul everything up yet more. So it was that someone out there on the right made the same decision.

Lionel Shriver. Now resident in the EU

Not just on the right, too: from the increasingly alt-right Spectator magazine, the only slightly bigoted Lionel Shriver has admitted that she and her husband should now be somewhere in the country, having penned “I’m leaving Britain - and I feel guilty” earlier this month and assuring readers “Our movers arrive tomorrow”. Did she ask how long that process would take?

Because if her house worth of goods is part of a Groupage, it’ll be several weeks before she sees any of it again. And then there are all those Customs declarations and maybe extra charges. Still, she makes sure to tell “Beautiful beaches extend a 15-minute stroll from our new house, roomier than anything we could afford in Britain; from our awaiting back balconies, the sea glistens on the horizon”. Slow moving mass of water nearby? Mosquitoes, anyone?

Then we get that bigotry. “Not to get stuck into Suella Braverman’s whole multiculturalism palaver, but Portugal is still culturally coherent. The population is only 11 million, and most of them are Portuguese. In the London neighbourhood we’re leaving behind, we have not been living among the English”. Would that mean people who are not white? Surprise, surprise!

Yes, 92.5% of those resident in Portugal are Portuguese nationals. But that does not mean they are all white. Before the expiry of the Estado Novo in 1974, the country held doggedly on to its colonies, claiming that they weren’t really colonies, but parts of a Greater Portugal, honestly.

There was also, until 1961, a Portuguese foothold on the Indian sub continent, in the shape, mainly, of Goa. The Indian Government seized Goa in a brief military operation; the Government of António de Oliveira Salazar attempted to invoke the old alliance with Britain, but Perfidious Albion was conflicted, as the former colonial power. So the UK sat on its hands long enough for Goa to fall. Those talking of old alliances should note that well.

Praça do Comércio, Lisbon. With the Barreiro ferry arriving

Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa has Goan heritage. Many other citizens have African heritage. Ms Shriver may be about to discover the hard way that multiculturalism does not end at the Channel. She is also going to find her other assumptions do not stand up well. Like on energy.

“I’ve watched with growing horror for 25 years while coal and nuclear power plants have gone offline with no serious reinvestment in reliable energy sources”. What’re you doing moving to Portugal, then? The last coal power plant has ceased generation, and there never was commercial nuclear power. But there is an emphasis on renewables, especially hydro power.

Do go on. “I’ve increasingly had the sensation of living in a country that is falling apart”. Like how, and what? “The NHS is in a state of collapse”. There are continual concerns about the SNS, the Portuguese equivalent. Have another go. “For the last year, the prevalence of strikes has been positively Gallic”. Have I got news for you, Ms S! Strikes, you say. Yes, well.

This year’s rail strikes dragged on, but they’ve all been settled. Doctors and other medics? Still going on. Try again. “With a fierce and worsening housing shortage”. Not moving anywhere near Lisbon, then. And then comes “Although improved weather beckons”. Moving just in time for the weather to break, sorry. Starting later this week. And did I mention bureaucracy?

Just wait until she gets to the till at the local supermarket and the person there asks “Contribuinte?” Getting a Social Security number is its own aptitude test. So is being sent somewhere like Viana do Castelo to pursue the all-important residence permit. And getting a bank account? I’ll have to assume she passed that test. After all that, Bem-Vindo a Portugal.

Hopefully nowhere near Pinhal Novo, mind. There are limits to tolerance.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton

Oh Tommy - Back In The UK

Having left the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom for a spell in Cuba, Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, eventually arrived in Spain, still having not paid up after he lost a libel action brought by a young refugee whom Lennon had persistently and deliberately lied about. He was also in breach of a Stalking Prevention Order.

So what would a sensible fugitive from justice do in these circumstances? What would someone wanting to lie low and not bring attention to himself have done? What would Nietzsche have done? Sadly for Lennon, he does not operate at that intellectual level, and as a result, anyone who wanted to know, including the legal profession and the cops, knew where he was.

The Great Man has been in residence at a property in the area of El Albir, which is on the Mediterranean coast between Benidorm and Altea. In other words, in an area teeming with the kinds of British tourists who would be most likely to recognise him. So, had the courts wanted to have him lifted and extradited back to the UK, they would have had no problem finding him.

Lennon may have thought that, because the UK is no longer part of the EU, this would have made him safer. But, as Captain Blackadder might have observed, there was only one thing wrong with this idea - it was bollocks. In any case, the authorities will not need to lift a finger to pursue Lennon, as he is due in court next Wednesday, and it looks like he will be there.

So what of the court appearance? Hope Not Hate’s Nick Lowles has explained “Stephen Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) is back in court this week trying to overturn a Stalking Prevention Order issued against him for harassing a journalist from a national newspaper who was writing an article accusing him of spending supporter donations on drugs and prostitutes”.

HnH never said peep about much of Lennon’s harassment, including his two visits to my house in the dead of night, but good to have them fully awake this time. Do go on: “he turned up at a journalist’s house at 10.30pm on a Sunday evening and threatened to release highly malicious - and false - information about the journalist’s partner unless the article was withdrawn”.

There was more. “His vitriol against the journalist has - predictably - led to a barrage of angry abuse from his supporters, including one comment that … he should put a contract out on the said journalist … That Lennon has - once again - totally disregarded a court judgement surely isn’t going to put him in a good position for his appeal”. HnH will brief the authorities before the appeal.

Meanwhile, The Great Man gives the impression that he is going to not only win the day, but also pick up in the UK where he left off. To this end, he has released a short video where he tells “English Defence League reunion … which city shall we hit … comments underneath … we’re coming back with a bang [laughs] just when you thought you’d got rid of us”.

Thus Lennon gave every anti-fascist in the UK advance warning that their presence, should they be able to spare the time and be able to travel, will be required, perhaps at short notice. We have quite enough hatred in the world right now, without the EDL being exhumed merely to satisfy the flabby and insecure ego of a serial lawbreaker with a victimhood complex.

Moreover, there is the small matter of all that money Lennon has managed to avoid paying after his libel loss. So that’s potentially someone else who may be waiting for him. What will happen? For those who Lennon and his pals have terrorised over the years, there is only one outcome where they will feel more safe, more able to go about their lives, and more free from stress.

And that would be an outcome where Lennon is handed a custodial sentence. Sent to prison. Banged up down the Scrubs, although perhaps not doing a handful on The Moor. Where Lennon will have the benefit of playing the victim, conning his supporters out of money, pretending that the Scary Muslims™ are ganging up on him, and otherwise feeling sorry for himself.

Another little Wild West Show deserves to come to an end. That is all.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by becoming a Patron on Patreon at

https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton