Lennon’s presence discomfits many Jewish groups. Too close to reality for them?
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Monday, 24 May 2021
Tommy Support Spooks Israel Advocates
After yet another round of asymmetric conflict between the state of Israel and those living in the besieged Gaza Strip, which means the death and destruction meted out to the Palestinians was exponentially greater than that in Israel, there have been protests and vigils across the UK in support of the Palestinians. And one in support of Israel.
The gathering was not, by all accounts, a large one, but that wasn’t really the point. What marked it out was the appearance of Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, who not only lent his presence to the rally, but was welcomed into it.
That reality was noted by Nick Lowles of Hope Not Hate, who mused “Depressing to see Stephen Yaxley Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) on the pro-Israeli demo in London today. Just as we called out antisemites on the pro-Palestinian demo yesterday, so we need to call out Islamophobes on today’s pro-Israel demo”. Others then voiced their unease.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews was one. “Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) & supporters of of far-right extremist organisations like the English Defence League are not welcome at our community’s events. Their message of hate and division must be confronted and defeated. We utterly reject their bigotry”. Those gathered didn’t.
Over at the Community Security Trust, the message was similar. “Stephen Yaxley-Lennon ('Tommy Robinson') is an extremist and we utterly reject his message of hate and division. His so-called support for our community is not welcome or helpful”. But he was welcomed.
That got missed by the Jewish Leadership Council as they claimed “Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, or Tommy Robinson as he likes to be called was not invited today. Nor was he in any way welcome. We do not want his ‘support’ and we ask him to stay away from future events. Today is about supporting Israel, not spreading hate”. But, er, see above.
David Rosenberg had seen that welcome. “I predicted that attendance would be under 1,000 at the Zionist Fed. ‘Solidarity with Israel’ rally today. A Sky News reporter estimated 150. Wonder why she didn't mention well known attendees like the guy in the middle of this pic: ex-BNP member, EDL leader Tommy Robinson?” Why indeed.
Andrew Feinstein explained why far-right support is of concern: “The close links between Israel & fascist groups are historically ironic & deeply disturbing. Think Tommy Robinson below, the antisemite Viktor Orban so beloved by Netanyahu, those who invaded the Capitol with antisemitic posters & Israeli flags, & extreme Unionists in N Ireland”.
Alex Tiffin was in the same area: “The problem for the BoD and other groups condemning Tommy Robinson attending their protest outside the Israeli Embassy today is; The footage makes it very clear he wasn't shunned, he was welcomed. They should ask themselves why the far-right identity will zionism so much”. Abi Wilkinson tried to answer that one.
“The contemporary far-right are into Israel because they think the existence of an ethnostate helps legitimise their own demands for a white ethnostate. And of course, to achieve that they want somewhere to send all the Jews to”. Full thread HERE.
Lennon’s presence discomfits many Jewish groups. Too close to reality for them?
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Lennon’s presence discomfits many Jewish groups. Too close to reality for them?
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Sunday, 23 May 2021
Teaboy Takes Eurovision Too Seriously
Another sign of a world returning to some kind of normality following the Covid-19 pandemic arrived yesterday evening with the staging of the Eurovision Song Contest, this year coming from Rotterdam, following the tradition that the previous winning nation should stage the next event. Italy won, a feat they first achieved back in 1964.
There was irreverence, kitsch, mild outrageousness, and humour both intentional and unintentional, and not just from Graham Norton. A contest designed to bring nations together in the aftermath of World War 2 long ago shed any idea of taking itself too seriously. Viewers try and predict winners, get it totally wrong, and accept it’s all part of the fun. Until here in the UK, someone realises our entry garnered the dreaded Nul Points.
NUL POINTS!? But that’s for Norway! We can’t get NUL POINTS! I mean, who won the war? Yes, someone who should know better wheeled that one out: stop forward Tom Harwood, former replacement teaboy to the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines at the Guido Fawkes blog, and soon to be part of the presenting line-up at Gammon Broadcasting™ News (“Bacon’s News Channel”). Teaboy Tom wanted to talk war. And FREEM!
“Without the UK half these countries would not be free to perform in any song contests. Arguably the other half wouldn’t either. Their thanks? Nil points”. He forgot to mention the USA, the Empire, and, whisper it quietly, the former USSR, without which the Nazis would not have been defeated. Still, minor point, eh? But there was more.
Lewis Goodall of Newsnight decided to wind Harwood up a little. “I too would much prefer a song contest based on a sense of national gratitude about the events of the Second World War. Why has no one come up with that?” And it worked. “I think every year we should forgo the contest and simply hand out points to the countries that were most courageous and successful at standing up against Hitler”. Ri-i-i-ight.
He seems to have forgotten saying “We deserve to lose. Badly” and then going into Fawkes spin mode at the sight of the dreaded Nul Points. “Final results. This is a good deal for Britain. A good deal”. But at least “France have not won. Just rejoice at that news and congratulate our forces and the marines”. France is part of Argentina already!
How could the UK have done better, then, O wise one? “If we’d have put the United Kingdolls up we’d have taken this hands down”. I’m sure whoever oversees the UK entry will, er, not be taking him up on that. But there was a small consolation for him. “Everyone’s speaking English so we take the moral victory”. You reckon?
The winning entry, from Italy, was sung in, er, Italian. Just like their winning entry in 1964. Some people can’t get on board with the idea that a contest where the UK’s past winners have included Buck’s Fizz (bad) and the Brotherhood Of Man (worse) is always going to defy anything approaching highbrow analysis. Or that, like the EU, the UK first of all didn’t want to play, then when it did, got all upset because it didn’t always win.
In the words of the UK’s 1977 Eurovision entry, which was a runner-up (those were the days, eh?) we are now at Rock Bottom. Maybe cos we’re not very good at it, eh Tom?
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What time is it Eccles?
In the words of the UK’s 1977 Eurovision entry, which was a runner-up (those were the days, eh?) we are now at Rock Bottom. Maybe cos we’re not very good at it, eh Tom?
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Saturday, 22 May 2021
Priti Patel And Murdoch Bang To Rights
Fascism, in its 20th Century incarnations, was not merely authoritarian and vicious with it, it was highly corporatist. This was as true for Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler as it was later for the régimes led by Francisco Franco and António de Oliveira Salazar. It is this thought which comes to mind when considering the latest revelation concerning Priti Patel, inexplicably made Home Secretary by alleged PM Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson.
Ms Patel has already shown worrying signs of authoritarian behaviour, especially with the proposed security bill which will clamp down on the right to protest. Now has come news that she is, like all those Fascist leaders of the last Century, highly corporatist - to the extent of lobbying for those Corporations’ business interests.
I’d already considered that her intervention in the publication of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel’s report may have been at the prompting of the Murdoch mafiosi. This suspicion was only heightened when it was confirmed that the Metropolitan Police had no objection to the report going out. Now we know that Ms Patel and the Murdoch empire are marching in lockstep - to the extent that she has been caught lobbying for it.
A Byline Times report has told that she “lobbied a chief constable to end an Extinction Rebellion protest that was blocking a newspaper print works owned by Rupert Murdoch”. This was the so-called Printworks protest in September last year. There was more. “The demonstration at the news-printing site at Broxbourne on 4 September last year stopped three-and-a-half million copies of national newspapers, including the Daily Mail, the Sun, The Times and the Telegraph, from being distributed”. And more.
“Priti Patel and the Prime Minster were said to be ‘taking an interest’”. To the extent that “Superintendent Edward Wells, who had been called out to deal with the demonstration, told St Albans Magistrates Court that the Assistant Chief Constable of Hertfordshire, Owen Weatherill, had told him of a call from Priti Patel to Hertfordshire Chief Constable Charlie Hall during the night-time protest by the climate change activists”.
What might have been the reason for her call? Ah well. “According to [Raj] Chada [who is representing some of the protesters], the ‘Gold Command Log’ from the night showed that: ‘At 23.51 the Prime Minister and Home Secretary were already taking an interest… At 00.56 the Home Secretary was on the phone seeking an early intervention and early removal of the protestors’”. She was trying to intervene in Police operations.
That Ms Patel was batting for Murdoch is merely confirmed by the Sun’s coverage of the protests, one article claiming “BRITS were left furious this morning as Extinction Rebellion protesters launched an attack on the free press by blockading printworks”, and another tellingly putting pressure on Police with “COPS were branded ‘weak’ today over their failure to stop Extinction Rebellion protests that blockaded printworks”.
And that security bill was presaged by another Sun outburst from October howling “PROSECUTORS let two Extinction Rebellion protesters off with a slap on the wrist - despite a print blockade costing millions … CPS lawyers chose not to pursue them for compo”. They also told how Ms Patel “has launched a full review”. Nudge, nudge.
Priti Patel may not be irredeemably corrupt. But you can see it from there.
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I’d already considered that her intervention in the publication of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel’s report may have been at the prompting of the Murdoch mafiosi. This suspicion was only heightened when it was confirmed that the Metropolitan Police had no objection to the report going out. Now we know that Ms Patel and the Murdoch empire are marching in lockstep - to the extent that she has been caught lobbying for it.
A Byline Times report has told that she “lobbied a chief constable to end an Extinction Rebellion protest that was blocking a newspaper print works owned by Rupert Murdoch”. This was the so-called Printworks protest in September last year. There was more. “The demonstration at the news-printing site at Broxbourne on 4 September last year stopped three-and-a-half million copies of national newspapers, including the Daily Mail, the Sun, The Times and the Telegraph, from being distributed”. And more.
“Priti Patel and the Prime Minster were said to be ‘taking an interest’”. To the extent that “Superintendent Edward Wells, who had been called out to deal with the demonstration, told St Albans Magistrates Court that the Assistant Chief Constable of Hertfordshire, Owen Weatherill, had told him of a call from Priti Patel to Hertfordshire Chief Constable Charlie Hall during the night-time protest by the climate change activists”.
That Ms Patel was batting for Murdoch is merely confirmed by the Sun’s coverage of the protests, one article claiming “BRITS were left furious this morning as Extinction Rebellion protesters launched an attack on the free press by blockading printworks”, and another tellingly putting pressure on Police with “COPS were branded ‘weak’ today over their failure to stop Extinction Rebellion protests that blockaded printworks”.
And that security bill was presaged by another Sun outburst from October howling “PROSECUTORS let two Extinction Rebellion protesters off with a slap on the wrist - despite a print blockade costing millions … CPS lawyers chose not to pursue them for compo”. They also told how Ms Patel “has launched a full review”. Nudge, nudge.
Priti Patel may not be irredeemably corrupt. But you can see it from there.
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Friday, 21 May 2021
BBC Killed Diana? COME OFF IT
Our free and fearless press loves nothing more than an opportunity to lord it over the hated BBC. So when a report found that former Panorama man Martin Bashir had used what were termed “deceitful methods” in order to secure his interview with Diana, Princess of Wales - an interview that had many in the press seething with jealousy - the front page rantfest was all too predictable. And so it came to pass.
The Sun and Mail have been especially righteous, with the Murdoch masthead howling “Wills’ Panorama Bombshell … BBC let down my Mum, my family … and Britain” and the Rothermere goons thundering “On day of shame for BBC, prince’s devastating blast at Bashir’s ‘lurid and false claims’ that he says fuelled Diana’s ‘fear and paranoia’ and drove his parents apart … WILLIAM: BBC LIES RUINED MY MOTHER’S LIFE”.
Thus the singularly unedifying sight of the two largest and most poisonous fatbergs in the sewer of tabloid journalism attempting to slither their way to the moral high ground. Worse are the attempts by both titles to up the ante so far as to start a “BBC killed Diana” narrative. You think I jest? Consider today’s Sun editorial, which posits exactly that.
“BBC’s scandalous Princess Diana interview wrecked and arguably ended lives … It is possible that it set off a chain of events which led to her death two years later in Paris … That without that interview … she might be alive today … it triggered her swift divorce, and with it the removal of … the royal protection officers who might have kept her safe”.
This is carefully crafted horseshit: Diana had a protection officer with her when she took her fateful last journey. Also, she was offered continuation of the same protection the rest of the Royals get. That has not stopped the deeply unpleasant Dan Wootton, now sounding off at Mail Online, peddling the same crackpot ideas.
“Did the BBC kill Princess Diana? Not directly, no … this is the BBC's Watergate moment. A day of shame for the corporation and its supposedly moral news service”. Anyone who has studied the way the tabloid press went after ITV’s Death On The Rock will be able to see the similarities - crudely discrediting broadcast media. And the Mail had more.
The impossibly over-inflated ego of former Murdoch editor Andrew Neil was wheeled out to pontificate “[Charles Spencer] drew a straight line between the lies and deception Martin Bashir told Princess Diana … and her tragic death in a Paris road tunnel car crash two years later. And he’s right”. So let me put Wootton, Brillo and the rest straight.
It wasn’t the BBC commissioning paparazzi, knowing the modus operandi of those around Paris. It wasn’t the BBC that embarked on a campaign of personal denigration against Diana, typified by Richard Littlejohn, then at the Sun and now at the Mail, leering “Di is so dim she thinks opera is a chat-show host”. That only ended with her death.
It wasn’t the BBC that commissioned illegal activity from Steve Whittamore and his network. It wasn’t the BBC that employed “Fake Sheikh” Mazher Mahmood. It wasn’t the BBC that libelled the lead witness to Death On The Rock, the McCanns and Christopher Jefferies. It wasn’t the BBC who piled in on Caroline Flack. And don’t forget Hillsborough.
What we are now seeing is the sickest form of projection. No surprise there, then.
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Thus the singularly unedifying sight of the two largest and most poisonous fatbergs in the sewer of tabloid journalism attempting to slither their way to the moral high ground. Worse are the attempts by both titles to up the ante so far as to start a “BBC killed Diana” narrative. You think I jest? Consider today’s Sun editorial, which posits exactly that.
This is carefully crafted horseshit: Diana had a protection officer with her when she took her fateful last journey. Also, she was offered continuation of the same protection the rest of the Royals get. That has not stopped the deeply unpleasant Dan Wootton, now sounding off at Mail Online, peddling the same crackpot ideas.
The impossibly over-inflated ego of former Murdoch editor Andrew Neil was wheeled out to pontificate “[Charles Spencer] drew a straight line between the lies and deception Martin Bashir told Princess Diana … and her tragic death in a Paris road tunnel car crash two years later. And he’s right”. So let me put Wootton, Brillo and the rest straight.
It wasn’t the BBC that commissioned illegal activity from Steve Whittamore and his network. It wasn’t the BBC that employed “Fake Sheikh” Mazher Mahmood. It wasn’t the BBC that libelled the lead witness to Death On The Rock, the McCanns and Christopher Jefferies. It wasn’t the BBC who piled in on Caroline Flack. And don’t forget Hillsborough.
What we are now seeing is the sickest form of projection. No surprise there, then.
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Grant Shapps Catches A Crab
Transport Secretary Grant “Spiv” Shapps has been proclaimed as the saviour of the rail industry by those who really should know better: as so often, our free and fearless press finds itself short of journalistic skills and specialist knowledge, equally short of the resources to go and seek out someone who knows their subject, but ever-willing to churn over whatever the Government tells them. And they missed Shapps’ worst gaffe.
Passenger rail services in the UK have been called out for fragmentation, poor information, overcrowding (pre-pandemic, that is), old trains, not always reliable trains, and a ticketing system that was not only inflexible, but to those who didn’t use the railway regularly, downright labyrinthine in its sheer complexity. Shapps was going to change all that.
He made his pitch for the latest in a long line of not always successful reshapings of passenger rail services at the National Railway Museum in York, which houses rather a lot of those Very Old Trains. “Britain is a powerhouse of innovation” he proclaimd, before taking a more serious tone: “it’s been some time since our railway consistently delivered for passengers. There are too many delays. Too much confusion over ticketing”.
Do go on. “Government being forced to step in to take over failing franchises, and that chaotic timetable change of May 2018 … we need to overhaul the industry itself. Right now, it’s too fragmented”. Franchising, fragmentation, loss of overall control - yes, these are all products of Governments. Tory Governments. It Was His Lot Wot Done It.
What’s to be done? “Today, I’m announcing the biggest shake-up of the industry for three decades”. Uh-oh. Some of us can remember how well the last one of those went. What’s he going to be doing? “Bringing management, trains and track together under a single national leadership. A new public body … Great British Railways”. Shag that flag!
There was more. “We’ll sort out ticketing. No more queues for wads of paper tickets”. We have e-ticketing already, thanks. “Flexible season tickets for those not commuting five days a week”. Good idea. But it will mean putting more money in. Or other rail users will pay for it - like with all those operator-only and advance purchase cheapies being canned.
And more. “It’ll work more like London’s buses and London Overground”. Which Shapps and his pals have been merrily slagging off recently. And there will still be private operators. They just won’t be franchised. Another Tory idea being binned by Tories.
But enough. The idea that the railway doesn’t bust a gut to run trains on time - considering how many of them are batting around the network, Network Rail and the train operators do reasonably well - and that by shaking everything up and having more of those politicians sticking their bugles in, it will all be made better should have generated more scepticism.
As should Shapps’ choice of what train he would like to catch, given a choice. There he is, eyeing one maroon-liveried locomotive approvingly. That is LMS 13000, first of 245 similar locos designed at Horwich Works. Because of that, and their wheel arrangement, they were officially called Horwich Moguls. But more plain-speaking rail enthusiasts looked at the high running plate and inclined cylinders, and drew their own conclusion.
They called them Crabs. And, as you might expect, it stuck. Hello Grant Shapps.
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Grant, Michael and Sebastian have a message for us
He made his pitch for the latest in a long line of not always successful reshapings of passenger rail services at the National Railway Museum in York, which houses rather a lot of those Very Old Trains. “Britain is a powerhouse of innovation” he proclaimd, before taking a more serious tone: “it’s been some time since our railway consistently delivered for passengers. There are too many delays. Too much confusion over ticketing”.
New Logos, please
What’s to be done? “Today, I’m announcing the biggest shake-up of the industry for three decades”. Uh-oh. Some of us can remember how well the last one of those went. What’s he going to be doing? “Bringing management, trains and track together under a single national leadership. A new public body … Great British Railways”. Shag that flag!
What's that loco Shapps is eyeing approvingly?
And more. “It’ll work more like London’s buses and London Overground”. Which Shapps and his pals have been merrily slagging off recently. And there will still be private operators. They just won’t be franchised. Another Tory idea being binned by Tories.
It's this one
As should Shapps’ choice of what train he would like to catch, given a choice. There he is, eyeing one maroon-liveried locomotive approvingly. That is LMS 13000, first of 245 similar locos designed at Horwich Works. Because of that, and their wheel arrangement, they were officially called Horwich Moguls. But more plain-speaking rail enthusiasts looked at the high running plate and inclined cylinders, and drew their own conclusion.
They called them Crabs. And, as you might expect, it stuck. Hello Grant Shapps.
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Thursday, 20 May 2021
John Ware Lawsuit - Now The Defence
While the attention of media watchers has been focused on the shameful behaviour of Home Secretary Priti Patel, the so-called Covid-19 “Indian Variant”, and Grant “Spiv” Shapps claiming he will make the trains run on time (yeah, right), those lawsuits overseen by lawyer Mark Lewis have rumbled on, including not only those involving Countdown numbers person Rachel Riley, but also Panorama front man John Ware.
As Press Gazette reported last October, Ware was seeking £50,000 in damages from Press Gang editor Paddy French, after the latter “published a 16-page pamphlet in December [2019] describing the ‘Is Labour Anti-Semitic?’ Panorama that aired in July 2019 as ‘a piece of rogue journalism’ … According to the crowdfunding page, the Press Gang pamphlet ‘weighed up the evidence and took a critical view of the programme’”.
Moreover, “Ware is also suing Jewish Voice for Labour and two of its officers. The group’s website reproduced the introduction to the Press Gang report and linked to an online copy of the pamphlet … They are also defending the action”. There was also a threat to sue former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, but this somehow failed to materialise.
So what of Paddy French’s defence? Well, PG has once again been on the case, telling that “He is arguing his report was both true and in the public interest … French said he ‘reasonably believed’ the Panorama programme was ‘one-sided and strongly advocated the position that the Labour Party was institutionally anti-Semitic’ and added that the tone of his article was ‘measured, considered and responsible’”. There was more.
“The question of whether the BBC and Ware had ‘fairly and impartially reported’ on the issue of anti-Semitism within Labour when an election was imminent was ‘one of the greatest public importance’… ‘The position of the Labour Party in general and Jeremy Corbyn in particular on this issue had been consistently misrepresented in the media and it was in the public interest for contrary views to be aired to enable the public to make informed decisions in the forthcoming general election’”. A question of timing. And more.
“In his truth defence French claimed Ware’s ‘actions and omissions’ constituted ‘rogue journalism’ because he had ‘deliberately suppressed and concealed facts which were contrary to the thesis which he wished to present … In writing and presenting a biased programme making knowingly false statements about the incidence and nature of anti-Semitism in the Corbyn-led Labour Party the claimant was guilty of “dirty tricks”’”.
The PG article gives examples of those alleged omissions. What it does not do is consider the potential fallout from this action, especially if French stands up his truth defence and Ware loses. That would put the BBC in one of those Very Difficult Positions, especially given the closeness of broadcast to the 2019 General Election.
Also, the Beeb has just pulled a Panorama broadcast on the Martin Bashir Diana interview (which was also an edition of Panorama). Was Ware the reporter? The effect of Ware losing would have serious implications for the current Labour leadership, given they settled with the Panorama whistleblowers - and the BBC’s shrugging off a lot of complaints.
Much work has been done on the quiet to present a truth defence to John Ware’s claim. We will know if Ware’s lawyers are worried as soon as they try and have it struck out.
Paddy French. Er hello, he's on the train ...
Moreover, “Ware is also suing Jewish Voice for Labour and two of its officers. The group’s website reproduced the introduction to the Press Gang report and linked to an online copy of the pamphlet … They are also defending the action”. There was also a threat to sue former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, but this somehow failed to materialise.
So what of Paddy French’s defence? Well, PG has once again been on the case, telling that “He is arguing his report was both true and in the public interest … French said he ‘reasonably believed’ the Panorama programme was ‘one-sided and strongly advocated the position that the Labour Party was institutionally anti-Semitic’ and added that the tone of his article was ‘measured, considered and responsible’”. There was more.
“The question of whether the BBC and Ware had ‘fairly and impartially reported’ on the issue of anti-Semitism within Labour when an election was imminent was ‘one of the greatest public importance’… ‘The position of the Labour Party in general and Jeremy Corbyn in particular on this issue had been consistently misrepresented in the media and it was in the public interest for contrary views to be aired to enable the public to make informed decisions in the forthcoming general election’”. A question of timing. And more.
John Ware
The PG article gives examples of those alleged omissions. What it does not do is consider the potential fallout from this action, especially if French stands up his truth defence and Ware loses. That would put the BBC in one of those Very Difficult Positions, especially given the closeness of broadcast to the 2019 General Election.
Also, the Beeb has just pulled a Panorama broadcast on the Martin Bashir Diana interview (which was also an edition of Panorama). Was Ware the reporter? The effect of Ware losing would have serious implications for the current Labour leadership, given they settled with the Panorama whistleblowers - and the BBC’s shrugging off a lot of complaints.
Much work has been done on the quiet to present a truth defence to John Ware’s claim. We will know if Ware’s lawyers are worried as soon as they try and have it struck out.
[Paddy French is crowdfunding his defence. You can contribute to it HERE]
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Priti Patel - The Murdoch Confirmation
Yesterday, after the Home Office attempted to intervene and delay further the report from the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel, perhaps redacting parts of its conclusions, I considered whose interests might be served by such a move. The candidates were the HO and especially Home Secretary Priti Patel, the Metropolitan Police, and the Murdoch mafiosi. My Occam’s Razor pointed me firmly at the last-mentioned.
The Murdoch press had been involved with the UK’s most notorious unsolved murder for many years, not least with their interference in at least one of the Police investigations. Morgan’s business partner, Jonathan Rees, had worked for the late and not at all lamented Screws - after he had done a stretch for trying to fit up a witness.
When it was pointed out to the twinkle-toed yet domestically combative Rebekah Brooks that her staff had been involved in tailing the detective leading one of the Police investigations, she apparently took no action. Later, Priti Patel was one of only two prominent Tory MPs invited to Rupe’s wedding to Jerry Hall (the other was Michael Gove).
Then came a further analysis from Peter Jukes at Byline Times, who discounted the idea that the Met may have requested the delay: “they have been working with the Panel for six years now. A team of 10 officers worked for 10 days inspecting the report for any operational threats to national security and any senior officers criticised received letters from the Panel months ago allowing them a full right of reply”. So his conclusion?
“Given that politicians are now courting the approval and attention of Rupert Murdoch with the same avidity as a decade ago, it certainly leaves open to question whether the main block to the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel Report comes not from Scotland Yard, but News UK headquarters”. And then the house fell in on Ms Patel.
As Vikram Dodd at the Guardian has reported, she had not yet been given a copy of the report. Moreover, “The independent panel investigating the Daniel Morgan scandal is refusing the home secretary’s demands to hand over its report before it can be published, as senior police sources say nothing in the case affects national security”.
So not only has the Panel stood its ground, it has been confirmed that the cops have no objection to the report being published - in full, and promptly. The Home Office’s “National security” excuse has been exposed. Readers were also told “The report, which runs to more than 1,000 pages, was already at the printers when the Home Office intervened”.
Now, presumably, it is back with the Panel. Meanwhile, more media outlets are reporting on the story - but not those under the control of the Murdoch mafiosi. Worse for both them and Ms Patel is the reality of their predicament: whatever may or may not have gone on behind the scenes, whoever is responsible for this amateurish intervention has caused the Streisand Effect to take over, and the pressure to publish to build to breaking point.
After all, no Home Secretary would have interfered with the Hillsborough Independent Panel. Why should there now be interference with the Morgan Panel? The past 24 hours have shown us where power lies in the UK. And it is not with the people.
Today Ms Patel is on a border force raid. But we don’t want to look over there. Publish.
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Set smirk to stun
When it was pointed out to the twinkle-toed yet domestically combative Rebekah Brooks that her staff had been involved in tailing the detective leading one of the Police investigations, she apparently took no action. Later, Priti Patel was one of only two prominent Tory MPs invited to Rupe’s wedding to Jerry Hall (the other was Michael Gove).
Then came a further analysis from Peter Jukes at Byline Times, who discounted the idea that the Met may have requested the delay: “they have been working with the Panel for six years now. A team of 10 officers worked for 10 days inspecting the report for any operational threats to national security and any senior officers criticised received letters from the Panel months ago allowing them a full right of reply”. So his conclusion?
“Given that politicians are now courting the approval and attention of Rupert Murdoch with the same avidity as a decade ago, it certainly leaves open to question whether the main block to the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel Report comes not from Scotland Yard, but News UK headquarters”. And then the house fell in on Ms Patel.
So not only has the Panel stood its ground, it has been confirmed that the cops have no objection to the report being published - in full, and promptly. The Home Office’s “National security” excuse has been exposed. Readers were also told “The report, which runs to more than 1,000 pages, was already at the printers when the Home Office intervened”.
Now, presumably, it is back with the Panel. Meanwhile, more media outlets are reporting on the story - but not those under the control of the Murdoch mafiosi. Worse for both them and Ms Patel is the reality of their predicament: whatever may or may not have gone on behind the scenes, whoever is responsible for this amateurish intervention has caused the Streisand Effect to take over, and the pressure to publish to build to breaking point.
After all, no Home Secretary would have interfered with the Hillsborough Independent Panel. Why should there now be interference with the Morgan Panel? The past 24 hours have shown us where power lies in the UK. And it is not with the people.
Today Ms Patel is on a border force raid. But we don’t want to look over there. Publish.
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Wednesday, 19 May 2021
Priti Patel’s Daniel Morgan Report Shame
Stalling for time in order to cover your, or maybe someone else’s, tracks. Kim Philby was an infamous practitioner of the art. And adding herself to that list of infamy, it seems, is Priti Patel, inexplicably elevated to lead the Home Office, after she plumbed the depths of lame excuses in delaying publication of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel’s report.
Few will need any introduction to the UK’s most notorious unsolved murder: Daniel Morgan, a private investigator, was killed by two blows from an axe in a south London pub car park, in March 1987. He was, it seems, about to expose serious Police corruption. Successive attempts to solve the crime have faced Police obstruction, and interference from the Murdoch press, in the shape of those representing the now-defunct Screws.
But to her credit, then Home Secretary Theresa May set up the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel to investigate the crime and present its findings. Chaired by Baroness Nuala O’Loan, the Panel has itself faced delay and obstruction, but was finally ready to present its report this month. Publication should have happened last Monday.
And it was at that point that the Home Office began stalling. They needed more time. The initial excuse was the extended period of national mourning following the death of Prince Philip, which was suspiciously weak. Now, though, has come a brace of excuses so piss-poor that they put “I could be arguing in my spare time” in the shade.
So why hasn’t the report been published? The BBC has reported that “A Home Office spokesperson said the home secretary has a duty to ensure the report complied with ‘human rights and national security considerations’”. That’s a straight-A Fuck Right Off. The Panel has a QC on hand to ensure compliance with all relevant legislation.
As for “national security considerations”, that’s just someone making it up in a panic. Moreover, the spokesperson added “This has nothing to do with the independence of the report and the Home Office is not seeking to make edits to it”. So it appears to be nothing more than stalling. Who might benefit from such a delay?
There are three potential beneficiaries: Ms Patel and the Home Office, the Metropolitan Police, and the Murdoch mafiosi. The cops have apparently already had their copy of the report. But the Murdoch press has no such entitlement. And Priti Patel has significant previous when it comes to her closeness to Don Rupioni and his clan.
When Rupe married Jerry Hall just over five years ago, there were no invites for Young Dave, or even alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson. The only prominent Tory MPs present were loyal taker of the Murdoch shilling Michael “Oiky” Gove, and Priti Patel. As I noted at the time, “By being there, they have told the world that they are truly loyal. But not necessarily to the Tory Party”. That is the key giveaway.
Ms Patel owes her position on the upper reaches of the political greasy pole not merely to Bozo, but also to the more rabidly right-leaning part of the press. And there is no more rabid right-wingery than that emanating from the Murdoch empire. Right now, my Occam’s Razor is pointing firmly in the direction of the Baby Shard Bunker. When the Daniel Morgan Panel’s report finally sees the light of day, expect the Murdoch press to have their rebuttals ready. Not that they will have seen it, you understand. Perish the thought!
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Daniel Morgan - still denied justice
But to her credit, then Home Secretary Theresa May set up the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel to investigate the crime and present its findings. Chaired by Baroness Nuala O’Loan, the Panel has itself faced delay and obstruction, but was finally ready to present its report this month. Publication should have happened last Monday.
And it was at that point that the Home Office began stalling. They needed more time. The initial excuse was the extended period of national mourning following the death of Prince Philip, which was suspiciously weak. Now, though, has come a brace of excuses so piss-poor that they put “I could be arguing in my spare time” in the shade.
So why hasn’t the report been published? The BBC has reported that “A Home Office spokesperson said the home secretary has a duty to ensure the report complied with ‘human rights and national security considerations’”. That’s a straight-A Fuck Right Off. The Panel has a QC on hand to ensure compliance with all relevant legislation.
Smirktastic, smile pickers!
There are three potential beneficiaries: Ms Patel and the Home Office, the Metropolitan Police, and the Murdoch mafiosi. The cops have apparently already had their copy of the report. But the Murdoch press has no such entitlement. And Priti Patel has significant previous when it comes to her closeness to Don Rupioni and his clan.
When Rupe married Jerry Hall just over five years ago, there were no invites for Young Dave, or even alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson. The only prominent Tory MPs present were loyal taker of the Murdoch shilling Michael “Oiky” Gove, and Priti Patel. As I noted at the time, “By being there, they have told the world that they are truly loyal. But not necessarily to the Tory Party”. That is the key giveaway.
Ms Patel owes her position on the upper reaches of the political greasy pole not merely to Bozo, but also to the more rabidly right-leaning part of the press. And there is no more rabid right-wingery than that emanating from the Murdoch empire. Right now, my Occam’s Razor is pointing firmly in the direction of the Baby Shard Bunker. When the Daniel Morgan Panel’s report finally sees the light of day, expect the Murdoch press to have their rebuttals ready. Not that they will have seen it, you understand. Perish the thought!
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/zelostreet9
Tuesday, 18 May 2021
Farage US Speaking Tour FLOPS
Now that his job is done, and the UK has ceased to be an EU member state, former UKIP and later Brexit Party Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage appears to have found himself at a loose end, and so, with no MEP salary and expenses coming in, he has embarked on a “Speaking Tour” of the USA, where right-leaning voters allegedly love him.
Farage, the US public is told, “forced the Conservative party to hold a referendum on European Union membership. In June 2016, Farage was a leading figure in the campaign to leave. This gained him the name ‘Mr Brexit’ by Republican Presidential candidate Donald J Trump, whom he supported at a rally on the campaign trail”. There was more.
“Nigel Farage was one of the very few that predicted that Donald Trump would win the presidential elections and was the first foreign politician to meet the newly elected President in Trump Tower just days after his historic win”. But “In early 2019, he was forced back into Westminster politics in order to stop the Brexit betrayal”.
Now, with an increasing number of those who voted to Leave realising that they were conned, Mr Thirsty has wisely left the country, but he has not escaped the attention of all those voters who had their freedoms removed and their dreams trashed, some of whom have realised that tickets to see The Great Man shooting his mouth off are free.
And so it came to pass: just as with the time when Farage was down to be support act for Combover Crybaby Donald Trump and ended up speaking to an empty car park after the free tickets were snapped up by K-Pop fans, so UK Tweeters have let him know just how grateful they are that he is somewhere else. “Great news everyone, there’s still LOADS of free tickets available for Nigel Farage’s big speaking tour across America” said one.
There was more. A lot more. "For more fun, Nige Farago is doing some speaking appearances in the USA. Tickets are available to book online. Wouldn't it be dreadful if it got booked up by people who had no intention of attending? … Tickets are free. Some people are booking tickets (max 2 per person) and planning not to turn up so he will be speaking to an empty hall. You know what to do!” They certainly did.
“Apparently, a whole bunch of people are booking tickets to opportunistic grifter Nigel Farage's US speaking tour - but have no intention of going. Shocking behaviour! On a totally unrelated note, here's the link for said tickets … Free (but limited) tickets, anyone can book them, you don't need to confirm or anything. I've booked several for my friends: Edina Clouds, Dave Reckning and Mick Sturbs”. Ho ho very droll.
Indy100 has now reported that “Free tickets for Nigel Farage’s US tour are being reserved by people with no intention of showing up … numerous people are trolling the Brexiteer by signing up for the free tour, and taking spaces from people who may - for some reason - be interested in what Farage has to say”. The London Economic was not optimistic.
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Pittsburgh Marriott - may not be so full
"The tour, which launches today at the Pittsburgh Airport Marriott, is aimed at inspiring 'thousands of activists' to 'take back America for the working class people'. But after the link to the talk went viral on social media, it looks like the only thing Farage will be inspiring is empty chairs". Cincinnati tonight, and who knows? What a deserving chap.
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