Russia’s Far Right Cheerleaders

After Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin made the decision to send what he called “peacekeeping” troops into Donetsk and Luhansk, two regions of Ukraine partly occupied by separatist forces since 2014, there was condemnation of his gangsterist régime from those across the political spectrum. But out there on the right, there was rather less condemnation. Rather, there was acceptance bordering on support.

When, as the BBC has reported, “Putin said Ukraine was an integral part of his country's history, and described eastern Ukraine as ‘ancient Russian lands’”, there was the alleged “Bad Boy Of Brexit” Arron Banks blaming, er, the EU. “The EU encouraged Ukrainian membership & expansion [of] NATO to the Russian border. The EU started this mess & let’s hope common sense prevails”. They did? And there was more.

“The EU chose to meddle in Ukraine & push NATO membership, 300 miles from Moscow. I don’t approve of any hostile military action but the expansion of NATO eastwards to the Russian border was dumb”. France is no more than 100 miles from London - quick, we must send peacekeeping troops to Calais, and maybe Lille and Amiens, too!

Banksy is not alone: his old mucker, former Brexit Party Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage, has also been quick to blame someone else for Putin’s decisions. “I’ve thought for 30 years that the Nato policy of expanding ever eastwards was a huge strategic error” he told Gammon Broadcasting News (“Bacon’s News Channel”).

Next day, he expanded on that sentiment in the increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph. “The Revolution of Dignity in 2014 brought down Ukraine’s democratically-elected leader, Viktor Yanukovych. He may well have been corrupt, but the pictures in Kiev at the time of crowds waving EU flags spoke volumes in his deeply divided country. The EU had pumped aid money into Ukraine and some EU leaders urged this developing nation to join the bloc. Like it or not, this so-called EU peace project helped to provoke the present crisis because it was guaranteed to anger Putin”. Yes, the EU done it!

He is not the only one on GB News pushing what might be called an alternative view of the conflict. As the people at Stop Funding Hate have noted, this included “Just a GB News commentator suggesting that NATO are ‘trying to lance the boil of the fall of Kabul by holding a fake war somewhere in the general vicinity of Russia’”.

Sad to say, however, that NATO have made clear that they are not involved in this one, whatever the organisation’s detractors may claim. Nor is the EU (ditto). Nor is the USA (ditto again). And nor does saying “look over there at what the US did in Vietnam, Chile and elsewhere” excuse the actions being taken by Putin right now.

And nor does trying to cause punters to look at groups on the left who may oppose the conflict. It keeps coming up right wingers: as Byline Times’ political editor Adam Bienkov has observed, “On GB News, the former Brexit Party MEP, and Reclaim Deputy Leader, Martin Daubney, says that war in Ukraine is ‘inevitable’ and the fault of NATO”.

Expect far-right parties across Europe to take the same line as Banks, Farage and the rest. Authoritarianism is their goal; democracy, while loudly proclaimed, is in the end merely optional. Rule of law is whatever their hero says it is. Reality is a state of mind.

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, Covid, And The Queen

Today is the day: the moment when alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson can announce to a grateful public that Covid-19 is no longer a thing, that restrictions can be discarded completely, and that the nation can now regain its freedom, as if wearing a face covering in indoor settings somehow removed it in the first place.

As the BBC has reported, “Speaking before Monday's announcement, Mr Johnson said his plan for moving out of the pandemic would bring society ‘towards a return to normality’ after ‘one of the most difficult periods in our country's history’ … No 10 said the success of the Covid vaccination programme had put England in a ‘strong position to consider lifting the remaining legal restrictions’”. But then came the less good news.

And that was that the Queen had tested positive for the virus, this having been discovered via the kind of routine testing that Bozo’s bonfire of restrictions would do away with. That Her Majesty has now apparently contracted The Rona rather puts the mockers on the idea that it’s no longer a thing. So our free and fearless press has had to apply maximum spin to the news in order to keep Bozo’s big announcement on track.

Nay pandemic? One should cay cay!

In this, the Fourth Estate has been assisted by Royal discretion, as the Beeb has also noted: “there are likely to be few details of how she might be treated or updates on her Covid case … This reflects a strong convention of privacy surrounding the Queen's health … Even though it's believed the Queen has had three Covid vaccinations, only the first has ever been formally acknowledged”. So the papers could be suitably creative.

The increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph has been just that. “Queen vows to carry on working with Covid … ‘Mild cold-like’ illness won’t stop duties as PM declares end of official virus curbs”. And when did Her Maj take this mythical “vow”? Ah, but we are also told by hack Bryony Gordon “Isolation was so much worse than catching Covid”. Ho yus.

Feeding the readers a pile of patriotic but totally made up horseshit was not restricted to the Tel: the Mail was on the same page with “QUEEN’S COVID EXAMPLE TO US ALL … She tests positive at age 95 but carries on working … as Boris is set to unveil his blueprint for living with the virus today”. And what work is she doing? No citation. Nor will there be.

Even the Mirror, mindful no doubt of this Platinum Jubilee year, has joined in the grovelfest: “As PM Lifts Virus Curbs … QUEEN GETS COVID BUT SHE CARRIES ON … Monarch, 95, has ‘cold-like symptoms’ but will do light duties”. No “vow” there, though.

HRH? HRH?!? Victoria Newton to the Tower!

But the paper that has taken the Royal biscuit in no style at all this morning is the Murdoch Sun, which has demonstrated not merely that it and journalism are not always on the best of terms, but has also suffered a basic fact check fail in very large letters indeed, proclaiming “Outbreak at Castle … Queen, 95, hit by Covid … but she vows to work on … HRH TO WFH”. But Brenda is not HRH. She is HM. Orf with their heads!

All of which will look seriously stupid if the Queen is laid low by The Rona - or worse. Meanwhile, the latest seven day averages for this “now over” virus are New Infections 43,000, Hospitalisations 1,250, and deaths 144. Every day. Which means one thing.

Covid-19 is not over. Bozo is just playing to his back benchers. Don’t be distracted.

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

Dan Hodges Misleads On Maugham

As alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson continues to bluster, deflect and tell flat-out porkies in response to any question remotely related to Partygate, so his cheerleaders in the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press continue with their own brand of deflection and misinformation, in their bottom-of-the-bill manner.

He's desperate, Dan

This includes the Mail on Sunday’s not even slightly celebrated blues artiste Whinging Dan Hodges, a worthy successor to Peter McKay as The World’s Worst Columnist, who has today brought readers “A fox-killing lawyer, his bombastic claims - and the grotesque indulgence that is clogging our courts” in an attempt to smear Jo Maugham.

The central part of that headline - that Maugham’s activities are “clogging our courts” - is what the MoS wants readers to take away as fact. But it isn’t: while Hodges tells “according to the most recent NAO report, there is a post-Covid logjam of 61,000 crown court cases, including rape and other serious sexual assaults, and over 360,000 magistrates’ court cases”, this has nothing to do with Maugham.

Indeed, he effectively admits it in the next sentence: “Although Maugham’s actions take place in civil courts”. Thus the get-out clause: he and the MoS can claim that the facts were all there in the article. That the Mail titles set the agenda for their readers with the headline, and bury the less convenient bits, is not allowed to enter.

Several pundits lined up to pass severely adverse comment on Hodges’ screed. Julia Grace Patterson, who you can tell as she’s a doctor, was one: “This article is a hollow attack, nothing more. I hope that anyone who reads it understands that right-wing media and the government are desperate to pull down those holding them to account”.

Lawyer Raj Chada was another. “The backlog in the criminal courts is absolutely nothing , nothing to do with the litigation that [Maugham] brings in the civil courts. The ‘background context’ that you suggest is meaningless … The danger of this type of disingenuous juxtaposition is that it plays to Government rhetoric that backlogs are caused by lawyers”. As with the Home Office moaning about appeals to stop forced deportations.

And the Secret Barrister was particularly severe. "The reference to the criminal courts backlog is misleading and dishonest. There is simply no link at all between the GLP’s litigation and the delays in the Crown Courts caused by government cuts. You should amend this article … Instead, you appear to have bolstered the wholly false government propaganda that seeks to blame the criminal courts backlog on everything other than the government’s own wanton mismanagement. Why on earth you would do this is a mystery”.

But there will be no amendment of the article: Hodges will hide behind the MoS, the MoS in turn will hide behind sham press regulator IPSO, and IPSO will wipe the MoS’ arse for it. While the MoS plays both sides of the fox-killing field: witness the MoS headline “MPs in battle to unmask brutal hunt saboteurs: Police 'need new powers' as thugs get away with wave of attacks”. Killing foxes is bad today. Not long ago, stopping the killing was bad.

Look who's been setting the Maugham-bashing agenda

Worse, though, is what Hodges will not be telling his readers: the attack on Maugham has been led by the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog. Taking your lead from “the provisional wing of CCHQ”? That makes you a party stooge.

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

GB News Dead Cat Viewer Bounce

In case the public at large had forgotten about them - which is, sadly, mainly true - the cheerleaders at Gammon Broadcasting™ News (“Bacon’s News Channel”) have this week come out fighting, with propaganda from trusted boosters, and a bold statement of their progress in, er, increasing headcount and therefore spending even more money.

The first sign of this unwanted Winter Offensive came early in the week from the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog telling anyone not yet asleep “GB News Beats Sky’s Primetime Offer With Twice As Many Views … GB News Consistently Thrashing Sky At Prime Time”. Well, for two hours each evening.

But do go on. “Once again, it falls to Guido to set the narrative straight on GB News’ performance. Last night, according to independent BARB figures the channel pulled in double Sky News’ audience during the prime time evening spot, as well as regularly surging ahead during the breakfast show”. For some reason, no evidence is provided for the breakfast show “surging ahead”. And, overall, GB News is still bottom of the class.

We know this as Press Gazette has let slip the overall viewer numbers, albeit after recycling the GB News spin about how wonderfully the channel is doing. “With a new editorial director, new breakfast show, DAB radio launch and addition of the National Anthem to the start of each day, GB News is boasting a growing audience after a bumpy end to 2021” they tell, but note “boasting”, rather than anything factual.

REALITY

And on the subject of missing citations and deflection, we are then told “Now, however, it is boosting job numbers and celebrating overtaking rival opinion-led broadcaster LBC on Youtube [No citation]. Press Gazette understands that GB News is now employing almost 200 people, up from 140 at launch [so spraying even more money up the wall, then]”.

The online presence of the channel seems to be mostly about claimed numbers: “Despite the continuing challenge of growing linear TV viewership, GB News's digital reach is still rising in terms of both followers and engagement. At the start of February it claimed to have had 2.9bn impressions across web and social since launch”. Claimed.

But GB News does have a bigger presence on TikTok than its rivals. However, when it comes to viewers, despite the Fawkes propaganda and bullish claims about surges in audience growth, the numbers show the grim reality. GB News has still not yet returned to more than around 60% of the audience that tuned in during its first month on air.

As the PG report notes, “The TV channel continues to reach around 2m people each month according to Barb … In the four weeks to 2 January … GB News was watched by 2.2m people for an average of 19 seconds per day … This compares to 15.9m for the BBC News Channel and 10.9m for Sky News, with average daily viewing of three minutes and one minute 39 seconds respectively”. Way behind its competitors.

Although this is an improvement on the low point: “GB News was watched by 3.7m people in its first month and at its lowest Barb put it on 1.7m in the four weeks to 31 October”. And we still don’t get to know how far from profitability it is (probably a very long way).

With a 40% increase in head count, the money could run out even sooner. Sad, really.

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

Sun US Trade Claim = FAKE NEWS

The ability of the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press to cheer for the benefits of Brexit, despite there not being any to speak of, is unrivalled in its sheer futility. Sadly, sometimes the cheerleading overreaches itself, and this, together with the apparent inability of some hacks to do the most basic research, has most unfortunate results.

This has manifested itself in the Murdoch Sun, one of the most strident Brexit boosters, publishing a story which is not only total bunk, but very obviously so. Deputy political editor Kate Ferguson - admittedly, being deputy to the pretend journalist Master Harry Cole, the odious flannelled fool who cut his teeth at the Guido Fawkes blog, is perhaps not as senior a role as might be thought - has today covered herself in less than total glory.

Claiming an “exclusive” for her story - clearly, the thought that this might have meant it wasn’t a story did not enter - Ms Ferguson tells readers “BRITAIN will sign trade deals with individual US states rather than wait for Joe Biden to ink an America-wide agreement, the Sun can reveal … The radical change in policy comes after the US President dashed hopes of a swift post Brexit pact - saying it is not a priority”. Really? Do go on.

“Instead, ministers are launching a charm offensive on individual states like California and Indiana to get mini trade deals signed. They reckon that by bypassing the White House they can get multi billion pound deals inked at lightning-quick speed … A Department for International Trade insider told the Sun: ‘From York to New York, Birmingham in the Midlands to Birmingham Alabama - we want to turbo boost UK and US businesses’”.

The alleged “insider” then doubles down on the individual state trade deal claim. “When you look at the numbers, the wins on offer by bagging trade agreements with individual states are massive … California’s economy alone is larger than the economy of the whole of France”. Well, yes it is, but both California and France share one attribute.

And that is that neither is free to negotiate trade deals on its own. France, as an EU member state and part of the Single Market, pools sovereignty in this area and trade deals are negotiated on its behalf by the EU. California, meanwhile - as with every state of the Union - is bound by Article 1, Section 10 of the United States Constitution.

Which states “No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility”.

The power to enter into any “Treaty, Alliance or Confederation” is enjoyed solely by the President, and only then, with the appropriate majority of Congress’ approval. That includes trade deals. This is the same mistake made by UK politicians trying to pick off individual EU member states, only to find that this, too, is prohibited.

Or, as Jonn Elledge put it, “Good to see this government understands the constitution of the United States almost as well as it understands the workings of the European Union”.

Either the Government does not know what it’s doing, or the Murdoch droids can’t see an obvious con job. Which of those is true I will leave to others to figure out.

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 adding to its Just Giving page at

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/zelostreet9

Brillo Lawsuit Maybe Not So Brill

After a rather more than robust social media exchange between Jennifer Arcuri, famous mainly because she featured in one of many extramarital affairs featuring alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, and former Murdoch editor Andrew Neil, the latter made it clear that he considered her accusations against him defamatory. He would, he assured his followers, be consulting his lawyers. There would be a lawsuit.

And so it came to pass: as the Guardian has reported, “Andrew Neil has launched libel proceedings against Jennifer Arcuri, the former lover of prime minister Boris Johnson, after she made allegations about the broadcaster’s inclusion in an address book owned by the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Legal filings show Neil has made good on his threat to sue Arcuri after she publicly claimed the journalist was on the ‘pedo elite train’”.

There was more. “The former GB News presenter, who is now hosting a show for Channel 4, said Arcuri’s comments were ‘evil lies’ and ‘vile and untrue accusations’ … Neil has repeatedly said he never met Epstein and the presence of his contact details in the ‘black book’ is because he had previously met Ghislaine Maxwell in New York during the 1990s”.

And more. “In a series of tweets about Epstein, Neil also told another Twitter user he had no connection to the deceased former financier: ‘I’ve never even met him, communicated with him, never mind visited any of his properties or been on his planes, cars, buses, helicopters, ponies,’ he tweeted”. And then came what may prove to be a mistake.

“In a tweet at the end of December, Neil told Arcuri: ‘My legal team has prepared a massive case against you and we’ll be seeking exemplary damages. Papers will be served in UK and US. I know you’ve been keeping your location private. But tell me, what’s it like in Panama City, Florida this time of year?’” But will she be there for long?

Indeed, given that was last December, will she still be there now? Just how much expense will the Brillo legal team have to incur chasing her across the USA and even, perhaps, beyond its borders? What success does he expect to achieve in the USA, given Elon Musk got away with using the term “Pedo” against someone else who wasn’t?

And even if he does get a result in the courts, how does he expect to recoup the costs of the action(s), and indeed any damages that may be awarded? Just because Ms Arcuri managed to persuade Bozo to cause significant sums to move in her general direction does not mean she’s still got it. She might not have the financial means to pay up.

Moreover, that assumes Brillo and his learned friends can locate her - having given her ample notice to load up and move on out of Panama City, FL. Just getting a judgment from an English court and leaving it at that might be his least expensive bet. The publicity could damage his reputation more than Ms Arcuri - like the time he went after Peregrine Worsthorne over allegations concerning himself and Pamella Bordes, a former Miss India.

The Guardian later noted that “Neil subsequently described it as 'my famous but foolish law suit’”. It’s with the certainty of night following day that many in the media - and not just Private Eye magazine - will be taking the piss out of him for months to come.

“Leave her Andy, she’s not worth it”. If only that was said before the red mist descended.

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 Blowing In The Wind

There can be no surer sign of the next target of those out there on the right than when the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog home in on it, in the process talking well, but lying badly, if only by omission. So it is that wind power - renewable energy - came under attack yesterday, on the flimsiest of pretexts.

Demonstrating their ability to cut and paste, the Fawkes massive took as their sermon an article in the Murdoch Sun which claimed “Monster £20million wind turbine knocked over by 50mph gusts as Storm Dudley sweeps in”. A wind turbine at the Pant-Y-Wal wind farm near Bridgend had collapsed during the assault of Storm Dudley.

This enabled The Great Guido to lay into wind power and promote something rather more environmentally damaging. “£20 Million UK Wind Turbine Knocked Over By Wind” they proclaimed, adding for good measure “As the UK battles an energy crisis, renewables are once again letting us down. Last night a £20 million wind turbine was felled in South Wales by Storm Dudley’s 50 mile per hour winds. You had one job …”.

Leaving aside that the winds may have been considerably in excess of 50mph, the Fawkes mob had a solution. “Fracking remains the one method of energy sourcing the government believes to be unfeasible”. Because it is unfeasible. But good to know that The Great Guido has signalled he is signed up to the assault on Net Zero.

The piece appears to have been read by the singularly unsavoury Andrew Pierce of the Daily Mail, who duly attempted to muddy the renewable waters. “A £2 million wind turbine was felled in South Wales by ... 50 mph winds. Why didn't we invest more in tidal power, bearing in mind we are an island”. What if he’s got a pointed stick?

What the gofers chez Fawkes, and Pierce, managed to miss is that since last Saturday, wind power has been routinely satisfying between 30% and 45% of UK grid electricity demand. Moreover, as one response to Pierce points out, “How many turbines are there? A: over 11,000 … How many fell down? A: 1 … So they are 99.999% reliable, you're telling us”. Also, high sided vehicles fall over in the wind, but we’re not banning them.

Meanwhile, news reached the Fawkes massive that copying and pasting the Sun claim that the offending wind turbine cost £20 million might have not been their finest hour, and mindful of the inconvenient fact that, as they claim to be journalists (ho ho ho) they should do a little research occasionally, someone discovered that the actual cost of a 2.5MW wind turbine was more in the region of £2 million. Monty Python Buying A Bed strikes again!

The problem is that not only does the post’s URL clearly show the number 20, but that Zelo Street took a screen shot just to be on the safe side. At least this time the Fawkes rabble have owned up: “A previous version of this article reported the wind turbine cost £20 million. We are told the price is more in the range of £2 million”.

Yes, because you’d just been copying and pasting and then calling it journalism. But good of Staines and his gofers to let us know that not only is the attack on Net Zero really happening, but also that they are signed up as full and enthusiastic participants.

So there will be more misinformed drivel in the near future. Another fine mess.

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

Piers Morgan’s Royal Giveaway

One quality that the media establishment manages to display rather too often, and maybe without realising it beforehand, is a total lack of self-awareness. Much of this is part of the noise floor of press and broadcast to-and-fro, but on occasion, there is an outbreak so spectacular that it gets noticed. The response to Prince Andrew’s alleged £12 million payoff to Virginia Giuffre and her charity has provided the latest example.

And what's more, Ron ...

The idea that Andy should pay such a significant wad to someone he claims he never met, for something he also claims he didn’t do, is not high on the credibility scale, Royal or otherwise. So it has provided a soft target for the punditerati, not least former Screws and Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan, recently received back into the Cosa Rupra.

“Prince Andrew’s a snivelling little coward whose denials weren’t worth the paper they were written on - and he must now be stripped of all remaining titles & privileges” he howls, although this is not nearly as edgy as he wants you to think: Creepy Uncle Rupe hates the Royals, and one of his pundits giving them a kicking fits right in.

The host-to-be of The All-New Percy Moron Show rather let himself go as he tackled the subject of Andy and his Bung: “The British public is entitled to know who paid for Prince Andrew’s settlement given some of it may have come indirectly from taxpayer money. Outrageous if it’s true the Queen’s had to contribute towards silencing his accuser - how dare he put his mother in that position?” And then came the self-awareness failure.

After the increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph claimed “The Duke of York will keep his remaining titles after settling his sexual abuse civil case”, Morgan indicated his displeasure. “Nonsense. If you pay an accuser $12 million to avoid being held accountable for your actions in court, you renounce your right to any titles”. Er, HELLO?

There can be only one inference: paying off to avoid going to court means guilty. So Evan Harris, who you can tell as he’s a doctor, had a question. “Who's going to break the news to [Piers Morgan] that the Mirror, to avoid being held accountable in court, have paid out far more than $12m in confidential sums to victims of phone-hacking (& other illegality) by the Daily Mirror when he was Editor?” Writer Dan Waddell was on the same page.

“He’ll be livid when he finds out how much the Mirror has paid out in confidential settlements for phone hacking when he was editor”. Meanwhile, Professor Steven Barnett of the University of Westminster had a question about Morgan’s new berth. “Interesting question for [Piers Morgan] to address, perhaps in a column for his new employer who, um, has also paid out many multiples of $12m”. To avoid going to court. Again.

Indeed, the Tweeter known as Sun Apology juxtaposed the paper’s front page with a headline from the Guardian, asking yet another of those difficult questions. “Hi [The Sun]. Are you suggesting it looks incredibly dodgy to be paying millions of ££ and settling out of court while making no admission of guilt?” Maybe Piers Morgan can tell us.

But good of him to be so unswerving in the view that paying off an accuser to avoid going to court means the party doing the paying off is guilty. And should be treated accordingly.

Not sure what Rupe and his lawyers will think, though. Still, details, eh?

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