DUFF & NONSENSE!

Pheeew, glad I missed that one!

I am referring, of course, to that utterly useless 'gabfest' organised by the equally useless Tory party in which they allowed the BBC - of all anti-Tory organisations! -  to set up a circus from which it was obvious that none of them would emerge with much credit.  I suppose it could have been worse - or perhaps better! -  if they had armed them all with custard pies to hurl at each other.  Needless to say, I did not watch any of it, anymore than I did the previous one on Channel4, for God's sake, with John Snow's muppet, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, in charge.

I gather from a multitude of reports this morning that no-one emerged with enhanced credit - why am I not surprised?!  Boris should have stuck to his guns as he did on the first fiasco and refused to take part.  Finally, am I alone in wishing that the little pipsqueak, Rory Stewart, would just clear off back to Afghanistan?  Even he can't do much more damage to that benighted country!  In the meantime, can the Tory party just get on with it and elect 'Boing-Boing' Boris so that at least we can derive some humour from watching all his deadly rivals licking his arse and looking for top jobs!

And yes, you're right, I am at Grump Mode Factor 10 today!

 

 

 

The axe-man cometh!

No, no, not for me but for poor old Thomas Cromwell!  What a stupid, fat, oaf Henry VIII was.  He had the shrewdest 'first minister' any half sensible king would have prayed for.  A man who kept the nation's finances in excellent order, who avoided wars and who began our escape from the Papal grip without starting a civil war.  And then, because Henry couldn't get a 'hard on' for Anne of Cleves, in effect, he blamed Cromwell for the 'marriage' and chopped his head off!  Yes, yes, I know it was a bit more nuanced than that but that was the essence of it.  This poor, old, battered nation of ours has suffered over the years from malignant enemies but our leaders have often proved to be the worst danger!

The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell by John Schofield

 

 

 

'Did'ja wotch it, did'ja, did'ja?

Of course, I am referring to that battle of the mini-Titans on the 'telly' last night, and no, I did not watch it!  From the reports I have read it was as eye-stabbingly tedious as I thought it would be.  Apparently, given Boris's absence, it was like watching a Xmas pantomime without a Dame!  Nothing new was revealed, all the 'cast' played their self-created roles to perfection.  Given that, short of Boris being outed as a 'kiddie-fiddler', it is obvious that he will 'boing-boing' into No. 10 leaving all those no-hopers far behind.  Then the 'fun' will start!

If you would like a preview of the sort of 'fun' that awaits us, let me urge you to read Jeremy Vine's article at The Coffee House where he gives us a backstage view of Boris in action.  I fear we are about to live in 'interesting times'!  Mind you, at least there will be a few laughs along the way and when was the last time Mrs. May made you laugh?  In The Telegraph, Charles Moore asks whether Boris's naughtiness with ladies is likely to be an impediment to his Premiership and concludes that the answer is 'no'.  He cites David Lloyd George who was by nature both an exceedingly randy 'trickster' but who managed to lead us through WWI.  I would cite the exceedingly naughty Talleyrand who lifted more skirts than I could ever dream of but who proved to be one of the greatest statesmen of his era.  I doubt whether Boris could reach such levels but no doubt he will try.  Fasten your seatbelts!

 

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 16.6.19

Thank you - again - Mr. Hitchens:   There is not a better way to start a Sunday than with a dose of Hitchens!  Er, that's Peter, of course, not his late brother about whom I know very little.  Anyway, Peter's column in The Mail on Sunday is almost the equivalent of my regular glass of cold orange juice every morning, it clears the tubes, so to speak.  Today he discusses the merits and demerits of 'Boris' as a future Prime Minister and sums it up, thusly:

He is disappointingly different from the stage comedian so many think they love. As it happens, I have always quite liked him, but I wouldn’t ask him to look after my cat for a weekend, let alone put him in charge of a medium-sized nuclear power.

 

And you, too, Mr. Dan Hodges:   The other 'absolutely must read' columnist for The Mail on Sunday.  Today he confirms my own utterly uninformed opinion - call it a guess - that the Remainers and the 'Bolsheviks' (that's Labour!) will shoot down any 'no deal' plan to Brexit and, of course, as I have said many a time and oft', Brussels will not give a centimetre to aid our departure.  Boris will face exactly the same road block that the 'Maybot' faced.  There is only one way round it and that is a general election in the Autumn.

 

Let's hear it for the plucky little 'Hongers 'n' Kongers':   I refer, of course, to the people of Hong Kong who have demonstrated their courage in refusing to accept a dangerous directive from 'Xi Ping-a-ling' and his ghastly gangsters in Peking.  The 'Hongers 'n' Kongers' only represent a tiny fraction of the total Chinese population but I can't help wondering how many of the wider population are secretly - very secretly if they are wise - cheering them on?

 

Feeling cheerful?  Then don't read Jeremy Warner!   He reminds us in his Telegraph column that this Autumn two major economic posts will need to be filled.  First, a new Chancellor will be required when Philip Hammond is booted out by Boris.  This may be Boris's first and most critical decision.  Second, a new Governor of the Bank of England will have to be appointed when that mostly useless 'Canuck', Mark Carney, is sent back to Canada to change Justin Trudeau's nappies!  Good riddance to both of them but choosing their successors is going to require sound judgment - yeeeeeeeees, quite!

 

The end of the world must wait upon Rep. Elijah Cummings:   According to all those terrified 'Warmers', the end of the world is nigh and to prove it no less an authority than Rep. Elijah Cummings (Dem - natch!) summoned Ms. Judith Curry, an eminent climatologist and fierce critic of the current alarmist agitprop, to his Congressional committee.  But guess what!  Suddenly, the end of the world was put on hold because Rep. Cummings was more concerned with attempting to charge two Trump officials with contempt, or some such.  Ms. Curry sums it up this way:

If you follow me on twitter, you may have noticed that I was scheduled to testify before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Jun 12. The subject of the Hearing is Contending with Natural Disasters in the Wake of Climate Change.

Late on Jun 10, I received an email telling me that the Hearing is postponed (as yet unscheduled). Apparently the Committee finds it more urgent to have a Hearing related to holding the Attorney General and Secretary of Commerce in contempt of Congress. Interesting to ponder that Congressional procedural issues are deemed to be more important than Climate Change.

To those of you unfamiliar with Rep. Cummings it is sufficient to say that he represents nearly half of the wreckage that is the once proud, bustling city of Baltimore - or 'southern Chicago' as I think of it!

 

And now the end has come:  No, no, not me, so you can put that champagne back in the cellar!  I mean my new hero, the late, great Thomas Cromwell.  I have finally reached the end of John Schofield's excellent but tragic biography of one of the shrewdest, wisest men ever to run the government of England.  What a pity he had to do his duty under one of the stupidest, most malignant kings ever to stain our throne.  Never mind, at least he managed to set a foundation for a new, Protestant England that would eventually rid us of Popery.  Mind you, reading that book left me with a profound shame for my total ignorance on the subject.  Moral: must read more books, er, but how I will find the time I do not know.  Next up is "Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges" by Antony Beevor and I already know how depressing that is going to be!

 

 

No more rumbles 

 

 

 

The law vs. politics

I have mentioned before one of my peculiar habits in bed - no, not that one, behave!  I am referring to my practice of sticking a radio earpiece in my ear and listening to the 'wireless' (what a lovely old-fashioned word that is!) during the night.  I switch between the World Service, Radio4 and 'Talk Sport' depending on which of them is the least boring.  However, I must admit that from time to time one or other of them come up with some fascinating programmes, for example, the current Reith Lectures given by Lord Jonathan Sumption, a former practicing lawyer, a Supreme Court judge and an historian of some repute.  This is a man who can rightly be described as a 'brainiac'!

I have only heard two of his lectures so far and, needless to say, given that I listen to them whilst in bed, I am prone to drifting off to 'nod-land' or waking in the morning and, as an officially 'old geezer' having passed my 80th, with only a hazy memory of what he had to say.  Even so, I was left with the distinct impression that this is a man of 'yuuuuuuge' intelligence and learning.  If you know how to work the latest 'whizzy-do-thingies' which will allow you to listen to his lectures then I urge you to do so.  If not, then you can read the text of his lectures at this site: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00057m8

If I urge you to do so you should not assume that I agree with everything he says.  However, given his learning and my ignorance, I would hesitate before arguing with him.  Whatever, you will learn much from an exceedingly intelligent man.  And I should add that given the breadth of his views, my American friends will be equally fascinated.

 

 

 

Master Rory Stewart of the Lower Fifth

I am reluctant to give Master Stewart a slap and tell him to grow up even though that is my default position!  His school-boy looks irritate me as does his 'mouthiness'.  He is an archetypical, noisy pipsqueak and I don't trust his apparent openness because when you study it you find that it contains nothing!  For example, try his piece in The Telegraph today in which I lost count of the number of times he used the first person singular!  This paragraph says much (to the careful reader) because it says nothing:

"I have been as straight as I can about the opportunities of Brexit but also about the practical steps we need to take, to get it through parliament and rather than being punished in the polls, the message seems to be popular."

Well, whilst it is true that I have not studied his attitude to Brexit in detail my over-riding impression is that he is against it and would surrender even faster than the 'Maybot' did!  He boasts that his, er, policies have "proved very popular with younger voters – I am now polling top among the candidates with 18-45 year olds."  Well, that is is enough to ring every warning bell I possess.  Today, our 'younger generation' are the most wilfully ignorant we have ever possessed and, by and large, anything which they favour is probabaly dim, dumb and daft!

Even so, Master Stewart's chosen career path does indicate some original and adventurous thinking so I will pause before damning him outright and remind myself of 'old Bill's' wise words:

"                                            Hence shall we see,

If power change purpose, what our seemers be."

 

 

Jes' askin'!

Ms. Jo Brand, the, er, 'well known' (but not to me!) 'comedienne' has suggested that the practice of throwing milk-shakes over certain people, especially Nigel Farage, is quite wrong, they should use battery acid instead:

 

 

The BBC, for whom she was appearing, appear to find nothing wrong with her words despite having instantly sacked Danny Baker for a cheap, but non-violent, gag aimed at a Royal.  Needless to say, neither the BBC nor the 'Plod' have evinced any interest in this incitement to violence.

Even so, my interest in the matter is rather more theoretical and can be expressed briefly in question form:

Would tipping battery acid over Ms. Brand improve her looks?

Jes' askin'!

 

ADDITIONAL:   For a spirited - no, I'm not suggesting he had a drink! - response Mr. Brendan O'Neill at The Coffee House takes an opposite view to mine - bloody cheek!

 

 

 

'Boing-boing' Boris bounces into a 'yuuuuuuuge' lead

Why am I not surprised?  Perhaps more important, why am I not more nervous?  Of course, it is so easy to forecast that he will, so to speak, 'drop a bollock here' and 'drop a bollock there' but when you think about it, so would any of the others.  Also, it's worth remembering that one of the greatest 'bollock-droppers' of Westminster was Winston Churchill!  In addition, we should all remember the 'Maybot' who gave every appearance of being 'normal' but who proved to be as thick as a plank and totally disastrous as a Prime Minister.  Not the least of Boris's good intentions is that he appears to be determined to axe a swathe of top civil service (non)Mandarins who led the dim-witted 'Maybot' by her long, silly nose in entirely the wrong direction.

Alas, his main problem will not be 'Jezza' and the comrades of the Labour party, nor even the 'Godfathers' ensconced in their Brussels fortress, instead his main enemy will be certain elements in his own Conservative party, typified by the creepy MP for Beaconsfield, the half-French Dominic Grieve.  This is a man who lives down to the words of 'crookback' Richard of Gloucester in Henry VI:

Why, I can smile, and murder whiles I smile,

After the referendum he stated, "the decision of the electorate in the Referendum must be respected and that I should support a reasoned process to give effect to it".  [My emphasis]  In fact, he has tried every trick in the book to put a stop to the process.  He is in deep trouble with his local constituency party in Beaconsfield who do not approve of his lickspittle creepiness to the Brussels apparat and his treacherous behaviour towards his prime minister.   Alas, there may not be time for them to boot him out of the Conservative party but perhaps Boris can assist with a well-aimed kick, you know, the sort of thing they learn at Eton!

Needless to say, and quite apart from Brexit, there are some major problems looming for Britain which need urgent and intelligent attention.  Some of the more intelligent 'runners and riders' in the 'Prime Ministerial Handicap' could be used and encouraged to develop their ideas.  I mean people like Sajid Javid - Chancellor, perhaps, given his experience in the City of London? - and Dominic Raab whose keen support for Brexit at any cost would be the ideal 'hard man' to conduct negotiations with the EU.  Finally, I hope Boris is big enough in spirit to 'forgive and forget' that well-known coke-sniffer, Michael Gove, who appears to be able to apply his undoubted intelligence in solving some of these intractable problems.

Yes, I know what they say about the danger of living in exciting times but it is really time for a new team to stir the Whitehall sludge!

 

 

If you want your BBC, you can have your BBC

And should you be in any doubt as to what to do with it, I will be happy to advise!  It has been five years since I last had to pay for a TV licence which, of course, goes solely to the obscenely swollen and mostly useless BBC.  Old age pensioners over 75 were let off which is just as well in my case because like virtually everyone else I have noticed an increasing decline in standards from news to sport to so-called 'entertainment'.  The fact that part of the licence fee goes to the likes of ex-footballer and 'zillionaire', Gary Lineker, makes me feel ill.

If I lived alone I would simply throw my TV sets into the local tip but, of course, like many others I have CD collections which I like to watch and for which I am happy to pay to my local electronics shop.  As I understand it, even possession of a computer capable of playing tapes and CDs makes you subject to the authoritarian BBC who have built a reputation for their ruthlessness in pursuing anyone whom they suspect of being in possession of devices capable of playing their wretched programmes.

I feel a demonstration is called for, preferably one that entails chucking custard tarts at BBC executives, er, and Gary Lineker!

 

 

 

I wondered what, if anything, she would have to say

I refer to Ms. Sarah Vine, a.k.a. Mrs. Michael Gove.  As most of my Brit readers will know, Sarah Vine is also a long-standing columnist at The Daily Mail where she produces some hefty opinion pieces on all sorts of subjects.  So I was intrigued when the news broke that her husband, Michael Gove MP, had been in his younger (but still adult!) days, "a very naughty boy!"  I confess to enjoying a good dollop of schadenfreude when the news of naughty Michael's drug sniffing escapades broke just as he was pushing himself forward as a potential leader of the Tory party and Prime Minister.  Too, too delicious!

Anyway, today in The Mail, Mrs. Gove gives her reaction and I am pleased to say that it was sensible and intelligent.  With a wife like that, 'naughty Michael' is a very lucky man.  Mind you, what she said to him in private can only be guessed at!

 

 

 

Take that, Boris!

Let me introduce you to Nick Cohen - waddya mean, Nick who?  Perhaps I should start again.  Mr. Cohen is a moderate 'Lefty' journalist and commentator who appears to fill his fountain pen with acid!  He writes fairly often for the Spectator but because I sensed where he was coming from I rarely if ever bothered to read him.  My bad!  Today, at The Coffee House, his subject is Boris so I read it and almost - I stress almost! - felt sorry for the blonde bombshell!  I had no idea that Mr. Cohen was capable of such vitriolic language.  His acidic attack left me 'shocked, I tell you, shocked'!

Here is the opening paragraph:

Rather rashly, Boris Johnson published The Churchill factor: How one man made history in 2015. It was without historical merit, or intellectual insight, but Johnson did not intend readers to learn about Churchill. The biography was not a Churchill biography but a Johnson campaign biography, where we were invited to see our hero as Winston redux.

It's rapidly downhill from there on!  To be fair, I don't think there is anyone who takes Boris seriously enough to actually place their entire faith in him but in these Brexit-laden times there is only one immediate matter that dominates and that is getting us out of the clutches of the Brussels apparat.  The second priority is for the Tories to choose a leader capable of rousing the enthusiasm of the voters in order to keep Corbyn's Marxist fingers off the levers of power.  I will have all my fingers, and some of my toes, crossed that Boris will achieve that.

Tell me I'm not wrong!

 

 

 

Richard Dawkins confirms he is a 'dork'!

I have been convinced that Richard Dawkins is a 'dork' since he first published his ludicrous book claiming that genes are "selfish".  Genes, of course, are simply a collection of nucleotides which float about in a living body and assist in some bio-chemical processes.  To describe them as "selfish" is idiocy of the first order.  

As confirmation of my opinion, The Telegraph has republished a recent Tweet by the less than distinguished professor:

Under-age people can’t vote. Whatever our criterion for thinking them unqualified (eg insufficiently developed reasoning powers or knowledge) there must be some adults less qualified than some under-age people. Is age the only practical threshold or could others be devised?

Notice his repeated mention of "unqualified" and "qualified" plus, of course, "reasoning powers" and "knowledge".  Now who, I wonder, does 'The Dork' have in mind to set the examination of voters in order to decide on their levels of knowledge and understanding and there-by their right to vote?  My guess is that he would wish to be 'Examiner-in-Chief' but, alas, someone should tell him that anyone who believes that a lump of chemical 'goo' is "selfish" instantly disqualifies himself!

 

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 9.6.19

Poor Thomas, his end is approaching:   I refer, of course, to Thomas Cromwell; a man, I am finally learning, who was a truly great Englishman.  My sincere thanks are due to John Schofield, the historian, who wrote the book I am reading: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell: Henry VIII's Most Faithful Servant.  He lived in dangerously tricky times as Lutherism gathered strength from the dissatisfaction with 'Popery' but his 'murderous' boss, Henry VIII, never quite committed himself one way or another.  Given the nature of the religious dispute, I can understand that opinions on Cromwell have divided historians, however, Mr. Schofield is an admirer of whom I approve because, by and large, I am not an admirer of 'Popery'!

 

Politicians are lying, hypocritical ratbags!   So nothing new there, then!  I can't say I was too surprised to see Michael Gove 'outed' as a coke-sniffing lying-liar given his despicable 'stabbing' of Boris at the last Tory party leadership election.  As so often on drug-related matters, I take my lead from the estimable Peter Hitchens: 

Mr Gove was Secretary of State for Justice from 2015 to 2016. If proposals for proper enforcement of drug laws had come before the Cabinet he would have known as he studied them that he had, as an adult, committed the offence of possession of a Class A drug. For this crime he would have been open to a sentence of up to seven years in one of the prisons for which he was responsible. Knowing that, how could he have enthusiastically supported any initiative that would have genuinely made it more likely that drug abusers would go to prison?

In addition, 'Guido' chucks in another handgrenade with my emphasis:

The hypocrisy charge is already hitting Gove over his writing of an article for The Times arguing against the hypocrisy of journalists using cocaine and arguing for drug liberalisation. An article written during the period he was using cocaine. The hypocrisy charge will be turbo-charged when it hits the headlines tomorrow that when he was Secretary of State for Education he brought in legislation that bans teachers for life from teaching if they are convicted of cocaine possession. 

 

We're in trouble but so are the 'Cousins':   I have watched with increasing dismay the deepening and widening gulf opening up inside America.  Yes, of course, there have always been political and social divisions in their society but during most of my lifetime they have been contained within, so to speak, a 'large tent' providing room for manoeuvre in which relatively moderate people can agree to disagree and await their turn on the tiller.  From way 'over here' that seems to be disappearing and subsumed by vitriolic hatred and detestation which will bode no compromise.  I confess that one of my thermometers on American politics is the blog of Mr. 'Phil' Carpenter which I still follow even when, in a typical spat, he threw me out!  He claims to abhor what he considers to be the extremism of the ultra-Lefties in the Democratic party but in doing so he comes across as froth-foamed as the 'ranters and ravers' he abhors.  Needless to say, when it comes to Donald Trump, he and his commenters go into full on frenzy!  And he and they consider themselves to be, er, 'moderates!

 

Why don't 'skools' just teach maths, English and history?   Instead, I gather from the current 'kerfuffle' outside a 'skool' in Birmingham, they are finding the time to teach our 'likkle kiddie-winkies' the finer points of homosexuality, lesbianism and, er, well, anything else you might fancy in the sexual stable!  Needless to say, the local Muslims have kicked off in protest and now they are seeing the hard face of all those 'Leftie-poseurs' who assured them that their religious and social rights would be protected.  Well, they would be just so long as the 'Lefties' approve!  Frankly, I went through 'skool' without a single sex lesson of any kind and finding out the, er, hard way was quite good fun!

 

I knew it would be depressing but . . .    My Kindle needed recharging and so I have given Master Cromwell a rest and instead I started to get into Antony Beevor's history of "Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges 1944".  It was a very British 'cock-up' and Montgomery stands accused of blind, obstinate stupidity of the sort he detested from his Generals during WWI.  I haven't even reached the airborne landings but already you can forsee the disaster approaching.  Deeply depressing!

 

If Boris wins, he should 'nick' some of Goves' ideas:   Everyone, by which I mean the journalistic 'know-alls', seems to think that Michael Gove is a very intelligent fellow, apart from his earlier drug taking, and he seems to have some good ideas on changing our antique tax system.  Perhaps, if Boris wins, he should forget old slights and get Gove on board.  The Tory party desperately needs some intelligent and original thinking to catch the imagination of the dreaded 'Peeps'!

 

Another book recommendation:  God I'm good to y'all!  I refer to:

The Europe Illusion: Britain, France, Germany and the Long History of European Integration by Stuart Sweeney

I have a copy, courtesy of 'SoD' because the author, Stuart Sweeney, is the brother of one of SoD's old university friends from way back.  I haven't read it yet because I am otherwise engaged with Master Cromwell and Gen. Montgomery but I have just received an 'e-advert' for it from the publisher and it jogged me into giving it a punt.

 

(Sir) Lewis wins, er, on a technicality:  Sorry, Herr Vettel, but rules are rules and you would be demanding their application if the roles were reversed. Anyway, (Sir) Lewis was only 2 secs behind you when you finished 'first' but, alas, you were carrying a 5 second penalty from an earlier error.  What's the German for 'ohdearwhatapitynevermind'?

 

No more rumbles 

 

 

 

A ludicrous 'Line of Duty'

I have been a tad grumpy this week although happily things improved yesterday.  As I told you - I think! - I talked the 'Memsahib' into allowing me to watch the latest series of "Line of Duty", my absolutely favourite TV, police thriller yarn which has been running for some years.  Because I like the series so much, I decided not to watch one a week because I cannot bear to wait all that time for the next episode, and also, to be honest, with my senile, old brain I would probably forget the story line!  So, during this past week, we have both sat down every evening and worked our way through 'Series 5' from a box set.

For the benefit of my foreign readers I should explain that the series is all based on a police unit called 'AC 12' which is the anti-corruption unit inside a major police HQ in a large, provincial city.  There are three main characters who feature in all the episodes.   Superintendent Ted Hastings is the officer in command and amongst others he has two subordinate officers, D.S. Steve Arnott and Insp. Kate Fleming.  Of course, there are innumerable others but those three feature in all the stories.  The writing and plotting and filming and acting is excellent with many a twist and turn to keep the viewers on their toes!  So you can imagine with what eagerness I was looking forward to this latest series.

Alas, during the first few episodes I suffered maximum grumpiness because the fundamental story-line was so 'OTT' as to be unbelievable!  In the first episode there was a robbery involving a gun battle that would not have looked out of place on the Normandy beaches in 1944!  The slaughter, mostly of police officers, was immense and in real life it would have brought the country almost to a halt.  Then it transpired that the leader of the murderous gang was actually an under-cover policeman who had infiltrated the gang.  At that point, all my attempts to swallow this nonsense dissolved!  It was pure Hollywood Americana!

My grumpiness increased due to the fact that a lot of the dialogue was difficult to discern because either the actors mumbled too much or spoke in an incomprehensible regional accent and the dialogue was stuffed full of police procedural terms which mean nothing to a civilian audience.  Also, to be fair, some of the blame attaches to me because of my inability to work out how to switch on the sub-titles for the CD-thingie!  Eventually, I worked it out and that helped.  Even so, the whole thing was totally unbelievable because I could not believe that a police force would allow an under-cover cop to take part in armed robberies resulting in the deaths of other policemen.

However, towards the end there was a very long scene, or series of scenes, in which the anti-corruption department were themselves investigated by a higher level anti-corruption squad plus lawyers.  These scenes were excellent and beautifully acted by actors I have never seen before and whose every word I could discern without need of sub-titles.

Anyway, because the TV channels now seem to be stuffed full of utterly tedious crap, I have decided to hook out my box-set of earlier "Line of Duty" CDs which were terrific.  I should add the fact that 'MDK' ('My Darling Keelie') Hawes features in one of them and I could watch her forever!

 

 

Oh Lord, 'The Speccie' does my thinking for me - again!

I do try, honestly I do, to clarify my own thoughts as I ruminate my way through the day but, of course, with all this 'meeja' stuff coming in from all directions and on all sorts of topics it is not easy to clarify one's thoughts when it is time to hit the keyboard.  Happily, on those occasions I can always rely on 'The Speccie' to do my thinking for me and this week's editorial is spot on!

Their first paragraph puts a complicated subject into a nutshell:

Why is it that free trade, which almost everyone agrees is good when conducted with other European countries, suddenly becomes something to be feared when it is proposed with the United States? What is it about American chicken which means that Britons who eat it happily enough when they are on holiday are supposed to fear it when it is imported? And if Americans can offer world-class, well-priced medical services to Britain through the National Health Service, how is that a threat to our social fabric?

I could not have put it better myself, in fact, I could not have put it anywhere near as clearly and precisely as the editorial team at 'The Speccie'.  I still cannot quite believe the sight and sound of Tory politicians who are suppose to be in favour of free trade, fainting and swooning like a bunch of girlies seeing a mouse run across a room.  They are as pathetic as they are stupid!  And on the specific subject of chlorinated chicken with my emphasis added:

As for chlorinated chicken, the supposed health risks have long since been exposed as a scare story. UK consumers ingest far more chlorine drinking water than they ever would by eating American chicken: indeed, UK salads are routinely chlorine-washed, yet we do not hear Gove talking about them. In fact, once we are out of the EU, lifting the ban on chlorine-washed chicken is something we should consider doing even without a trade deal with the US. On this issue, and many others, it will soon be time to think for ourselves again.

Shortly, and it had better be very shortly, Britain will return to being an independent country again as we have been for nearly a 1,000 years until we surrendered to Germany and its acolytes.  That will require politicians of some calibre, politicians who can envision a world market in which Britain can thrive instead of waiting for orders in the ante-room at Brussels!  Do we have those sorts of politicians?  I doubt it and so does 'The Speccie':

In a few weeks’ time, Britain will have a new prime minister, charged with delivering the benefits that come from decoupling our economy from the EU. It’s often said that it would be bad for the Tories to fail to deliver Brexit. It would be worse for them to achieve Brexit only to discover that, due to a lack of imagination and courage, they do not know what to do with it.

Exactly!

 

 

 

This 'n' that!

I am on standby as chauffeur to the 'Memsahib' this morning so I do not have much time for creating one of my long, elegant and carefully-crafted analyses - and I heard that! - of the news of the day.  Plus, there are so many news items worthy of comment that I hardly know where to start.

Well, of course, I must start with the marking of the 75th anniversary of D-Day which was, I think, excellent in all respects.  Both here and in France, they were both serious and solemn but also, given the remarkable number of old veterans still alive, joyous.  Even 'The Donald' managed to recognise that on this occasion he was a supporting player and he behaved impeccably.  As to the memory of those who died, there simply are no words.

From the sublime to the 'cor blimey' of yesterday's by-election in Peterborough which has some ominous implications.  In effect, the Right-wing vote was split between Tories and the Brexit party which allowed Labour - just! - to sneak in.  This will require careful thought from all concerned.

Today, I gather, there is a women's football Cup Final.  Needless to say, I will not be watching given that the only ladies sport I might watch is Brazilian volleyball where the shorts are shortest!

At least I managed, er, with the help of my neighbour, to sort my TV out so that I could watch the CD version of the last series of "Line of Duty".  I deliberately avoided watching it on live TV because I knew it would drive me mad having to wait a week for every episode.  Well for the last four nights I have watched the first four episodes and they were total and utter crap!  Will I force myself to watch the last four.  Perhaps but only because I want to see if it sinks to even lower levels of total unbelievability!

Right, can't waste my time here, her Ladyship is calling!

 

 

 

The best D-day coverage from The Mail-Online

Well done to The Mail for providing a superb photographic report on all the many different activities that took place yesterday which were a superb tribute to all who took part:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7107305/300-D-Day-veterans-gather-Portsmouth-75-years-later.html

 

 

 

 

Let me imagine

I want to try, even if it is impossible to succeed, to imagine two things on this the 75th anniversary of the day before D-Day.  I want to attempt to put myself in the minds of two men.  I do have some experience in that sort of thing being an ex-(very amateur)-actor which involves reading a printed script and then injecting into it as much as you can of what you have worked out as the likely thoughts and feelings of the character you are portraying.  Alas, in these two cases, or roles, I have absolutely no idea what was going through their minds!

I will begin, appropriately, with the first man who stepped into the sea from a landing-craft on the Channel coast on the 6th June 1944 and, weighed down with weaponry and ammunition, had to struggle through rough seas and incoming fire to reach a hostile shore.  What was he thinking?  What was he feeling?  Alas, at that point my imagination slams shut because it is impossible to imagine, you need to have been there.  All one can do is struggle for words to express one's gratitude and admiration.

Moving from the bottom to the top, I would like to try and put myself, ex-Corporal Duff - yeeeeeees, quite! - in the place of General Eisenhower who had spent, what to him, must have seemed like a lifetime immersed in the incredibly complex details of the greatest military manoeuvre in the history of Man, and more-over, a manoeuvre which, if it failed, would shift the future of the world into a wholly new area and set back the allied forces at least a year.  Then, on the very cusp of the operation, a relatively lowly-ranked RAF officer from their meteorology department warns him that on the due day for the launch, the weather was likely to be too rough and that the best he could advise was that if the invasion was put off for 24-hours, the weather would still be unstable but not quite as bad.  What went through Eisenhower's mind - and heart - when he heard that and was forced to take an historic decision?

I have no idea and cannot even begin to imagine it.  All I can express is my profound gratitude to both men, and all those in between, for their courage, both mental and physical, in executing successfully the greatest military manoeuvre in the history of the world. 

 

Britain's decision time, Germany or America - you choose!

An excellent article by Victor Davis Hanson at The National Review which has a subtle heading: "Is Germany Becoming Germany - Again?"  As far as we Brits are concerned it is a crucial question which is given added importance as we host the POTUS 'over here'.  'VDH' stresses that there is a real and growing schism between America and Germany.  This chasm is increasing radically given the nature of the two countries involved.  It is hard for some people to recognise that beneath Merkel's 'Green and Liberal' cloak there is a determined German nationalist at work.  Germany has virtully succeeded in its ploy to take over the European Union and run it for its own German benefit.  Thus, its refusal to countenance monetary interchanges between EU nations keeps the Med countries in poverty which, in turn, keeps the common euro currency cheap on international markets - to the benefit of Mercedes, VW et al!  Similarly, its constant refusal to increase its contribution to NATO leaving the gross burden to be borne by the USA means that NATO is already crumbling. 

Merkel all but announced that Germany, or for that matter Europe itself, is no longer really an ally of the United States: “There is no doubt that Europe needs to reposition itself in a changed world. . . . The old certainties of the post-war order no longer apply.”

Well, there is some truth in that, Madame Chancellor, but I would remind you of these wise words, "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"!  Thus, as you lead your continent away from America on the grounds that Russia is now, more or less, a busted flush, I would remind you that a new and powerful and grossly ambitious China is arising in the East.  Merkel is impervious to the looming threat and in the sanguine spirit of the truly dim and dumb, she recently visited Harvard University where she delivered a thinly-veiled attack on the President.  How, one wonders, would she have re-acted to 'The Donald' conducting a similar operation in Germany and dropping a few bombs on her?  As 'VDH' puts it:

Perhaps imagine something akin to Donald Trump’s traveling to Munich to address a hard-right audience of Alternative für Deutschland members — and then winning their applause by systematically attacking Merkel’s disastrous solar and wind energy policies, disastrous open-borders immigration dictates, disastrous subversion of NATO by her deliberate reneging on past promises on defense investments — and then, without saying the word “Merkel,” calling her an abject liar for breaking her promises.

I would pay good money to hear that!  In the meantime, it is necessary for us Brits to face up to a Grand Strategic decision.  Do we abandon America and everything it stands for in its military power and its democratic foundations and instead tie ourselves to 'Mutti' Merkel's apron strings and rely on her?  You choose!

 

 

This says it all with wit and humour

My thanks to 'Blower' and 'Her Majesty's' Daily Telegraph who, via "Front Bench", their daily  summary of news and events which they send to me every morning began my day with a snort of laughter.

 

Welcome aboard, Mr. President

Presidents, and Prime Ministers, are a mixed bag!  Some good, some bad, most a mixture of the two, and therefor it is difficult to define them exactly which is why it is best, whilst they are in office, to keep one's opinion of them provisional and wait for the historians to decide the matter later - much later!  In my 80-year old experience I have come to the conclusion that the ones who seemed good at first tend to go bad later and vice verse.  

However, it is very much easier to work out the character of the shouty nincompoops who flounce out of their official duties as senior members of the opposition and lead demonstrations against the leader of the most powerful country in the world which is, they should bear in mind, our principal ally.  Of course, in their peculiar world view, the nations most of us think of as potential enemies are actually 'friends' to them!  Need one say more? 

None of that means that we must automatically kow-tow to the President of the USA but when we invite him to be a guest at the celebration of an historic battle in which America provided enormous numbers of men and materials to undertake an incredibly hazardous operation at a crucial time in our history, then good manners should take precedence over petty political disagreements.  Unfortunately, the current Labour party and their brain-dead adherents are incapable of thinking beyond the dumb slogans they display on their banners.  And the term 'good manners' is incomprehensible to all of them!

So, welcome aboard, Mr. President (and your elegant wife!) and let us celebrate together the actions of very brave men and women from another age.

 

 

 

The (late, again) Sunday Rumble: 2.6.19

Donald, just shut up!   What a honker and a hooter he is!  Nobody 'over here' gives a flying 'you-know-what' concerning your opinion as to who should lead the Tory party!  In fact, the only effect of you giving your unwanted opinion will be to damage the prospects of whom so ever you choose!  Give it a rest!

 

Why would anyone want to marry him?   I refer, of course, to Henry VIII who, from all the different portraits I have seen of him, looks fat, ugly and downright nasty!

Ladies, can you imagine that fat, hairy, cruel, lying-liar entering your bed-chamber?  Surely, your only response would be, "Heeeeeeeeeeelp!"

 

Take that, Alistair Campbell!    Peter Hitchens pulls no punches in today's Mail as he lays into that nasty, little political thug, Alistair Campbell.  He admires his ferocious energy and intelligence but suggests that it was, and still is, misdirected.  Hitchens agrees with 'Jezza' that Campbell deserves his expulsion from the Labour party.

 

But, 'Nige', what will you actually do if you form the next government?    It's a question well worth asking because there is a very good chance that the Brexit party will win the next election.  Of course, we all know that he will march us out of the EU - Hoorah! - but then there's the rest of all that messy governing business, you know, taxes, defence, trade, the NHS and all that boring stuff!  And who are the people you have in mind to run all these different departments?  It's early days but the Tories could collapse in the next few months so you had better have a plan ready!

 

Oh dear, 'I lunched not wisely but too well' - again!   Yes, the carvery at The Kings Arms, East Stour where it is impossible to stop making a pig of myself!  And, of course, the carvery simply has to be followed by a portion of apple crumble suitably decorated with about a gallon of custard!  On arriving home, I slept!

 

According to Mr. Matt Hancock MP:   Who is, I think the 117th volunteer to take over from Mrs. May, the apparatchiks in Brussels are "receptive" to his plan.  This means two things.  First, that his plan is simply a surrender, and second, Hancock is a nincompoop!

 

 

 

No more rumbles 

 

 

 

In politics, never work for a 'nutter'!

I am still progressing through a biography of Thomas Cromwell, the, er, 'bagman' for Henry VIII.  I am enjoying it immensely not least because it is opening my eyes to yet another era of English history about which I am woefully ignorant.  For a start, I had not realised how enormously influential Thomas Cromwell was in laying the foundations of English Protestantism, or to be precise, 'Lutherism'.  He, more than anyone, assisted in the birth of a different Christian Church in England which was able, eventually, to shrug off the corrupt, cloying cloak of Catholicism and Popery which had seeped into every nook and cranny of the Kingdom.  More to the point, he did it carefully and intelligently so that it lasted despite the inevitable setbacks.  Alas, however, this highly intelligent man worked for a 'nutter', Henry VIII, who, in the end, chopped his head off!  Ah well, some you win, some you lose!

I was reminded of all this when news broke that the current 'nutter' running North Korea, let it be known that he had executed not one but four members of his Foreign Affairs Ministry because, allegedly, the talks with President Trump had ended in failure.  Bit harsh, one thinks, but on the other hand, were I to be made Prime Minister this month, I can't help thinking that one or two - oh alright then, dozens! - of executions of top-ranking civil servants might work wonders in the sclerotic, moribund world of Whitehall.

In a sense, of course, Thomas Cromwell was the first Brexiteer!

 

 

"Change UK" desperately needs to, er, change!

Here they are, or four of them anyway, with 'Big Chief' Chuka sitting next to Anna 'Sour-brie' who is gallantly attempting a smile as a change from her normal scowl.  What a pity they are not all in the photo thus recording the greatest collection of 'numpties' in the history of Parliament!

Sarah Wollaston, Chuka Umunna, Anna Soubry and Heidi Allen of Change UK

For the benefit of my non-Brit readers, this is roughly half of the 'Remainer' MPs who stomped off in a huff from their main political parties in order to form a new, dynamic grouping who would change the face of Britain when they led us in triumph to Brussels in order to, er, well, surrender, actually!

So off they marched a few weeks ago but gradually it has dawned on them that, actually, no-one is following!  As Isobel Hardman explains in The Coffee House:

Change UK has been holding post-mortem meetings about its failure to win any seats in last week’s European elections, I understand. Members of the newly-formed party met up this week to discuss what to do next after it only secured 3 per cent of the vote overall. [My emphasis]

Already, there are disputes between the individuals and so far no agreement on what their official policy will be.  I will be well and truly 'gobsmacked' if any of them are returned to Parliament after the next election - so not all bad then, especially if it includes Ms. 'Sour-brie'!

 

An absolute 'must read'!

For those like me who are bemused at the flock of 'wannabe' Tory leaders, not least because I have never heard of most of them, I urge you all to read Allison Pearson's summary of the 'runners and riders' in this increasingly over-crowded field.  She is a shrewd judge, I think, and I give you her thoughts on my two favourites - by the way, 'Mick and Maureen' are two imaginary 'average punters':

9. Dominic Raab
The 45-year-old former Secretary for Exiting the European Union has moved swiftly to the front of the field without being particularly well-known. He has only been MP for Esher and Walton since 2010, but made an impression when he stormed out of the Brexit job after failing to persuade the PM to get on the front foot in the negotiations. He has the powerful patriotism of the outsider whose family Britain has welcomed (his paternal grandparents were Czech refugees and several of his father’s relatives were murdered at Auschwitz). The death of Raab’s father, from cancer, when he was 12, may have given him the drive to make things right, to reach the highest office. (Both John Major and Tony Blair lost their fathers around the same age.) Unlike most of his rivals, he was educated at state school. While reading law at Oxford he captained the karate club and boxed for the university. A cool customer with fire in his belly.

Mick and Maureen say: “Seems good, but we’d need to know him better before we make up our mind.” (8/10)

10. Boris Johnson
Needs no introduction, which is already a big plus. Written off as a disorganised buffoon by his critics, but still the only Conservative who reaches the parts others cannot. A taxi driver told me the other day that he had the former Foreign Secretary in the back of the cab and he asked him to pull over at a cashpoint. A crowd gathered within seconds and Boris was soon signing autographs for excited passers-by. This does not happen to politicians. Rumours that Boris is going vegan, under the influence of his new girlfriend, added to his disappointingly well-behaved haircut and curious references in his column to “kindness” may give cause for concern; activists look to Boris for red meat, not spiralised courgettes. For all his faults, the party may yet take a risk on its clown prince, the persuader who can rival Farage for sheer shameless box office.
Mick and Maureen say: “BORISSSS!” (8/10)

I am tending even further towards Raab especially as he has a Jewish background which, not definitely but usually, indicates some intelligence!

 

Peut-être, mini-Macron is really maxi-Macron!

In my usual lazy way I took the instant headlines at face value and assumed that mini-Macron had been given a slap by Marine Le Pen in the EU elections last week. Pas du tout, according to Gavin Mortimer at The Coffee House and his opinions are worth something given that he lives in France.  His opening paragraph sums it up with my emphasis added:

If there’s one politician in Europe as triumphant as Nigel Farage right now it’s Emmanuel Macron. The European election results were not, as many outside France have declared, a humiliation for the French president. On the contrary, they were a success. Publicly the Elysée described the result as “honourable”, but in private the president was reportedly cock-a-hoop. “Basically, we’ve won, it’s a triumph and Macron is jubilant,” said one of his staff.

Of course, like every other nation France and its leader have their problems but, on the whole, according to Mr. Mortimer, Macron is sitting very comfortably.  I do hope so because he is so virulently opposed to giving Britain even the pickings of his nose to assist our Brexit that he could clinch what I personally desire, a no deal Brexit!

 

In which I offer myself as the next leader of the Conservative party

Well, everyone else and his uncle (or aunt) are pushing themselves forward for the job, so why not me?  True, I may not win but at least I will get my five minutes seconds of fame like the rest of them!  Why do they bother?  Is it just to increase from zero to 0.1 their name recognition amongst the Great British Public?  Well, at least I have a hundred or so followers on this blog which makes me more 'famous' than most of the nonentities in the Tory party jumping up and down and squeaking, "Me! Me! Me!"

Also, I would really get things done!  For a start, as Prime Minister I would immediately execute most of the Labour party, all of the 'il-Lib-non-Dems', that dreary, wet, Greenie woman and most of those incomprehensible Scot-Nats.  To show my even-handed approach, I would also order the elimination of several leading Tories, starting with that fat, saggy, old 'has been', Ken Clarke, closely followed by that smug, smooth, slippery operator, Dominic Grieve - well, he's a lawyer by trade so no-one will grieve for him - Ho-Ho, very witty Wilde!  I will spare that ghastly, little up-start, John Bercow, who is an embarrassment to the whole country in his role as Speaker.  Instead of execution, I will have his vocal chords removed by surgery so he cannot speak and then have him chained up outside Parliament to caper for the tourists - which is more or less what he does now!

Oh hell, it's nearly ten - things to do - people to see - I must get on.  Still, a man may dream, may he not?

 

 

Dammit! Janet Daley has said it all - and so much better than me!

Since early morning as the election results came in I have been mulling over in my mind the words of wisdom - don't say it! - I intended to impart to you this morning - and then I read Janet Daley in The Telegraph!  Instantly, my favourite 'Noo Yawk' expression entered my head - "Faggettaboutit!"  In just her first two paragraphs she sums it up:

Message to all those demanding a second referendum: you’ve just had it. Or, at least, you’ve had the clearest possible indication of what its result would be.

After three years of sound and fury, bloodcurdling threats, diatribe and disputation the country’s position is – almost exactly where it was three years ago. [My emphasis]  The share of the vote won by the brand new party which argues for the hardest possible Brexit is virtually identical to the combined votes of the two parties, the Lib Dems and Greens, who support Remain. 

Exactly so and I urge you all to read her entire column.

For me, the most important result is that both the Tories and Labour have received an almighty kick in the groin.  The message from the electorate, in street jargon, is crystal clear - "Don't mess with us, bro!"  Dare I say that I am actually exceedingly grateful to the EU for providing this otherwise useless and pointless 'election' which, at last, has given 'us, the Peeps' an opportunity to express our views without the need for all that messy street demo stuff.

Even so, as 'My Darling Jane' indicates, nothing has changed.  The country is divided almost exactly as it was during the referendum, roughly 52 - 48.  However, the collateral damage inflicted on both the Tories and Labour is of such magnitude that what passes for their group minds will, like a hanging in the morning, concentrate them wonderfully!  The most important is the Tory mind-set because they are actually in government and about to choose a new Prime Minister.  Boris appears to be favourite but, as we have just seen, we live in strange times.  Who-ever they choose needs to be a fervent Brexiteer but equally, an intelligent Brexiteer. 

As y'all do know, I have always been in favour of Brexit and I always suspected that a deal with the Brussels' hierarchy was never going to happen.  Thus, the first thing the new Prime Minister needs to do is face that reality square on and galvanise the planning for a 'No Deal' exit in October.  The first thing he, or she, should do is appoint an equally fervent Brexiteer as 'Minister for a No Deal Brexit' with over-riding powers to organise the country in preparation.  This will allow some time and space for the new PM to execute the next most important task - re-setting the Tory party  philosophy.  He or she needs to ask, what is the Tory party for?  What are its guiding principles and aims?  Having decided, these must be driven through with passion and purpose.

Finally, it would be churlish of me to end this post without expressing my profound gratitude to the most extra-ordinary politican since Margaret Thatcher.  What Nigel Farage has achieved, virtually single-handed, against the monstrous, bureaucratic stodge at the top of our country is almost unbelievable.  If anyone deserves an Earldom, or some such, it is him!

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 26.5.19

Hey-ho, it's off to the races!   The runners and riders for the Tory Party Classic are forming up and you will never see a bigger collection of monstrous and deluded egos, er, outside of the candidates' list for the Democratic Party, of course!  I have lost count of the number of hopeless dreamers who have rushed forward to offer their names.  I have never heard of most of them.  Why do they do it?  Well, as W. C. Fields never said, but should have, "You'll never go broke over-estimating the egos of politicians!" 

 

Peter Hitchens makes uncomfortable reading:   So no change there then!  His column in today's Mail begins thus:

If your car breaks down and won’t go, do you think you will solve the problem by giving it a new coat of paint? Not unless you are very stupid. So why does anyone think that ditching Theresa May and replacing her with Al ‘Boris’ Johnson will make any important difference?

If you are a Tory party supporter, have a large whiskey to hand when you read him!

 

'MDK' obviously needs me:  Of course, I am referring to My Darling Keeley Hawes who, er, 'smote' me when I first saw her in an early series of "Line of Duty" during which, alas, she was shot dead!

She isn't a classic beauty but there is just something about her that 'presses my buttons', so to speak!  Looking at that photo, it may be the way her upper lip very slightly protrudes over her lower lip which gives her an air of vulnerability.  Anyway, according to The Mail, she has confessed to suffering with frequent depression.  The solution, 'My Darling Keeley', is only a 'phone call away!  (Er, not a word to the 'Memsahib', chaps!)

 

There's trouble brewin' on them thar prairies:   Greenies vs. cowboys, according to The Telegraph which reports that some 'yuuuuuuge' conservation group wants to buy 'zillions' of acres of prairieland in Montana and re-introduce native animals to the area, such as bison, elk and prairie dogs.  The cowboys are not amused because they say it will put them out of business.  See y'all soon down at the 'OK corral'! 

 

Oh no, I'm in love again!   This time the lucky lady is Ms. Madeleine Kearns and I needs must tread carefully because she hails from Glasgow - or 'Glesga', as our friend Jimmy would have it! - although she is now based 'over there' and is learning journalism at The National Review Institute, an excellent choice.  She has written a review of two feminised Shakespeare productions in New York and they are shrewd and perceptive.  Go, girl, go!

 

Where's that damned crafty Frenchman hiding?   No, no, not 'mini-Macron', I mean Talleyrand.  I came across his name the other day when I was up here cruising the net, ooops, sorry, I mean tidying my attic, of course!  Anyway, his name popped up somewhere and as I have a weakness for wily statesmen, which is why I am enjoying Thomas Cromwell's life so much, it reminded me that I had an excellent biography of Talleyrand - somewhere!  Can I find it?  Can I hell!

 

(Sir) Lewis wins again!   What an incredible driver he is!  Surely now, the greatest of them all.  Mind you, Monaco has to be the most boring race of the season.  It is virtually impossible to overtake so that makes the practice sessions more interesting and exciting than the race!  Even so, how those guys thread their cars through the narrow, twisty streets is quite incredible.

 

No more rumbles 

 

 

I hope Mrs. May isn't reading The Telegraph today

Well, to be honest, I doubt that she has read it for years, certainly not whilst she was PM.  My guess is that she is more at home with The Independent or The Guardian.  Anyway, today sundry commentators are lining up to put the boot into the wretched woman and whilst I dislike extreme political bullying she absolutely deserves what she is getting today because, almost alone and single-handed, she brought disaster down on her own silly, stubborn head - and on her own country!

Ms. Sherelle Jacobs is a lady but she pulls no punches.  Even so, she is shrewd enough to spread the blame over the majority of the Tory party itself:

“Impotent” will be the epithet of Mrs May, but the affliction is institutional. From the disastrous election of 2017 and the day the PM unveiled her deal at Chequers, to the three thumping defeats of the Withdrawal Agreement, the Cabinet and the 1922 Committee have slithered out of countless opportunities to oust her, as the spiralling crisis only crystallised their cowardice.

I think, I hope, that a thumping majority of the people of Britain recognised this last Thursday and that tomorrow, when the European election results are announced, it will be crystal clear to the dimmest of dim Tory MPs that if they continue to flout the wishes of the majority of the British public "There will be blood" and it will be Tory blood!

'MDJ', aka'My Darling Janet (Daley) puts it this way:

We desperately need grown-ups now. Whoever is to fill this immediate vacuum – and all those who even declare themselves willing to make the attempt – will have to meet this absolutely indispensable requirement.
Every word they utter and every move they make will have to be judicious, responsible and generous.

Assuming that the next leader has been – because this must be the case – committed absolutely to leaving the EU, the generosity is particularly crucial: it will have to extend even to implacable critics, and to the irreconcilable Remain contingent in Parliament and in the country.
Reconciliation – which is not the same thing as compromise – must be paramount.  [My emphasis]

Charles Moore, former Editor of The Spectator, offers this shrewd comment:

I kept saying to myself, “beware of pity”. It was sad to watch someone who has tried so hard being forced to admit defeat, and painful to see the tears start into her eyes.  But I still say “Beware of pity” because, if Theresa May’s account of what went wrong is accepted, the same mistakes will be repeated.

Mrs May quoted the late, great rescuer of children from the Nazis, Sir Nicholas Winton, “Never forget that compromise is not a dirty word”.
Indeed. But she never did compromise with differing views about Brexit within her party and agree a negotiating position.

Instead, she developed a position in secret, and did not sell it frankly for what it was. The whole thing, including the dreaded backstop, was her way of staying in a version of the Customs Union, but she would not admit it.
Her often repeated statement that “No deal is better than a bad deal” was insincere. Brussels knew it, so they knew they could squash her.

So, alas, the next crucial decision will be taken by the Tory party - God help us! - when they choose her successor.  Fasten your seat belts!

 

 

 

Has she gone yet?

As an ex-actor, even as amateurish as I was, I do understand the urge to spin out your best scenes and lines for as long as possible but, Darling Theresa, yours is the longest exit in Parliamentary history!  Things weren't going too well from the opening curtain but the minute you delivered those memorable lines years ago about "Brexit means Brexit" you have been 'dead woman walking', or rather, tottering in that strange gait of yours.  Anyway, it's over, you're history, although I doubt whether your 'performance' will rate much more than a footnote in the history books to come.

In the meantime, we needs must ponder on who is best to replace her.  Hmmmmn, tricky one that!  Boris is, apparently, the favourite but why do I hesitate even though he claims to be an ardent Brexiteer?  Most of the (so-called) experts in the media point to his somewhat shambolic private life and his whim-impelled ability to suddenly change course.  Well, it would make for 'interesting times' but, by and large and on the whole, I think I prefer calm and constant times!

As for the remainder of the herd, I simply do not know enough to judge them.  Hunt is, or appears to be, calm and steadfast but I'm not sure what he stands for.  I had hopes for Sajid but he seems prone to wobbles from time to time.  Dominic Raab impressed me recently but for the life of me I can't remember why!  I suppose the best one can hope for is a Tory leader who can expose Corbyn for the terrorist-loving monster he is.  Well, we shall see what we shall see - but I just hope it's sooner rather than later!

ADDITIONAL:    It's June 7th - HOORAH!

 

 

So that should clinch it for 'our Nige'!

Yes indeed, where I lead, zillions follow, so that should clinch a 'yuuuuuuuge' majority win for the 'Brexit Party' in today's European elections because I have just returned from our village hall where I voted - natch! - for 'our Nige'.  To be honest, this is the first time I have ever voted in a European election because until now I considered it a waste of time and effort.  And again, to be honest, until now I saw no way of assisting in the political annihilation of the wretched Mrs. May.  This now appears to be a certainty and in a few days she will be 'dead woman walking' - and good riddance!

Of course, the main event is yet to come which will be the next general election in Britain.  The Tories are, perhaps (but again, perhaps not given their stupidity), now going to be forced into deciding whether to ditch the wretched May and follow the people's lead towards the European exit with or without the non-deal the Europeans have tossed to us, or will they persist with their ludicrous effort to be all things to all men.  The British people will watch closely and having (I hope) given the Tories a gashing wound today, their second stroke at the next election will be final and fatal!

 

 

The Lords of the Admiralty caper like idiots!

It is often an error to write of something about which you know next to nothing but - hey! - I'm used to it as y'all do know!  And that bring me neatly onto the subject of the dismissal of Commodore Nick Cooke-Priest RN, hitherto the commander of Britain's one and only modern, multi-zillion, 'whizzy-do' aircraft carrier although I am not too sure if it actually has any aircraft yet!  Apparently, 'the Skipper', as I shall refer to him, committed the egregious crime of using his official car to drive himself home at weekends - even though he paid for the petrol!  Yes, I know, shockin', shockin' but even so, as I am sure 'JK' and 'AussieD' will confirm, in the gamut of 'crimes and midemeanours' carried out by matelots of all ranks, driving home in your 'official' car hardly deserves 20 lashes, or the modern equivalent of that punishment, being summarilly dismissed from your command.  Surely a quiet word in the Skipper's ear or maybe a small fine would have been sufficient.  Perhaps our beloved, scrofulous, dandruff-ridden hacks from the appropriately-named 'Fleet Street' should take a long hard look at the perks enjoyed by our less than mighty Lords of the Admiralty!

 

 

This Parliamentary farce will run longer than 'Game of Thrones'!

And so they drone on and on and on in Westminster, not once, not twice, not thrice but now for the fourth time and pulling the creaking (non)Brexit wagon along is that donkey, Mrs. Theresa May.  In certain circumstances her stubbornness might have been praise worthy but it has been clear for all, except her, to see that the House will never agree even on the number of commas in her pathetic, so-called 'Brexit plan'.  I am left wondering what is driving her on in the face of such adversity.  I would like to say that it was courage but, alas, I fear it is simply donkey-like stupidity combined with over-weening ambition and love of power and position.  She is, quite simply, determined to avoid facing what is to her unthinkable, that is, resigning and handing over the keys to No.10 to some other self-delusional cretin who thinks that, Canute-like, they can achieve the impossible!

Mind you, her glue-like determination to hang on in there has one great advantage - it moves us closer to the 'No Deal' option which was, is and always will be, not just the very best option but the only option!  At the risk of repeating myself - who 'moi'? - let me say, yet again, that the Euros will never, ever make a deal that would allow us to depart peacefully.  I don't blame them for that because we are, after all, a nice, fat 'milch cow' on which they can suckle comfortably.  For example, today British Steel has just collapsed despite the pound dropping in value since 2016 which should have made our steel cheaper on international markets.  However, as Ross Clark points out at The Coffee House, that was not enough to defend against the flood of (subsidised) steel from China.  Even so, the EU 'apparat' has done everything it can to strangle British Steel:

The final trigger for British Steel’s collapse into administration, however, was not low steel prices but arguably a demand from the EU for £120 million worth of payments under its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) – which is supposed to provide an incentive for heavy polluters to cut their carbon emissions.

Under the scheme, heavy industries which face international competition are given free allowances of carbon credits to meet the EU demands – a circular economy of paper which does rather little to help the planet.

The trouble for British Steel is that while Britain has agreed to remain bound by the ETS until December 2020, the EU has decided to stop issuing free allowances to UK firms – at least until we have voted to ratify the EU withdrawal agreement. In other words, British companies still have to make payments under the ETS scheme, but no longer receive the free carbon credits to help them meet their bills.  [My emphasis]

With 'friends' like that, who needs enemies?

 

ADDITIONAL:    An excellent explanation of the 'Theresa May phenomenon' by Andrew Lilico in The Telegraph.  Well worth a read if you are as non-plussed as me!

 

 

 

What exactly did 'Change UK' change to?

For the benefit of my foreign readers, and I suspect, several of my Brit readers, too, I should explain that 'Change UK' is the name - well, it was yesterday but who knows today? - of a political group - it is still not exactly a party - formed from sundry malcontents from all the main Parliamentary parties who huffed off a couple of months ago.  I think, at the last count there were 7 or 8 of them, all sort of human, except Anna 'Sour Brie' Soubry who is obviously a wind-up toy!  They are led, if that is quite the right word, by that dopey, black bloke called 'Chuck Yer Munna', or something like that!

Anyway, I have been keeping a careful eye open to try and discern what they are actually for!  So far, it appears, the only thing they agree on - although I'm not too sure about 'Sour Brie' who never agrees with anyone on anything - is that they want to revoke Article 50 which was passed by Parliament with an enormous majority only a couple of years ago.  Good luck with that one, 'Chuk Yer Munna', and in the unlikely event that you get your way, stand by for riots on the streets - led by me!

 

 

Right, pay attention all you Tory voters!

Next Thursday, you will all get fell in, tallest on the right, shortest on the left, and on my word of command you will proceed in an orderly way to your nearest polling station.  Once there, and again on my word of command, you will carry out a full-blooded massacre of the Tory party!  No mercy is to be shown, all of them, without exception, are to be chopped off at the knees and left to crawl back on their stumps to Tory HQ!  You will achieve this by voting for almost anyone else, er, except Labour, but allow me to nudge you in the direction of the new Brexit Party which is an excellent place to start.  However, if necessary, choose 'The Monster Raving Loony Party' but just remember that our motto is - Anyone But Tory!

There is already a certain amount of sweat being raised in Tory circles, especially in Parliament, but now you must seize the chance and induce total moral panic!  Your average Tory MP is a gutless creature and if you demonstrate utter ruthlessness on Thursday you will be amazed how quickly they will turn their coats on that wretched woman and her euro-weeny cohorts and steer our government towards a straightforward, no deal Brexit!

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 19.5.19

Bright and relatively early this morning:   Despite having enjoyed an exceedingly pleasant dinner with 'SoD' and his lovely lady at a local Italian restaurant.  Amongst other things, 'SoD' gave me a Regimental tie - made of silk!  Ultra smart and that forced me to smarten up my appearance last night from my usual 'scruffy, old geezer' look, a mode which, to my surprise, seems not to have taken off in the fashion world!

 

Let's hear it - again - for the Aussies:    Excellent news from 'down under there' where the Lefty-loons have been treated more or less like any visiting English cricket team - bowled out with a pathetic score!  Will the (non)Democratic Party in America face the same outcome 'over there' next year?  I suspect they will, not least because there is a growing 'shit-storm' building up over their shennanigans prior to the last Presidential election.  Take cover!

 

Sort of good but also sort of sad:   Yesterday I gave myself a break from the machinations of 'our Tom' Cromwell and 'our King 'Arry' and I began to read a few pages from Antony Beevor's latest book, "Arnhem".  Already, I just know it is going to be excellent history but, alas, also 'yuuuuuugely' depressing!  In many ways, Montgomery was an excellent fighting General but why did the bombastic, little prat have to emulate the equally obtuse Gen. Patten and thereby produce even greater military cock-ups?

 

As usual, Peter Hitchens tells it the way it really is:   There has been much 'huffin' 'n' puffin'' from all quarters on the ludicrous state of affairs in which 70-year old veterans are being prosecuted 40+ years after the events whilst their murderous IRA opponents were given 'carte blanche' protection from the law.  Hitchens sums it up thus:

I shall keep saying this until it sinks in. The United Kingdom surrendered to the Provisional IRA, under heavy American pressure, in 1998, and the persecution of British soldiers was part of the terms of that surrender. The Tory Party supported the nauseatingly named ‘Good Friday Agreement’ at the time and still defends it.

 

Hurrah, Britain finished bottom!   Thank God for that, Britain finished last in the Eurovision song contest!  I don't think I have ever heard even a semi-decent song from that ghastly chorus of no-talent morons so perhaps the 'galumps' who keep entering us will realise that even if Cole Porter wrote our songs and Frank Sinatra sang them, the Euros will never vote for us because they detest us!  When the realisation occurs, please tell Mrs. May the same attitude prevails on our (non)Brexit talks!

 

Dominic Cavendish needs to 'man up'!   Cavendish is the theatre critic of The Telegraph and I have just read his mealy-mouthed, pathetic critique of the feminised Henry IV at The Globe Theatre, about which I 'grumped' a few days ago.  This photo sums it up:

Sarah Amankwah in a scene from Henry IV, Part II Credit: Tristram Kenton

Cavendish, with his 'oh so metropolitan sensibilities' describes Ms. Amankwah as "a woman of colour".  No she's not, Dominic, darling, she's black!  We're all 'coloured' in different pigments so just spell it out, you know, as in "Tell truth and shame the devil".

 

And another two books!   These delivered by 'SoD', so thanks be to him!  One is serious and the other is hilarious.  The serious one is The Europe Illusion: Britain, France, Germany and the Long History of European Integration by Stuart Sweeney.  It commences from 1648 so it looks like a long read - which is ecellent.  The other, gifted to me at my own request, is seriously serious history!  I continually quote one of its key phrases, "A Good Thing" and "A Bad Thing" and, of course, that comes from "1066 and All That" by the renowned historians - no, honestly! - W.G.Sellar and R.J.Yeatman.  It must be over 60 years since I last read it and at the time it left my crying with laughter.  So thanks, 'SoD', you're a diamond!  An example:

                                     Chapter XLIII

                                               India

It was in the 18th century that Indian history started.  Indian History is a great number of wars in which the English fought against the Waratah Confederacy and various kinds of potentates called Sahibs, Wallahs, Jahs, Rajahs, Hurrahjas, Mahhurrahjas, Jhams and Jhellies.  Most memorable amongst these were the terrible Napoo Sahib, the Maharrata of Pshaw, the Chandra Gaff and the Taj Mahal.

Talk about laugh, I expect you nearly did!  Anyway, that's me finished for today - I have some serious reading to do!

 

 

No more rumbles 

 

 

 

 

This Brexit lark is just more of the same old same old!

I am now well into John Schofield's excellent biography of Thomas Cromwell and two things have leapt out at me.  First is the insidious and unstoppable erosion of the Catholic faith following the writings and preachings of that very naughty German, Martin Luther.  It is no wonder that all the great dictatorships of modern times always seize control of the means of communication.  Alas for the Church of that time, the invention of the printing press and its rapid extension round Europe made control of communications almost impossible.  However, what has surprised me somewhat, is the speed at which Luther's message was picked up and absorbed by so many.

It is one of the great ironies of all time, that the steady encroachment of 'Lutherism' into England occurred at a time when 'our 'Enery' was eager, nay slavering, to be rid of wife #1, Catherine of Aragon, and hot to marry wife #2, Anne Boleyn.  Even the best legal minds in the realm could not wriggle their way through the Papal strictures forbidding such an act, so that was all the encouragement 'our 'Enery' needed to be rid off this European entanglement.  Thus, the first 'Brexit' was a 'Royal Brexit' - God bless yer Majesty!

I suspect that my next history book is going to be on the subject of Luther and his 'revolutionary' movement!

 

And blessings be upon 'The Land of Kindle'!

Thank God for that!  After my disappointment, about which I moaned a few months back, after I bought a biography of Thomas Cromwell which almost resembled his daily diary given the sheer amount of detail in it, I have now found a new biography by John Schofield which is concise and informative and, thus, readable.  Already I can see why 'our Tom' is a tricky subject given that he had to follow a path of intricate difficulties where one miss-step might take you up the stairs to the chopping block!

Mr. Schofield tends to the sympathetic side of Master Cromwell but I gather that other biographers can be much harsher.  What shines out so far is the man's intelligence.  From relatively humble beginnings via an adventurous military youth abroad, he slowly ascends the ladder to wealth and influence - and danger!  I have only just reached the beginnings of his rise to Royal circles which, given 'our 'Enery's' volcanic nature, to say nothing of the Boleyn family's ambitions, he might, in retrospect, have done better to avoid!

It's a terrific story and Mr. Schofield tells it well and clearly.

 

The Rise & Fall of Thomas Cromwell: Henry VIII's Most Faithful Servant

by John Schofield

 

 

 

The Sunday Rumble 12.5.19

Rest day today:   'For Lo, I have laboured in the vineyards of the Lord', er, well, that is, my 0.037 of an acre of a garden and so, as the sun is shining, I intend to sit in it and relax.  Well, apart from labouring up two flights of stairs in order to add further rumbles - or grumbles - you decide!

 

And now I am back in 'the slough of despond':   Yes, after my exciting break courtesy of Mr. Terry Hayes and his superlative thriller, "I Am Pilgrim", I have returned with extreme reluctance to Mr. Tim Bouverie's depressing history of one the most shameful episodes in British history, "Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War".  With depressing timing I have returned on the eve of the German invasion of Czechoslovakia.  Someone please pass the sick-bag!

 

But this will make you smile:   Today's cartoon in The Telegraph as part of a report that the pollsters are indicating that 'our Nige' and his Brexit party will out-vote the Tories at the next election.

When, oh when, will the Tory 'muppets' wake up and rid themselves of that wretched woman and her 'Remainer' cohorts?

 

'MDK' sums it up elegantly:   'MDK', of course, is 'My Darling Katy' Balls who writes for 'The Speccie' and 'The Coffee House'.  Today she summarises an interview of 'Our Nige' by Andrew Marr, the archetypal BBC creature.

The beauty of the Brexit Party campaign is its simplicity – the party’s MEP candidates come from across the political spectrum but all agree that the UK should already be out of the EU and today’s politicians are complicit in that failure. However, today’s interview is a reminder of the difficulties the party could face moving to a general election setting where domestic policies would come under greater scrutiny.

That is a shrewd point and a warning.  I suspect that, Brexit apart, if you locked six 'Brexiteers' in a room to decide on domestic issues you would get ten opinions and a punch-up!  Even so, for the greater good, let's vote as many of them as possible into the European parliament in order to truly 'frit' the Tories!

 

Jes' sayin'!   I have had a lovely couple of hours sitting on my patio in nothing but my shorts and my tan is coming along nicely.  I just know you ladies will find that fascinating!

 

Now this is interesting:   Well, it is if you're fascinated by pre-WWII European history.  Many people defend Chamberlain's pathetic weakness by claiming that we could not have declared war in 1938 because we lacked the power.  But neither, despite their 'huffin' 'n' puffin', did the Germans:

From the perspective of the Western Powers, the principal defence of the Munich Agreement has rested on the fact that neither Britain nor France were ready for war in 1938 and that Munich granted them an extra year in which to prepare - the so-called 'breathing space'.  "Thank God for Munich", wrote Harold Balfour, Under-Secretary for Air in the Chamberlain government, who recalled that in the autumn of 1938 Britain only possessed two flying Spitfires and scarcely more Hurricanes.  Of course, Balfour was right.  The Spitfires, Hurricanes and radar - all which made the difference between victory and defeat in the Battle of Britain  - were not ready in 1938 but were in 1939.  What the argument ignores, however, is that Germany was in no position to launch the Battle of Britain in 1938.  Not only - as the events of 1939 and 1940 were to prove - did she first need to defeat her immediate neighbours and secure airfields along the Channel coast before she could turn her attention to Britain, but in 1938 the Luftwaffe was not equipped for a long-range strategic bombing campaign.

"Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War"

 

'MDJ' is absolutely spot on:   Yes, 'MDJ', My Darling Julie (Birchill), is yet another lady in my life although, just like the others, she only enters it via the printed word.  Even so, 'MDJ', who was an exceedingly naughty girl 'back in the day', obviously inherited some good sense genes even if she nearly drowned them in booze and drugs and high(=low!) living during her youth.  It is exemplified in her article in today's Telegraph when she extols the benefit of 'a stiff upper lip' rather than the hysterical outpourings of 'feelings".

If it’s true that expressing emotion is the key to the life well lived, the healthiest and happiest souls among us would be those who frequently blew their tops – look around you and see this isn’t so. Angry people just get angrier, and then drop dead from high blood pressure or a heart attack; on the way there, they tend to become lonely, as people don’t generally care for being around someone who can go off like Krakatoa over an imagined slight.

Spot on, 'MDJ'!

 

Am I warming to Viktor Orbán?   Difficult to say, really, because I know next to nothing of the man.  My uninformed impression is/was that he was just another east European bully boy with dictatorial leanings.  However, today I read a piece by 'MDC' - yes, another woman in my life! - this time, My Darling Clarice (Feldman) who writes with considerable intelligence for The American Thinker site.  Today she writes:

Despite pressure from the EU, he refused to open his borders to immigrants from Africa and the Arab world, foreseeing that otherwise Hungary’s patrimony -- a Christian ethos -- would be lost. Among those who opposed them was the Hungarian-born American George Soros, who, with his money sheltered from taxation by U.S. foundation tax laws, used those funds to undercut Hungarian nationalist desires. As is often the case, the Soros NGO in effect constituted another political party against which he had to battle to preserve his nationalist agenda. He succeeded against Soros, but then faced a difficult dilemma: The country’s dependence on EU subsidies and the opposition of the leaders of the EPP (the European Peoples Party) which endorses candidates for the Byzantine and undemocratic European Parliament.

Anyone who opposes the mysterious and manipulative George Soros gains my support - for what it's worth!

ADDITIONAL:  For an alternative judgment on Viktor Orbán  try this article at the CAPX site:

https://capx.co/viktor-orban-and-the-corruption-of-conservatism/

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

 

Are we all going mad 'over here' and 'over there?

Well, it looks like it to me.  Our political class, or at least a large proportion of it, both 'over here' and 'over there', appear to be inhabiting a cuckoo universe.  Some 500 of our utterly useless members of Parliament voted to abide by the peoples' vote in the referendum and passed a motion promising to take our country out of the EU by the 29th March 2019.  Ever since then they have done everything they can to thwart it.  It's ominous enough when the 'Peeps' rebel against a Parliament but it is likely to be calamitous when we watch a parliament rebel against the 'Peeps'.  It is unlikely, I think - or hope! - that 'there will be blood' but it could be a close run thing!

Meanwhile, 'over there' one of the two mainstream political parties, the Democrats, appear to be suffering with mass hysteria.  You will see no better example of it than watching Rep. Brian Sims (D) berating an elderly lady who, alone with rosary in hand, was waiting outside a Planned Parenthood abortion factory to offer advice to women seeking their services.  This mentally deranged, bully-boy spends eight minutes following the lady as she walks up and down outside the premises, filming her and shouting abuse at her - to which she has the good grace not to reply and the courage to continue her mission.  Watch it and weep!  (And why didn't someone call the police and have this ignorant oaf arrested?)

Of course, all political parties have their fair number of 'nut-jobs' but, from 'over here', the Democratic party seems suffused with them.  I would urge my American friends to follow our example 'over here' when, in the next election we thrash the Tories for gross incompetence and dishonesty.  By damning the Democrats to the outer reaches of political hell you will, in the end, do them a favour and restore some minimal commonsense and good manners to the shouty 'stoopids' who seem to have taken over what was once a respectable and respected political party.

 

 

To 'vape' or not to 'vape'?

When it comes to cigarettes, I have bragged, many a time and oft', that I switched from being a 60-a-day man to zero in approximately 3.5 seconds!  This came about when I tried to find a space inside my large glass ashtray to stub out the cigarette I had just finished.  Attempting to push the dozens of dog-ends aside in order to find a clear space I was suddenly disgusted and somewhere inside my head a switch was thrown and I stopped on the spot.  No will-power required, I just stopped!

Over at the CAPX site, Matt Ridley has an interesting article on the different approaches to smoking and 'vaping'.  I noticed the other day that my local pub, 'The Tippling Philosopher', has a "No Vaping" sign on the doors and I assumed that it stems from the inordinate amount of 'smoke' that vaping pipes seem to produce although I gather from Mr. Ridley's article that it is not in the slightest degree noxious.  However, there appears to be a campaign afoot to stamp out vaping and Mr. Ridley wonders why?

Take, for example, this recent pronouncement by the mayor of San Francisco: “Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. Tobacco kills more than 480,000 people a year in this country. That’s more than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined.” Therefore, he goes on — in one of the great non-sequiturs of history — he is going to ban e-cigarettes, which have caused none of those deaths and could prevent them, but not ban real cigarettes, which caused nearly all of those deaths.

Well, to be fair, you wouldn't normally expect much in the way of intelligence, let alone commonsense, from any mayor of San Francisco.

The vaping revolution took the world by surprise. Invented in China in 2006, the e-cigarette has caused massive declines in smoking in Britain — more than almost any other country — because of an early decision by the Cameron government to resist calls to ban it. It is the reason we have the lowest cigarette consumption per capita in the G7, and the second lowest in Europe, and one of the lowest incidences of lung cancer.

Well, at least 'Dim Dave' managed to get one thing right which was more than the EU has managed:

The Department of Health got the point, saying in 2017: “We will help people quit smoking by permitting innovative technologies that minimise the risk of harm. We will maximise the availability of safer alternatives to smoking”. But, then, in response to the EU Tobacco Products Directive [my emphasis], it banned advertising of e-cigarettes, and mandated excessively small refill bottles and low nicotine limits. Thus, the opportunity for competition and consumer choice to drive innovation in harm reduction is increasingly stifled, even in Britain, in favour of paternalistic regulation premised on “nanny knows best”, and the fossilised straitjackets of regulation.

Perhaps we could vapourise all of the EU 'apparat'!

 

 

'Prime Minister' Farage - gulp! - blimey!

Could it happen?  Could 'our Nige' actually win the keys to No. 10?  Well, according to some polls and some 'political know-alls', it is certainly possible.  If Mrs. May continues to stumble-bum her way from one disastrous error to another, and if 'Jezza' Corbyn and his sinister 'apparat' carry on like a "Carry On Up The Kremlin" film, then 'our Nige' could nick it from under their silly Westminster noses.

If so, what sort of a Prime Minister would he be?  Well, if you know, do tell me because I haven't a clue!  I admire him enormously as, arguably, the greatest political force since "that woman"!  Virtually single-handed, he has shifted British politics to an entirely new course.  If the results of the forthcoming European elections are as utterly devastating to the traditional parties as the 'experts' believe, then that will mean Farage's moment has come.  It will suggest that he and his totally inexperienced cabal are capable of seizing power from the traditional parties.

Government is a tricky business and I am not sure if the people surrounding Farage have what it takes to run a powerful and complex government machine.  Mind you, looking at the utter nincompoops - yes, that means you, Gavin Williamson! -  who have been in command recently, it is now clear that 'our Nige' and his mates, or even you and yours, to say nothing of me and mine, couldn't do a worst job!

We shall see what we shall see!

 

 

 

A humble petition, Your Majesty, from your loyal subject

Please, please, Ma'am, can you get a grip of all your various and exceedingly numerous 'youngsters' and tell them to stop reproducing!  In the last few years it has been a non-stop reproduction process and every time it occurs our 'meeja' lose all restraint and go berserk.  For example, this morning, following Harry and Meghan's totally normal, everyday procedure, I had to plough through 22 pages of The Daily Mail before I found any news of other events.  

And if I may presume, Ma'am, may I humbly entreat you to issue an invitation to Meghan's dear, old Dad when the christening becomes imminent.  Yes, yes, Ma'am, I do realise that he sounds like 'a very naughty boy' but he would, perhaps, inject some much needed humour into the proceedings - and I'm sure he and 'Phil' would get along very well together!  

 

 

Ms. Julie Birchill, and George Orwell, are spot on!

Ms. Birchill, a lady I would hesitate, nay, tremble, to take on in an argument pulls on her 'bovver boots' (I bet she wore them back in her day) and gives those oh-so superior, Lefty, metropolitan prats who lord it over us 'untermenschen' a hefty kick where it hurts!  She quotes the results of a poll by the 'YouGov-Cambridge Globalism survey' which showed that we Brits are more open and agreeable to immigration than any other European country except Poland. 

Only 37 per cent of us Britons [my emphasis] are of the opinion that the cons outweigh the pros – less than any other people except the Poles. We showed the highest level of support of any country for qualified professionals coming to the UK with a job offer, with 80 per cent agreeing they were good for the country. In a further trouncing of the knee-jerk “gammon” stereotype, more British men than women are in favour of immigration.

It will come as a shock to all those Brit-hating liberal, Euro fanatics who insist that the 'plebs' are a bunch of proto-fascists who hate all foreigners.  

George Orwell had these types bang to rights: “It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during God Save the King than of stealing from a poor-box.”

The simple truth is that you do NOT have to be a foreigner-hating bigot just because you value the many good things achieved by your own country.

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 5.5.19

'Will no one rid me of this turbulent Prime Minister?'   And so she goes on and on and on, ever deeper into a suffocating bog of non-Brexit ordure.  She is fooling no-one, except herself, and her last effort in which she pleads for 'dear Jeremy' to give her a hand out of the latrine, is beyond stupid and into the a land of make-believe.  The only worry I have is that if she and Labour stitch up a deal in the next few days and then ram it through parliament it may give her a chance to dodge the European elections, the result of which will make yesterday's massacre of the Tory party look like a bun-fight!

 

Oooops, sorry for my absence!   Well, I did my gardening but when I came in for tea I took 'a short course in death'.  Dammit, all that fresh air is bad for you!

 

Don't mess with 'The Donald'!   According to a news report, 'The Donald' has decided that the USA/China trade talks are going nowhere so he has decided to up the 10% tariff on $200 billion of goods to 25%!  In addition, he has warned that a further $325 billion of Chinese goods could be added to the list if a trade deal is not agreed.  That should wipe the smirk off Xi Ping-a-ling's face!

 

Pompeii:   Entirely by accident I caught a programme on 'Channel 5' tonight on the subject of Pompeii.  It was fascinating and there is another episode tomorrow at 21.00hrs.  I once visited the neighbouring city of Herculaneum and it was, quite literally, a day I will never forget.  Herculaneum is smaller than Pompeii and it was generally populated by the wealthier citizens from the bigger city.  As I understand it, the stuff that landed on Herculaneum from Vesuvius carbonised - whatever that means! -  and thus preserved the town in much better detail.  I have been lucky to have visited various places and cities and sites around the world but Herculaneum, frozen in time from AD79, made far ans away the biggest impression.  Try and catch the programme on Pompeii if you can.

 

No more rumbles today - and, boy, will I sleep well tonight!

 

 

 

Now here's a problem I am happy NOT to solve

As usual, it is the ever excellent Spectator that raises it in the words of a man, an eminent QC, no less, who knows where-of he writes!

I have been a defence lawyer for more than 25 years. I have defended clients charged with almost every crime there is.

[…]

Of all the crimes and misdemeanours I have seen, all the improbable tales and shocking lies in the witness box, what sticks with me most about the criminal justice system is the utter simplicity of the one thing that lies behind almost all of it. People want to take drugs and nothing will stop them.  [My emphasis]

I must confess that I know next to nothing about the subject although, of course, I never cease to skim-read some of the constant, day in and day out reports of the worst and most tragic outcomes of the drug trade and drug consumerism.  As m' Learned Friend points out, despite all the various and hugely expensive efforts to stamp out the drug trade - nothing works!  The only tangible result is that the street price goes up, as do the profits which enrich the supply chain even more.

To most professionals like me, with long and direct experience of the world of drugs and crime, there is nothing more baffling than the continuing attempt to use laws to prevent people taking drugs. Drug laws are made, arrests continue, sentences get longer, prisons get fuller, more young people are shot and stabbed, but the neat packages of white and brown powder still arrive with unstoppable efficiency.

I cannot pretend to an even miniscule knowledge of the subject compared to m' Learned Friend but his argument is powerful.  It reminds me of the futility of the old American effort to ban booze - criminality went up along with the profits but people went on drinking.  So perhaps, with a gulp and crossed fingers, we should try the same thing with drugs.

'Wotcha' fink?'

 

 

The political centrifuge is spinning - better watch out!

Not all of the local government results are in yet but it is already clear that both the Tories and Labour have been either ignored or slapped by the voters.  This, of course, has left space for the LibDems and/or the 'Greenies' to creep in but before they become too excited they should take account of 'The Man Who Wasn't There', a.k.a. Nigel Farage.  His new Brexit party was not formed in time to take part in these local elections but already they are forming up for the European elections next month.  That should send the political centrifuge into even higher speed and I suspect that the ground will be knee-deep in cast off Tories and Labourites.

There are simply no words to describe the never-ending disaster of Mrs. May's premiership which truly does go from bad to worse to disastrous.  She really is 'as thick as six short Ghurkhas' and, alas, is driven by an over-weening ambition to cling on to the keys of No. 10 no matter what.  Of course, as per usual, I sense 'incoming S.o.D.' who will lecture me to the effect that it is all my fault for supporting Brexit because, you see, in his EU-besotted mind, 'the Peeps' should never be asked for their opinion on anything, they should just follow their wise, intelligent leaders on the path to perdition and remember to say 'thank you' as they are led into the "slough of despond"!

Well, this time 'the Peeps' failed to follow orders and next month they will break into open revolt and the politicians from both major parties will be loaded onto the tumbrils and carted off to political execution.  After that, chaos will reign and that is not good for anyone.  However, it will not be our fault, the blame will rightly be attached to politicians who asked us, 'the Peeps', for a decision - and then threw our reply into our faces!

 

 

If you're British, do NOT read this book!

Sorry to bore on - again - er, and again but I am forced to reverse my urgings for you all to read Tim Bouverie's superb book, "Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War", especially if you are British!  I have now reached the contretemps over Czechoslovakia which led to Chamberlain's two ludicrous visits to Hitler and it is excruciatingly painful!  Without knowing fully the details, it has always embarrassed me particularly after I made my one and only visit a few years ago to that delightful country which we threw to the Hitlerian dogs in 1938.  Needless to say, because I have already said it over and over again, Mr. Bouverie's history is impeccable and fascinating, in the sense that watching a horror story unfold can often be fascinating.

I should make clear that I do not agree with the notion that Britain should have gone to war over the Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia.  We were too weak and much too far away.  Neither of our, er, 'allies', France and Russia, had the slightest intention of joining us if we had declared war so it would have gone down in history as an utterly useless gesture of the most dangerous and futile kind but it was a cruel hoax to offer the Czechs a last, futile hope. However, what we should have done is put our economy on a war footing, as we had to do in 1939.  In fact we should have started that when Baldwin was Prime Minister.  As it was, only very modest improvements were made to the armed forces - yes, there were a few more Spitfires but hardly anymore battleships and aircraft carriers, and the army ranks remained pitifully small.

What makes sickening reading is the huge numbers of people, not only politicians, who were not prepared to make any effort to re-arm in a significant way whether because they were too 'frit' to contemplate war, or were actually sympathetic to German aims.  As I watch today the utter shambles that Theresa May's non-government has become, I get a real-life notion of how things must have been in 1938.  It was, and is, utterly shameful!

 

 

 

'Pte. Pike' gets the sack!

Oddly enough, when the news broke that a member of the cabinet had leaked to the media the decision rubber-stamped by Mrs. May to allow the Chinese firm Huawei to have a role in the new, 'whizzy-do' communications scheme known as '5G', I instantly thought of that young 'thruster' Gavin Williamson MP.  To quote an exceedingly old expression, 'I never did quite like the cut of his jib'!  In fact, I was astonished when he greased his way up to the role of Minister of Defence - God help us, I thought.

The decision on '5G', pushed through by Mrs. May, was taken at a meeting of the Top Secret National Security Council where it is strictly forbidden for anyone to leak anything.  It is also exceedingly 'stoopid' for anyone to do it because the entire weight of MI5 and GCHQ will come down on it like a ton of bricks.  If it was Williamson - he denies it fervently - then it confirms my suspicion that he is a young dimwit promoted far above his abilities and his intelligence.  Who promoted him?  Well, our equally dim-witted Prime Minister, that's who!  Really, in a sense, they deserve each other.

With such idiocy at the top, I truly fear for my country!