Category: Politics

Posted on

ONLY ROTTERS HUNT OTTERS!

I thought I would start with the good news – an otter has appeared on camera at Trinity College, Cambridge. Almost extinct in parts of the UK in the 1970’s, campaigns to stop otter hunts have succeeded in allowing the otter to thrive.

On a more serious note – Starmer is talking of dangerous increases in military spending. Trump is saying he will not withdraw Americas nuclear shield (but that was today – tomorrow, who knows). Should Europe be more proactive in its defence spending and actions – probably, but do not forget the millions that U.S. tech and arms companies make out of Europe. Is Starmers latest debacle due to elections coming up in the UK and he wants to attract right-wing support?

The Observer had a double page on student loans. The amounts students are owing is eyewatering. The original argument was that graduates benefitted from high salaries and therefore should payback the cost of their education. What a load of bollocks. Society needs doctors and nurses, engineers and scientists. Just raise higher level income tax – those earning vast amounts due to their education should be taxed accordingly. Society should not put a value on degrees, we need artists and also those with obscure degrees. So abolish the loans completely and give grants to those doing degrees of public service/need. Then let tax get the money back!

To be honest – not much else! Apart from the fact that the USA has carried out 157 armed raids in Somalia in the last 15 months. Epstein files rumble on with Andrew becoming less likeable every day. Starmer is also fighting due to ‘support’ of paedophiles being promoted to HoL. I doubt he will survive May elections. But who takes over? Will Sweeting who will likely lose his seat next election? Only Andy Burnham seems to have a hope of recreating Labour into a left’ish party again.

FA Cup action this weekend – AVilla were embarrassing in their support by the referee!

Posted on

JURY IS OUT

A dilema is posed by the acquittal of Palestine Action members who were found not guilty by a jury of criminal damage with the defence that they were trying to prevent the company, Israeli Arms Manufacturer Elbit, from commiting genocide in Gaza. I applaud the action of the jury in this case – but with reservations. I think it is highly likely that the defendants did in fact break UK law. Can a jury decide what is legal or not? That is the role of Parliament under our democracy. Would I be more concerned if a jury acquited defendants for lynching a person of colour? Of course. It is notable that the judicial system has just ruled the governments classification of Palestinian Action as a terror group is illegal. The government has said it wants to end trial by jury in many cases.

Judges can also make mistatkes but should be guided by the letter of the law – and there are many cases of their errors. A judge in the case above would almost certainly have found the defendants guilty and possibly imposed jail terms. So what do I think? I cannot pick and chose a jury or decide whether they were right or wrong. But I think ultimately I would prefer to have a judiciary that maintains its independence. However that has to be balanced by a parliamentary system that is also fair and balanced. At present we have a Labour government with a huge majority which took over from a Tory government with a huge majority. This is not reflective of British society. I would take a risk that people would see through the racism and bigotry of Reform and vote for Proportional Representation. The UK is not a radical society. the judiciary may heavily reflect the white privileged man, but is steeped in our constitutional history.

Personally I will favour any system which denies ultimate power to a single person or even a single group. America has shown itself to be a poor example of a democracy. The Supreme Court Judges are appointed by the President and look at the mess they are in! The Daily Mail recently published names and photo’s of judges they deemed to be “traitors” for upholding the law as written. They too would promote mob rule, if dictated by them and which promoted their cronies.

So ultimately, after much disagreement within my head! I would leave things as they are with the judiciary

Posted on

MADNESS

Trump gloating about repealing laws that protect citizens, especially children, is vomit making. Of course the vast majority of scientists are wrong and Donald knows more than they do. He also quotes a figure of $2400 per car in reduced costs – quite how that figure is arrived at is yet another mystery Meanwhile even the fucking Guardian is publishing nonsense from the Tony Blair Foundation criticising the UK green energy policy. Tony Blair who is also working for Saudi Arabia and is to the right of many Conservatives! Geopolitics are extremely uncertain at the moment and having an independent source of power is plain commonsense and protects our children.

Ratcliffe gives us even more reason to dislike ManU. Recently moved to Monaco to avoid UK taxes (whilst asking for subsidies from the Government and the EU for his companies) he has sort of apologised “If I upset anyone I am sorry” non-apology way. The timing of his racist comments was designed to influence the upcoming by-election in Gorton.

And time to get controversial again, the above is common sense – durh. Two support groups have described the UK’s pitiful paternity pay for break ups affecting thousands of families. How has the shift occured – I was 23 when married and my then wife 17, yes she was pregnant, and no I was not a rich kid with a trust fund, we were broke, but did not expect a handout from the state or anyone else. Relationships breakdown, sadly I know. But my children are the best and kind hardworking members of society, not perfect, but not expecting handouts. Are the people moaning also the ones who complain about snow blocking roads, whilst also complaining about taxes. Perhaps people need to take responsibility for their lives rather than expect others to do it. This is not turning into a right wing trope – I believe in taxing the rich and a more equitable society, but not one based on charity and submission, racism and power.

Valentines Day tomorrow – why do none of the flower/chocolate companies provide free condoms????

Posted on

HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT

Time to move out! The building is a fire and safety hazard and needs ma major renovation. We know it will take at least a couple of years to move out, so planning ahead is imperative. Wentworth Woodhouse near Rotherham has the potential as the UK’s largest stately home but its geographical location is not ideal. A complete rethink of how Parliament works is essential. Electronic voting would seem an obvious way to increase efficiency, and perhaps reduce groping in the lobbies! Much of what Parliament does is in committees that would need copious space. Then there is the lobbying that goes on; and the meetings with civil servants. All of which will need blue sky thinking and like Rome will not be built in a day. So bozos – get planing!

An estimed group of scientists have spoken out about climate change, suggesting that a tipping point is closer than previously thought. For those who studied A Level Geography I am a believer in Boserup rather than Malthus. Boserup stated that ‘necessity was the Mother of Invention’; whilst Malthus predicted that population growth would lead to war, disease and poverty. So is necessity the “Mother of Invention”? Only if we as a human race can see the necessity. Those accepting funding from the fossil fuel lobby, and Russia and the Arab nations like Reform and Trump will possibly lead us to a devastating future. I was shit at statistics in my A level maths – I failed; but would you cross a road if you had a 99% chance of survival from major injury or death? I would not even with 99.9999% odds. So why are people so pathetically selfish/delusioned? I am not religious at all, but sometimes wish that there was an after life so these arrogant bastards can get their comeuppance for eternity! Moi, vindictive? Non!

And having said I was crap at maths – I have just done a quick calculation. Nearly 70 million residents in the UK; approx 30 million households; at least 10 million could have solar panels; cost @ £5000 per house – £50billion. That is a lot but in terms of government spending not a lot! Hitching in the late 1960’s I got a lift from a guy who worked at a nuclear power station and he was convinced that electricity would become free! But with batteries we could all become free of huge energy bills – those with the solar panels could subsidise those in flats and where it is impractical. I dream on!

Posted on

WTF – HOW STUPID ARE YOU?

People with apparently normal lives are being seduced by the biggest fraud in the UK. Reform/Farage seem to be able to convince them that hatred for other humans is ok if it is racist. Being one of the people is ok, whilst taking £millions from rich paedophiles and corporations; Denying climate change; Supporting the demise of the NHS into an American style system; wanting to abandon minimum wage and workers rights. Lowering taxes and the benefits that they give. Yes a lot of people in this nation are stupid – do not be one of them.

Posted on

INFANTILE

He gets crazier every day. Today he threatens to block the opening of a new bridge between Detroit and Winsor, then claims that China will close down ice hockey in Canada!

Meanwhile in the UK the government has awarded contracts for 157 new solar farms, 28 onshore, and 8 off shore, wind farms. The cost is less than new gas or nuclear stations. Personally I would like to see more solar panels on houses not farms, and insulation of houses. 2 more weeks to Gorton by-election, both main parties must be backing themselves, Labour will probably lose the seat and the Tories their deposit. It appears to be a 3-way fight between Labour, Reform and the Greens.

It continues to rain, the 40 days of rain has been surpassed in many areas. And farmers complain – as usual. This is the 21st century and still food production is rooted in the last century. Reliance on pesticides has destroyed the soils ability to be sustainable. We cannot control the climate, but surely we can manage the vagaries of the climate. Replacing the trees may help, as would mini-reservoirs – Farmers and councillors need to have plans that are wholistic in there understanding of natural systems. Geography needs to be a key subject so that people know their adiabatic lapse rates from their infiltration rates!

Posted on

WEATHER and Trump!

Met Office long range weather forecast is …. more rain for the next month!. Here it has been damp rather than downpours, but the garden is soggy! Climate change is happening, but it is not coming as a hurricane or heat wave, just little by little. Every year seems to be getting a little warmer and still we have fuckwits like Farage and his loopy crew in denial. Major events are no longer big news, floods in the UK are almost ignored – partly down to the Environment Agency’s efforts, but 6 million people in the UK are at risk of flooding. But the economy is more important than our childrens lives according to the fuckwits. In the last 25years counntries like UK,USA, Germany, France, Japan have all seen drops in emissions but their economies have also grown. But the argument that whilst China pollutes the rest of need not bother is a pathetic one. They have the fastest growing green energy sector anywhere, and have lifted 10’s millions out of absolute poverty.

Unfortunately politicians are preoccupied with the sleaze surrounding Epstein and his sordid mates. Even Trump has been relatively quiet, apart from an outburst about Bad Bunny’s performance at the Super Bowl (which Trump did not attend ‘because it was too far’, rather than that it was in California, a state he wants ICE to invade). he has also not ordered the bombing of any foreign country this week so far!

Just noticed this on p26 of the Guardian – Musk cuts Russian military access to Starlink – a revalation of who is in charge ? And although at No.4 in the list of richest, Larry Ellison of Oracle should be watched – his son controls major media outlets like Paramount Global and many others. and have pursued Warner Bros. Discovery, aiming to control major assets like CBS, Paramount Pictures, HBO, CNN, and potentially TikTok’s U.S. operations. I have no doubt that Musk was vying for a leading role in media with his acquisition of Twitter – but he seems to have been out manoevred.

I got give some eggs this morning – I love the countryside!

Posted on

DURH!

I pay for my newspaper by token which have the date on them, and hand over one week at a time. So far so good – this morning I checked the date on them before handing over. Oh shit I maust have lost a weeks worth as todays date was 9 Feb! That can’t be correct – so I checked the date on he newspaper – 9 Feb. I had no idea it was even February!

Winter Olympics – I have watched a bit, the curling is a little adictive and also ridiculous with the broom bit; talking about ridiculous the luge is a person sitting on a kitchen tray feet first and hurtling down the bobsleigh course, apparantly the skeleton is the same except head first. Is there a theme here about using kitchen equipment? How about sitting in a saucepan or frying pan and hurtling down a course. Still on the theme – the snowboarding is also ridiculous in an awestruck way! How many times can a person somersault for whilst airborne and then not break every bone in their bodies; and also the downhill – they stand on a couple of modified floorboards with a couple of walking sticks for support and hurtle down a mountain side so steep they might be able to jump straight to the finish about a kilometre below at speeds approaching 80mph (fast enough to be prosecuted for speeding on UK roads. Despite its ridiculousness I am loving it.

Politics is boring at the moment, although the Daily Mail did manage to continue its love affair with Angela Rayner by putting a photo of her on the front page again. I asked google and Note: The results indicate a very high frequency of coverage, particularly in 2025 and 2026, with her appearing on the front page or prominently in the Mail’s online political section multiple times in early 2026.

PS. It is likely to rain on/off until Saturday when we might get a frost and no rain.

Posted on

(“It’s not the despair, I can take the despair. It’s the hope I can’t stand”). Clockwork Orange

I am sure Labour and Starmer have reversed the dreadful mess that was left by Cameron, Johnson, Truss and Sunak, but they have not countered the despair. Utility prices rising, shopping costs rising, inability to see a doctor until terminally ill, The main stream tory press do not help as they revel in squalor and shit. NHS waiting lists are down but happened to the hope – of a better future and absence of sleaze. I am not sure anyone on the Labour side has the guts to make the changes. Abolish the House of Lords, nationalise water companies, tax the techno’s and Amazon; cut student loan costs. And get their head out of the fucking sand on migration. The simple demographic fact is that we need migrants or need to get some of the millions not working into employment. Raise the income tax threshold but make being idle less attractive! How can not getting a job be financially more viable than working? Single parents could be trained as childminders? Farage offers change but not hope (apart from racism and xenophobia and making the rich richer). Paying for the above – east – tax the richest. The list of highest tax payers was published recently – featured Harry Styles, JK Rowland and Haarland and Salah as amongst the UK’s 100 highest tax payers. Fuck me, there are a lot of rich bastards who are avoiding tax via pension funds etc. Please replace despair with requitted hope!

Posted on

UNBELIEVABLE

This is true – Donald Trump posted on Truth Social a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes singing to the Lion Sleeps Tonight from The Lion King. This man has a finger on the button that could destroy life as we know it on Earth. The most powerful man on earth has less awareness than a rotting banana. I am actually dumbstruck as to how to comment on this racist shit. No child above the age of 5 with an IQ above 80 would realise this was wrong (even as an internal thought) let alone publishing it on social media.

Meanwhile at home all the papers had a photo of Mandleson’s front door being knocked on by the police (Photo by Isabel Infantes of Reuters). This may have been a fortuitous photo by someone camped outside his door,, or did the Police give the lady a whisper? It is not really important although the photo may have been sold to newspapers for a large amount of money? The Police and press should be independent of each other?

On this sordid affair I have noticed that American authors will often talk about men ‘owning’ a woman – not in a disrespectful way, or with malice, but it is a turn of phrase that is absent from UK/European writers. And yes some American writers do mitigate the comment by refering to woman owning a man, but this is just as bad?

I have also seen a comment about ski jumpers injecting their penis to help with aerodynamics – it is being investigated by WADA. Why would ?…. Oh fuck the world is off kilter – have they taught pigs to fly?

And just in – Trump has suspended work on the Gateway Project (a new rail link under the Hudson River in New Yory) making a few thousand people unemployed. Why? Because they would not rename Penn Railway station after him. How long will it be before the GOP realise that he is becoming more toxic, and senile/delusioned by the day or even hour. They are supporting him only because they fear for their own political lives – IMPEACHMENT NOW!