Saturday 3 June 2017

Being honest

You know what? I do hate people who keep punctuating their spiel with “You know what?”
To be honest I have far more pressing things to worry about right now than BBC bias.
I rarely use ‘to be honest’ as it implies one’s honesty is confined to the one exceptional statement (rather than one's norm.) 

One might be cynical and assume the callers who rang in to the extended Any Answers were all activists. I believe someone said or Tweeted as much. 
I really hope they were all activists, because if they are indeed representative of the public, you know what? We’re in for that unthinkable chaotic coalition.

Theresa May blew it good and proper. Why on earth she decided to present us with a manifesto that seemed meaner than ever, when it’s obvious that everyone is weary of unadulterated austerity. She gave us nothing to look forward to, which was big mistake. Did she think her predicted landslide would provide cover for those harsh policies? A good time to bury bad news? A mother of miscalculations.

Who on earth thought it was preferable to provide primary pupils with free breakfasts instead of lunches? Why resurrect the minority interest issue of fox hunting completely out of the blue, when the issue seemed to have settled down? 

Why threaten to stop winter fuel payments without giving details of who will lose? 

However, what worries me a lot more than Theresa May’s determination to self-destruct is the widely held perception that Jeremy Corbyn, who also peppers his speeches with ‘You know what?” is a nice person. That in their blinkered search for a spiritual leader all those youthful, middle-aged and elderly adolescents are ready, willing and able to deny or ignore Corbyn’s long-standing political record, i.e., his association with violent terrorists.
People mistake his refusal to indulge in retaliatory personal attacks as a characteristic of someone ‘nice’. ‘I don’t do personal’ he says. Doing personal is human. It might be admirable and self-disciplined to rise above such a thing, but not ‘doing personal’ doesn’t necessarily indicate ‘nice’. It equally suggests coldness and lack of empathy. Any empathy he does have is reserved for the most un-empathetic, intolerant and violent groups on the planet. 
  



The other odd thing that I’ve noticed is that the police are investigating a new hate crime, namely the outburst: “Jew, Jew, Jew,” aimed at Naz Shah who happened to be defending Israel’s right to exist at hustings organised by Bradford community group JUST Yorkshire.


What amuses me - if one can derive amusement from such a horrible thing - is the fact that the rabid antisemitism which seems to be the norm within Naz Shah’s Bradford constituency goes un-investigated. It takes some antisemitic person ‘being honest’ to arouse interest from the people who investigate hate incidents.

You know what? If Jeremy Corbyn achieves the unthinkable, we’re in for a bumpy ride.

11 comments:

  1. One would have thought that it was quite simple for Mrs May. She was up against a stacked and hostile House of Lords as she tries to carry out Brexit. They felt they could object legitimately as Brexit wasn't in Cameron's manifesto.
    All she needed in hers was "We will carry out Brexit" and the House of Lords would be then subject to the Parliament Acts.
    Why on earth did she try to be Blair's babe?

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    1. The Tory Remainers decided to punish Boris. If it was Boris in charge, Corbyn would be toast.

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  2. You know what? Tony Benn used to say "You know what?" rather a lot as I recall.

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  3. I find it quite laughable now, but just a year ago I actually read somewhere during the Brexit vote last Summer that Cameron, who assumed that he would win the E.U. Vote, was planning on sacking Teresa May from his Cabinet last Summer, for her not showing her support for Cameron and his wish to stay in the E.U.

    Interestingly on Have I Got News For You on Friday they showed us a picture of the Camerons 'Toes' selfie. And with an unusual gap in Dave's toes, some are saying that it wasn't a toes up but rather a fingers up to Teresa May.

    John - London.

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  4. It was the BBC who - through an interview with a member of the public - revealed that the London Bridge terrorists were shouting "This is for Allah!" The Mail are reporting that but both BBC and Sky appear to be suppressing the truth in a Fake News operation.

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    1. Yes, but we've already been told (R4) that Imans are on their way to London Bridge to show solidarity. Despite the fact that we haven't been told who were the attackers. No other religions ere mentioned as being on their way. All very mysterious.

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    2. Yes, there were two members of the public who told the BBC that during live interviews. I've just posted a transcript of one of the interviews. There's a video of the second interview here:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGvhb64-2kE

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    3. One eyewitness was called Gerald, the other Eric. The Eric interview was broadcast live shortly after midnight. The Gerald interview sometime a bit later. Like Gerald, Eric also said they said "This is for Allah!"

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    4. The BBC News website's 'London attack: What we know so far' page, oddly, only began reporting the 'This is for Allah' cries at 8.55 am - many hours after the BBC had broadcast these two interviews. Up till them it had been absent from the report:

      https://www.newssniffer.co.uk/articles/1393085/diff/8/9

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    5. The BBC News website's main report on the attack began reporting the 'This is for Allah' cries at 7.30 am, quoting Gerald.

      https://www.newssniffer.co.uk/articles/1393044/diff/14/15

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  5. You know what ; I've been listening to LBC and it seems to me at least half and probably more of the callers on political topics are claiming to be 2015 Cameron voters who have decided to vote for Corbyn this time. They then go on about how wonderful he and his policies are. They're very obvious shills.

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