Saturday 15 December 2018

Guest Post

By special request, I’m posting this image to illustrate the comment below (Sisyphus10 December 2018 at 10:00)  ‘Out of Office' Open thread.


“I was away for the weekend & accidentally deprived myself of wi-fi, so thanks, Peter for the up-date on the social media response to the Alistair Campbell/Jenni Russell squabble on Newsnight.
What I did not miss, though, was what was going on opposite Worcester Cathedral at about 4.15 on Saturday: having eaten a well-lubricated lunch, my wife & I returned to our hotel for a quick snooze. We had barely zizzed our first zeds when a commotion began outside: a quick peek through the curtains revealed a large yellow bus, bearing the legend:"Bollocks to Brexit," and a group of 15-20 people standing alongside it chanting the slogan. If the BBC reported this, it probably said a crowd of 100,000, so I repeat: THERE WERE 15-20 PEOPLE.
Two questions come to mind: who is funding this? and at whom is it targeted? I just had a look on-line & the organisers claim to be 'crowd-funded.' So, which crowd? Is there an EU slush-fund or is it Soros or Bilderberg types? The BBC is very keen on investigating the funding of referendum campaigners so no doubt we can expect a special edition of Panorama soon!
The target age-group appeared to be about 15 or 16 - have they been tipped off that there is to be a second referendum & a lower age-limit of 16?”

Sisyphus. 

76 comments:

  1. My guess would be Charlie Mullins of Pimlico Plumbers. He has the same logo above his base in London.
    He was also one the backers behind 'Geena ' Miller's attempt to stop Brexit.
    Anne G.

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  2. Thanks Anne. The bus made a fleeting guest appearance with Rent-a-Mob outside Parliament on 6pm News (News Channel)

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  3. I assumed it would be Soros funded by one of his many channels of funding e.g. Open Britain. But I think possibly it's just a commercial operation. Apparently it's the "brainchild" of "EU Flag Mafia" (appropriate name, I'd say) who seem to be a commercial outfit making hundreds of thousands of pounds from selling cheap Made-in-China pro-EU tat to Remainiac true believers.

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  4. Newsnight tonight...so far I've counted six Remainers (politicians and pontificators) being interviewed...and no Leavers.

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    1. Things on the up...panel discussion has 1 Leaver and 4 Remainers (including Emily Maitlies of course).

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  5. May Liberation Day approaches...

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  6. Good reporting by the BBC on the Strasbourg terrorist incident...from a PC point of view. Huw and Lucy did well to avoid all mention of the I word, the J word or the M word...or the MM words. I think they may even have avoided the T word, preferring the anodyne "incident" word. Lucy did refer gnomically to the incident bringing back painful memories - of what? the Franco-Prussian War? She didn't say.

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  7. Disgusting bias levels on Newsnight from Kirsty Wark. Aggressive interruption of John Redwood, following on from an attempt to divert him off the subject by interrogating him on possible May leadership challenge. Good to see he was attempting to follow the Lilley example and respond robustly pointing the finger at BBC bias, although he's not the most effective operator from that point of view.

    Then Kirsty turns to interview Kirsty from the SNP, who is allowed to speak at length with no interruptions and then gets served up some soft questions delivered with a broad friendly smile (in contrast to her narrow-eyed scowling at JR).

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    1. Spot-on. Redwood pointed out that the BBC would not allow the managed no-deal option to be explained & Wark promptly proved him right by talking over him loudly & aggressively. Redwood is quietly spoken but I did wonder if the sound levels had been adjusted to his detriment.

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  8. Last chance for the Conservative Party.

    Last chance for the nation.

    Last chance for the Union.

    Last chance for democracy.

    Might sound like exaggeration but I don't think so. We've been sleep walking towards the cliff edge for the last 25 years, if not longer. Keep May and you deliver the keys for No. 10 to Corbyn. Elect another Remainer as leader and you do the same. Elect Javid and disaster is an absolute certainty.

    Mogg has declared his support for Boris. He seems the only game in town for me. Bring in Boris. Blow the May deal out of the water. Ask the EU to agree a 3 month extension of Article 50, in which time a Canada Plus deal will be agreed, to form part of the Withdrawal Agreement and Framework Agreement.

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  9. I thought Boris was very impressive on the Andrew Marr Show; in fact, Marr was so annoyed at his failure to nail him that he looked close to giving himself a stroke or a heart attack.

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  10. The Cabinet: what an appalling rabble of place seekers, toadies, anti-democrats, snakes and anti-patriots. I don't suppose Boris can or is minded to clear them all out. But I would be very gratified if he did because these "Democracides" all put their names to the Abject Surrender Document.

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  11. If May is not voted out, Mogg should consider following the Gang of Four approach and think in terms of establishing a new Conservative Party. The ERG is a kind of equivalent of the Campaign for Social Democracy that preceded the formation of the SDP.

    A Democratic Conservative Party could immediately ally with the DUP.

    The Party could have a clean break with the decades of disastrous policies pursued by Heath, Major, Cameron-Osborne and May.

    It should develop a manifesto based firstly on delivering on Brexit - whether we remain, or May's deal goes through or Corbyn attempts some solution - and secondly by seriously reducing mass immigration to the UK.

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    1. The smirk on the face of Sir Graham Brady when he was being interviewed on Sky News this morning told me that this vote of confidence in Theresa may is a calculated risk at the time of the Remain Group of Conservative MP's choosing to deal with the 'Rebel Brexiteers' once and for all. He delighted in saying: 'Of course there can be no further challenge to the Leadership for twelve months if this vote falls in favour of the Prime Minister. It's more choreography.

      We have seen Mrs May's colours - when the chips are down, she runs to Merkel etc not to the UK's electorate for support.

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    2. Not impossible...

      She may well win. But then calculation comes into this.

      The Conservative MPs must surely understand that the DUP is going to put a hole through the government as long as she remains in power promoting the Abject Surrender.

      She will have to go sooner or later. Later makes it almost certain I would say that the Remainers will be seen off, because by then it will be shown her deal cannot get through parliament. There may be a split in the Remainer camp. Some - especially those excluded from Cabinet power or the Hard Remainers (not a phrase you'll hear on Sky or BBC) - may feel they have a better chance of manouvering towards a Second Referendum if they can get a Remain-sympathetic leader in place now. Might well be the Javid faction even though Javid himself is showing outward support.

      Fun and games!

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    3. Arthur - How far-fetched is this? - the May camp is confident of victory (until the vote on the deal is lost), so gets some stooges to put in letters of no confidence, to reach the 48. The stooges & other Remainers then vote for May, leaving her in post for a year, despite the fact that she is bound to lose the vote on her deal. Then things get complicated!

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    4. Are they frit? That's the question. And are they more frit of the short-term disruption of a leadership election and the unknown prospect of a new leader and the possible delay or disruption to leaving than they are of the known fate that she is leading us to with this botched deal with the devil which keeps us on the hook and which they know cannot get through Parliament and could lead to remaining altogether or an election they cannot win or a further referendum which would stretch the process and uncertainty even further and solve nothing either?

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  12. You know how the BBC is obsessed with all things American. You know how they treated George HW Bush like some sort of saint when they reported on his funeral. You know how Anthony Zurcher tweeted about 50 times from the funeral.

    And yet they don't seem interested in these aspects of the funeral...

    Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden's wife and Mike Pence's wife receiving mysterious envelopes slipped inside the order of service...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2ub8bSAfr4

    Or Jeb Bush reacting in complete horror in the middle of the funeral when Laura Bush shows him something hidden by the order of service...did she get an envelope as well?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waeqG6gi1yw

    Weird and fascinating...but of no interest to the Fake News BBC.

    Incidentally when I first came across this story lots of references were popping up on Google on You Tube...a couple of hours later when I thought I'd link it here, the whole thing was very difficult to find. More censorship? And why?

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  13. Simon McCoy has just told Amber Rudd that many British people are angry & puzzled by those Conservatives who want, "to change the singer because they don't like the song" - could the problem be that the singer also wrote the song?

    A lengthy vox pop from a pair of Remaineers in Worcester - they appear to be labouring under the delusion that May's deal will deliver Brexit & want to just get on with it. There followed more vox pops from other parts of the country, mainly telling us how wonderful May is. BBC impartiality at its very best!

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  14. I initially watched this on a twitter video with the sound off as i was working. Kirsty looked like a gibbon on speed. I take it her words were as OTT as her actions?

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    1. I don't know because I was trying so hard to hear Redwood through her babel!

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  15. Sisyphus - Andrew only seems to suffer actual major organ failure after a long day at the office and trying to assist staff with their underwear.

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  16. Watching the One Show on BBC One tonight.
    Matt Baker is asking Jane McDonald and Ollie Murs if they ‘feel’ for Theresa May going through a private ballot as they speak.

    Of course they answered that they do feel very sorry for her. ‘’She’s damned if she does ..’ says Jane.

    Two observations;
    Why do the BBC think celebs are experts on political matters and their pronouncements somehow carry more weight? They aren’t and they don’t.

    In any case, the answers are always going to be BBC and PC friendly otherwise their BBC careers and appearances will be finished. They understand the rules of the game and will have been well briefed about pitfalls by ther PR teams ahead in any interview.

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    1. Maybe they don't, themselves, think that celebs are experts, but they suspect that a sizeable chunk of the electorate can be swayed by what the famous say.

      To judge from the steady, carefully-selected, stream of pro-May vox pops from Worcester, today, they clearly think that people are influenced by what others think...but it didn't work in the Referendum, did it?

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    2. Yes, think you got it right there. It's what you might call The Lineker Principle.

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  17. Well I can only register my disgust with the Conservative Party and its pusillanimous place-seekers.

    Mogg, Mark Francois, Andrea Jenkyns and Owen Patterson are among the very few to emerge with honour and enhanced reputations. Boris has disappointed again by showing feint heart. He should have been leading the charge.

    Most dispiriting have been the deluded comments of Conservative Party chairmen out in the country...it seems like the Conservative Party grassroots leadership has been taken over by very low IQ and low energy people, as our Friend Trump might say.

    I should perhaps explain I have never been a Conservative Party member, but you would surely expect that the Conservative Party members of all people would be up in arms at the Abject Surrender Document which divides the Union, fails to deliver on the EU Referendum and locks us into EU rules including taxation with no representation and which subjects us to an ECJ court over which we will have absolutely no influence whatsoever.

    What's wrong with them?...it's like they are slumbering after a giant serving of turkey and Christmas pud, two weeks ahead of time.

    I think it does bring us back to the theme of this website - the power of the media. We have been logging how the BBC and UK MSM more generally have been giving May a lot of support. We might have been wondering why they bothered, given their dislike of "Tories" and their wish to Remain rather than accept her deal. But I guess it's something like this which is the pay-off: no prospect of a Leaver leading the Conservative Party for the time being.

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  18. Sir Graham Brady...soon to be Lord Brady methinks. If he was a cleaner, he'd have your mess of a house tidied in under half an hour and the toilets would be sparkling. What every Conservative Party leader needs: a tame Chairman of the 1922 Committee.

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  19. A fascinating spat between Rees-Mogg & Maitlis on Newsnight tonight. Maitlis extremely agressive: didn't JR-M realise that Brexit supporters across the country were furious with the ERG for delaying, even threatening, Brexit? The BBC has spent a lot of time today, conducting interviews with the not-very-bright who just don't appreciate the full horror of the May-Robbins-EU stitch up. How many interviews with lucid Brexiters ended up on the cutting-room floor?

    I recommend catching tonight's Newsnight on iplayer - JR-M conducts a masterclass in heavy irony & bashes Maitlis over the head with it. I'm not sure she realised what he was doing.

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    1. Sorry Sis I am a BBC I Player Refusenik! But I caught some of it.

      Yes, a replica of Wark with Redwood...after the animated aggression, they turn to a guest they agree with and it's all smiles and "Sorry to interrupt". The contrast couldn't be greater!

      I think Mogg is getting better and better, more fire in his belly as time goes on. Maybe the home invasion he suffered from Class War made him realise just how how high the stakes are...

      You get the feeling he's been connecting the dots. The fact he's rich makes him untouchable in terms of bribery as well.

      I think he did well in difficult circumstances in that Maitlis interview...we can't hear all the personalised insults being directed at him by the vile Remainiac mob below, but he probably can.

      The Conservative Party - one of the longest lived and most successful parties on the planet - is in my view close to extinction, in the sense of being anything other than a pale imitation of the Liberal Democrats.

      There always was a Liberal wing in the Conservative Party and they now appear to be fully ascendant, so much that "Conservative" is simply a flag of convenience. It merely reassures the "not-very-bright" (your felicitous reference!) as they order another gin paid for by their tenants who have to pay exorbtitant rents due to continuing, May-approved mass immigration in the millions every decade.

      I do believe the rentier class is alive and well and doing well under May...I would much prefer we look to
      industry, enterprise, endeavour, invention and innovation - all great strengths of our nation - rather than the low achieving, non-productive rent scam and offering services to billionaire corrupt oligarchs from every tyrrany on the planet.

      When our luckier descendants have fled these isles and moved to places like Australia and New Zealand and people look back over the history of the UK, what wonders they will behold! How did we become the first nation on the planet to officially commit suicide (just ahead of Sweden and France)? Historians will doubtless debate whose hand held the blade that slit the wrists most firmly for the longest time...and Theresa May's name is going to be up there along with Tony Blair, John Major and Ted Heath.

      So sad to look back now to the post war period when people had genuine and realiaable hopes and aspirations. Compare and contrast with today.

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    2. My post, sp. 'aggressive'

      MB Yes, death of a nation - very sad.

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  20. I had a bad experience in the car today...no, didn't crash...and no, the car didn't break down...also didn't run out of petrol...

    Nope nothing like that - but I did make the mistake of putting Radio 5 Live on while the mental defective Nihal Arthanayake interview a "Drill" ariste...yes BBC doing their best to cosy up to that rap genre, Drill, associated with online gang threats and real deadly violence on the streets that has left hundreds of young black people dead on our streets (thanks BBC 1 Xtra for doing your bit to spread violent mayhem).

    The mental defective was interviewing the Drill artiste (John Winston I think) in reverential terms as though he was a cross between Noam Chomsky, Albert Einstein and Mao Tse Tung. Nihal adopted the attitude of a novice monk before the Great Master...and boy did it take some coaking to get any sense out of the "Great Master".

    Nihal referenced NWA and how drug use was use to control African-American communities (sorry BBC - I thought conspiracy theories weren't allowed - or is it only SOME conspiracy theories?) ...without once asking his interviewee if he personally used any mind-altering substances. Good call Nihal!

    The interviewee sounded like he had managed a bare pass in one GCSE in something like Music Technology. His political opinions were more laughably naive and lazily uninformed than say Caroline Lucas or Owen Jones or David Lammy - be a factor of maybe 1000. The poor guy definitely had a beef (on behalf of the urbane (sic) yoof) against da leedarz who it seemed were destined to suffer some sort of divinely ordained punishment.

    Have we sunk so low?

    Er yes we have...BBC...leading radio station...what passes for political/social analysis...very,very depressing.

    Being an eternal optimist I just think - how would you change this? Well probably cut the licence fee in half. Axe Radio 5 Live. Let the private sector compete for all those sports. That's half the problem solved - Nihal no longer receives a salary and pension for spouting absolute bollox at our expense.


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  21. Coaking for coaxing could be a Freudian slip...

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  22. MP Neil O'Brien, one of the Remain Conservatives and supporter of Theresa May managed to turn the Brexit argument on its head by claiming, having read out some 'letters from his Constituents' that the 'Rebels' in the Conservative Party were anti-democratic, and a vote against May's Withdrawal Agreement was an unpatriotic anti democratic act - this is my understanding of his comments.

    This, I suggest, is the mindset of those 200 May supporting Conservatives.

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    1. I think the mindset among most of May's legion of paid Parliamentarians is actually "that's another £30k, £40k, £50k in my pocket every year - and it might not be there if Boris gets in".

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    2. Agreed. Being an MP has become an end in itself - putting their own 'consciences' accompanied by a certain life-style above those of their constituents and thus acting in self-interest. Fingers up to the majority.

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    3. Makes me think there is actually an argument for paying all MPs a lot more. Pay them all £150k whether they are the PM, Minister or a lowly backbencher. It would make them a lot less susceptible to the bribery of patronage or external financial influence. In terms of the nation's finances, an extra £25 million used to free MPs from financial influence is effective expenditure in my view.

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  23. On the "death of a nation" theme, I feel rather as if one is a parent watching a teenager make all the wrong decisions...mixing with a bad set, sliding into drug addiction, failing to apply themselves to a gainful employment, stealing from hard working people...

    The bad set is the EU, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China and the Gulf States. We are blinded by the oligarchs' flashing of the cash, to the moral compromises we are making.

    The drug addiction is our addiction to mass immigration.
    Initially it brought a false feeling of self-worth - it boosted the economy, we were hooking up to the wider world, it made things cheaper and meant we could afford domestic labour for the first time in our lives, to make our coffee and lunch, deliver our pizzas clean our homes and iron our shirts. Of course lots of our firms love an endless supply of cheap (to them) labour - they qickly became hooked and the pushers (the Jonathan Portes and Anand Menons) told us it was all good for us. But as the years have progressed, we see the damage being done to the nation's health and the body politic.

    Of course, just as on drug goes with another, we are also now hooked on City money. It gives us a buzz, makes us feel good about ourselves. But it is corrupting as surely as mass immigration.

    Really, we should feel bad about ourselves - that oligarch money is stolen from the poor all over the globe - from African diamond diggers, Chinese peasants, Saudi guest workers.

    The worst thing is, the parent knows that nothing will get better until their son or daughter hits a real crisis that makes them see the error of their ways.


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    1. Who is this 'we', I suggest it doesn't apply to most of the UK population.
      Do you think this is all accidental? Do you not think that some people want to destroy the nation state, particularly in the west?
      Dave Cullen (Computing Forever) explores this in the context of Ireland and YouTube promptly put it 'In Limited State' Ireland: The Past, The Present and the Moral Inversion. I can't believe that anyone 'normal' would find it offensive at all.

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    2. I believe - and all the evidence points to it - that history is a combination of cock-ups and conspiracies, not exclusively one or the other. I think with a nation, as with a family, you can't help but be part of a "we" whatever you think of the people doing the "we-ing".

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  24. It was instructive how Mardell (might as well be waving an EU flag in the studio and humming Ode to Joy over his guests) gave Sam Giymah the softest of relaxed interviews, then when it came to the ERG's Steve Baker he adopted a tone of aggressive interruption and haughty dismissal, indulging in unjustified high-mindedness and excited appeals to authority (the authorities being the EU and the Irish Republic of course!). Another example of blatant bias on display.

    At least Steve Baker, like Lilley, Mogg, and Redwood are increasingly unprepared to allow interruptions and point to BBC bias during the interviewed (which does - I am pleased - to say unsettle the interviewer and reduce their interruption rate). Good.

    But the sooner the ERG break away to form a new party, a Citizens' Party for instance, the better. The Conservatives seem incapable of internal reform. They are interested only in power, patronage and the City. Though I admire Gerard Batten's UKIP, I think a bold new ERG-based party would wipe the floor with Corbyn, take a 150 seats off the Conservative rump and probably take back 4 % off UKIP. The party should be committed to introducing a strong PR element while still retaining a geographical basis for Parliamentary seats. Make the House of Commons half and half.

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  25. There was an incredibly biased report on BBC Midlands Today at 1830 this evening. It was a vicious hatchet job on Owen Patterson where the introduction set the tone by accusingly and pointedly stating he voted no confidence in the PM and that he published a critical letter.

    The reporter went to Wem and talked to shoppers in the town. Everyone they broadcast was against Patterson and for May, with sound bites like 'he doesn't speak for us' and 'just get on with it' and 'we need to pull together'.

    Patterson was allowed a short defence to camera at the end, but his was the only pro-brexit voice in the whole report and viewers were left in no doubt who was in the dock and what the crime was.

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    1. I saw that,too, Sir T. Outrageous bias - can anyone tell us if this is being repeated in other regions? Beginning to understand what it must have been like trying to get unbiased news in Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia!

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    2. The BBC London regional TV "news" programme had to choose a constituency in which to test the temperature of the Conservative Party grass roots. So where did they choose? Er - Mrs May's own constituency where, predictably enough, there was a huge amount of support for her among Conservative Party members.

      As for Wem...I really can't believe that was an accurate representation of local opinion!

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  26. Gary Lineker retweeted this about Trump today. The tweet was written by Dan Snow , another BBC presenter.
    Surely Aggers is right - they aren’t impartial ....

    ‘An incompetent, lying, hypocritical, fiscally irresponsible, racist, climate change denying, corrupt sexual predator with authoritarian sympathies who's under criminal investigation for both illegal payments to mistresses and treason? ‘

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    1. Ah, Dan Snow, the man that lied to his daughters about women flying Spitfires in the Battle of Britain.

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    2. Well let's assume Dan Snow is a fully functioning sentient being...and look at his claims.

      Imcompetent? Economy growing at 4.2% - getting on for three times the rate May is achieving - and not an easy trick to pull off in such a mature and gigantic economy. Likewise in foreign affairs - he speedily renegotiated NAFTA along desired lies. North Korea has reigned back its missile/nuclear weapons programme.

      Lying? How does May compare? Trump has been very straight with the American people about his political plans and has been delivering on them as far as the constitution allows. I'd say Trump is unusually honest for a politician. He doesn't feel he has anything to hide, unlike many left wing politicians who know their left wing policies are unpopular and have to disguise them in various ways. He might lie about his mistresses, but that's about it. So did Kennedy, Major, Hollande etc etc.

      Fiscally irresponsible? Well the BBC always argues for economic stimulus and if growth continues at 4.2% then he can square the economic circle through raised tax revenues.

      Racist? No evidence at all. We know Obama attended a race-orientated church. We know Fidel Castro wouldn't have black people in his cabinet. We know Che Guevara made racist comments. We know the Chinese President is incredibly racist again non-Han citizens.We know Hillary Clinton spoke warm appreciative words about a fellow Senator know at the time to be a strong KKK member. We know George HW Bush (now one of the BBC's American saints) opposed civil rights legislation. We know the Saudis treat Filipinos like scum. But Trump? No evidence of racism.

      Climate change denier? I've never heard him deny the climate changes over time. You'd have to be pretty stupid to deny that. Perhaps Dan Snow means something else. I suspect he does. If he's referencing carbon emissions, they fell in 2017 in the USA. Suggest you have a word with the Chinese, Dan if you're really concerned about carbon emissions.

      Corrupt? No evidence of corruption...certainly nothing like the evidence about the misuse of the Clinton Foundation while Hillary was Secretary of State.

      Sexual predator? Well it's not unknown for top politicians to have a high sex drive. The Kennedys were notorious in that department. Hollande and Mitterand used their power to gain attracive mistresses. John Major shagged Edwina Currie! When did Dan Snow condemn Bill Clinton for his alleged assaults on women (completely non-consensual) or Hillary's attacks on those women as liars? I am guessing never...

      Authoritarian sympathies? A vague charge, a meaningless one really. Churchill was attracted to Mussolini and his Fascists. Atlee flirted with the idea of Cromwellian socialism with appointed regional directors. Blair certainly flirted with authoritarianism. We know Corbyn's support base are very authoritarian. We know Corbyn worked for an authoritarian government.

      There is no criminal investigation for "treason". But how would you describe making our laws permanently subjected to a foreign court over which we have no influence, Dan...isn't that treason? All the evidence I would say is that Trump, for all his faults, is a patriot. He didn't need to strive to become President.

      Snow melts under the hot rays of critical analysis.





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  27. David Davis being barracked by Lucas and Morgan and finally stopped from getting to the end of his sentence by Dimbo jumping in in support of the barracking duo.

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    1. What a stitch up...put a Remainer Conservative v Leaver Conservative. Four women versus one male.

      Panels always carefully chosen.

      Hypocritical Jo Brand now pretending she doesn't like PC authoritarianism. This was the woman who with Adrian Chiles shopped Carol Thatcher for comments that CT (in private conversation) thought were amusing, whatever anyone else might have thought.

      DD (pro PC imbecile) ends with a piece of horrific bias against the other DD, describing him as a Brexit joke.

      Then he's off...to enjoy his huge BBC pension presumably.

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    2. That was shocking. He's really vicious with those little sneaked-in barbs. It's only latterly I've even noticed him doing them.

      Another thing he did tonight was pounce on an audience member who very reasonably explained why he thought the MPs were ineffective, both Opposition and government/ Conservatives. Dimbo leapt in with the false accusation by question: Are you saying they are acting in bad faith? Really uncalled-for high grounding pantomime by Dimbo.

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  28. I continue my campaign here for the ERG to turn itself into a bona-fide political party...the ultimate BBC Nightmare I would suggest.

    Choose your name from some combination of New, Conservative, Citizens, UK, British, Democratic, Union, League, Party. Actually I like "Citizens UK" - make a clean break with the Conservative brand and ally yourself more with populist sentiment - you'll immediately pick up 4% from UKIP and escape the tribal anathema of traditional Labour supporters.

    Having created the new party, make sure all your MPs and parliamentary candidates are trained to deal with the media with robust responses to bias. If the BBC claim the moral high ground, immediately reference Jimmy Savile (not taking lectures from you) and poor people being imprisoned for no paying the TV licence fee. etc.

    Such a party would build its policy offer around the following:

    - Real Brexit, real independence for the UK.

    - Free speech, democratic principles.

    - Introduce a strong PR element in parliamentary elections.

    - Pro-business, pro-industry, pro-exports.

    - Reform the BBC and licence fee.

    - An end to mass immigration.

    Personally I would add opposition to Sharia but that's probably too much to hope for from the Mogg Mob.

    Electorally, the ERG party should negotiate an electoral non-aggression pact with UKIP, giving UKIP a clear run in maybe 50 seats.

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  29. 'Actually I like "Citizens UK"'. It's already taken by a politically active pressure group.

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    1. Political party names have some odd law around them. I think there was a Social Democratic Party already in existence when the SDP bagged it.

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    2. Wolfie lives! I think Paul Mason has snagged it for his offshore tax haven.

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  30. How about UKCUP - United Kingdom Conservative and Unionist Party?

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    1. Yes that's a good one but unfortunately there will be memes and poster defacement putting an F in front!

      You have to be careful about that sort of thing...that's why when the Liberals and Social Democrats merged they had to opt for Social and Liberal Democrats, SLD, rather than LSD! :)

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    2. With the addition of the F, it'd make a good name for the present shower, though, wouldn't it?

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    3. MB. You're right about the danger of acronyms: about 25 years ago, when the, then, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Polytechnic was about to be given university status, there was a plan to call it City University Newcastle on Tyne... The tale is probably apocryphal, but it would be nice if it were true!

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    4. That's one of those stories we shall deem to be true with a wave of the hand, like John Simpson. :)

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  31. Listening to Today this morning, it's just shocking how biased the pro-EU assumptions of the BBC are. Martha Kearney was simply taking at face value all the assertions of the EU spokespeople. Back in London, the assertions of Crispin Blunt about a no deal leave option were by contrast treated with high scepticism, even anger.

    I don't mind Brexit-supporters' claims being challenged (non-aggressively, though) but it why aren't the EU claims given a thorough going over.

    1. If the "Backstop" is all about avoiding a hard border, then why aren't the Irish Republic concerned about a no deal scenario? Well obviously we know the answer - the Republic won't put a hard border in place and neither will the UK. But that then calls into question all the nonsense about frictionless trade in Northern Ireland under a deal. (Adam Boulton on Sky is at least exploring this, finally, though not in thorough manner.)

    2. The claim was made that the Backstop is necessary to avoid a "crisis" in Northern Ireland. Why aren't the EU pressed on what crisis...is the Republic going to deploy troops or invade the north? (I think we can take that as a no). What exactly is meant by "crisis"?

    3. Why is it assumed that being tied to the EU is a "good thing"? We've seen France reel under the combination of the gillets jaunes protests and a new bout of terrorism. We know the EU is embroiled in conflict with Russia.

    4. Why is nothing much made of the fact that we are signing a blank cheque? We're handing over £40 billion (minimum) without any trade deal but being locked into EU policy and ECJ judgements. It's the craziest, worst deal agreed ever since the Native Americans handed over Manhattan Island for a handful of colourful beads.

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    1. As if that isn't bad enough, look who they had on, giving it must have been 15 minutes to the self-unaware ex-PM to plug a speech and to spout about harm to the country. Did anyone challenge him about who and what else has done great harm to the country? No, of course not. They fuel his self-importance and sense of entitlement as would-be Oracle of the nation. This is, after all, the broadcaster and the radio station run by his old Cabinet mate, Purnell.

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  32. I can't replay it to check (am not signed up to iPlayer) but I think this is the person I heard in the early hours of yesterday morning (the 1 - 2 am Business Matters programme on the World Service) giving a clear analysis of what went wrong with the UK negotiating strategy from the start:

    'Presenter Roger Hearing is joined by Peter Morici, Professor of International Business at the University of Maryland'

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w172w0q21l8742m

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  33. How many of the 200 Conservative MPs will be regretting their actions in voting to keep Theresa May in position for the next twelve months? They have sided with her in the process of even more failure now with today's cold shoulder display from Junker and friends. When May goes, as she must, how will they face their constituents with any shred of dignity? The reality will have dawned upon them by now that May is finished and so is her withdrawal agreement.

    After today, No Deal looks like the way forward with a resounding 'up yours' as the UK Government walks away and refuses to sign up to this atrocious deal.

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    1. Absolutely! The media, including the BBC, have been greatly exercised today by the spat between May & Juncker. Several lip-readers say that she accused him of calling her 'nebulous' - maybe they got it wrong and he in fact said, 'querulous' or 'tremulous'; then again, it might have been 'credulous.'

      But what he actually said matters less than the fact that, on two separate occasions today, he has used the incident as a further opportunity to humiliate and poke fun at her; first by smirking to camera as he claimed that he meant the debate in the uk was nebulous and then by going to the microphone humming and, just in case anybody didn't get the allusion, saying, "We weren't dancing." I must admit I was surprised the BBC allowed us to see this - perhaps they've decided to abandon the sinking ship & pin their hopes on another referendum or election.

      I quite agree Arthur, the woman is a national embarrassment & has to go.



      I

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  34. PS And so must we - on WTO terms!

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    1. Yes. And, how many of the 200 actually sought opinion from their Constituency Offices and electorate before casting their confidence vote? I would guess - very few. Sisyphus, the WTO option seems to be different to No Deal so far as the BBC are concerned. Surely, WTO terms are a default position, and thus is automatic (I hope I'm right in thinking this).

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    2. I hope you're right too, Arthur, because it's my interpretation of things! To confuse matters still further, the Beeb also likes to call WTO 'the Cliff Edge' - good, objective, value-free, choice of language there!

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    3. The BBC never fails to pursue its agenda. This is how the Radio 4 schedule introduces this week's Dead Ringers: 'There are still a few shopping days left to stock up for a cliff-edge Brexit'

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001kch

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  35. Re the above posts...it made me wonder today whether in the same way that David Davis was under the misapprehension that he was negotiating with the EU, perhaps May is under the misapprehension that she is negotiating with the EU, when in fact, behind the scenes, she is negotiating with Tony Blair who has essentially been put in charge by the globalists of reversing the Brexit referendum decision. That would explain why teh EU today treated her in a way that can lead only to either a Second Referendum or No Brexit.

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  36. I for one hope the EU don’t concede on the backstop - if they do it will give our glorious MPs the excuse they need to vote this shite deal through.

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  37. Has anyone noticed the row between Lineker and other sportsmen / presenters about expressing views about leaving the EU? Now it seems he is getting other BBC presenters' backs up as it seems he can do what he pleases without sanction while others are ticked off by the bosses if they say a wrong thing. BBC says he's not in breach of the rules. We know the BBC is always right, so there.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/14/bbc-turning-blind-eye-linekers-brexit-tweets/

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  38. Lilley once again putting in a good performance, this time on Sky. Noting that the EU has quietly put in place arrangements for recognition of our planes' right to fly over their air space and for goods like Airbus wings to pass unheeded. He notes how these very important developments have NOT been reported by the UK MSM, and wonders why...indeed, why?

    I think Lilley is by far the most effective Leave spokesperson, because he dissects the bias live. Farage is a good barker; Mogg is subtly persuasive; and Davis is amiable - but none of them really unpack the bias the way Lilley does. Full marks to him.

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    1. Could we have a link for the Lilley interview?

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    2. If you google Sky News Live, and then subtract the revelant hours, it was on at about 10.15am.

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  39. Following Tony Blair's lengthy interview on the 'Today' programme, a letter in today's Telegraph suggests that Blair, "has already formed his new political party. It even has a name: BBC."

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    1. To quote my post above: "May is under the misapprehension that she is negotiating with the EU, when in fact, behind the scenes, she is negotiating with Tony Blair".

      It seems the penny has dropped. Perhaps reports from the security services have confirmed it, that Tony Blair is the real Kingpin.

      I think he is working as follows:

      1. He's controlling puppets like Chuka Umunna in Parliament to make strategic interventions. We now see this through the contacts with the treasonous David Lidington over manouvering to the ultimate goal - the rigged rerun of the referendum. He can also work through Adonis in the Lords (though I wouldn't overstate Adonis's role in this poisonous web).

      2. He's in contact with senior EU officials, probably on almost a daily basis.

      3. He is in very close contact with Macron. It is through Macron that he exerts influence at the highest levels in the EU.

      4. He is in contact with Soros - and helps direct Soros money to where it can be used most effectively.

      5. He uses his media contacts to exert influence. In this he is probably helped by Alistair Campbell. Clearly his contacts within the BBC - Lord Hall and co. are extremely useful and show in the fact that he can "access all areas", being given soft interviews of 10 minutes duration on key programmes like Today.

      I believe that by all the above means it is Tony Blair who managed to persuade the EU that (a) he can deliver a second referendum (the rigged rerun, the reuslt of which will lead to Remain) and (b) therefore they should NOT throw May a lifeline, they should let her sink.

      Furthermore, May knows it and that is why she has chosen to make a public statement against Blair...it wasn't just about his media interviews. Though she can't say it, because to say it would be to tells us how our own "Deep State" works, she knows about his behind-the-scenes manipulation and that is why she has spoken out.

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    2. I should have added he has had huge influence via the Civil Services as well, via people like Gus O'Donnell who have explicitly followed Blair's lead.

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