The world news is reporting on little more than madness and tragedy. But the the way the news on the middle east is being reported is ridiculously poor. The history of the current situation is being ignored and I make the case for better reporting below. I have to say first that I am not a supporter of the misogynistic regime in Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UK Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud was interviewed on
The words below are all from We Own It, but this first paragraph is from me. I have supported ‘We Own It’ for several years and this is my small contribution to reverse what Thatcher did to us forty years ago. Please read this and then email Ofwat simply by clicking this link to We Own It. Thames Water have repeatedly broken their license to run a water company in England and the regulator has just fined them £250 million.
The creation of GB Energy sounds like a very positive move from by new Labour government, and indeed it should be! But… … it means that 12% of the profits from it end up in the pocket of King Charles III! Unless of course the government just takes the Crown Estates back into public ownership. That would reverse the armed land grabs made by Edward III in 1337. More on that below. Sir Alec Douglas Home’s main claim to shame
Humanists UK teamed up with their Vice President Professor Alice Roberts to explore the humanist approach to life in their brand new animation for children: ‘One Life, Live It Well.’ 🎥 Please watch the video below; just two minutes of your time, you will love it. Humanists UK hope that ‘One Life, Live It Well‘ will be of value to teachers and schools as well as engaging a wider public audience with what it means to have a humanist outlook on
One of my dear readers once called me prescient when I was writing years ago about the rise of Isis and Chinese aggression. This was well before any of our politicians could see the problem or dared to point it out. Therefore I am taking a very small risk by proposing the real reason for Sunak’s July election announcement. He will resign within days of Labour’s pathetic victory and go back to being a quiet billionaire. David ‘Cameraman’ did just
There is no simple solution because we have no charismatic, statesman-like politicians speaking common sense to the people; and we have our own broadcast media talking endlessly about pointless fluff. Until that states-person arrives on the scene, our rivers will continue to be polluted by our poo and China and Russia will continue their aggression unopposed. My book poses a quite possible, but radical solution and I wish all fifth and sixth form school kids and students plus anybody else
Hi All This offer refers to ‘British politics is broken, BUT, how we might just fix it’. The Kindle version can be read on your iPad or phone, just download the Kindle reader app. for your device. Go to the offer page:- If you do use this free download, and read or listen to the book, please write a review on Amazon. Thank you Derek
My main message is that if we carry on with our current ‘Party’ based political system we speed up Britain’s further decline. You might just recognise the cover because I am re-publishing ‘The Normal Curve’ as ‘British politics is broken’. The reason for this is that a thoroughly detailed review of the book was given to me by Tim, who remains a dear friend despite a fair amount of negative but valid criticism 😉 As a result of this critique,
By ‘the West’ I mean the UK, the USA, the EU, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and quite a few other democracies. Do we really want China to move on Taiwan? Do we really want Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to succeed? Our current message to Putin and Xi is “do what you like” we won’t stop you! Madness! The pointless government & media focus on Rwanda Currently our politicians and the BBC seem to think the most important thing is Rishi
Just when I thought it couldn’t get more improbable and worse, it did. David Cameraman appointed as Foreign Secretary? I have just picked myself up from the floor laughing my socks off. Braverman is gone but two months too late. The Labour party may cheer up a bit but with Starmer in charge they are lost too. Sunak, in my humble opinion, whilst not too dangerous has no vision for Britain. There is nobody left who makes any sense, apart
The US and UK support for Israel is way past its sell by date. Biden’s response of “unwavering support for Israel” was chilling to hear . He and Sunak have learned nothing from history! I understand the violent attacks by Hamas because they have been side-lined by the UK, France, the USA and the UN since 1948. I do not support their violence, nor do I understand why Israel’s president Netanyahu is not in jail for corruption, but there you
Those words, from Ian Duncan Smith this morning, echo what I have been saying here on this blog for fourteen years. How could our politicians and security services be so stupidly incompetent? The reason that our politicians have been so stupid is explained in my latest book ‘British politics is broken, but…‘ From Tony Blair, David Cameron and Gideon Osborne onwards the idiots in Number 10 and 11 Downing Street have been welcoming Chinese spies into our universities with open
A few facts about bank interest rates ‘Like most people of my generation who have lived through the period of hyper interest rates, of as high as 17% and inflation averaging in the teens in the 1970s, I am baffled by how long and how low-interest rates and inflation in the UK have lasted in recent years.'(*1) I find the current media doom-fest of the return to an historically average interest rate just nauseating. The current panic stories all over
My second book is the first to be published and is all about the danger that faith creates for society. Perhaps not something that most of you might think about, but hopefully this might provoke some discussion. The book is on Amazon in paperback, Audible and Kindle versions. You can read the first twenty or so pages by using the “Look inside” feature. I started my second book six months before the Covid-19 virus appeared so the use of the
Liz Truss announces her resigantion – 46 days! Liz Truss’s main features : Incompetence ignorance pomposity delusion and hopefully her train arrives soon I give her 10 days at most… If you haven’t seen Michael Spicer on YouTube and fancy a belly laugh please watch “An MP said to me”
China has been lambasting the west for at least thirty years We have been scared to death of upsetting them because of our increasing dependency on their cheap (and largely crap) goods. We are to blame in not publicly seeing their stated desire to replace the the largely democratic West with a tyranny based on Thatcherism / Reaganomics on steroids. Since Xi Jinping voted himself in for eternity things have just gone from bad to completely unacceptable. USA’s president Joe
Water privatisation? Thatcher’s legacy? Gimme strength! All of us should understand why we are in such a mess with our water supply. In reality, only a few of us do, certainly not the BBC interviewers when questioning the water supply companies. Their ignorance is jaw dropping. The simple fact is that the UK of GB has more than enough water, even now, to supply everybody’s needs. The UK is very lucky in this respect. To quote Paul Waugh of the i
This post first appeared in 2021 and several more earlier should have alerted western governments to the danger that the Chinese tyranny has become. In ten years time China will have destroyed everything we hold dear. Democracy human rights control of the world’s natural resources etc. The UK, the USA, the UN, the EU and all other democratic countries must act NOW! Recognise Taiwan as a sovereign state Accelerate the return of manufacturing stuff back to where it came from
Today John Major slated the current Conservative government, for the second time, for its lies and hypocrisy. He is probably correct in what he said but… Have the journalists who televised this man’s words forgotten what he did whilst Prime Minister between 1990 and 1997? Back to basics In 1993 he introduced a policy called Back To Basics. He intended this to be a nostalgic appeal to traditional values such as “neighbourliness, decency and courtesy. Just prior to his appointment
At last! Some objective truth emerges from a USA president’s lips. Biden just said that American troops would no longer fight for a people who would not fight for themselves. “And here’s what I believe to my core: It is wrong to order American troops to step up when Afghanistan’s own armed forces would not. If the political leaders of Afghanistan were unable to come together for the good of their people, unable to negotiate for the future of their
The BBC and that Panorama interview Despite what Price William’s statement today is trying to do, i.e. divert attention away from the dying days of the Windsor Royals, the biggest problem here is not Martin Bashir or the BBC cover up, although both are pretty tawdry. The real problem was Prince Charles’ and the Royal family’s attitude to marriage. Diana was a naïve young woman who had a tragic connection to a glittery but flawed medieval regime. She and the
Words and their changed meaning The process of that change fascinates me. First we need a definition from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Then I will move on to what happened at Batley Grammar School. The OED states that a phobia is an irrational fear of something. So Islamophobia should therefore mean ‘an irrational fear of Islam’. Now it apparently means “a hatred of Islam”. That change of meaning has turned into that ridiculous recent creation, viz. a Hate Crime.
The media & our dear Aunty BBC explored Recently, the many difficult issues that the world continues to face have been overwhelmed by the media focussing on trivia spouted by self interested spoiled brats and endless pages on the health of a man who is nearly 100. It would be interesting to hear from those of you who might agree with me and those that think I am a grumpy, disillusioned old man who has lost the plot 😉 In
Time to act on China, I link to a Sunday Times article written in July 2020 A page or so down, I link to a Sunday Times article written in July 2020. It traces Covid-19 from 2011 to 2019. An illuminating article which few seem to have read. It is long but worth the effort. It reinforces the position that Covid-19 really is “the Chinese virus”. I read it, open mouthed, when it first appeared in print last year. Back
“No one is above the law”; if only that were true… I quote Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, speaking on January 13th 2021. She said it as she confirmed the second impeachment of Donald Trump. The very fact that she even needed to say those words yesterday reflects the depths to which democracy has descended in the USA. There are many ways in which politicians and the rich in the USA are above the law.
.. and what we should do about it in 2021. My sources are all blue, bold, italics and underlined. Clicking on them reveals a good read! What we should do in 2021 having learned our lessons: Stop buying cheap stuff from China. It is NOT cheap. China’s goods were never cheap because we now know the real cost; global pollution; climate change and failed capitalism. We must realise that local just has to be better than ever increasing the global
I was going to entitle this article “The current BAME*1 game diversion”. I changed the title using Greta Thunberg’s words which are far more powerful exactly to the point. Dr Erich Schumacher made strong arguments against economic growth in his 1973 book “Small is beautiful (Economics as if people mattered)”. It is the most important guide to a sustainable future written in the last 100 years. I wish our business leaders and politicians had read it and then acted on
For the last 40 years or so, China’s financial, business, political and cultural effect on our world has been a disaster. A disaster both for the Chinese themselves and for most of us. China’s cultural attitudes to selling “fresh” food and massively increased exports have exported their native bat diseases. Lessons have NOT been learned. SARS and MERS were both created in the same way. Fresh, wriggling and fluttering food is sold all over China in open market conditions that would
Reading the news, since the 12th December2019 election, has been quite illuminating but equally depressing. I’m not talking about global warming, plastic waste pollution or the ever increasing ability of our politicians to “take responsibility” by just saying the words but remaining in place. I’m talking about the ridiculous decisions being taken, about to be taken, not taken or avoided by those whose job it is to make competent decisions. Many of the decision making processes used by our clever
Yippeee! Another general election 😉 the third since the five year fixed term parliament act came into err “force” in 2011. Your Christmas General Election quiz starts here. Just 10 questions to answer. There may be prizes (Ed: I doubt it …) The biggest question left for me is “does this Boris Johnson’s exit deal actually give us freedom from the EU?”. My current understanding is that it still ties us into EU rules (for some years) and we continue
Having just read the front page of today’s Sunday Times, I just had to make this short comment on David Cameron’s hypocrisy and his blatant attempt at self publicity. Just before the 2016 referendum he gave this televised promise “… I will implement the people’s decision whatever the outcome..”. He then resigned the very next day running away from his promise and then hid for three years in his caravan writing his self congratulatory memoir. His quote yesterday “I’m sorry
Politics used to mean “Of the people for the people”. Politics now means “Of the MPs and for the MPs”. And, of course, for the supporting 24/7 Westminster bubble journalism industry. No Deal was the default position voted for by MPs in 2016! By a huge majority. MPs then voted a further three times to make Brexit happen on March 29th 2019. What changed? A Prime Minister brow beaten by Brussels bureaucrats because she didn’t understand what to do. Boris
May I try to put the childish, irrelevant “furious backlash“, as reported today by the BrBC (British Remoaning Broadcasting Corporation), into some logical context? You may have guessed that I am for leaving the EU by now 😉 The Remainers have been told effectively to shut by Boris. Hurrah for him! This is why: Our MPs are simply ignoring the wishes of the British people. In 2016 the people were asked by our government to make the decision, for the
Here is Pat Condell, a man even grumpier than me – eight minutes of well argued grumpiness explaining why he, and I, voted to leave the EU and why we must vote for an Independent Candidate in the next election. Discuss 😉
Nigel’s response to my letter is just underneath my response to his response. Dear Mr Huddlestone Thank you for responding. I hope to change your mind eventually because we really have no real alternative. However, once again you miss my point entirely. The very existence of “faith” (i.e. irrational) schools is divisive and it has to be up to government to force the change. Government seems set on actively, but blindly, promoting a path of societal division and is ignoring
My letter sent to our local MP sent today Dear Nigel Huddleston MP I have written to you before about faith schools and their very existence which cause many obvious divisions in society. Parliament still actively encourages this rapidly developing calamity by funding and encouraging ever more faith schools – but why? Society has changed fundamentally in the last 60 years and I want my representative in parliament to come out in support of radical change. A secular education system
There are a few simple truths at the heart of our disillusion with politics & politicians No political party has dared to tell us that we can’t afford to pay for all our pensions, the NHS, social care and all those public services that we now demand “as of right”. The welfare state has weakened the government’s ability to break even? It was never envisaged, back in 1947, that is was to become such a huge part of the economy.
It is not about you MPs – it is about the 17.4 million of us! The sight of those silly school girls & boys skipping down the road away from their political parties was just sickening. Who do those adolescent MPs, who have never created anything of worth, think they are? It is simply not about them or their failed political parties. It is about us, the 17.4 million of “We the People” remember them / us / we? Qualification
MPs are now so disconnected from the public that the current situation echoes events just prior to PeterLoo* in 1819. I saw the film PeterLoo last Friday and the political & economic similarities are hard to miss. Parliament and the Prince Regent (the King was mentally ill and incapable at that time) sent cavalry into a crowded Manchester square. Sixteen people were killed and seven hundred were seriously injured. The discontent of the people? Pah, send in the cavalry! Today,
There are many serious and rational voices in support of a No Deal, despite the BBC’s overwhelming Project Fear coverage, and, to my surprise, by Channel 4’s Jon Snow (more on this below) which you just have to watch. The pity is that these views are hidden from our view, but they are there, if you look. So then, who are these misguided, treacherous, thick, ill educated No Deal supporters? I have collected a few of the best arguments supplied by these
Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right.
Republic’s goal is simple: replace the monarchy with an elected head of state and more democratic political system. Instead of a king, we want someone chosen by the people, not running the government but representing the nation independently of our politicians.
A monarchy should not exist in a democratic society. The majority of us believe in democracy, and think democracy makes for a fairer, more prosperous society. Who of us think the British version of democracy is working well?
Too much power in the hands of government, it’s too difficult to hold people to account We see corruption and cronyism everywhere, especially the Lords and in the honours system.
