Knowledge can improve the world we live in

There’s no amount of counter-protests and show of community spirit that can undo the terror & fear that minorities were put through in the UK over the past week. It will impact them for a generation. Knowing you’re in a country where a group of people can suddenly take over the streets and burn things down just because they claim they are not being listened to, is not something anyone can forget quickly. And to know that those same people didn’t come from Mars, they are teachers, shopkeepers, neighbours etc. And they will always hold those hateful beliefs.
It is great to know that the overwhelming majority of people in the UK do not share those repugnant views and will always stand up to the haters, but at the end of the day, minority communities should not have to rely on others shielding them. They should be able to live without fear in the UK.

For those politicians and celebrities and other influential people who have continued to say: “well, it was always coming, people are frustrated with the level of immigration and do not feel the government is listening to them”. OK. Fine. But we are a DEMOCRACY! If people have a grievance, we have a process. You go to your MP to register your grievances. If your MP do not listen or take action, you get to vote them out of office every 4 years. If your vote doesn’t affect the changes you want, it simply means it is not what the majority want. That is how democracy works. There is no option for violent rioting and intimidation. The excuse above, is not tenable and should never be a reason put forward by a Member of Parliament. It is totally unacceptable and there should be significant consequences (those MPs should face a recall and deselection).

The job of an MP should be to diffuse situations such as what occurred in the UK last week. The violent riots should have been roundly condemned by everyone. There cannot be any equivocation about it. Issues that people say they are concerned about, needs to be raised in parliament by their MPs. Protests should be registered with the police and done lawfully. Any other impromptu gathering should be immediately dispersed by a specialist unit the government is now putting in place, albeit after the fact. But it will likely come in handy again, as it is unlikely that last week will be the last time racism will manifest in form of violent riots in this country. We need to – in schools & homes – begin teaching the next generation to understand that nobody in the UK (white, black, brown of whatever other colour) is allowed to intimidate others. Frustrated or not. We are not a third world country. The embarrassment – to our image globally – caused by last weeks’ yobbery, is going to stick for decades. It really is most regrettable. It is one thing for people to choose to be hateful and chat about it at their dinner table, it is quite another, to take it to the streets and send us, as a nation, back to the 1960s! We must not stand for it. We cannot tolerate it. And the government now has a responsibility to make sure it never happens again! The government must monitor all the far-right sites, infiltrate the various groups, must be a step ahead, to snuff out any attempt or plans for public violence. It simply cannot be allowed to happen ever again in the UK

Most of us enjoy watching the summer olympics as is remains enjoyable. But overall, a laughable debacle where rich countries are not just content with putting forward athletes who have had all the time to train in superior training facilities, but some of them can also afford to dope and they do so rampantly!

When you watch athletes like Kenya’s 800m runner, Wanyonyi who is racing to feed his family; can barely afford his racing shoes, yet he works hard and wins gold! Hats off.

The context of the Olympics has long become laughable as you have countries whose athletes are fulltime athletes and receive huge sponsorships, can train all day, all year round, competing against countries whose athletes have to work fulltime to make ends meet and only have a few hours in the evenings to train, and do so at awful facilities and rarely have experienced coaches. It is what it is, I suppose.

It is definitely not an open playing field by any stretch of the imagination.

When you have about 70% of rioters – arrested after the horrific week we have just had in the UK – confirmed as ex-convicts, then the threat of them heading back to jail is only effective if it was a scary place the last time they were there, and as such, do not wish to return there.

This is most unfortunate as so many people leave our prisons to reoffend a few weeks later and their offences appear to increase in degree of violence, due to the experiences they have added from being in prison. But if prison isn’t scary, then these hooligans will continue to flaunt the law. So, a dilemma…

Separating those who have committed non-violent crime and rehabilitating them is also not an effective deterrent as the prospect of them ending up in a cell with a deranged murderer is of course a more effective deterrent.
For these UK rioters this past week, the swift justice being handed out to them may deter the few who are not career criminals.

Well, no surprises there.

This is why politicians who are trying to excuse these riots are a disgrace. We spend so much time & money running General Elections. Do we now have to allow mobs to dictate the direction the country takes?

If you have an issue, vote for a government that sides with you. If that party fail to win, it means not everyone see it as you see it. You live with it. But oh no! They want to burn and loot, take over by force? Well, we’ll see just how tough these yobs are, when their doorbells ring at 6am and the police turn up to arrest them. Without their mob, they tend to be very cooperative 😁

Absolute fiasco that must never ever be allowed again in the UK

The UK has been thoroughly humiliated by the ongoing rioting that began last week.

Yes, does need a bit of perspective. UK population is around 69.9million people. The rioters number roughly 20,000 of which about 10% have been involved in criminality and violence. There may well be another couple of millions who agree and encourage their behaviour. But whichever way you look at it, roughly 97% of the country would not seek nor opt for violence. Of course, it is scant consolation for those who are presently afraid to leave their homes, in the country where their parents were born, where they were born, where they have paid their taxes (and their parents before them) and contributed as much as anyone else. It is unimaginable that we would create such a situation for anyone in the UK, regardless of the reasons put forward by those defending it.

We will have to see how the government responds.

The politicians and so-called influencers who come out with lines such as: “I find it appalling, but we need to talk about the root cause” or “people are just fed up and frustrated”…

Well, we all face frustrations of a variety each and every day. None should lead to us going out and hurling bricks at the police or burning cars and buildings down etc. Making others scared to even leave their homes!

One of the key reasons I went to school abroad was because I grew up in an era of several race riots in the UK and racist groups such as the National Front marching regularly on London streets, with various skirmishes! They don’t stop to ask questions. So, these non-white politicians in the UK who are stoking these actions should think twice because your kids and family can get caught up and these mobs won’t wait to ask any questions before punching and headbutting them. There are already videos of a number of such incidences this past week. Is this where we should be as a society, in 2024??

There must be TOTAL and ABSOLUTE condemnation of thuggery and these violent disorder on our streets. No conjecture. It doesn’t matter how frustrated people say they are or how many small boats are crossing the channel or levels of migration etc. You go and register your opposition or frustration with your local MP. That is the process. The same must also apply to all other grievances, be it support of Palestinians or anything else. These idea of just getting out on the streets and forcing those who do not agree with you to cower at home and be scared of going out – in case they get accosted – is totally unacceptable. There can be no accommodation or excuses for the injuries to the police by member of the public just because they say they wish to voice their frustration.

The issues and root cause etc., can be looked into, BUT first and foremost, we must condemn and end the violence, get these idiots off our streets and mete out fast justice and ensure this never, ever happens again. Rioting can never and must never be an option that anyone or groups should be able to resort to, in 21st century Britain.

The incessant labelling: far right etc. is pointless! Not everyone showing up at these silly gatherings is a member of a far-right group. These are largely misinformed people going with the flow and ending up supporting what they do not understand.

The government (largely the last Tory government should have) must get a lot better at communicating. Why has legal migration, which they can control, risen sharply to a point where net migration is such that we have let so many more people in than Brits exiting the country? There must be reasons for that. Why not explain it?
Legal migration should be brought down to mitigate the illegal migration that’s less easy to control. Or at least, the situation should be explained clearly to these groups who say they are compelled to riot.

Protesting is well and good. But the minute you begin to hurl rocks at police and injuring them, that is not a protest, it is criminal behaviour and violent disorder. When you look at some of the video recording, it really is appalling. These police officers are human beings too right? They have kids at home, who wouldn’t wish to see their parents battered right?! How can anyone even attempt to excuse such behaviour??? It is reprehensible!

I can partly understand why governments have never really tried to explain the immigration situation, as I find it difficult to see how some of these rock-hurling goons, could understand such explanations. If you’re dumb enough to run around mindlessly attacking the police and burning cars etc., you are highly unlikely to be bright enough to understand any explanation the government could provide. But I believe that notwithstanding, the government should try to explain it anyway.

The reality is that the economic detriment is very, very low. It’s the resulting impact, with pockets of communities who do not appear to be taking in the British way of life, which is a result of integration stalling, probably due to intolerance and low funding. To offer little in terms of shedding light on what’s been going on, isn’t going to work going forward or these mindless riots will become a regular, unending occurrence. Any excuse they get, they will be at it again, regardless of whether or not it is disinformation. Once it’s in motion, it’s like a runaway train.

The government has a responsibility to improve communication while indeed taking a zero tolerance approach to violent disorder. The perpetrators of this weeks’ rioting will soon get early morning knocks on their doors. But given that our prisons are already full, this really is a situation that needs to be preempted in future. It is so unnecessary

It seems people just can’t help themselves these days..

Donald Trump attended what they billed as a Black Journalists of America event in Chicago this week and much as I can understand the eagerness to quiz him on issues such as some of his acolytes saying Kamala Harris is a DEI hire, it all could have been done with a bit more nuance! The moderator’s repeated use of the word “Sir” as Americans do – without it actually implying any ounce of respectfulness – is ok, but going at him in a manner that was so obviously intended to provoke him, and then we see headlines saying he questioned Kamala’s heritage, was indeed beyond the pale. There was absolutely no need for it and it was totally unnecessary.

Was Trump ever going to kick back against what his acolytes had been saying? Would anyone?

If the legitimate question to him, was whether or not that’s the way he also sees it? Well, if it wasn’t, would his closest allies be strutting around saying that stuff? And if it was just a simple matter of getting it on record, then, why not just politely ask him if he could just say so?

I believe it is discourteous to get someone over as a guest, and then aggressively question them in that manner. He already knows he’s in a tough territory given all the crap he utters about black people, but they should have taken a moral high ground, made him very welcome, and them calmly put those questions to him, without the hysterics.

The question in itself, is just idiotic. Lay Kamala Harris’ qualification, be it in terms of her education or experience as a lawyer or senator, against that of Donald Trump or Marjorie Taylor Green or Lauren Boebert and others, it should be quite clear that the question is totally baseless. She isn’t a DEI hire. And in any case, people get hired for several reasons and if someone is hired because amps employer wants to mix things up by not having a men-only office, what is wrong with that being a reason to hire a competent, educated and suitably qualified person????

The entire topic is just so juvenile, so pathetic. On all levels. DEI was created exactly to end up with some people being DEI hires. It doesn’t mean there are less qualified but it does mean that they were hired for the reason: to force diversity as employers are not naturally hiring some folk, even though they are as equally suitable for hire as others. So, both the folk labelling others as DEI hires (which is dumb) and the folk taking offence about being called a DEI hire, are silly. Why was Kamala selected as Biden’s running mate? Why was the crazy Alaska woman selected as John McCain’s running mate? And indeed, JD Vance: why was he selected as Trump’s running mate (was it not to lure the working class rural folk? WELL, that in itself is an attempt at inclusivity —- the ‘I’ in DEI)

Good gracious!!!

It has been a most awful week in the UK, with the unthinkably cruel, lunatic killing of 3 young girls is Southport by a teenager who must surely have lost the use of his senses, as it is unimaginable how anyone young or old, can take a knife to children! It really doesn’t matter what religion or ethnic background or whether he is British or arrived on a dinghy the day before: all that is immaterial. The only thing that matters is the fact that 3 young girls are dead and their parents are devastated.

If investigations conclude that the teenager has had a history of violence, then we really must look into what’s led to this tragedy and horror

This is no time for anyone to be rioting and injuring the police! What have the police done wrong in this? Why are they now having to face such harassment and danger???? It really is unbelievable! We are not in a third world country. While the internet can be a lawless platform with hate being spewed willy nilly by humans and bots controlled by humans, and they get away with it, we cannot accept that on our streets!! The announcement today by Sir Kier, on a new unit of the police to be mobile and robust in immediately preventing such mindless carnage on our streets, is indeed where the focus needs to be. Hate will never lead to satisfactory results and the parents & family of those 3 children will not want the death of their children to be sullied by such stupidity as rioting, at a time when they just need some time to try to find some peace, in this absolute tragedy that has befallen them. Nothing can replace their children. But the least we can do as a country, is try to show these families that we are with them and are in pain. Not having hooligans tearing up our streets, injuring our police officers.

The world is in such a bad, bad place right now. We must find a way to bring back a little bit of decency. A little bit of humanity. We cannot have children getting hacked to death in the UK for goodness sake!
Hate of all and any kind, must be expunged from our society

Terrible times!

There’s been videos circulating in the past week, if an incident at Manchester Airport, where a policeman was seen kicking a prone mane in the head and also appearing to stamp on his head. An action that has been roundly condemned, regardless of the circumstances, members of the public are the taxpayers funding the police; you don’t kick your employer in the face!

However, one key fact that has been missed by many, is that this was the UK armed response unit. They are the UK’s gun-carrying police unit. They are called in when necessary. At no point during the altercation – even as they (the police) were being punched in the face – did they think to draw their guns, let alone fire! That is what UK policing is all about. They are trained to recognise that human life is not to be snuffed out just on a whim. At that incident, they were willing to take a beating (even though they shouldn’t be taking a beating at their job) to try to taser those guys and arrest them. There have also been occasions where the UK’s armed response unit allow armed criminals to get away (knowing they can pick them up at 5am the next day in their PJs and with nobody getting shot). That is what policing should be about. Yes, the officer who kicked the man in the face got frustrated and yes, that is a taxpayer (his employer) and someone’s son/husband/friend and it was awful to watch and should not have happened, BUT had this incident been in the USA, within the first 30seconds, the police would have shot 3 to 4 people dead.

It is very likely that the guy who got kicked in the face would prefer that to being riddled with bullets and lying in a morgue. Also likely his family are grateful he’s still alive – which he definitely wouldn’t be, in the USA.

Respect has to cut both ways. Lashing out and punching a police officer is total disregard of what they represent, which is all of us. It cannot be accepted regardless of what the circumstances was. You just don’t do that! But then, if a police officer is a type who could kick a defenceless person in the face and stamp on their head, then you can imagine his approach, when he first got in contact with them, was unlikely to have been courteous.

Thank goodness for the training we give to our firearms officers in the UK! It would have been several dead members of the public, which would be a total waste of human life.

We of course hope to avoid incidents where the police kick people in the face, but lashing out to punch a uniformed officer, is definitely not acceptable in any shape or form. But the fact that none of the officers once considered drawing their guns, is something we must be proud of in the UK! And something the US and others should learn from. Each and every human life touches on so many others and should not get snuffed out so willy nilly

If you have a leader whose followers believe they must do truly horrible things in order to please that leader, you know it’s a hopeless situation. Each and every time you read about Trump’s followers, it’s never about them offering support to the homeless or work to the jobless. It’s always about doing awful stuff to others, as if that automatically leads to good results for those they say they wish to help.

This morning I read the CNN article about Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert saying she demands Joe Biden get himself on a camera before 5pm to prove he is still alive. Essentially suggesting that Biden was incapacitated and someone else issued his letter withdrawing from the presidential election. The sheer indecency of saying the supposed most powerful individual on earth “get himself to a camera” to prove himself to some silly congresswoman is just laughable really.

But when you go back in time and you read of situations such as the Nazi execution of Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg and 8 others who tried to remove Hitler, you begin to see just how despicable human beings are. They slowly suffocated him and resuscitated him several times to strangle him over and over again, recording every second of it, apparently so that Hitler can watch the tape. Now, the issue is not whether or not Hitler asked for the recording or watched it, the issue is that, if you are the type of leader whom your followers believe would enjoy watching such a tape, then you have led by such example.

In today’s society, it is not about an individual in leadership, it is more about what the followers do in their attempts to please that leader. It is also the reason why Biden’s ages and frailties was not and should not have been a reason to shove him aside. He has already set out the type of leader he is and his key followers would have led with decency.

A leader whose followers believe – unruliness, use of demeaning language, enactment of horrible policies aimed at mass deportations, separation of children from parents at the border etc., – is the way to gain favour from that leader, paints a grim, hopeless situation for the country. Americans must stand up to say no to that.

It is a most unfortunate situation the Democratic Party has allowed George Clooney & Co, to walk them into. Kamala Harris is ok and will try her darndest, but the numbers are not stacking up. We will have to hope for a miracle and that she surprises us all by beating Trump in November

Guy in his late 70s put himself through hell just to give us four years of normalcy, ending 4 years of non-stop twitter rants and name-calling.
The Democratic Party have decided to implode and we are now about to face 4 years of twitter rants and craziness!

A right shame. Ageism has always been and will always be such a scourge!

She very expertly broke down the situation with the George Clooneys of America, who now think they are King-makers! Whilst George Clooney May mean well, he knows he can afford to jet off to the UK or elsewhere if Trump returns as President, thanks to Clooney & a fey other ill-advised idiots questioning Biden’s suitability. The timing of these comments, these interventions couldn’t be worse! What the heck are these buffoons playing at?????

Americans say their president is the most powerful person in the world. Yet, they also want him to be a performing seal!

He has to give the ‘performance’ of his life at the NATO summit this week, to quell demands for him to step as the presidential candidate. The poor 81 year old will now need to come out all forceful, finger-wagging, ready to crush everything with NATO, in a supposed show of strength, to demonstrate he can still be the presidential candidate

His party had 4 years and they still put him forward and he won the primaries. So, why should he now step down? The process is there for a reason. The democrats are about to tear themselves apart, with the unthinkable outcome being the return of the very guy that a 77 year old Biden put himself forward to defeat! The irony of it all….

Those in the Democratic Party asking Biden to step down really should look themselves in the mirror and stop being so stupid!!!!!

When you look at the 400+ Labour MPs, I can’t see any one of them who would call any section of public “Tofu-eating Wokerati”.

I am sure some of then will err. I am sue Labour will make many mistakes, BUT I am equally sure they will retain and maintain decency. They will try to do their very best and I hope they succeed! The country deserves better than the sufferings of recent years and non-stop attempts to turn us all against each other! Divide & rule should be a thing of the past!

We can build more homes, we can deal with the immigration crisis – without insulting migrants or demonising them. We can be decent. Good luck labour & Godspeed

The man is 81!!! How many 81 year olds out there can make a fully coherent speech??

Leave the guy alone!!!

As long as he surrounds himself with sane, normal folk, he can get through 4 more years. However, what on earth was the Democratic Party thinking??? They should have nominated someone else in 2021!! Now that they are where they are, get behind Biden and stop being so silly!!!

For the very first time in our history, we have entered the uncharted territory of having individuals who are solely intent on ripping everything up, entering parliament as MPs. This is no longer about some rogue MPs using awful, unbecoming choice of language in Parliament or indeed in public – with MPs taking second jobs and spewing bile all over the place – this is something a lot more serious!

We witnessed the ill-advised Brexit saga, where people with absolutely no idea what the impact of Brexit will be – individuals who will not themselves be impacted as they can afford to ride such impact – championing what they scarcely understand. But in fairness to them, the government at the time and subsequent governments appear to treat brexiteers with disdain and didn’t bother to explain to them – and still haven’t – that the working class folk asking to quit Europe are the ones who will suffer the most from such exit. But the EU saw how their organisation was about to be torn up from the inside and knew they simply had to rid themselves of those individuals and cut Britain loose – but the EU chose to do so in such an undignifying manner – they sought to punish Britain. Thistle was the most unfortunate aspect of it all. Britain have done enough over the last century, for Europe, to be afforded a dignified exit from the EU, if as it were, there was a free and fair referendum and those looking to keep Britain in the UK simply didn’t do enough to explain why, they thought thee was no need to do so – they felt the core Brexit support was from the poor, working class people whose opinion doesn’t count – they thought wrong and now, the rest is history. Are we about to witness similar scenes to those dark days in the European Parliament here at Westminster, with the same folk who have now turned their post-Brexit attention to supposedly ridding Britain of anyone who isn’t a direct descendant of Henry the 8th!??

As I have written several times over the years, there is absolutely nothing wrong with loving your country and wanting a return of litter-free streets, reduction of stabbings, elimination of practices that are not British etc. But we cannot be using vile language in doing so, denigrating unfortunate people, dehumanising them. There is a fine line between supporting your country at a football match and rampaging through street, destroying property. There are decent, civilised ways to debate the rise in immigration and why it needs to be at levels that society and existing infrastructure can cope with. We do not have to take the country back to the 50s!!

It is going to be a tough few years for the incoming government but hopefully their massive majority in parliament will help save democracy from the crazies!

Apparently for Biden to pass the test, he just has to avoid a senior’s moment! Seriously!?? The guy is 81 years old! Most of us will be overjoyed if we can still stand on our feet at 81! Being president should be about surrounding yourself with the right choice of people and doing the right things for the country, SERVING the country! What part of that has an 81 year old not done?!!! Biden isn’t doing any of this for himself is he? At 81, he is putting himself through all this pain, BECAUSE he knows he cannot possibly leave the country to be taken over by MAGA! He is SERVING!
He can have as many senior moments as he wants! The guy is 81!!!!

If Trump and his MAGA crowd actually only wish to put America first and make America great, who would object to that? But not at the expense of decency and the kind of rhetoric they have going! The world needs to come together not get torn apart even further!!

But to expect an 81 year old to stand there and be totally with it and not have a seniors moment, is just simply idiotic!!! Even if he managed it, do anyone think he can keep that up backstage? His work is all about surrounding himself with normal people who are there to serve America, a country that never stopped being great. What is there to make great again? When exactly did America stop being great?

Troubled times ahead, but I trust Americans to avoid another mishap. 81 or not, Biden is the only choice available to sane Americans

…. as it takes the spotlight off the simple fact that he is not presidential material.

He can’t take briefings, won’t read important documents, appoints only those who worship him, can’t make up his mind about anything and has to be constantly reminded that he isn’t on The Apprentice.

Having Trump as a protest candidate and stunning a complacent Hilary Clinton who saw a buffoon and didn’t take his chances seriously, must be a one-off. I do not believe majority of Americans want a return of a twitter-President and his selection of leadership teams.

If the country is supposedly split 50:50, then one would expect the jury in Trump’s hush money trial to at least have a couple of his sympathisers? Yet, when confronted with the facts, the judgement was unanimous…

Personally, I still cannot see any logic in prosecuting Trump. Why? Because he was enabled. He is the embodiment of what many Americans want. An America that remains in an era where only ‘they’, can afford houses, live the American dream etc. Many of them find it impossible to comprehend the fact that all Americans – with the exception of the native indigenous tribes – came to America from elsewhere. They feel that their privileges are being stripped away and they see in Trump, a man willing to say & do horrible things to champion their cause.

There now appears to be no limits. Folk like Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon who ignore Congressional committee requests to participate in the January 6 attack on congress, are now condemning the judicial system that has brought them to heel.
Similarly, Trump, a guy who has played the legal system to his advantage for decades, now says the system is rotten?

Supposed lawmakers in America (members of congress) are now wilfully desecrating the American legal system because it is holding Trump responsible for his actions. He needn’t have been in contact with Stormy Daniels and there wouldn’t have been the matter of paying her the hush money.
It is worrying that now, Americans are expected to accept that any wrongdoing from Trump or any of his supporters must go unpunished for their legal system to be deemed fair? A system that has had juries convicted many innocent people over the years, which is how the system in: can’t be right all the time. It’s about evidence and how a jury of your peers see it.
You know have individuals such as Steve Bannon tying himself to Trump and trying to say his conviction for not responding to congress – which was his own decision – is tied to persecution of Trump. His name is now a get out of jail ploy? Well, ok if it works

Trump is very worried; if 12 random Americans on a jury didn’t believe his version of event and found him guilty, he is not going to convince enough Americans to re-elect him into the White House. He knows that. But he intends to drag the entire Country down with him!

The greatest tragedy however, is what these folks are doing to America. If Americans lose faith in their justice system – imperfect as all justice systems are – and lose faith in their electoral system etc., just because Trump and his supporters are not getting their way, that will lead to chaos and that is indeed a tragedy!

Unquantifiable debt of gratitude to those who gave their lives.

Unbelievable that 80 years on, we still allow wars to occur!

We must find ways to abolish wars!!!

I have never understood it and perhaps never will.
Today I had a chance exchange with a colleague who was in his prime when I started working and thought he was immortal. He turned 75 yesterday, long retired, long forgotten. None of the other 4 graduates on our team back then, can remember his surname.

Age is just a figure. It’s a convenient way for humans to limit themselves and place silly expectations on themselves and on others. On the commercial side of the fence, it’s a huge asset; selling clothes that are said to be suited to some age group but not the other etc.

I never ask people I come across for their ages as quite frankly, I couldn’t care less. I see ages in blocks: children (anything from 0 to 12), teenagers (13 to 19), then it’s the 20 – 39 group, 40 – 69 group and the 70 – 100. Those are the 5 groups I see and it is that simple in my view.

We try to map achievements to age and put a sense of “no big deal, the person’s old enough to be a boss or own a car, house etc” or “wow! at that age?”. It really is a conveyor belt. Today you’re the youth, well, give it a wee bit of time and….

It is widely assumed that the Labour Party will be back in power for the first time in 14 years after the upcoming July 4 general election. However, for a party to make any real change, it requires a minimum of 2 terms in office (i.e. at least 8 years). To do so, you need a first term that avoids rocking the boat.

Improving quality of life and reducing poverty is a major issue at present. Many erroneously think that the few £millions we spend on illegal migrants is the reason behind their poverty. Erroneous or not, the incoming government will need to address poverty by either generating more wealth more evenly – by creating more jobs – or they will need to address the small boats problem and also bring net migration down.
None of those objectives will be achieved via slapping VAT on private schools.

This warped notion that the rich send their kids to private schools is quite simply put, warped! Many of Labour’s leaders grew up on council estates, believing the rich must pay! While also aspiring to get out of the rat race to become….. (yes, you guessed correctly)… Rich.

A large percentage of parents who send their kids to private schools are not rich. Far from it. They are hard working people with just about as much money to stay afloat. They sacrifice going on holidays and other luxuries, to pay the school fees because private schools offer extra hours, which allow those parents to work longer days. This sacrifice also helps reduce the number of children fighting for state school places, which is a great help to the supposedly poor folk who can’t afford to send their kids to private schools.

It is the type of move – by the Labour Party – that shows they have still not learnt how to take in the bigger picture, which is what’s required to last in power. Such a move, is what you propose after your second term in power, not during a first return after 14 years in the wilderness!

There is no doubt that the Labour Party mean well. They are a bunch of individuals who truly want to help. They want to better the lot of poor people and improve the standard of living across the board. Sadly, they are going about it in a manner that is likely to result in failure and a short, single term in power.

… must be a General Election round the corner! 😝

It seems that ship has sailed, never to return…

When you have a senior politician who is paid by the people, to keep the country safe, waking up in the morning heading off to parliament to condemn “tofu-eating wokerati” as she said (this was our former Home Secretary i.e. the minister in-charge of the police, law & order etc). I don’t typically eat tofu, but if someone else does, I ain’t going to label and condemn them. And I’m not a politician paid by the same people she’s insulting.

It’s the stuff of kids!
How a senior minister can get out of bed and deem that line as the line to go and deliver in public, really does sum up just how low, we have allowed our politics to descend!
Politicians now openly attack whichever sections of society they deem unsuitable for their agenda. These folk are the ones paying your salary madam!

The lack of finesse is what I find particularly revolting!

It has taken me several months since those words were uttered, for me to get over the shamefulness of it, to be able to speak of it! It really takes our politics right down into the gutter!

Said it before, saying it again!

The result of London’s Mayoral Election says it all! We won’t give up on London! Never!!

Yes, London isn’t as I remember it from the 80s or what we all want it to be. But that is life! Things change. The daily knife crimes and littering, reverse of integration & harmony replaced by enclaves isn’t great. But we just have to keep working at it!

Khan should come out strong against crime and show strong support for every Londoner, be it those of Jewish, Muslim or other affiliation, ALL Londoners are Londoners and can coexist.

But what makes London great – as I have stated previously – will never be destroyed! London will always be the greatest City on earth. I don’t spend much time in London nowadays, but every time I am in London, I can’t help feeling the fun & excitement of London!

Yes, it ain’t exactly what we all want it to be (safe, bubbly, clean..) but we will keep working at it!

I just watched footage on the BBC of police men & women approach a sword wielding guy in North East London who had earlier seriously injured two other police officers who had tried to stop him. It must be brave, knowing what he had just done to their colleagues and still have to do the job. It was later confirmed that one of the people he stabbed, a 14 year old boy, died!! Really awful!

Yes, some will say the police officers chose that job and they have been trained and get paid, but the reality is simple: society, in particular, today’s society cannot do without the police. When you see and listen to how people behave & what they say, you wouldn’t want to experience a minute with the deterrent that the police represent. We have so many awful people who, if unchecked, will rampantly do really awful things.

I came to this conclusion and realisation several years ago, well before the particular incident that I have used to illustrate this realisation, but an incident that do indeed aptly portray the reality of what we must accept, whether or not we like to.
The incident: it was a few years ago that I was attending a home football match as I did every other Saturday morning. A chap sat in front of me (of South East Asian origin) received a barrage of very crude, racist abuse from a couple sat to his right. This was in the mid 90s, when few flinched at such occurrences. But our section of the stadium was usually filled by seasons ticket-holders and most of us had known each other for years. About 6 of us leapt from our seats and told the abusive couple to shut up! We called the stewards over, explained what they said and they were promptly escorted out of the stadium. The chap who was abused thanked us and enjoyed the rest of the game. Right after the match, we all trooped off to the local pub and as we always did, stopped by a kebab cafe to grab a quick takeaway to munch. As we entered the cafe, we could hear loud yelling and a male voice repeatedly yelling racist abuse at the server (a lady of African descent) and calling her a b***k slut and the manager had just come out from behind the counter to intervene. The abuser turned around and lo & behold, it was the chap we had defended when he himself was being racially abused less than an hour earlier, at the match! We were shocked. He was embarrassed and apologised profusely, but really, how can one begin to understand that??!

But indeed, that is the reality of what the world has always been and will always be.

There are no ‘hard lines’ to be drawn as we try to: good and bad, lies and truths, right and wrong. If we can each just try to be decent, it probably is as good as it gets. Of course there are states of mental health or dysfunction that could cause people to knowingly do really awful things, but saying those are “pure evil” is just words: can evil be pure? and what is impure evil? Decency used to be easier for most to grasp, but that’s all history now..

Instead, we try to seek equivalences!

We try to condemn

Yes, slavery was an awful, awful thing. Cruel beyond words or understanding. But there were churches at the time, with people singing praise to God etc., even as their workers bought & sold humans. Well, read the bible and you may be surprised to find that there were eras in there where it was the right thing to conquer your enemies, make slaves of their wives & kids etc. There is even guidance on what you can do with your slaves e.g a man whose wife can’t bear children is ok to grab one of her slaves, have a baby that way and hand it over to his wife. I am not religious but have read most holy books, to see what it is, that gets people so fired up!!? And how someone can follow a Donald Trump while saying they are Christians. Well, go and read the bible and you will see exactly why. They simply have to convince themselves that he is an instrument of God. Front that point on, it matters little, what he says or does, they will continue to support him. It is all about points of view.

The world is completely messed up. It always has been. The only difference today, is that majority of the good only controls e.g. religion, the constitution… standards that many used to adhere to, are being ridiculed and set aside by a supposed new generation who want law & order but intend to secure it via violent rioting. People form organisations that set out to do good, but then the stories of embezzlement stat to filter out. I watched a BBC clip on Haiti yesterday, in which a gang leader who looked like he hadn’t had a chance to take a bath in weeks (perhaps out of fear one of his own cutthroats will murder him in the bath) lives in a mansion (your guess as to how he got it) with golden coffee tables, while the rest of the country looks like a dung hill! But he says he is fighting corrupt politicians…

We are all complicit. All of us. The world is as it is, because that’s exactly how we have made it. We have created a monetary system that is so skewed. Is it geniuses who become billionaires?
You see politicians who claim to champion the poor, end up rich and hold the poor in contempt. You suddenly hear the same politicians speak of a lazy population who are apparently poor due to their lack of application!
Half the world is in abject poverty.

But I do not have any answers, no practical solutions! But what I do, is to try not to be perfect. What I am, is what I am: bits of it is good, bits of it is awful. I get on with life. I only have a single motto: do not set out to deliberately make others unhappy.

There are no hard lines to draw! It is and likely to always be, a messy world!

This week’s calls for the Met Police Commissioner to resign should be worrying to all of us. What exactly is that going to achieve?
I am always the first to speak of the need for consequences, but for goodness sake! the incident in question was a very clear & deliberate provocation.
Most of us agree 100% that every Londonder must be free to go about their business, but similar to Michael Gove strolling about at Victoria Station during a tense weekend, it just exhausts police resources when such situations turn nasty! Avoidance is always best, even if it inconveniences one a little (and yes, it isn’t always fair and we should be free to go wherever we please, but we also do need to be a little realistic at times). I’m a football supporter (Arsenal) and free as I may want society to be, I won’t wear my arsenal jersey to stroll into a Spurs pub be it match day or not….

Kari Lake has discovered this stroke of genius! 😄

When you are trying to win any election, be it class President at high school or a seat in the senate and you find yourself in a situation where you have ample support but simply not enough support to win. If there are 20 pupils in your class and there are 2 candidates and 11 pupils have said they will never vote for you regardless. If you are sane, you would likely give up or keep working hard on your likeability to see if one or two of them will change their mind?

But if you are Kari Lake, you go around saying you won! It’s easy, it’s lazy, it’s taken over America! It’s now even got a name: Election Denialism! 😄

…. unfortunately, we are in a world that rejects live & let live! no interest in co-existence, it seems one ideology has to dominate the other…

If the could steal the election in 2020 when they were not the party in power, why would they not be able to rig it in 2024? So, why is Mr D J Trump running for President again?

It is a valid question right?

I do not believe the Biden government have made any election-steal prevention additions to the electoral system since they legitimately won in 2020. So, what is Trump’s reason for running in 2024?

Lest we forget, Trump was in power during the last election and many of the states he lost to Biden had Trump’s party (Republican) in power and they oversaw those ballots.

There have been no changes to the polling system and the organisations Trump’s supporters accused of orchestrating “the steal” e.g. Dominion, will still be the ones in place for the 2024 election. So, why would Trump continue his run for the presidency?

ANSWER: because Mr. Donald J Trump knows that the 2020 election was not stolen! He knows the US electoral system is not compromised (and certainly not to the extent that would alter the outcome). He knows he was fairly defeated in 2020.

That, is the only logical reason he would be running again.

He also knows he is going to lose again in 2024, as he has not increased his appeal to anyone who chose not to vote for him in 2020. You don’t need to be a genius to work this out. It will take a significant low turnout of Democrat voters in key states, for Trump to win, and the thought of him winning, is enough to ensure there will be a high turnout. He knows all that.

So, why is he still running?
Well, it’s the only choice he has left to delay his various criminal trials, claim political persecution and whip his supporters into a frenzy in the hope that threats of violence and chaos that could be unleashed by his supporters (as was orchestrated on Jan 6) would pre-empt his incarceration. He will definitely be found guilty on some of the charges, because they are so blatant, and he knows that, but the sentencing he receives will be lenient (that’s why he is running for President) in the interest of avoiding needless unrest. He clearly isn’t quite as daft as some suggest….

It is all just a ‘stay out of jail’ tactic

The UK’s version of MAGA.

So melodramatic!

When exactly did we lose our country? and to whom? The circa 5% of the population who are not direct descendants of Henry the VIII?

Whenever you get to speak to anyone who would make statements such as “we want our country back”, you know you are speaking with an ill-advised troublemaker who is either seeking profit from hate or just intent on spewing hate

We have never lost our country. The same folk who have been in-charge for the past 5000 years are still in-charge! We have hereditary peers (Lords and Dames) making our laws and those who are not hereditary e.g. our politicians are all largely descendants of wealthy, affluent Brits. Same goes for all walks of life in the UK, Cara Delevigne, Benedict Cumberbatch, you look up any of the known personalities in pretty much every field in the UK and they are descended from affluent folk. 99.9% of influential jobs and key positions of power are held by people of British descent. So, the country has clearly not been lost!

The folk who go around saying they want their country back, never had the country to begin with! (the folk who had the country, still have it and have never lost it) I suppose nobody cared to inform them. They just had access to their monthly benefits and remained in their delusion

Do we now have some folk who are yet to understand our norms & behaviour (e.g. littering)? Yes. Do we have thousands crossing into the UK in small boats from France? Yes we do. Do we have a number of issues relating to uncontrolled migration that needs to be sorted? Yes we do. But, do any of these come anywhere close to the notion of losing our country? Certainly not! We have never lost our country.

It’s exactly the same as Make America Great Again! You think human beings made the Grand Canyon? America’s greatness has very little to do with what Americans do or do not do. So, how can anyone suggest they can make it great again? It’s all just gobbledegook!

America can do it! Americans can do it! They can come together and agree to disagree on their differences: abortion, immigration etc. These challenges will never disappear, so, COMPROMISE is the only way forward.

The everyday American should sit up and say no to those talking about another civil way (madness!) or creating a hermit America (when the real America is a country made largely of immigrants).

Sort it out Americans! You can…

Yes, the wheels of the justice system are as they are, and it has taken from 2020 to now, for these cases to get to trial, and much of the delay was orchestrated by Trump’s legal team, to ensure these trials only got to court in 2024. It makes Trump look like the persecuted, like the victim. A tactic that may not impact the outcome of his trials but will impact the outcome of the election, which he knows that if he wins, that victory will set those judgments aside for the next 4 years, by the end of which he will be 81 years old and the sentences handed down to him will be fines and sanctions instead of jail time. He has figured it all out or rather, his team have.

We have an election that wouldn’t have been close, as Trump simply hasn’t got the numbers, but this colossal mistake, in allowing the trials in an election year is going to draw all sorts of sympathy votes to Trump, which will lead to a close election and an opportunity for him to claim the result is a steal, after he narrowly loses again!

There is absolutely nothing to gain from running these trials in 2024. Biden should have stepped in, in mid-2023 to state that any of the various charges against Trump that doesn’t get to trial before the end of 2023 must be postponed to 2025, leaving 2024 – the election year – clear of any excuses that can be used by Trump in making himself out to be the victim of persecutions, when indeed, all of the charges against him are self-inflicted! He didn’t have to take classified documents with him when he left office, and after he was repeatedly asked to return them, he could have, but he has sharp folks around him, who saw the potential of the distraction the matter could lead to, and the prosecutors pursuing him fell into that trap. None of the charges against are trumped up! He didn’t have to have paid the hush-money to Stormy Daniels. …

His team set the perfect trap that will get him a bunch of sympathy and sympathy votes. It has worked. He knows he simply needs the election to be close enough, to declare a steal and throw America into yet another round of chaos. The government had to see through this and cleared 2024 of any of the court cases, to remove this excuse. Trump would then lose the election by such glaring margins that it would have been impossible for him to suggest any kind of steal (he would still do, but this time, even his closest allies would have found it difficult to support that). Unfortunately, the government have fallen into his trap with these silly trials in an election year and he will not get all the sympathy votes, still lose the election, but it will be close enough for him to declare a steal and throw America into more chaos and goodness knows what else. All to avoid jail time for his various charges, some of which he is very likely to the convicted for.

What Biden should have said in mid-2023 is: “I don’t believe Presidents should interfere in criminal trials of any citizen BUT Donald Trump is no ordinary citizen, he is a former President and likely challenger at the next election, but most importantly, he is a guy who is willing to watch as the nation tears itself apart. He is a guy with a massive following of people who are prepared to commit acts such as Jan 6, and are prepared to go to jail for him. He is a guy who is already preparing his excuses, his conspiracy theories and everything else ahead of losing again; so, why give him additional excuse and sympathy votes? Any of his charges and cases that do not make it to court by the end of 2023 must be deferred to 2025, so that the election year (2024) is kept clear so he doesn’t gather sympathy votes.”

Letting the wheels of justice go at its own pace is ludicrous in the circumstance. These are no ordinary circumstances

What an absolute mess!!!

Here we are in the UK, a country some ill-advised folk continue to moan about, where Julian Assange was able to hide away in an embassy for years. Would we ever consider storming another country’s embassy in the UK? hell no!

An embassy is effectively the territory of the country it belongs to.

The response from other countries to this outrage in Ecuador must be swift. Ecuador must be completely isolated until they return the guy they arrested from the Mexican embassy (an ex-Ecuador Vice President they claim embezzled funds etc.) to the embassy, apologise and then seek due process, if they want him handed over to them (a decision that must be up to Mexico, if they wish to grant him asylum, then he must be allowed to remain there)

We seem to be racing off to break down the few remaining norms of a sane society! Vienna convention, human rights charters, the need to outlaw needless war, all seem to be falling apart as the world races towards anarchy! Look at Haiti today…

We lose the battle when our politicians are allowed to use demeaning language, while clearly lacking ideas to tackle the problem.

Trump building a wall (when even the Great Wall of China got breached without anyone having to scale it) was a nonsense and the awful words he continues to use in describing these unfortunate folk, is reprehensible. And the situation isn’t much better here in the UK, with several ill-fated, ineffective schemes, followed by awful choice of words to create needless intolerance, but very little being done to deal with the problem

There is absolutely no defence for what’s currently going on, with boat after boat crossing into the UK across the channel. It is totally unacceptable. It is a flagrant abuse of our decency as those doing it, know that we are not going to allow their actions to turn us into brutes. As such, they are exploiting that.

It is of course very sad and soul-wrenching to see so many people, for whatever reason, feeling the need to make these treacherous voyages, be it to get into the US or the UK or other countries. Many facing exploitation and some dying enroute. They are not animals and even those who are taking these trip for economic reasons and are not fleeing wars etc. they are all human beings and their plight is unfortunate. However, regardless, the government simply cannot allow the channel crossings to continue. There must be technology put in place and cross-border pacts etc., to put this madness to an end. It has gone on for way too long. It makes a mockery of law & order, regardless of the reasons behind it. The government must find a practical was to put an end to it.

There should not be any equivocation about it.

Now after the crossings are stopped, a lot can and should be done, to help and we need to end wars around the world, so that people do not have the reasons to take on these awful trips to bust into countries via small boat crossing etc.

The figures are staggering. At the present rate, we might as well close down the immigration checks at airports!

It has become increasingly embarrassing when you read the incessant “this person was slammed or blasted…” and you click on the news, the source will be two comments on twitter now called ‘X’. What a joke!

Everything is so juvenile these days! We have allowed dimwits to takeover. In our quest to promote tolerance, we have amplified intolerance. Americans said: well, you don’t need to have an Ivy League college degree to run for President. Yes, but for goodness sake, do you want to end up with a guy who can’t string together two sentences without adding stupidity such as name-calling!? “crooked Joe” this, “crooked Joe” that. We are back to the gladiator era where the masses bay for blood and the leaders throw more lions in to make the spectacle more bloody and whip the crowd into a frenzy!
The more name-calling from Trump, the larger his throng of supporters! Is this really where we want to be as a society?

Years ago when ethnic minority kids were made to feel they are no-hopers at school (still happening today by the way) and the teachers quietly told them they will end up in prison etc. Those children began skipping classes and ended up being used by drug dealers to peddle drugs on the street etc. Many of them harassed the few who stuck with going to school, telling them they’re not cool. Today, we embrace illiteracy and celebrate a buffoon who can’t string a couple of sentences together but laces in insult and name-calling as a camouflage and keeps bamboozling the dimwits who follow him around. This is now the trend! We have replaced debate and substance with name-calling, abuse and pandering to illiterates! The trendy description is now: “he is saying what the majority think”. SERIOUSLY????

What majority?
And in any case, do we need politicians who are not smart enough to know that some things are best not said!!?
Anything is now normal, now acceptable. You can just call migrants rapists and murderers! You can say virtually anything as long as your supporters cheer!
It has all become so juvenile!
But we are now well into that trap! Can’t find our way out

Decency is now seen as weakness!

Good grief!

When I look at rich folk, it is hard not to wonder just how much wealth do individuals feel they must acquire?
It is however never necessary to attempt to drag the rich down as it rarely benefits the poor. In fact, it never benefits the poor.

You see politicians vowing to address poverty and inequality, then the minute they get to the table, they sample wealth and suddenly, you see them making excuses. The poor remain poor and the champions of poverty become rich and are gone. That cycle has repeated itself for generations. Essentially, the poor do not choose poverty. They are actively trying to get out of it. If/when they make it out, it simply means they are no longer poor, WHICH means, they join a different grouping. Hence the cycle remaining unending!

One can only hope that the likely incoming Labour Government fully understands the need to try to create wealth, to get more people in the UK out of poverty. The solution is not to drag the middle-class and working folk down into poverty to get them more equal with the poor. The solution is to try to get more people out of poverty, to get them closer to the middle. So, this crazy idea of taxing the rich and getting private schools to pay VAT etc., are badly thought out and will not do any good. You don’t solve the problem of poverty by dragging more people into poverty so that the poor feel better and in good company! You get more people out of poverty, to create more opportunities to get more and more of them out of poverty!

Whichever way you look at it, there are only 9 months remaining in 2024, so, whether the PM decided to wait till Dec 30 to call a general election held the next morning, there must be an election held this year and as such, who really cares when he decides to call an election??? The days are sliding by and 9 months will very soon become 9 weeks…

”there’s no place for this in our politics”. Well, sorry, it has found a place! Reading a BBC article this morning that laid the vileness of this out in detail!

Candidates receiving death threats even before they are in office, horrendous abuse etc.

Drastic action is urgently needed!!!!

The most capable people we need in politics and in government are no longer putting themselves forward, which is gravely impacting us all!!!

The government AND INDEED SOCIETY must come down on this hard! Our politicians must be safe! They cannot continue to face intimidation!

Freedom of speech is great, but there has to be a line that cannot, must not be crossed! It is presently being routinely crossed online and now, we have allowed it to gradually cross over into real life conversations and it is not ok.

Mechanisation, industrialisation, building up infrastructure is what 3rd world (awful tag by the way) countries need. The Church of England recently offered £100m in reparation.. What on earth with these struggling countries do with such funds? They lack the financial structure to spend the money judiciously. It will all end up in the Swiss bank account of individuals!
If the west wish to make amends, build! Solar farms, industries etc.

People who use foul language, racist language or utter other insult do so because they wish to belittle their targets and make them feel awful. It gives them extra pleasure to know their victim is hurting. The only way to stop a bully, is to end the pleasure they derive from bullying you. You stand up to them.

The mindset needs to change. Why are insults that include reference to someone’s rac3 or ethnicity deemed to be more potent?? THEY ARE NOT! Calling someone a ‘fat idiot’ is an insult and it is horrible. Calling them a ‘fat brown idiot’ shouldn’t make the insult any more potent. It’s still just an insult and it’s horrible, but not extra horrible or at least it shouldn’t be.

I am not saying we should normalise racist insult, but in all honesty, all the recent noise about this topic is not really seeking to address it. And the bizarre attempts to curtail it, is clearly a waste of time (has been for decades). Hurling insult is what should be addressed; any kind of insult. Period. It’s all about decency. The person hurling racist abuse is not necessarily the folk who are enacting horrible policies and laws that impact minorities a lot more than them putting up with racist insult.

An insult is an insult and should be frowned upon, regardless of the inclusion of race..

With Rachel Reeves, the Labour Party have a chance, if they do, as widely predicted, form the next government

She is doing exactly what needs to be done. Forget party politics, you need the wealth generators to help you

Loopy ideas such as bashing the rich or slapping VAT on independent schools are just wet dreams! Those are ideas that poor folk concoct; none of those actually end up helping the poor. If the poor knew how to create wealth, would we be poor????
Those are noble ideas a paper. In practice, they don’t work.

Get the rich to show the Labour Party how the rich create wealth, create more wealth and see if you can lay out some crumbs for everyone. It’s the only practical way forward. Well done Rachel Reeves and good luck

The greatness of Great Britain is not from being called Great Britain! Yes, we have, over the centuries, committed some heinous acts such as slavery, colonisation and meddling (which is still ongoing), BUT, on balance, which country this size (tiny as we are) has wielded so much influence (for good)? Be it in the space of education, health, you name it; you will find a Brit!

Yes, it is sad that we presently have several parts of the country in squalor, with intolerance, hate, littered streets and some areas where English is not even the second language. The integration has failed to an extent and the social malaise is at an all-time high. We have work to do, first, to get all Brits living below the minimum, decent standard of living back on their feet and build up infrastructure that can effectively support those coming in, so that it is not perceived as a detriment to locals. BUT “wanting his country back?!” … This country has never and will never be lost. We are the best we have ever been! Why do we have so many people fleeing persecution coming here? Because they know they can find safety here.
We continue to strive to maintain our freedom, even in the face of seismic challenges and evil! We are still the greatest country on earth! Great for reasons that the likes of Lee Anderson will never understand or perhaps do, but will never accept!
Deep down, Britain always tries to do the right thing. That is what makes this country great. Every time we err, you see the powers for good rock up behind the scenes and brave folk who will always fight to get us back up the straight and narrow. No country is perfect, none have a perfect history and none will have a perfect future either. It is what it is. But on balance, few countries have done as much good

Good government is what any of our 3 main political parties should be able to readily provide if in government. That should be the basic minimum that the electorate deserve. Regardless of differences in opinion, policy, strategy etc.

Now, an awesome government (which many may argue we haven’t had in a long time and in fact, some argue we haven’t even had the basic minimum of a good government in ages either..) is one that gets the basics right. Labour must let go of reckless unproven theories like going after the rich to improve the poor. It never works. Improving the lot of the poor is never linked to dragging the rich down. The rich are too organised, upping their tax and the like, ain’t going to impact them. This madness of forcing independent schools to pay VAT isn’t going to impact the rich, it will only hurt the hardworking poor who sacrifice holidays etc., to send their kids to independent schools for a number of reasons, none of which has anyone to do with seeking luxury. Just practical reasons e.g. to work hours that state schools can’t cover. But hitting independent schools appear to be a personal vendetta and a quest that some folk within the Labour Party feel they have to do, to teach rich folk a lesson, but they are sorely mistaken. The rich will readily pay the 20% VAT, it will only hit the poor and make the independent schools even more exclusive and out of reach.

Levelling Up is another example. The reason the current government hasn’t been able to do more, is because levelling up should focus on creating more opportunities and dragging the disadvantaged up, not about investing less in London to spend more up north. You gain little through levelling up that brings the rest down to a lower level!

Sunak, Starmer, it shouldn’t really matter which of these folk lead the government, we should have a minimum level of competence that should provide a ‘good’ government. The rest should then be about which of them can deliver an awesome government..

Our politicians need to be reminded!

This new phenomenon of “he’s only saying what everyone’s thinking” is not going to fly!
It isn’t everyone getting paid from the collective tax!

There is nothing wrong with an outspoken MP, but their choice of words cannot be the same as those of the general public!

If we wish to move into an era where an elected member of parliament only need to respect those who voted for them and support them, then their earnings should only come from the tax paid by those folk only? Clearly not workable…

Absolutely nothing wrong with an MP telling it as it is and being outspoken. Civility is what cannot be missing. The choice of word cannot be so bloody careless! MPs should treat EVERY section of society with equal respect, while still making the point intended. It is how it used to be, and it is what we must get back to. This is Great Britain!

Box office film success…

Flippant remarks form several quarters…

Disgraceful!!

It was in full view on BBC a few years ago, when the then Labour Party candidate for UK Prime Minister was chastised for not answering quickly that if Britain came under threat, he would quickly press the red button! We make it sound so straightforward right? “press the red button”. Like just turning the light switch on for dinner! Never mind the horrific loss of lives that would be involved. Ok, for Corbyn, it was massively naive of him, to think that level of politics can come without getting your hands dirty! Of course, to be the PM, you cannot have any equivocation about defending your country. There’s no reasoning acceptable, no hesitancy. That is the job requirement. So, yes, the UK electorate would deem you unelectable for the office. It is not for the faint hearted nor the reasonable. Period!
But we cannot possibly get to the point where governments and leaders begin to casually threaten nuclear war! For heaven’s sake!!!! Seriously??!!!

This isn’t child’s play!!!

It is, and should be, an absolute NO GO ZONE. A topic that should never, under any circumstances, ever come up. Not even implied! It is unthinkable. And for what? Wipe humankind off the face of the earth to take a stand?

Perhaps the world must come to an end at some point. But should it be by our (humans) hand?

But then, is it not unthinkable that anyone came up with the idea and executed it i.e. made a nuclear bomb. Did we run out of diseases such as cancer, that we could devote time & funds, to find a cure for?
And now, we make movies (Oppenheimer?) and these plumb actors & actresses pick up gongs for their performance. What a world we live in!!!

Americans will not be complacent in November

2016 was no fluke, but in truth, the only democrat Trump could beat, was Hilary Rodham Clinton. Not because she wasn’t electable, but simply because she had too much baggage. Her baggage cost her too many voting blocks. You add to that, several thousand American women who still follow the biblical line that a man is the head of the home, and she simply couldn’t get across the line.

Trump and his steadfast base do not have the numbers to win against any candidate with slightly less baggage than Hilary. That is why Biden knows he has to urgently reduce his baggage tally by ending the ongoing messy situation in the Middle East and sorting his son’s situation. The rest, regarding his old age and largely ineffectual first time are all forgivable as they are circumstantial (not much he could have done with either: he can’t make himself younger and his first term was always going to be ineffectual due to the volume of the madness that went before him, that he had to fix)

I am no David Axelrod, but this one is east to call: Trump will lose to Biden again (and/or to any other democrat who has less baggage than Hilary) again. Fair and square!
Trump has a massive following of Americans who are fed up with the status quo – even if the alternative proves to be no better – but they are simply not the majority in all the electoral states that matter. He simply hasn’t got the numbers to win.

Did Donald Trump come up with, and execute the separation of children from their parents in cages at the US border?
Did Hitler single-handedly murder millions?

We like to blame charisma

We like to blame inability to reject orders

It is the rest of us and in particular, the willing, who aid & abet but remain nameless, faceless, but nevertheless are very necessary to the actions of the individuals we assign the blame to…