4 March 2019
The right to live.
The current spate of knife crimes is horrific. It's also becoming a little less of a spate and more of a regularity. It is abhorrent that, from what I read, two perfectly innocent, intelligent, much-liked, ordinary young people, their lives ahead of them, were the latest victims. Whilst, in my mind, all violence is wrong and young people who join violent gangs are wrong, and any death from knife crime is one death too many, if rival gangs clash and injuries occur I can somehow accept it. If you are stupid enough to join a gang, this is the price you may pay. But young people who have not taken this route, who are, if not exemplary for few are perfect, at least normal young people with no violent tendencies or wishes, should not become victims.
The powers that be don't, as of yet, have an answer. The reason is simple. There is, as of now, no answer. It seems obvious to everyone but our PM, who cut the police numbers when she was Home Secretary and now seeks to pretend it has made no difference, that more police would be a help. I listened to her today when she explained, with some pride, that the police and emergency services were responding to these acts when they took place. Too late you stupid woman. We need the police to try to stop these acts from happening. I didn't proudly announce that I rushed off to resuscitate my children after they had stuck their fingers in an electric socket, I covered the sockets.
However, and I have been saying this for a very long time, it is the culture that young people are growing up in that is part of the problem. Violence is everywhere. Yet, the more the media cover the crimes, the more some idiots will want to be part of it. As these killers are so incredibly stupid, or high on drugs, we much treat them as stupid. They don't think they will be caught. They sit at home after their crime and watch the media coverage of it and feel a celebrity (an overused word anyway), they feel they are now important. They have their fifteen minutes of Andy Warhol fame. Hopefully they will be disappointed to discover our police are very efficient and they will be caught, tried and imprisoned for a very long time, although possibly extending their moment of fame, or perhaps notoriety would be a better word.
Today, aggression is everywhere. I heard recently there was a “punch-up”, or act of vicious aggression as I would prefer to call it, between the Georgian and English rugby teams during a training session. Afterwards an English player came on TV and blatantly described it in a matter-of-fact way as though there was nothing wrong; it happens all the time. Well, it shouldn't.
We, the older generation, need to set an example. We need to stand up to this violence and condemn it, vigorously. It's pretty useless, as our current Home Secretary says, to state that it has to stop. Rain mustn't fall in summer would be a similar statement. We need to prevent, not deal with; we need to stamp out the cause not make bland pronouncements that are useless.
The people who carry out these crimes are the biggest cowards in our society and we need to keep telling people this. They are not heroes even unto themselves. And if, as I have heard some police officers say, much of this violence is related to drugs and drug gangs then the police must be given greater powers to catch these gangs, the courts must give far longer sentences to those caught dealing and we must all realise that any drug which uncontrollably alters your mind is wrong for society and our future.
We must teach our young people respect; respect for others lives, respect for others views, respect for others characteristics, respect for others disabilities but, most importantly, respect for another human being, whatever colour, religion, race, sex, sexual orientation. They have as much right to exist as you. By respecting them, you can turn that existence in living, into having a life. We don't all have to agree, to live in “little boxes all the same”, to follow the same path but we do have to allow our fellow humans to make their choices, within laws and reason, to live their lives as they wish. No one has the right to end another life for any reason. Some older people champion the right to die, let's champion the right to live for all our young people.
5 March 2019
A cashless society.
It would appear, from what I read, that we are shortly to become a cashless society. Instead of handing over “real” money when we purchase something we will simply flash a card in front of a machine. Is this a problem?
Instead of having to carry around coins and notes, we will just carry a card. Thieves would be wasting their time mugging us for money because instead of making off with some cash that we may carry, they would run off with a card that unless they knew or could work out our pin number would be worthless, beyond, at the moment, £30. I'm sure that quite soon someone will design a card reader that can not only read the card but relate it to a thumb print that you will also have to provide.
It will save shops and businesses time because they will no longer have to cash up at the end of the day nor make time consuming trips to the bank to pay money in. Bank note forgery would be a thing of the past. Indeed banks might vanish as well.
While some would call this progress, and it undoubtedly is, we are actually going back to pre-Roman times when no transactions involved cash in any form. At a time when so many of our leaders display stone age mentally to our future, this seems kind of appropriate.
6 March 2019
Are our leaders asking stupid questions yet again?
As I upload this we are 552 hours away from Brexit and, from what I hear being said to day, we are no nearer a solution to the main sticking point of the Irish backstop. Today's talks between the UK and the EU “have been difficult and no solution has been identified”. Furthermore, Michel Barnier said that the” withdrawal agreement, including the Northern Ireland protocol, …..will not be reopened,"
If this is the case we have several scenarios for next Tuesday when the meaningless, sorry meaningful, vote will take place. Firstly the ERG demonstrate how two-faced they are and with no legally binding alterations to the agreement, change their votes and it might go through. Secondly enough Labour MPs abstain or vote for the deal and it goes through. In either of these instances all those changing their minds have cost this country millions, if not billions, by not voting the deal through some 3 months ago. They should quite simply apply to the Chiltern Hundreds and let others take their place.
Thirdly the deal fails again. The following day Parliament will vote on whether to allow a no-deal and, assuming there are no more members changing sides from what they have said, the answer to this will be no. Then, the day after that, Parliament will vote again as to whether to allow an extension to article 50, but only a short one according to the PM.
However this seems a little bit Cameronish in its level of stupidity. If Parliament votes for no-deal to be thrown out but votes against an extension, what then? It would appear that a Conservative government has not learnt about asking stupid questions of people.
Next week will be both exciting and defining for this country. I do not hold out much hope for an intelligent answer.
7 March 2019
The low life that is our government.
I really wonder how low this government can stoop. On reflection, in order to stoop you need to be somewhat upright before, so I wonder how low this government can sink.
The current spate of knife crime is abhorrent and needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. Most people, indeed possibly all people excluding our PM and ex home secretary, agree that more police would help the situation, not solve but help.
Our chancellor said yesterday that funds being held for a no-deal Brexit could be released for more police if the deal went through. Apart from being undisguised blackmail, it is playing with ordinary people's lives. The funds should be put in place now. No more lives should be lost. I despise any man who would make such a comment.
12 March 2019
Let's vote against no-deal and then vote to leave with no-deal.
I just had a few days off, preparing for the momentous events of today. Now I know this will surprise you but Theresa May lost another meaningful vote for leaving the EU on her deal. As a result tomorrow parliament will have another debate and vote on whether to leave with no deal.
And this is where I get confused. According to the BBC, if parliament decides that we should not leave with no deal then the following day there will be a vote on extending article 50. If this is rejected then we will leave the EU on March 29th with no deal, which would completely overrule the vote on the previous day.
I am well aware that every thing being done by this government borders on the ridiculous but surely having a vote one day and then overturning that vote with one the next really does take the biscuit.
13 March 2019
My education was not a complete waste of time and money.
It is, according to our PM and many others, undemocratic to ask the people of the United Kingdom to look again at the decision they made in 2016 during the EU referendum. This is despite the fact that the information they were provided with, and the reality of leaving the EU, is nothing like that which was explained to us all in 2016.
Rather weirdly, some might say hypocritically, that same PM feels there is nothing wrong in presenting a deal to parliament, with minimal changes, for a third time. Many have said that the British public will lose trust in democracy if a second referendum is held. I beg to differ. We, the British public, have lost total faith in this government, its PM and the hypocrisy, deceit and stupidity that has been going on in the last few months.
I also seem to remember, back in my “A” levels days, that a motion which has been brought to parliament and rejected, or agreed, cannot be brought back in that session of parliament. Bringing it back twice would seem to be not only undemocratic but also unconstitutional. But who in government gives a shit. (looks like my memory may be amazingly good, as was my teacher for my British Constitution "A" level. see amendment (j) today)
14 March 2019
Tomorrow is Friday, I think.
If anybody knows what is going to happen next, apart from the fact that Friday will follow Thursday, please let me know. I think I read that the Speaker of the House, John Bercow, can actually decide if the same motion can come back to the House having been defeated. I'm sure if he decides no both Sir William Cash and Jacob Rees-Mogg, great quoters of Erskine May, the unofficial parliamentary rule book, will agree. Hahahaha.
15 March 2019
A sad world.
Once again a horrendous attack has shocked our world. This time it was in one of the most beautiful, peaceful countries. My thoughts, along with so many others, go out to the innocent people who have had their lives tragically cut short while going about their lawful business, while celebrating their chosen religion.
To me, it brings up three major points. Firstly, however hard we may try, however vigilant we may be, however much we may share information among the intelligence services of various countries, it is impossible to stop these events from happening. If an individual is so deranged that he or she chooses to kill many of his fellow human beings, it is very hard to stop it. Of course we can use every piece of modern technology to try to trace people we identify as being potential terrorists but in this case it appears the man in question, sorry the piece of shit in question, was not on any country's listing.
My second point I have made before and doubtless I will make it again. From what has been reported this turd put a so-called manifesto online before he committed his crimes and actually live-streamed the events as they happened. Apart from being so disgusting, it also shows, without any shadow of a doubt, he wanted publicity. He wanted his brief moment of fame.
And sadly the media have not only given him that, but they have also magnified it beyond belief and, on the assumption that there are probably some others out there somewhere with similar seriously flawed characteristics, the media have revealed so much that a copycat killer could be inspired to do the same thing. We cannot just look at this world through our own eyes, our own morals, our own behaviour. We need to look at it too through the eyes of those who do not share our view of decent behaviour.
I fully understand that a 24-hour news channel has to fill 24 hours but by giving blanket coverage to these events, the media do provide those who wish to boast of their evil deeds, the opportunity to do so. The killers don't need to be saying the words but the more we publicise their deeds, then to some, the more we glorify them.
My third point revolves around social media. As I said this guy uploaded a live stream of his crimes to Facebook. I read that Facebook, with some sort of pride, stated that as soon as the New Zealand police informed them of this live feed, they immediately took it down. The question is why was it allowed to go live in the first place. The fact that it did, proves, with absolutely no cause for doubt, that social media companies cannot control what is placed on their sites. Removing it after it has been uploaded is a failure. It was there and in allowing such material to be displayed, Facebook are guilty of a crime against human decency. They should be taken to court, tried and sentenced.
The fact that other users have been able to post this video elsewhere is yet further proof of how out of control social media is. The companies who run, and profit, from these sites are totally impotent about what can be posted on their platforms. They may, eventually, be able to remove all posts and links, although I doubt this, but by then it is all too late.
I see no reason to even comment on the people who did repost this filth but I do hope they too can be prosecuted and made to pay for their depraved behaviour.
18 March 2019
Told you so.
When I started writing these blogs, it was not only an exercise in relaying things that annoyed me, or made me grumpy, but also a way of showing how I, representing the older generation, looked at the world today. Some would argue that I am not a particularly good representative of that older generation and I might readily agree. Similarly those who thought I would go on and on about “it was never like that in my day” and constant complaints about the youth of today will have been disappointed. The majority of the youth of today are amazing, have to put up with far more than we did (social media being the prime example) and, in my eyes, only lack the experience of life that getting this old has given us.
However what I never expected was to be a leader in certain matters affecting my country. Last Wednesday, remembering my education during which I studied the British Constitution for two years, I said “that a motion which has been brought to parliament and rejected, or agreed, cannot be brought back in that session of parliament.”
Today, in the House of Commons, the Speaker, John Bercow, has repeated that exact position. Therefore, Mrs May cannot now bring back to the House that motion which was defeated last week. Many agree that the Speaker is quite right and has done nothing more than explain a position that has been set over many years, indeed hundreds of years, in Parliament. I imagine it was there to correctly make use of parliamentary time and not block things up with a government trying to get its own way by repeatedly presenting the same piece of legislation until it is finally approved.
The initial reaction of some members of the government, in particular the Solicitor General, shows how little this government cares about democracy. He suggested that a way round the Speaker's ruling would be to prorogue, or end, this session of Parliament, start a new one and then they could legitimately submit their motion.
However Parliament can only be prorogued by the monarch, Her Majesty the Queen. This would bring her into a political situation and would not only be highly controversial but also very dangerous from a precedent position.
Due to other work commitments, and the fact that another person is now depending on me, I had intended to curtail this blog, at least for a while, at the end of this month. Now I realise I am so far ahead of the world in my knowledge of government procedures in the UK, maybe I should continue.
19 March 2019
Mud, mud, glorious mud.
You may remember that the British government, after one particular meeting with the EU negotiators at which they had been told they were not being clear about what they wanted, explained that everything was completely clear.
Let me summarise that clarity. The UK is leaving the EU on 29 March 2019 or maybe not. The UK will ask the EU for a short extension or maybe a longer one. Theresa May's deal will never pass in Parliament, or possibly it could if Brexiteers fear a long extension. We will not leave without a deal unless we have to do so and haven't got a deal. Theresa May cannot bring her deal back to Parliament in the same format as when it was rejected last week or maybe she can if she adds a bit, takes a bit off or moves a comma, adds a few exclamation marks and a selfie. It is totally undemocratic to have a second vote unless that second vote is for MPs. The peasants are too stupid to understand why they should change their minds.
Once upon a time the acronym MUD stood for the different ways of learning; memorising, understanding and doing. Now mud is exactly how clear the UK position is on Brexit. I feel sorry for Barnier, Tusk and Juncker.
20 March 2019
The PM tells me she is a liar.
In any discussion or argument, it is the height of naïve stupidity to tell the other party what they mean, what they want. The British Prime Minister has just told me what I want and how I feel. She is totally wrong. Therefore, in my view, she bases everything she says on a false premise.
Furthermore, once again in a very childish way, she refuses to accept any blame for the ridiculous situation we are now in. She blames the House of Commons, the legislature. In a democracy the executive, the government, makes decisions while the legislature passes or does not pass the bills that the government propose. In a dictatorship, the executive either rules without a legislature or bullies a weak legislature into submission.
Dominic Grieve said today that he was ashamed to be a member of the Conservative party.
It is getting to the stage where many citizens of our country are ashamed of our politicians and certainly our government.
I, however, now have proof that our Prime Minister is a liar. She looked into the camera tonight, managed a few very false mannerisms, and told me that she was on my side. She is not. She never has been. I am disgusted to be lied to by the leader of my government.
She now treks off to Brussels to ask for little extension till the end of June. EU leaders, I hear, would prefer the end of May. So would I.
21 March 2019
Keep on grating, oh grate one.
Let's leave Brexit to others today and look elsewhere in our rather twisted world. On the basis that you must treat everyone equally, that great democrat, Donald Trump, announces that the Russian annexation of the Crimea is fine. He also demonstrates it is fine to ignore international law, the United Nations and general world opinion. Making America grate yet again.
22 March 2019
I understood Latin more than I understand Theresa May.
Here, at the home for the terminally bewildered, I have just one short statement to make.
On Wednesday Theresa May said she would be asking for an extension to the EU deadline until 30 June 2019. When she got one until May 22nd providing her deal was passed by Parliament, she said that would be sufficient time to tie up all the necessary legislation if her deal was indeed passed. My calculations, using an abacus and a few sticks, show this date to be just under 2 months from when, she thinks, her deal might pass next week. If she now admits that amount of time is necessary, she therefore knew from the end of January that we could not leave at the end of March. QED or quod erat demonstrandum to the higher educated amongst you..
Having made all that statement on Thursday night, having told the EU her plan, Plan A, is to work tirelessly to get her deal through, tonight she writes to all MPs saying that if she can see there is not enough support for her deal, and quite frankly a person with their head in a paper bag in a thick wood during a pea-souper fog and with their eyes closed could see this, she may not put it to the vote at all. I think she may be tiring too quickly.
Preparations are now being made at the home for a new admission with a new building under construction. QEF or quod erat faciendum to Euclid's most ardent followers.
25 March 2019
Metaphrase, a word to conjure with.
Have you ever been to a wedding reception, a leaving presentation or something similar and listened to someone make a speech. A someone who has no training in public speaking and who, on a sudden whim, decides to depart from his robotically delivered, pre-written speech. It's a bit cringe-worthy to be honest. Public speaking can be taught, as can many things, but to some people is is more natural.
Over the past months I have listened on many occasions to our Prime Minister and cringed not a little. She has very few skills in public speaking which are emphasised more by her inability, whether deliberate or inbuilt, to be able to answer a straight question put to her. Recently this has got worse as she tries to explain the unexplainable, defend the indefensible and show knowledge of the unknown.
Contrast this with tonight's speech in Parliament by Lisa Nandy, when the response from a minister on the front bench, I would have loved his name to be Richard because a Dick he surely is, made her depart from her notes and with passion and great oratory skills she made her point with total clarity.
My question tonight is who is advising Theresa May. There comes a time when even those closest to her must explain the truth. A prime number is a whole number greater than one whose only factors are one and itself. It seems a Prime Minister is a whole person equal to one who only believes factors that they and themselves agree with.
Wait, I've solved it all. Theresa May PM is an anagram of “my metaphrase” and “metaphrase” means to manipulate the wording of (a text), especially as a means of subtly altering the sense.
27 March 2019
God Bless the Prince of Wales.
Anna Soubry has just said in Parliament that “the public are watching this” as many Conservative MPs shout and moan like rowdy kindergarten children who have not yet learnt the importance of respect and manners. Indeed we are. Watching in horror I would add. Tomorrow I may know more and may add more. Tonight I will just leave you all in total despair. We have no government, no leadership and no respect. I feel we may have to return to an absolute monarchy and I am sure, after a suitable abdication, we could have thoughtful, respectful, intelligent, leadership.
28 March 2019
Indicative is 8 letters too long for the media to understand.
I think I can now safely say that newspapers and journalists, as they have not yet been replaced with artificial intelligence or any intelligence, are either very stupid or deliberately misleading their readers.
The headlines this morning, almost as one, implied that after Parliament had taken control of the Brexit process yesterday, nothing was achieved. Readers will have come away with the impression that MPs were as useless as the government although not perhaps as deluded. Here I refer to The Brexit Secretary saying after all the indicative votes were announced that this was proof that the PM's deal was the most popular option after two of the indicative votes had actually achieved more positive responses than her second go at her deal.
But to return to the media, if any are capable of reading this, I did in the last sentence use the word indicative twice. That's what last nights vote were about. They were taken to “indicate” which options MPs liked the most. There was no chaos. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no was not a problem. The votes, even if one alternative had gained a majority, were not binding. They were to there to see where a consensus might be. The BBC keeps saying all 8 options were rejected. They were not there to be rejected; the number of votes against was actually irrelevant. All that mattered was what members were in favour of and that we could see.
Now we learn that the government is to bring a vote to parliament tomorrow but, in total keeping with the way this government functions, they have no idea what it will be about. Very worryingly there is talk of a vote solely on the Withdrawal Agreement and not the Political Declaration that looks at the way ahead. Now to my little brain, one should firstly agree the way ahead and then agree the way you will leave. If there is no way ahead then you don't leave. Agreeing to leave with no idea of what will happen in the future, and bearing in mind the problem with the Irish back-stop which applies once we leave, seems the most ridiculous idea I have ever heard, although I'm sure the government will soon surpass this level of stupidity.
Also, Teresa May saying she will leave if her deal goes through must be the biggest turn-off for anyone who is not a Tory leadership hopeful that there could be. Vote to withdraw and then discover that Attila the Hun has been voted leader of the Conservative Party and you are in big trouble. Any wavering voter who wants to guarantee the result of the referendum but does not want to destroy our country, could not possibly vote for her deal now. They would have no idea in which way the future might be negotiated.
Oh, and in case you thought Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and the likes of Whippinggale, who have all explained that Mrs May's deal is terrible, bad for the country, toxic but, on hearing she will resign, have stated or hinted they could now vote for it, were honest politicians, I would beg to differ.
There are, however, two things I like about these politicians; their faces. They must, and do, think the general public are stupid. They vote for a deal they have decried solely to get rid of a leader they don't want and to allow them to push our future relationship with Europe the way they want. Despicable.
29 March 2019
Once a fairy tale, always a fairy tale.
March 29th 2019. After two years of incredibly tough negotiations and over 1000 days since that historic vote in which 17.4 mindless people who therefore couldn't change what they hadn't got, voted in a referendum, the United Kingdom has finally left the European Union after more than 40 years of membership. Our application to join the continent of North America and become the 51st state of the United States has been accepted and all is ready for a new chapter in the history of this septic isle. Our much beloved leader Theresa Trump (nee May, named changed by deed poll) and her faithful lieutenants (pronounced loo tenants), Dr Liam Trump and Stephen Trump have successfully negotiated over 40 trade deals to replace the 40 we were party to when in the EU. The final five and, indeed largest ones, with Tuvalu, Nauru, Palau, St Vincent and the Grenadines and the Pitcairn Islands were signed off today. The Pitcairn Island deal is particularly good as in future all Bounty bars will be packaged there along with a new line in sliced bread fruit. The ex-speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, has been cast adrift in an open coracle with just a copy of Blithe Spirit to keep in company.
The problem with the Northern Ireland border has been solved by the replacement of the backstop with a back comma, allowing goods to take a breath and then continue. Later all goods travelling from the south will be entering the United States of America and there will be no need for border checks following the building of a 11ft high wall, financed by the Pentagon. The Royal family will now become a monument to the olden days and no longer the titular head of the country as another tit has been found to replace them. Jacob Rees-Mogg-Saxe-Coburg-Hangover and all places west of Bethnal Green is now on the throne, designed by a descendant of Thomas Crapper; the throne not Jacob, he was never designed at all.
The EU has expressed its delight, and some natural milk to cry over, while the King of Spain is rumoured to be building a few hundred ships on which he will place some small armoured insects. The Spanish armadillos may be ready to sail next year. The decision to deride the Norway 2 option has caused some hurt over there and, as a result, nuclear submarines have been sent to Lindisfarne. The Venerable Benn is writing a history of it all.
Then the princess kissed the frog and realised it was all a dream. “Oh”, she said “how silly of me to think the UK would leave the EU on March 29th. I should have known it was just a fairy story”.
