How Is It Possible?

Banksy has confirmed that a huge new statue which mysteriously appeared in central London is his work.

Then arrest him. No, not for his tedious sixth form 'artwork' but for arranging its installation in the middle of the most surveilled capital city in the west, which is currently on high alert.

Commentators on Banksy's Instagram site speculated the work was about 'blind patriotism', and walking directly into danger. They also questioned how he had managed to pull off such a stunt in such a busy area of central London. It is located along Pall Mall, near the Athenaeum Club and the Crimean War Memorial.

Throw him in a cell at MI5 and sweat him until he gives up his collaborators. Or we are not serious about security in the capital.

It’s Not 'Jurassic Park', But I'll Take It...

Colossal Biosciences, the company trying to resurrect the woolly mammoth, has set its sights on another extinct animal – the bluebuck. This species of antelope thrived in Southern Africa until just 230 years ago, when it was hunted to extinction for its unique silvery slate–blue skin.

Yes, Reader, if the name rings a bell, it is indeed the same company that attempted to convince the world they had recreated an extinct dire wolf a while ago. But there’s better basis for belief this time: 

The company plans to modify the genes of the bluebuck's living relatives – the roan and sable antelopes – to make a hybrid that closely resembles the extinct species.

Two of the worlds most striking antelope species, and two personal favourites of mine, though sadly rarely seen in captivity in UK zoos, with the exception of Marwell, which has a small herd of roan, and had sable years ago, when I first visited.

Although Colossal Biosciences doesn't have a timeline for the species' return, it is working to find 'rewilding' sites in South Africa where the bluebuck could be released.

Those techniques will not only be useful for bringing back the bluebuck, but also in aiding conservation projects for antelopes currently on the brink of extinction.

And I for one wish them well in this latest endeavour. 

The Man Who Defines 'Anti-Nominative Determinism' Opines...

Yes, James, they do it EVERY BANK HOLIDAY.

The Conservative MP yesterday was seen walking in the field near the site and posted a video on Facebook to demand that action be taken. 'This is why we have got to take action to make sure that building work like this, taking place outside office hours, clearly seeking to game the system, that we are able to take decisive and quick action,' he said.

How many years did the 'Coneervatives' spend in power? And never once did anything about this. 

'Because the local community here knows that this is going to be disruptive to them, and anyone who has tried to get a builder to start work after hours on a Friday on a bank holiday weekend will know that there's something not right about this.'

No, there isn't, but it's as regular as the first bluebell of spring. 

It came just hours after Mr Cleverly suggested there was 'two-tier justice' when it came to applying rules and laws to travellers.

There is. Undoubtedly 

There had been criticism ahead of the weekend that the district council took no preemptive measures, such as placing what is known as an Article 4 Direction, which bans any usually permitted development such as putting up fences, on the land, after it heard of the plan to concrete the field. Others said it could have tried to obtain an emergency injunction banning any development, so if work started it would be a criminal offence.

And what would the police have done? Nothing. The need to gear up like a military force to raid these encampments, and they are too terrified of the accusations of 'racism' to act. 

An insider, who has assisted the traveller community in winning retrospective planning permission, said the recent wave of development was in part caused by some travellers renting out part or all of their sites to migrants and homeless people, a phenomenon recently reported on by the Daily Mail.

Nice try, but painting them as philanthropists isn't going to work. We all know what they are. Even the failed MPs who are trying to pretend they don't,

It’s Not Housing So Much As Who You’re Putting In That Housing

 

Over the week to come, journalists will repeat three things until they, and you, are sick: that local elections fall next Thursday; that the results will decide the fate of Keir Starmer; and that he is set to do badly. But just how badly, and where? Last week, Starmer’s own party dropped a big clue. The most popular politician in Britain came down from Manchester to spend the whole day campaigning in London.

In case you wondered, Reader, they were talking about Andy Burnham. 

As Andy Burnham went from Haringey to Brixton, he rallied Labour’s footsoldiers. “Don’t go into the last two weeks with your shoulders down,” he told them. “Get your shoulders up.” “Ah,” wrote lobby reporters, “now the King of the North is making incursions down south, such is his ambition.” But his visit is more telling than that, and more profound in its implications.

Oh? Do tell! 

...consider Burnham’s itinerary. Lambeth, Haringey, Southwark: these rank among the reddest patches of the UK’s entire electoral map. The country’s last bastion of Labour support, London, is starting to collapse.

I wonder why? I look at the demographics of those area and they aren't falling to Reform any time soon. But the Islam Green Party is in with a chance.

Even as they knock on doors and post leaflets ahead of next Thursday, Labour people have already written off whole swathes of the country. They know they’ll get smashed in Scotland and Wales, where in the assembly elections the governing party will be battling simply not to lose too badly. But London is a different story; even in the wipeout of 2019 it remained deep red.

The Greens look set to bloody Labour Southwark and Lambeth: the training ground of Morgan McSweeney, Steve Reed, Ali McGovern and much of the rest of the faction that runs the Westminster party.

Depends how many of them are in the cells ahead of May 7, doesn't it?  

There is one more bruise the Greens in London keep punching, especially intriguing because it is about policy. Front and centre of their campaign is the need for a fair housing system.

And who for?  That's more the point.

That Tune's Familiar: Parody Songs

As an older woman, this one hits hard! 

A Laughing Stock...

 

...but some deluded fools will still vote for him, Matt! 

Sunday Funnies...

 Surely someone can come up with a app that simulates no 8?

Yes, You Have Been...

...like so many others who have lost loved ones in similar circumstances. And you won't be the last, either.

Relatives of a ‘respected’ dog walker kicked to death by a paranoid schizophrenic today said they had been ‘let down’ by the authorities who allowed his killer to live in the community.

Hard to disagree, 

Gary Carlisle, 62, was attacked at random by mentally ill stranger Jacob Hill, 32, near his home in Preston, Lancashire, early on March 12 last year. CCTV footage showed Hill behaving erratically before approaching Mr Carlisle with his arms outstretched just after 6am.A ‘plainly frightened’ Mr Carlisle, who was walking his dog, named Molly, backed off and ran away. But he was chased by Hill who jumped on his back and dragged him to the floor, Preston Crown Court heard.

Several shocked commuters witnessed the incident, including a female bus passenger who confronted Hill and shouted: ‘What are you doing? Stop.’ In response, Hill headbutted the woman in the face, before police and paramedics arrived on the scene.

Officers twice discharged a taser to incapacitate Hill, who was arrested shortly afterwards.

I'm tempted to suggest they need ones with more voltage. Or to deal with mental cases far more permanently.

In a victim impact statement, read to the court, Mr Carlisle’s sister, Jackie Watters, said their family had been 'let down' by authorities who allowed Hill to live in the community with 'normal people' like her brother. 

‘He has been snatched away from me,’ she said. ‘It feels so unfair. I can never forget those hours sat in the intensive care unit looking at him, stroking him… a man with a swollen head displaying every line, crease and bruise. 

‘The staff said they were the worst ever injuries seen in the ICU.’

 Yes, you have undoubtedly been let down - by people who will never face any consequences for it.

His daughter, Simone Hartley, added: ‘He (Hill) was known to mental health when he did this. ‘Our lives have been toppled upside down but he is okay and is being treated in hospital. 

‘Things need to be different. I do feel we have been let down. Changes need to be made so it doesn’t happen to someone else.’

But they won't be. 

£200000, When These Are 10 a Penny In London?

The crossing features a chicane intended to slow users, but it did not cause them to naturally turn towards the direction of approaching eastbound trams, such as the one which hit Mr Abakah. His father, Frederick Woode, said his 'one wish is that lessons are learned from this' (Reader, He doesn't mean by teenagers on illegal e-scooters, of course..) and 'changes are made before anyone else loses their life'. 

He went on: 'I know nothing can bring Reuben back, but I believe the tram should not have been travelling as fast as it was. 'The crossing should also be altered so that pedestrians like Reuben do not have their backs to approaching vehicles.'

But he wasn't a 'pedestrian', was he? He was a hooded youth riding an e-scooter...

The family's lawyer, Ben Posford of Osbornes Law, said it 'shouldn't have mattered' that Mr Abakah 'didn't look properly'. He told the Press Association: 'That's not how health and safety works, and hasn't done for a very long time. 

'He didn't look until the last minute and he made an error there. From time to time, people are going to make an error. 

And those times double when they are youths already indulging in illegal and reckless actions, like riding e-scooters across level crossings. 

'You have to have health and safety measures in place that account for human error, that account for zoning out.'

And you have to have deep pockets to attract slimy ambulance chasing lawyers, so it's just as well for you he wasn't run over by some ordinary Joe in a Ford Escort, eh? 

His family are seeking damages in excess of £200,000 from Tram Operations Limited (TOL) - a subsidiary of transport giant FirstGroup - which runs London Trams for Transport for London (TfL).

Bingo!  Gimmie dat compo! What is that based on, anyway? Not his worth, or his future earnings...

A Masterclass In Dirty Politics...

The investigation into reports of a rape outside a church in Epsom that led to widespread public disorder will close as police are “confident there was no offence”.

If you thought the main story about dirty politics and public image was around Mandelson last week, think again:  

In an update on Thursday, the force said after a “thorough investigation” it became clear the woman in her 20s suffered an accidental head injury after a night out, leading her to make a confused report.

Perfect excuse not to have to charge her and so draw even more ire from the #IBelieveHer mob!  

Those actions were condemned as “shameful” by Surrey police and crime commissioner Lisa Townsend. “The mindless scenes we witnessed last night where our police officers were targeted with missiles were nothing short of shameful,” she said on Tuesday. She added some of those involved in the unrest had travelled from elsewhere to cause trouble, and warned them to stay away. “I am a firm believer in people’s right to lawful protest, but sadly, some of those present in Epsom yesterday stepped way beyond that line and the type of behaviour we witnessed will not be tolerated,” she said.

I thought the UK police couln't beclown themselves any more - Reader, I was wrong!