Ah, Back To Good Old British Bank Holiday Weather...

 

...and like Matt, I'm glad to see it! 

Sunday Funnies....

 Places to avoid on Tripadvisor

Priorities...

A mob of youths torched several cars and set off fireworks at a balloon release for one of the A66 crash gang last night. 

At least five cars were set ablaze in a horse field near Haswell, County Durham, with the startled animals looking on from the far side.The site was around 15 miles from Middlesbrough, where a wave of violence believed to be linked to the crash and local organised crime has forced police to draft in hundreds of reinforcements. 

The Daily Mail understands that the County Durham and Darlington Fire Service responded to the incident.

But not the police? Why did they not arrests these youth, who have kiiled two police officers with their antics? Surely they'd be given the support of the highest office in the land to do so.... 

Oh.

                                    

Andy Burnham labels cowboy builders 'crooks' who 'destroy lives' and vows to put them out of business.'They're crooks - and it's about time we treated them like it. So, today, we're putting the cowboys out of business.'

Maybe not, since our already-failing PM seems to think this should be a priority instead.

Hurrah, The Last Truly Useful British Police Officer Will Be On Duty!

...PC Rain, of course!

Notting Hill Carnival is almost here, with the streets of W10 just days away from being transformed for Europe’s largest street festival. However, forecasters are warning of a spate of rain showers that could dampen the festivities. BBC Weather is forecasting thundery showers from Friday, August 28, with rain expected in Notting Hill from 9am on Saturday.

Never has a threat of bad weather on a British bank holiday been so welcome! 

Temperatures will hover around 20C - significantly cooler than the blistering temperatures of this summer so far - with thunderstorms forecast between 5pm and 6pm. The thundery showers are set to return when festivities ramp up on Sunday, with heavy rain and lightning forecast between 1pm and 5pm, and again between 7pm and 8pm.

Will it be enough to prevent the usual effects of this wretched event? We shall have hope so, since the weather doesn't answer to Sir Mark Rowley and won't therefore treat these people as untouchables.

'...And Then To Solve The Chicken Loss Issue, Mr Reynard Will Guard The Henhouse!'

So while new and deeply disturbing revelations of widespread and illicit ‘family voting’ in Birmingham during May’s local elections will leave many Britons appalled, they come as no shock to me. As revealed by the Daily Mail in a damning report yesterday, at recent elections Birmingham City Council staff witnessed attempts to get round the secret ballot at no fewer than 50 of its polling stations.

Beleaguered electoral officers had to repeatedly tell voters it was against the law to enter a booth with a relative and tell them how to vote. Others witnessed one man trying to influence voting through ‘Islamic gestures, blinking eyes, hand signals’, and another clutching ‘all the poll cards’ for his family and ‘advising’ each on how to vote.

Well, then why were these people not simply ejected from the polling station and refused a vote? 

But, as I said at the time, what is going on is nothing less than an assault on, not just our democracy, but Britain itself. We are facing a major problem in this country, one which threatens to strike at the heart of everything we hold dear. It’s time to wake up and act. And I’m not alone in issuing this urgent clarion call. The official – and independent – election observer group Democracy Volunteers said it witnessed 291 potential breaches of the secret ballot across the UK at the May elections.

And what action was taken? 

In February, Greater Manchester Police took no action after saying it found ‘no evidence’ of the law being broken.

They didn't find any, or they didn't look at what was found? 

You can bet that if this is happening in Manchester and Birmingham then it will also be going on in Bradford, in Oldham, in Blackburn and in London, entire cities where elections are being rigged along sectarian lines.

But it seems that not only is the blatent disregard for voting law countrywide, so too is the police disinterest, at least until the pressure grows too strong to ignore... 

We are never going to save Britain if we don’t first safeguard our precious democracy. To do that, I believe the Government urgently needs to take three steps. The first is to dramatically restrict postal voting.

It should never have been expanded further than the slim qualifications that once applid. 

Secondly, we need to bring about an end to Commonwealth voting rights. Around 1.7million people from countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica and India – who, despite the fact that they are not even British citizens, have the right to vote at British elections – have, according to the Office for National Statistics, registered to do so. It is a practice which most right-minded people would regard as absurd.

Agreed, but you're up against the establishment that sees value in granting foreigners all the leeway they can, for purely virtuesignalling reasons... 

Finally, we need to take steps to ensure that what I and others witnessed in Gorton and Denton, and what has now been uncovered in Birmingham, cannot happen in the future. It saddens me to say this but if, as a democracy, that means we have to have police in every polling station standing alongside independent observers then so be it.

What use is having them there, if they are not interested in invesigating because they are as captured as the establishment?? 

Not A Very Swedish Name?

Liam Nebel, 18, was charged on Sunday afternoon after an 'attacker with a sword' stormed Brinell School in Fagersta on Friday, just days after classes had started.

 On Friday, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson described the attack as a 'serious incident,' and said 'we do not know what lies behind the act, but we know that police are working very intensively'.

It’s not love and goodwill, is it? 

'The investigators are looking into various online communities which might have egged on the suspect to carry out the attack,' a police source told Reuters.

Hmm… 

It took 10 minutes for police to arrive at the school after the alarm was raised. Police rushed into the school and shot at the attacker but did not hit him but managed to stop and detain him.

Time Sven and Bjorn went back for more range practice!

It's Not Even November Yet...

..and the Poppy Wars have started:

A spokesman from Swale Borough Council said: "Our licencing team has been allowing the use of the oppy and the Royal British Legion sticker on iCars’ taxis. 

"However, following a complaint, we checked the use against our policy, and it is not permitted under our Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy 

"The policy was most recently updated and agreed in 2025 by our Licensing Committee and Policy and Resources Committee, following a public consultation which included feedback from the taxi industry.  

“The issue is not about the poppy or the Royal British Legion, which the council supports, but the fact that we received a complaint that the vehicle was not complying with our policy.

The decision sparked so much fury that the council acknowleded the 'oops' moment and is trying to row back now that the possibility of telling the single complainant to fuck off has passed by... 

“We are aware that iCars has removed the sticker and poppy and we are scheduling a Licensing Sub-Committee meeting to discuss iCars’ request for an exemption from policy. 

“The next Licensing Committee meeting will look at the policy to make sure that there is clarity on this issue."

It should be pretty easy to allow an exemption for this sole issue without allowing all and sundry to customise their taxis, shouldn't it? 

Just Euthanise The Dangerous Bitch...

 ...and put the owner in jail. Or vice versa, I'm sure the NHS will assist...

A dog owner will appear in court next week after her Staffie attacked a number of dogs at Withy Grove Park in Bamber Bridge. Kimberley Bond, 51, of Grove Street, Bamber Bridge, was arrested in July and charged with being in charge of ‘a dog dangerously out of control’.

And of course, instead of ending the wothless mutt then and there, it was seized alive to soak up taxpayer cash until the trial, as if it were a vital piece of evidence.... 

The silver female Staffie was seized by Lancashire Police and remains in kennels pending the outcome of its owner’s court case.

And as usual in these cases, the owner had been given a chance to retain her mauler, and didn't: 

The 51-year-old is further charged with failing to comply with a community protection notice in relation to the dog. 

Prior to her arrest, Bond was told she must comply with a number of conditions, including ensuring that her back garden was secure, that the dog was only walked by an adult and that it remained on a 1m lead at all times, whilst wearing a Baskerville muzzle. But according to local reports, the dog continued to escape and menace other dogs in Withy Grove Park - the largest green space in Bamber Bridge and a popular children’s play area.

And so it goes on and on... 

An HGV Will Be Along One Day To Pass Sentence...

I plead guilty.

 Oh good...

I have loved and used the streets of London all my life, as a cyclist, driver and pedestrian. Touch wood, I have done so without accident, blemish or insurance claim. Yet now I find myself perpetually on the wrong side of the law. Regulation has become bureaucratic and chaotic.

That's not unusual for a cyclist, is it? But they usually aren't so remorseful and just why do you feel you cannot obey the laws around driving? 

When I try to drive at the authorised speed of 20mph on many through roads, I am hooted at and overtaken by vans, cars, coaches and buses. And when I sit dutifully on my bike at a traffic light, I am jostled by swarms of cyclists riding through on red, furious at being treated as if they were car drivers.

So? As my mum was wont to say 'If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it?' In fact, I bet it's something everyone's mum said, except apparently Simon's.

As for pedestrians, walking on many pavements is like taking a ride on the dodgems. Riders of ebikes and e-scooters ignore bans and expect everyone to move out of the way.

Bans which aren't enfoced might as well not exist, we all know this... 

I normally approve of anarchy. There is too much regulation everywhere. The great Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman boldly advocated “shared space” in cities. He wanted kerbs, road markings and traffic signals minimised and replaced by “human discipline”. All road users should navigate urban space by watching out for each other all the time.

In a cohesive and monocultural society such a thing is possible, but we no longer have one of those, do we? 

As a lifelong cyclist I admit to finding a certain exhilaration in riding a bike. I avoid main thoroughfares but like snaking through streets crammed with traffic, finding shortcuts through alleys and mews. But the essence of cycling is to keep moving. Hence I have to admit to sometimes doing what many London cyclists do at red lights. That is, look carefully, follow Monderman and “share” any unoccupied road space ahead by riding on.

And one day, you'll come a cropper. What a loss to journalism that will be! 

Ebikes now come in all shapes and speeds. It is astonishing that the sleek Freesky Alaska, with its 250W engine, can be treated as if it was just another manual pedal bike. To my mind, it is blatantly a motorbike. When a delivery driver on one careers past me in Hyde Park, I wonder if I took a wrong turning. These machines must be put on the roadway where they belong.

Since we can't uninvent them, I suppose that's the next best thing. 

Now, Now, You Know That's Not The Purpose Of These Investigations...

This month, the university announced it would open a fresh investigation after it said it received “new information” about Arday’s qualifications and career.Other elements of Arday’s life story were increasingly questioned, including claims of prodigious money-raising for charity and feats of long-distance running. He was also challenged about whether he was nonverbal until the age of 11, as well as being illiterate until 18. It is understood Cambridge has paused the investigation while Arday’s family are grieving, and will consider whether to reopen it in due course.

Is there much point now?  

Prof Simon Baron-Cohen, Arday’s friend and former colleague, told Times Radio he thought the university should proceed with the investigation. “We should see what we learn from it. This is the whole purpose of investigations,” he said.

Oh Simon, how naive! The purpose of them is to exonerate the people who made the errors in the first place.  The people who employed and lauded this liar and fantascist and published his every utterance when a moment's reflection should have had them scratching their head at the implausibility of it.

Andy Burnham, the prime minister, described Arday’s death as a “tragedy on so many levels” and urged a “moment of reflection”.

Yes, that's needed, a moment to reflect on the cancer of identity politics and the ruin they have made of all aspects of life, but particularly further education and the arts. But I doubt that's what he meant.

The vigil was organised by Arday's postdoctoral students and was held on Sunday afternoon. Kahn added: "Hold your friends close and know that we stand strong because we stand together. "Now, there is a time for anger, of justifiable anger, and that time will come - but today is not that day. "Today is about celebrating the life of a brilliant man, Professor Jason Arday. "Today we share the ways Jason made a difference in our lives and in the lives of those around us."

It seems it would suit some people to declare this man Britain's George Floyd, for racial reasons. 

She said there would be a "promise to seek justice" for him. Another student told the crowd: "Racism did this."

Is there no one who will stand up to the racial grievance industry that's being incubated in our halls of learning?