Once Again, The Scottish Government Is Preferable To Westminster's Lack Of Foresight...

Swift bricks will be installed in all new buildings in Scotland after the Scottish parliament voted in favour of a law to help endangered cavity-nesting birds.The Scottish government and MSPs across the parties backed an amendment by Scottish Green Mark Ruskell to make swift bricks mandatory for all new dwellings “where reasonably practical and appropriate”.

Fot once, a sensible and unobtrusive policy from the Greens, one that will benefit the environment with little to no drawbacks. Why can't we have it here? 

Because, Reader, our government is once again proven utterly useless:  

The swift move contrasts with the four-year battle to bring the hollow £35 bricks into law in England. The Labour government last year rejected an amendment to make the bricks mandatory for new buildings, instead introducing them into planning guidance, meaning there is no legal obligation on developers or planning authorities to provide them.

And Wales too, another Labour stronghold, followed suit. 

The Welsh government rejected swift bricks last year, arguing that developers could use the bricks to argue they were meeting “net benefit for biodiversity” requirements without providing other nature-positive measures.

So rather than applaud the nature-positive thing they were doing, the dog-in-a-manger morons in Wales chose to focus on the things they weren't doing? Sounds about right.

In Gibraltar, an important point on the swifts’ seasonal flyway between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, swift bricks have helped populations recover. Prof John Cortes, the environment minister of Gibraltar, said: “Scotland’s decision on swift bricks is a significant step in ensuring the survival of this species, which has come to depend so much on us. On the ‘Rock’ we have had this policy for several decades and we have seen a declining population of swifts first stabilise and then increase.”

Shortsightedness from Westminster is clearly to be expected.  

We Found A Real One!

A 'talented footballer', that is...

'One of his main passions was football, and he had played since the age of four. He was an Arsenal supporter, and we believe he was on his way home to watch the game later that night when he was stabbed and killed.

So typically 2026. As was the unnecessary coyness from the authorities about the reason for the overwhelming police presence and road closures.

And of course, while the MSM was still in bed, Twitter was making the predictions and getting them right:

A post-mortem examination showed that Oladipo died from a stab wound to his chest. Harper Dennis, 18, of North Road, West Drayton, London, has been charged with Oladipo's murder and with the possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, Leicestershire Police confirmed.

Let's hope he didn't source his weapon from the university canteen. 

Always On Point And Topical...

 ...that's Matt! 

 

Sunday Funnies...

 It's a tactic that works, so of course they over-use it. 

How Is It A ‘Superpower’ If It needs This Level Of Encouragement?

Stormzy called reading a “superpower” as he backed an initiative aimed at encouraging people who don’t see themselves as readers to pick up a book.

What sort of people ‘don’t see themselves as readers?’ you might ask, Reader? Is it once again the demographic that dare not speak its name? 

“Reading helped me when I was young and it still does today,” said Stormzy. “Books have the power to carry you through life.” 

Not as much as being a DEI media darling who can do no wrong in the eyes of the MSM…

“I encourage anyone who doesn’t usually read to pick up a Quick Read – because reading really is a superpower,” he added. “Music and books are both about finding your voice. We are all made of stories – they define who we are.”

If it really was a ‘superpower’ would you have to plug it so hard, or water it down to suit the audience you are aiming at, though? 

“Having never read a book until the age of 24, I wish I had come across Quick Reads sooner,” said Owusu. “They’re accessible, affordable and gentle in their approach, allowing new or lapsed readers to find their way into the pleasure and fulfilment of reading fiction and nonfiction. “I’m excited to be part of their legacy and to add my voice to something that helps people feel confident enough to pick up a book and look forward to spending time with it,” he added.

So what sort of literary masterpieces are you creating? 

Owusu is also the author of That Reminds Me, Losing the Plot, Borderline Fiction and the editor of Safe: 20 Ways to be a Black Man in Britain Today.

 Gosh, I’ll leave you to it…

Expecting People To Exercise A Little Self-Control In 2026 - Is That Futile?

'I have a thing with the broadcast,' she said in her press conference shortly after the loss. 'I feel like certain moments - the same thing happened to Aryna (Sabalenka) after I played her in the final of the US Open - they don't need to be broadcast.

 Well, don't do them then. Is that so hard? 

'I tried to go somewhere where I thought there wasn't a camera, because I don't like breaking rackets. I broke one racket at the French Open and I said I would never do it again on court, because I don't feel like that's a good representation. 

Well, you’re right, it isn’t. This isn’t the 70s anymore, we got over the John McEnroe era, and decided to push good sportsmanship instead. 

'I went somewhere where I thought they wouldn't broadcast it, but obviously they did. Maybe some conversations can be had, because I feel like at this tournament the only private place we have is the locker room.'

 So you're fully aware of how it looks, yet you can't possibly control yourself?

She was then asked about the benefits of letting her frustrations out on the racket, revealing it calmed down her emotions ahead of speaking to her team. 

'Yeah, definitely,' she said. 'I think for me, I know myself. I don’t want to lash out on my team. They’re good people. They don’t deserve that. I know I’m emotional. 

'I just took the minute to go and do that. I don’t think it’s a bad thing.'

Well, if you don't want people to see you do it, you clearly realise that it is.  Are you a moron?

She is world No 3 and despite her young age, has spoken confidently and passionately about various cultural and political controversies, always handling them delicately and professionally. Therefore, it came as a shock to see her red mist descend after the quarterfinal loss, which saw her dumped out at the hands of the 12th seed Svitolina.

Did it really? 

Unforseen Consequences

A horror about mythical Welsh fairies had filming relocated to north Yorkshire after crew found out about strict non-smoking rules on sets in Wales.

Does it matter these days, when so much film scenery doesn't exist outside of a hard disc anyway? 

The ban made it impossible to make key scenes look authentic, according to Rabbit Trap, external director Bryn Chainey, as the main characters Darcy and Daphne Davenport - played by Dev Patel and Rosy McEwen - are chain smokers.

It's a film, an original script - if the filming in Wales was felt to be so necessary, just write them differently to please the prodnoses, surely?  

In England, there is an exemption if someone is required to smoke as part of a role, according to the British Film Commission, external.

Relaxing the rules around film sets in Wales was discussed in detail more than a decade ago in the Senedd, with the BBC warning it could move filming of prestigious dramas over the border, but proposals were dropped after opposition from campaign groups.

Well, that's about the level of decision making we've come to expect from the Labour fiefdom in Wales, after all. 

While the Rabbit Trap team had encountered other issues around filming in the country, the director called the smoking ban "the nail in the coffin" for its original plans in Wales.

"It gives the audience a visual hint at the anxiety they're not talking about."

You're hiring these people to act, surely they can convey that some other way? 

"The only workaround would have been using CGI (computer-generated imagery) to make the cigarettes appear to burn and produce smoke," Chainey said. "That would have looked fake and was out of our budget."

As he is half-Welsh, the project was inspired by Chainey's desire to connect with his roots, with the film set entirely in a remote cottage. Welsh actor Jade Croot, from Merthyr Tydfil, whose character is bilingual, was cast in a main role. The production team then spent months searching Wales for the ideal location for filming.

And flouncing off to Yorkshire when he came up against the nonsense that has overtaken the land of his roots, rather than change his script. 

The Usual Contrast...

The killer:

The benefit claimant, whose only child is in foster care, has amassed a record of criminal offending for repeated shoplifting, theft, drugs and assault in both Scotland and England but has never previously served a jail sentence, the court heard.

The victim:

ex-Royal Marine Alun Harris-Richards...who had an undiagnosed heart disease, 'suffered such physical and emotional stress that he then and there sustained a heart attack, fell to the ground, struck his head and died'.

The punishment...perhaps

A judge told Smith, formerly of North Grimsby, Arbroath, that the only possible punishment for her offending was 'a significant custodial sentence'. The hearing was adjourned for sentencing at a later date and Smith was remanded in prison.

Adjourned so reports can be written, no doubt, reports that will outline how leniency is expected for the killer. They certainly won’t mention the gulf between the victim with his decent life and worthwhile job and the worthless waste of skin who killed him, will they? 

OK, Kenneth, Let's Expand This, Shall We?

Trump didn’t pull the triggers that killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti, but he bears political responsibility for having greenlighted the agents’ regularly lawless conduct.

Say I accept your reading of the current sitauation, Kenneth. Who, then, is responsible for the killings of Iryna Zarutska, Ashli Babbitt, Laken Riley, Decara Thompson, Lizbeth Medina? 

Could it be the politicians who let their killers into the country or who argued that their killers shouldn't be judged too harshly because of years of 'racism'?

Or could it be, Kenneth, that you don’t think about Iryna Zarutska, Ashli Babbitt, Laken Riley, Decara Thompson and  Lizbeth Medina at all? Are they not even worth remembering to you, simply offerings to your god of Diversity?

What's Another Barmy Idea From The World Of Education, After All?

Pupils should not automatically be sent home if they are suspended from school in England and could instead remain on site, the government has said. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said being sent home could mean children "retreating to social media". She said on-site suspensions should be used for pupils who had not been violent.

Starmer is getting pretty deseperate to avoid pupils reading that he's a wanker on Twitter and Snapchat I guess. Everyone already knows, Kwier... 

And why is there such a desperate need to suspend pupils anyway?

The number and rate of suspensions had been increasing before Covid, but the rise has accelerated ever since.

Ah, Covid panic - the gift that really does go on giving.