Cover Me! 'She'

The immediately recognisable vocals of Elvis Costello breathing new life into this Gallic classic by Charles Aznavour.

It’s Never Been About ‘Representation’…

...it's been about rubbing everyone's nose in it.

Criticisms that Doctor Who has become too “woke” prove the series is doing the right thing by being inclusive, its new star Varada Sethu has said. Sethu plays the Doctor’s latest travelling companion, Belinda Chandra, in new episodes airing this month. With Ncuti Gatwa returning as the Doctor, the pairing marks the first time a Tardis team will comprise solely people of colour.

And as Tim points out, this is something people not having to face market pressures can say with impunity. Those facing commercial pressures learn the hard way.  

Speaking about the milestone, Sethu told the Radio Times: “Ncuti was like, ‘Look at us. We get to be in the Tardis. We’re going to piss off so many people.’”

“Woke just means inclusive, progressive and that you care about people. And, as far as I know, the core of Doctor Who is kindness, love and doing the right thing.”

And nothing says 'kindness' more than gloating that your presence will upset and annoy people you don't like, I'm sure we can all agree. 

But this is a trend in entertainment now - it's no longer sufficient to make a classic, beloved book or story if you aren't also using it to stick your thumb in the eye of the people you despise. 

I suppose we should be greatful for small mercies, and that the sex of Lewis's main character is the only thing they are changing...

Meet the new Aslan! 

 

If It Took You A Decade To Realise What Was Going On…

...then your general intelligence level should be of more concern than your sexuality.

Ben says his ordeal started in his early 20s, after he was invited to attend Bible studies with an elder from his church. These started off as innocuous religious seminars, but Ben says things quickly changed and the elder started exerting control over what clothes he wore and how he styled his hair - encouraging him to wear what was seen as traditional masculine styles. He says he stopped the sessions after the elder started forcing him to make himself sick by tasting a bitter liquid whenever he had sexual thoughts or urges about other men. Ben told BBC News it took more than a decade to realise he'd been subjected to conversion practices, despite living with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as he struggled to confront what had happened to him.

This is a result of a Stonewall survey aiming to throw light on conversion tactics. Because, of course,  you-know-who are kicking up a fuss about them:

Both surveys suggested that trans and non-binary respondents were more likely to say they had experienced some form of conversion therapy. Results from Stonewall's research suggest that 38% of trans and non-binary respondents had experienced physical assault in an attempt to alter their gender identity.

Makes a nice change from them receiving fawning acceptance and encouragement from the medical and psychological professions... 

In February, the then-women and equalities minister, Anneliese Dodds, told the Women and Equalities Committee that draft legislation outlawing conversion practices would be brought forward before the end of the parliamentary session this summer. Some campaigners and politicians have shared concerns that a ban could criminalise parents, therapists or teachers for questioning a young person's gender identity.

Does anyone ever do that these days? Certainly doesn't appear they are allowed to already!  

The Piper Always Has To Be Paid Eventually…

The staggering cost of England’s special educational needs and disability (Send) crisis shows no sign of easing. A Guardian investigation has revealed councils will overspend on Send services by nearly £2bn over the next year, pushing their accumulated deficits to at least £5.2bn by 31 March 2026. The date is crucial because that is when the £5.2bn debt, hidden away off local authority books using an accounting fix for seven years, is due to come back on to the balance sheets, threatening to instantly bankrupt scores of town halls.

They've had seven years of knowing this axe was going to fall, and what have they done, except spend like drunken sailors on DEI nonsense and pandering to every crazy activist in the area? 

The government faces a massive headache: not just what to do about the rapidly increasing billions of historic Send debt, but how to keep a lid on future Send spending, which shows no sign of abating.

And is anyone asking why this is? Why are a growing number of children requiring SEND assistance? Wouldn't that be a sensible thing to do?  

City of York council, the only authority surveyed by the Guardian that is projecting its accumulated Send budget deficit to move into surplus next year, was sceptical about keeping its head above water in future. “Unless the system is changed, we will go back into deficit quite quickly,” said Bob Webb, York council’s executive member for children, young people and education.

Bob doesn't seem too surprised or even concerned at anything about this, except the bottom line for his funding. He's not the only one. 

Mike Cox, the deputy leader of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council, whose forecast deficit will hit £168m by 31 March 2026, up £60m in a year, predicts: “[Government] is going to keep kicking the can down the road. The only thing that will change is that the can will get bigger and harder to kick.”

Maybe you should be shouting about where the can came from in the first place instead? 

The Weather Might Be, But The Population Is Starting To Resemble Them More

Although we are trying to replicate Uganda and Kenya we are actually in Cheshire so the weather is slightly different,” admits Chester zoo boss, Jamie Christon, on a fresh and very grey Monday morning.

This is what they were building when I visited Chester for a long weekend last year. It's a breathtaking undertaking, huge in scope, and the zoo itself was already massive. Also absolutely the best zoo in the UK. 

But ignore the chilliness and screw your eyes and you could well be transported to a sweeping African savannah where, one day, there will be giraffes, zebras, antelopes and ostriches roaming majestically side by side. Christon is speaking at the launch of the UK’s biggest ever such zoo development – a £28m facility called Heart of Africa. It covers just over 9 hectares (22.5 acres) and is home to 57 African species including vultures, rhinos, a colony of naked mole rats and 15,000 locusts.

Chester was a lovely town, but already beginning to show signs that the diversity is heading its way... 

Defence Barristers Don't Have Qualifications In Psychiatry Now Do They?

He suggested the only logical conclusion jurors should draw was that “something has gone seriously wrong in his mind”.

Surely the normal way of trying to get your immigrant sex pest off on insanity is to get an actual qualified expert to testify that he's nuts? Well, whatever, it certainly worked: 

Jurors found Frexit innocent of all charges by reason of insanity.

Perhaps someone should be looking to see how sane they are?

However he remains in custody until a hearing next month, when the judge must decide whether to impose a hospital order, a supervision order or an absolute discharge.

How about a one-way ticket back to Romania? 

H/T: IanJ via email

I’m Shocked, Shocked..!

And I know you will be too, Reader:

Recruitment agents who scam foreign nationals applying to work in the UK care sector have been exposed by BBC secret filming. One of the rogue agents is a Nigerian doctor who has worked for the NHS in the field of psychiatry.

At least the BBC are doing something worthwhile with the licence fee, you may think. But of course, as I read on, it becomes apparents that they are doing it not to sympathise with the ripped off Brits, but the Third Worlders cruelly deprived of a ticket to the UK gravy train. 

Reports of immigration scams have increased since a government visa scheme - originally designed to let foreign medical professionals work in the UK - was broadened in 2022 to include care workers.

Because no-one wants to work for the low wages the care companies pay, of course. 

The BBC began investigating him following a series of online complaints about his relocation services.

Complaints from people with relatives in care homes? No. Don't be silly.  

Praise - from south-east Nigeria and in his mid 30s - was one of those who complained, claiming he paid Dr Alaneme more than £10,000 ($13,000) for a job in the UK. He says he was told he was going to be working with a care company called Efficiency for Care, based in Clacton-on-Sea. It was only when he arrived that he realised the job didn't exist.

"If I had known there was no job, I would have not come here," he says. "At least back home in Nigeria, if you go broke, I can find my sister or my parents and go and eat free food. It's not the same here. You will go hungry."

Or you'll shoplift from Greggs, which seems far more likely.  

Efficiency for Care's sponsorship licence was revoked in July 2023. The care company can no longer recruit from abroad, but continues to operate. It told the BBC it strongly refutes the allegation it colluded with Dr Alaneme. It said it believed it lawfully recruited staff from Nigeria and other countries. It has challenged the Home Office's revocation of its sponsorship licence, it said, and the matter is now in court.

Costing us - the taxpayer - yet more money.  

Potential Consequences, Donald...

Ouch! Nice one, Matt....

Sunday Funnies...

Unaccountably, they appear to have missed off 'socialism'...

Police Shouldn't Need To Explain By Now....

...we should all be only too sadly aware why they need to deal with these wretched things this way: 

But, if you're wondering why they'd need to explain, it's because it was apparently 'an incident which sparked anger in parts of the community.'. Let's hear what 'the community' is saying, shall we?

One man on social media claimed: "Little men with big guns just shot a dog by Bluebells Wood, I nearly had it on lead until they turned up."

Another contributor asked why: "Don't the police just use tranquiliser guns instead of killing these poor dogs. Breaks my heart."

And finally: "It’s disgusting… shooting two innocent dogs for escaping and having a run round makes my blood boil."

The owner of these mutts is of course raging on Facebook that his dogs 'dindu nuffin' to deserve shooting, but there are clues in his diatribe:

A police spokesperson said they had responded after complaints that horses had been chased and then attacked.

"At 1.25pm today (Monday 31 March), we responded to reports of two dogs, believed to be an XL Bully and a large mixed breed, being dangerously out of control on woodland near Cramfit Road, with no owner at the scene.

"We received reports that the dogs were chasing two horses and one of the horses had been bitten.

"A number of members of the public were in the immediate area, including children who were playing nearby.

"Due to the ongoing risk posed by the dogs to the public, other animals, and our officers, it was necessary to shoot the dogs."

No doubt the owners of those horses will concur, as will anyone who has seen what these things can do when their blood is up - just ask the neighbours of the late Ian Price. Or the people of Basildon who watched two of them fight to the death, while police scrambled to get children to safety in their cars. Or the owners in Newtonards who had their bully dog turn on them, prompting PSNI to turn up and shoot it. Or closer to Rotherham, even, where cops responding to reports of an illegal firearm were confronted by one of these living weapons, resulting in a wounded one escaping. 

And, reader, those last three incidents were all just yesterday's reports!  

The spokesperson said they had launched an investigation into "how the dogs became loose. Anyone with information is asked to get in touch online or by calling 101, quoting incident number 429 of 31 March 2025."

Well, get onto Facebook then, since the idiot's identified himself for you.  

And Now I Want A Tattoo…

Is there anything that doesn't offend Muslims?

Some people on social media criticized Hegseth for getting a tattoo that could be considered offensive to Muslims, especially as the US military seeks to represent a diverse pool of faiths.

“This isn’t just a personal choice; it’s a clear symbol of Islamophobia from the man overseeing U.S. wars,” posted Nerdeen Kiswani, a pro-Palestinian activist in New York.

She added: “‘Kafir’ has been weaponized by far-right Islamophobes to mock and vilify Muslims.”

You mean, a slur that Muslims use to indicate disdain for other cultures and races is being used against them? You'll pardon me if I feel no sympathy at all.... 

“It’s not about his personal beliefs. It’s about how these beliefs translate into policy – how they shape military decisions, surveillance programs, and foreign interventions targeting Muslim countries.”

I suspect they translate into policy very well, and very usefully.  

And So They Should

This would lead, seven months later, to her suspension from medical school for a year, after she was found to have violated the medical school’s standard of “professional conduct”.

And hopeefully, under the new Trump regime, her expulsion from the country too. 

Back at Emory, Brown, Mohammad’s doctoral adviser, said she was proud of her student. “She’s doing what she’s supposed to do – holding her field accountable to its stated ideals,” Brown said, adding: “She will be Dr Mohammad, one way or the other.”

So she can continue her chosen policy of advocating for terrorist movements? Well, if ICE do boot her out, I suppose there's always Australia.  

Responsible Dog Ownership? Don't Make Me Laugh!

Samantha Leigh (Ed: Ugh...), said as she passed her judgement: 'We agree that the activation of the suspended sentence was not just. We will replace that with a three months extension to your suspended sentence. It would not be appropriate to change other sentence that was imposed.'

She added: 'Mr Fincham you need to be very careful now. It is never the fault of the dog, it is always the owners fault.'

No surprise that Leigh is dumb enough to have swallowed the bloodsport dog Kool Aid to the point where she cheerfully repeats their nonsense soundbites...but surely even she knows a recidivist waste of oxygen when she sees one? 

In March, Jack was spared jail after speeding his £50,000 car during a cocaine binge. He was behind the wheel of his BMW 520D driving down the hard shoulder of the A2 in Kent when he was stopped by police.

Jack later admitted drug driving and driving without due care and attention.

And when his vicious mutt bit two people and he was found guilty, obviously that sentence should have been activated. But in swoops Samantha, who never met a jailbird family she couldn't sympathise with: 

Jack's estranged father Mark Gard has also previously spent time behind bars after he was convicted for distributing cocaine around the country.

What a great family. Their choice of 'pet' makes more sense now. 

Despite past controversies, Jack has continued to defend his pet. He previously faced a backlash for importing Elvis from Russia in 2021, as the dog had cropped ears - a practice illegal in the UK.

A practise that makes them look more menacing - and what sort of person wants that? Exactly! 

More Foreign-Origin Magistrates 'Improving' Our Justice System...

Like a lot of people, the magistrate's remarks on the RAF vandals who ruined the Paddington Bear statue drew a snort of derision from me due to their virtue signalling sentimentality.

"Paddington Bear is a beloved cultural icon with children and adults alike. He represents kindness, tolerance and promotes integration and acceptance in our society.

"His famous label attached to his duffel coat says, 'Please look after this bear' but on the night of 2nd March, your actions were the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for.

"Your actions lacked respect and integrity, two values you should uphold as members of the armed forces."

What I hadn't appreciated was that the magistrate, Sam Goozee, has already featured here - he's the magistrate who let off infamous scofflaw Max Coopey

H/T: Peter Wells via email

Nothing To Worry About, Just Go About Your Lives!

Police were called to a property on the A259 Marina in St Leonards on Thursday (March 20) following concerns over suspected chemicals found at the address. A section of the road was closed, and nearby homes were evacuated. More than 500 cannisters of chemicals were found inside the property, which have now been desensitised and disposed of safely. This included an additional 30 vessels of unidentified substances which are currently being tested.

So, terrorism? *laughs* Of course not! 

A 28-year-old man was arrested and has been detained under the Mental Health Act.

And the police do their best to reassure the population they are on top of things: 

Detective Superintendent Steve May said: “This has been a challenging few days for all involved, particularly those residents evacuated from their homes, and I would like to thank the public for their patience and support during this operation.

“We are doing all we can, with our partners, to bring this incident to a safe resolution and return the area to normality. I am confident the end is now well within sight.

“We are aware of speculation among the public around the full circumstances of this incident, and I would like to reiterate that, at this time, there is nothing to suggest any sinister motivation from the individual who has been detained, nor any ongoing risk to the public.

“There is currently no evidence to suggest any links to terror, extremist ideology or large-scale drug production.

Not really sure what that leaves, DS May.... 

A Fringe Benefit Of Cashless Payments?

After all, we can't say it's because the standard of parenting has got better, can we?

Society's move to cashless payments may have had an unintended positive side effect, surgeons say - fewer children needing operations or procedures to remove swallowed coins. The Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) experts looked back over hospital records in England since the Millennium. Procedures to remove foreign objects, including coins, from children's throats, airways and noses saw a "significant decline", of almost 700 cases by 2022.

I know, correlation is not causation, but... 

But other factors - such as child-proof packaging and safety campaigns - probably also helped reduce cases, especially of objects stuck up the nose.

Yet curiously, these 'other factors' seem to not work with other items! 

But concern is shifting towards other potentially dangerous shiny objects, such as button batteries and magnets, which are now sometimes swallowed by children.

So much for the saviour being technology.  

It’s Only Taxpayers Money Pt 83290122

The family of Sheku Bayoh have reached an out-of-court settlement with Police Scotland after moving to sue the force following his death. Mr Bayoh, 31, died in Kirkcaldy, Fife on May 3, 2015, after he was restrained on the ground by six police officers. His family raised a civil action against Police Scotland three years later.

And the cops have thrown in the towel and are paying them to go away.  

A public inquiry has also been examining the circumstances leading to Mr Bayoh’s death, the investigation into his death and whether or not race was a factor. Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell met with Mr Bayoh’s family last month and offered an apology to them for their ordeal.A joint statement from Police Scotland and solicitor Aamer Anwar, who has been representing the family, said on Monday a settlement has now been agreed without any admission of liability by the force.

How much? We don't know, it's our money, and we aren't allowed to know. 

The statement said that to “respect the privacy of the family, the details of the agreement will remain confidential”.

The actual rank and file police aren't happy, either. 

A spokesperson for the Scottish Police Federation said the organisation, which represents rank-and-file officers, was “surprised to find that the chief constable has decided to settle this claim”.

The spokesperson said: “As the inquiry continues, it would be inappropriate to say any more at this stage, other than to remind the public that the clear position of the officers involved in the apprehension of Mr Bayoh is that they acted reasonably, in the public interest in the circumstances, given the danger that he presented.”

But with the state of the justice system they don't want to take a chance, and there's always more taxpayer cash where that came from, isn't there? 

'Can Present As A Female'

 ...but not very well!

Police are searching for a wanted person who has been recalled to prison. North Yorkshire Police are searching for Jason Whiteoak, from Selby, who has convictions for serious sexual assault and robbery.

Whiteoak, who can present as female under the name Karla, has also been known by a number of other names. 

Can he? Well, Reader, you be the judge:

I suppose at least Thames Valley Police aren't trying to gaslight us all that he IS a woman called Karla, unlike Surrey Police....

H/T: IanJ via email

The Diversity Doesn't Always Stay In The Inner City...

It has been reported that more than 50 youths armed with knives and machetes ran into Elm Park Primary School's hall, in Havering, Essex, at around 9pm on Saturday.

Yes, Elm Park. I'm very familiar with it. It's my end of the District Line, after all. Not the place you'd expect the inner city diversity to be in great numbers, until you realise this was a birthday party. For diverse youth. The sort of thing that tends to blow up into just this sort of disorder. 

The fighting allegedly lasted until 11pm before three teenagers were arrested on suspicion of assaulting emergency workers.

 Only three?

Footage from the scene shows dozens of children fleeing the hall screaming, as individuals at the back of the room can be seen raising weapons above their heads.

 'Individuals'...

One local resident told the Havering Daily: 'It was total chaos. We saw between 40-50 youths, running through the streets.

'We think they had knives as they were seen dropping weapons in people's drive ways and running away. They were attacking the police and there were so many of them that the police had to just disperse them. We couldn't believe what we saw. They were all aged 16 and over and they were not from here.

'Not from here' in more than one sense, of course.  

'Our road is normally so quiet, things like this don't happen here. This is why we are all so shocked at what has happened.

'We saw the police running after the youths, but due to the large number of them, the only choice they had was to disperse them.

'Our road was closed off for ages due to this and we were told that a serious incident had happened.'

And it'll keep happening, thanks to the transport system that allows the diversity to reach the nicer places.. 

I Guess Chisels Should Be Banned Now, Kier?

I mean, we can't rely on the sensible approach of not releasing violent recidivists early, can we? 

A 26-year-old man has been found guilty of his part in a fatal knife attack on the day he was let out of prison on the government's early release scheme. Lewis Bell, 26, a father of one, was stabbed to death after an altercation in a drug den in September 2024. Liam Matthews, who had been released from HMP Holme House the same morning, slashed at Bell with a chisel after spotting two other men fighting with him in the street, reports said.

So surely it's time for another knee-jerk reaction? 

His early release came in the first month the emergency measures aimed at freeing up spaces in overcrowded prisons were introduced.

All so Two-Tier can lock up such dangerous criminals as these ones instead. 

Last year, Downing Street said the early release policy had to be brought in to avoid 'unchecked criminality' where the police and courts were unable to lock anyone up because there were no places available. The prisons watchdog warned it was 'inevitable' that some would reoffend.

And yet, we seem to have no lack of unchecked criminality despite this. 

🎵Friend, either you're closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge, or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated by the presence of emojis in your community..🎵

Police and schools have issued warnings to parents about a 'sinister emoji' code used by incel teenagers in the wake of the success of Netflix hit Adolescence.

Is there no end to the ridiculous panic over this TV propaganda? Now every quango and charlatan wants a piece of the 'incel' grift... 

Teachers and police forces have distributed a 'periodic table of sinister emojis' believed to be used by under-18s to conceal disturbing messages about violence, sex, drugs, and extremism.

In case any parents were thinking 'Whew! At last, the police and schools are on OUR side!' then I caution you to think again.  

Merseyside Police have already circulated the emoji table to schools and parents, according to the Liverpool Echo. However, critics have dismissed the warnings as 'moral panic'.

And they are right.  

Amit Kalley, the founder of education charity For Working Parents urged mothers and fathers to 'keep researching and asking the right questions' about their children's digital lives. He told the Telegraph: 'The table I created is far from an exhaustive list, but I wanted to include emojis beyond incel and misogyny, because lots of young people are groomed online into drugs and violence and lots of young people are involved in dangerous sexual behaviours, which they can hide from parents by using emojis and acronyms. '

OK, Amit, I'll ask questions: Why the hell is anyone expected to listen to you and your little grift frightening parents about what their kids might be getting up to? You don't appear to have any qualifications for this, after all.  

As The Speaker Might Say, 'Ordure, Ordure'...

Matt skewers Rachel from Complaints again...

Once, You Could Trust The BBC To Get This Right…

...but times have changed.

Sunday Funnies...

No 1 proves Tripadvisor is older than you think...

Congratulations, Nikita, You've Achieved Nothing...

Calling for an end to knife crime, his sister Nikita said: "We need to do more to stop knife crime. You know how easy it is to acquire a knife. You can just go online and you can just buy a machete.

"I want to call out the MPs. I want to call out the Prime Minister. I want to call out society and say that we need to do more to ensure that not another innocent life gets taken from knife crime.”

That's the sister of the murdered boy that has spurred our Prime Minister to ban a popular decorative item from the 70s, leaving pensioners in fear that should they actually get a police officer to attend a burglary at their house, they must cover up or hide the dust covered samurai swords on the mantelpiece, lest they become subject to arrest.

So now I, a freeborn Englishwoman, must check I don’t have some (purely decorative) item in my house because one member of a subgroup of the imported population killed a member of another subgroup of the imported population? And would have done so with any number of other sharp objects had they not had a 'ninja sword' to hand?

This country is governed by idiots.

We Don’t Want To Watch Propaganda, That’s The Real Issue Facing Television

The UK’s television industry is being hit by a “perfect storm” that risks leading to British stories disappearing from the small screen, Elisabeth Murdoch has said.

Maybe part of that storm is down to the relentless drip, drip, drip of propaganda, when what we really want is entertainment?  

Murdoch, co-founder of the production company Sister, said that a crisis within British television was leading to an exodus of production talent – as well as a danger that British stories were struggling to be told. It follows warnings that cash-strapped British broadcasters are targeting their resources at dramas with international appeal. She said: “British producers are making excellent content for global platforms, with British talent, set in the UK – but those aren’t the same stories that the BBC or Channel 4 seek out. Those stories, from all corners of the British Isles, are struggling to be made in today’s economic reality. The BBC has projects that they have greenlit and provided foundational financing but the gap to budget remains unattainable.”

And of course, the answer is to stick their hands in other people's pockets: 

Some have suggested that tax breaks could be used to help the industry. Peter Kosminsky, the Bafta-winning television director behind Wolf Hall, has suggested a levy on the streamers to help fund local content.

Yes, of course, charge people more to watch the things they like and are happy to pay for in order to fund the things the luvvie mafia think we should watch instead!  

“The question is how much will be addressed by allowing market forces to work and where intervention could and should positively intervene to support all that is great and valuable in the UK TV industry.”

I'm in favour of market forces. Get your fingers off the scales and we'll see just what value you create.  

It Is Strange, Yes, Since We All Now Have Widescreen TVs...

My fatness causes adults to laugh or sneer or hurl abuse in the street, or to say horrible depraved things online. Strangers hate my extra flesh so much that they can’t help but regularly inform me about it as I’m tweeting, walking home, standing in a mall, ordering a drink at a bar – or once, entering my own front door.

They were probably astonished that you could get through it... 

I can’t remember every one of the numerous public incidents but I do remember the first time it happened. I was a (lonely) 14-year-old waiting for the bus with a bunch of other kids at 8:30am, and men drove past and shouted “WHALE” at me. It was humiliating, it was stupid (I am clearly a land animal), and in my memory it was the sharp beginning of my life in a fatphobic world.

Oh, god, here we go... 

The rise of Ozempic in combination with an already extremely thin-obsessed world means that there are almost no fat – or even kind-of-fat – people on any sort of screen.

Why should there be? I mean, yes, screens are bigger these days, but so what? 

This week, Vogue and Gigi Hadid – obviously not people I would rely on for body inclusivity – went a step further in the wrong direction by doing a Hairspray-themed cover and spread, including posting a full lip-sync of the song ‘You Can’t Stop the Beat’ online. If you aren’t familiar with Hairspray, it’s one of the only musicals in existence featuring fat leads, and a big part of the story is fatness being spotlighted. Vogue’s cover and lip-sync featured only thin people.

And this is portrayed as some sort of outrage.  

I implore people to start thinking about this, both broadly and specifically. We need people carefully considering how we portray and include different kinds of bodies – and what we are saying when we don’t.

I think we're saying 'No ugly fat dollops, please!' aren't we? 

Ah, This Must Be The 'Enrichment' We Are Always Promised...

Police have released images of 22 men they want to trace after a large-scale fight in Sheffield. The disorder took place on Woodbourn Road on 25 May last year, South Yorkshire Police said.

Last year? Why has it taken so long to put out the appeal?  

Oh. I think I can guess. I'm assuming it wasn't a disagreement over the finer points of building dry stone walls?

A force spokesperson said officers believed it involved two groups from the Eritrean community, with one faction supportive of Eritrean independence and the other in opposition.

Lovely! Just what we need to spice up our boring old Yorkshire towns, internecine conflict imported from foreign countries! That'll please the Yorkshire Tourist Board!  

According to police, the group opposing independence travelled into the area to target an Eritrean Independence Day celebration taking place at the Pakistan Muslim Centre. A group of about 200 people gathered at the location, where violence involving weapons erupted both inside and outside the centre and on the surrounding streets. The centre was damaged along with vehicles parked nearby.

Perhaps this will wake up a few people to the vipers we've nestled in our bosom? 

Signs That Nothing Of Value Was Lost...

...when the pic the cops release of the victim is a mugshot.

His family are being supported by specialist officers as the murder investigation continues.

What a waste of resources.

Detective Chief Inspector Brian Howie, leading the investigation, said: "My thoughts are with the victim's family and friends at this devastating time.

"I understand the shock and concern this incident will have on the Brixton community. My team are already working diligently to gather evidence and establish what led to this tragedy. I would ask any local residents with concerns to speak to officers at the scene, or to their local neighbourhood policing teams."

If the local residents were the type to speak to officers, and not settle their beef with knives in broad daylight, Brixton wouldn't be a shithole, would it, Brian? 

How Many More Must Pay The Price?

A man has been charged with the murder of two pensioners after they were found stabbed to death in the street.

Yes, the perpetrator is exactly who you'd imagine it to be.  

Mouhamadou Fall, 23, has been charged over the deaths of Sidy Fall, 75, and Norman Scott, 68, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed today. Fall, of Milverton Road, Manchester had previously been detained under the Mental Health Act following the stabbings.

And out police farce?  

Chief Superintendent David Meeney, district commander for the City of Manchester division said: 'This morning, two lives have been lost in our community, and our thoughts go to their families who have lost a loved one today.

'We are treating this as an isolated incident with no threat to the wider public.'

How many 'isolated incidents' do we have to suffer before someone draws some connecting lines on a whiteboard? 

Which Is It Then?

Property advertising with the 'Mail' brings up this gem:

  

Which is it, 'Mail'? Reptiles or amphibians? Your staffers do know they aren't interchangeable? 

They Might Actually Manage This...

...they've not managed to broker peace anywhere else for long, as Matt knows only too well..

Sunday Funnies...

It's no doubt how they'd have wanted to go...

Entertainment Or Propaganda?

Stephen Graham has revealed the two harrowing real-life incidents that inspired his new Netflix hit Adolescence, recalling that they made his 'heart hurt'.As an executive producer on the show, which aired on Thursday, Stephen, 51, said the idea for the series came to him from looking at the epidemic of knife crime in the UK.

Did it really?  

'Look, it started when I read an article, and it was an article about a young boy who'd stabbed a young girl to death, and it just, you know, it made me feel cold.

'And then a couple of months later, there was a piece on the news, and it was about a young boy who'd stabbed a young girl to death, and if I'm really honest with you, they hurt my heart.

’Young boy’ is all the description of the perpetrator you’ll get. Note that. 

'And these two incidents were opposite ends of the country. And I just thought, "Why? Why is this happening?"'Not just because I'm a father, but I think any kind of human being with an ounce of moral compass can look at that kind of situation and think, "What's happening? What's going on with society today that we're in?"'

Well, it's certainly made him a few pennies. And the critics are raving about it.  

Co-stars and critics alike have praised Owen, 15, for his chilling performance, and Stephen was so impressed at the young British actor's first audition, that he's since revealed he turned to co-writer Jack Thorne when Owen left the room and said 'I think that's him'.

Strange then, because this is him: 

 So, why cast him? 

And yes, I've had a progressive idiot on FaceBook say he was cast so Graham could play his father, but I thought mixed race families were usually all the rage in TVland? 

So that feeble excuse hardly holds water, does it?

It’s as if Netflix decided to do a film on the brutal mauling death of Ian Price, and showed him being savaged by a pair of cocker spaniels…

Because You're Not Laying Down The Law, Your Honour....

In fact, you're letting them off lightly.

...during sentencing this week, District Judge Stephen Apted found himself pausing proceedings and telling the couple off for laughing as a summary of their offending was read out in court.

He said he could not understand why the couple found their court appearance amusing and were seen laughing and shaking their heads.

'You fail to understand and appreciate how appalling and disgraceful your behaviour was,' he told them, The Telegraph reported.

Because they are receiving no proper punishment for it. At leaset we have the 'Mail' to tell us how much their house is worth, though: 

The couple - who live in a house worth more than £800,000 just a mile from the pub - faced charges of racially or religiously aggravated harassment and assault, which they denied, claiming self defence.

A likely story.  

Mr Sayer was handed a fine of £1,204, while Mrs Sayer was fined £1,554. The couple must also complete 15 sessions of rehabilitation activities and 150 hours of unpaid work.

Pathetic. No wonder they weren't cowed by the awesome majesty of the justice system... 

Alphonsus Doran, Mrs Sayer’s defence lawyer, said the couple had been 'effectively ostracised' since the incident. Mrs Sayer has lost her job, while Mr Sayer reported a 'massive impact' on his business.

Good. Maybe that will teach them the lesson they deserve.  

Another Nail In The WFH Coffin?

A London employee who was sacked from his job for working from home over the summer at his parents' house in Cornwall has won a claim for unfair dismissal despite being found to have completed no work.

Could he have got away with that in the office? Probably not. So, if there were concerns about his work rate, why was he allowed this? 

Now, the London-based employee has won his case for unfair dismissal after a judge found that the company's investigation into him had not been carried out fairly. The central London tribunal heard that Mr Kitaruth had verbally agreed with Mr Stride that he would work from home, but the line manager insisted that nothing about Mr Kitaruth working out of London had been firmed. Employment judge Tamara Lewis said that Mr Kitaruth had 'misled' his managers by not doing any work, but the tribunal found that the security manager 'genuinely believed he had been given permission' to work from Cornwall and that there was possibly some miscommunication between him and Mr Stride.

Remember, folks, a verbal agreement isn't worth the paper it's not printed on! 

Ms Lewis said if Mr Stride had been interviewed formally before a decision to dismiss Mr Kitaruth was made, it would have shown how informal the arrangements were and that such a system 'always had the potential for misunderstanding'.

But he didn't, and hence, the tribunal has no option but to uphold the verdict. Though it makes its opinion pretty clear: 

However, the tribubal had doubts that Mr Kitaruth 'did any work' and ruled that his total compensation would be deducted by 50 per cent. '[OCS] dismissed [Mr Kitaruth] because it believed he had gone to Cornwall without authorisation from Aug 14 to 17 in 2023, and that not only was this unauthorised working from home, but that the claimant had misled his managers and was not in fact working in that period, and had not completed tasks he had been given in that period', Ms Lewis said.

So he might win but he won't get much.  

But The Laws We Already Have Worked?

...the proof being that the perpetrator is in jail for life:

A new offence to cover lone individuals planning non-terrorist mass killings should be considered in the wake of the Southport attacks, the UK's terror watchdog has said. However the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, says the definition of terrorism should not be expanded or changed.

Why does it need to be? Surely it simply needs to be applied, as it wasn't in this case.  

Mr Hall considered whether the definition of terrorism itself should be changed to include mass violence without a political, religious, racial or other ideological motivation, but concluded it should not. "Redefinition would alter the landscape. It would risk major false positives – the prosecution of people who by no stretch of the imagination are terrorists – and extend terrorism liability into novel terrain," Mr Hall said.

"People swapping violent war footage would be at risk of encouraging terrorism, resulting in unacceptable restrictions on freedom of expression."

And we all know why he stopped short - not so acedemics could have online discussions about violence without the fear of plod breathing down their necks, but so the idiots that support Hamas and other Islamic terror organisations can spread their propaganda unaffected. 

However, Mr Hall said there was a clear risk to the public of people who are interested in carrying out acts of mass violence, including school massacres. Currently there is no law against preparing for such an attack which "means that no prosecution would be available if the police raided an address and found careful handwritten but uncommunicated plans for carrying out a massacre". As a result, he is recommending the government considers creating a new offence, similar to the offence of preparing an act of terrorism.

The lack of such a law didn't seem to hinder this arrest.  

As part of his report Jonathan Hall KC considered what should happen with young people like Axel Rudakubana, who are referred to the counter-terrorism Prevent programme, but are not taken on because they do not have a clear ideology. "If they are not to be managed by counter-terrorism police, who will 'own' the risk?", he asked.

We will. We always do.  

When The Worm Finally Turns, It Isn’t Pretty

The first time I went to Hanau, I was creeped out by how ordinary it was.

Imagine being 'creeped out' by something ordinary? 

This mid-sized city of 100,000 people right in the geographical centre of Germany, looked and felt like many other places in western Germany I had been to: built around a bombed and reconstructed old town, expanded by a soulless mall with a multiplex cinema, surrounded by a vast industrial area and neighbourhoods separated along class lines. What the city prides itself on is that the Brothers Grimm grew up here in the late 18th century before they started publishing folk tales such as Cinderella and The Frog Prince. Since 2020, however, Hanau stands for something else: it’s the place where a far-right gunman killed nine people he assumed to be immigrants, and afterwards killed his mother and himself.

Ah. Not something 'ordinary' at all, then... 

Emiş Gürbüz, mother of one of the Hanau victims, spoke at this year’s official commemoration, attended by the city’s highest-ranking politicians as well as Germany’s federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. “This event is a stain on the history of Hanau and of Germany,” Gürbüz said, close to tears. “If everyone had carried out their duties, these nine people would still be alive.” Gürbüz’s son, Sedat, was killed during the attack at the shisha bar he had previously owned. He was 29 years old.

It's a familiar refreain, if the cast of victims is different this time.  

But what followed this year’s commemoration – which, unfortunately, coincided with the anti-immigrant and racist discourse of the final week of the federal election campaign – was frankly shocking. The coalition of mainstream parties that runs Hanau’s city government issued an extraordinary statement laying into Gürbüz, accusing her of political agitation, disrespect and of “exploiting” the atrocity. It said that no such future commemorations would be held in Hanau to mark the victims. Citing another speech that Gürbüz made at the Berlin film festival, the statement further alleged that she had publicly expressed hatred for Germany and Hanau. “Why she applied for German citizenship in such a state of mind will probably remain her secret,” the statement added.

Are they not supposed to mention the fact then? Is she supposed to be allowed to complain about anything she likes, and no one ask awkward questions, stifled by her victim status? 

But why would it be inappropriate for a grieving mother whose son was murdered by a racist and who now has to witness almost every political party campaigning on anti-immigrant manifestos, to express hatred for what Germany has become?

It's not. She's perfectly entitled to her free speech. But so is everyone else. And if they have decided they've had enough of the whining from someone given everything they didn't have in their home country, and the ingratitude shown for having been given it, then they'll exercise their own free speech to express it. It's unfortunate, but when you try to bottle it up this is what happens.  

At a time when far-right support has reached historic levels, it’s a peculiar take on the term “respect” to treat survivors of a racially motivated right wing terrorist attack in this way. Is this to be the fate now of anyone of migrant heritage who criticises public failings?

Well, nodding silently and never asking questions hasn't worked so well up to now, has it? 

And What Did It All Cost?

I'd completely forgotten about this fiasco until this article in the 'Guardian' reminded me!

C’mon Abrdn, abndn the silly name, urged this column and many others when Standard Life Aberdeen decided to shorten its name to that of the granite city, just without three-quarters of the vowels. Now – four years and one chief executive later – the nonsense has been stopped. Aberdeen it is, albeit the group still can’t manage an upper case “A”.

What an absolute joke. Thankfully, a new broom swept clean. 

“One of the easiest decisions I have ever had to make,” said its new boss, Jason Windsor, undoing the handiwork of his predecessor, Stphn Brd. One doesn’t doubt it.

Quite! 

Abrdn executives seem to have spent half their time explaining the pronunciation, or inviting fresh ridicule by grumbling about the wicked media’s “childish jokes”.

And still it took a new guy in the Big Seat to junk the idiocy. 

Other companies take note: if you have to ask how to pronounce a new name, you’ve got the wrong one. The only exception is Relx, the brilliantly performing (and two syllable) analytics business that is now the UK’s fifth largest listed company.

Never heard of it! 

Are You The Only Person Left In The UK, Polly..?

 

...who hasn't realised that Starmer's a stone liar?

The claim is that the two ousted members “demonstrated the type of support for the Liberal Democrats that is incompatible with chapter 2, clause I.5.B.vi of the Labour party rule book”. In principle, that’s a necessary rule: members can’t back parties standing against Labour, or the multitude of prohibited anti-Labour groupuscules. But, as Wafer wrote to party officials in his defence, many had “worked together during the election campaign to do everything we could locally to help secure a Labour government, by ridding the country of as many sitting Tory MPs as possible. In Lewes, Labour couldn’t win, but the Tories could lose. Getting the Tories defeated in Lewes made a direct contribution to Labour’s victory in July.”

Did you expect gratitude, then, Polly? It's a human emotion, but do we have a human prime minister? 

Next time Labour may well be in coalition, and electoral reform will be the price. As Ford warns them: “Be nice to people when you’re on top, as you’ll need them on your way down.” Treating near-allies as the enemy looks arrogant. Lewes’s sensible tactical voters are not Labour traitors.

Perhaps they aren't worried about what happens when they aren't on top anymore, because they will have already feathered their nests? 

If You Want The Public's Help, Show Their Faces!

A CCTV camera behind the counter caught the two horrific incidents on camera, and he reported it to the police.

A Met Police spokesperson said: 'We are investigating following two reports of robbery at a shop near Leicester Square, WC2.

'If you were a witness or have any information which might help police, please call 101 quoting 7996/5MAR.'

Great, CCTV, that'll help immensly! Show us the pictures!  

 Wait, what? FFS!

The Weekly XL Bully Attack...

They pretty much are a weekly occurrence but for all those pitiots wailing that this means the ban isn't working, it's mostly the morons that own these mutts that are at the sharp end of the teeth now, and that's got to be a plus, hasn't it?

A man is fighting for his life after being attacked by a dog believed to be an XL Bully in the back garden of a home. Armed police and a specialist dog unit were called to scene on Ripon Drive, West Bromwich, at around 4.40pm yesterday following reports of a dog attack. An injured man was treated by paramedics before being taken to hospital, police have said.

Police Tasered the mutt to get it to release its victim, and it died, so at least kennel staff aren't at risk again.  

Over on Facebook, amongst the 'poor doggies' and 'don't bully our breed!' loons, someone claims the man was 'bullied into looking after the dogs for someone else'. 

What a ghastly subculture we've allowed into this country, all so people can own a fighting breed dog as a 'pet'. 

The Wheels On The Bus Go Round And Round...

An elderly driver has avoided jail after killing an 83-year-old woman as she crossed the road.

No, this isn't another story about elderly car drivers - the missing words here are 'in his London bus'. Because if you think this story has the ring of familiarity, Reader, you're not wrong.... 

Partially deaf Ozdemir Zia, 77, hit Edna McLean when she was crossing Vincent Road outside Woolwich Arsenal station in southeast London on September 11, 2021.

Zia, who uses a hearing loop, had been allowed to continue work despite a previous conviction for crashing into another bus and six other incidents of bad driving.

Incredibly, it seems being deaf and having an appalling record behind the wheel is no bar to being a London bus driver! 

The jury was not told about Zia's previous conviction for careless driving in 2018 when he injured passengers by crashing into another bus. He was fired by Stagecoach, one of the operators of Transport for London buses, because of his conviction. But he was back behind the wheel again after he applied for a job with Go Ahead, a different provider.

If this was America, a host of sharp-toothed lawyers would now descend on Go Ahead and strip it bare.  

Public Service Announcement

If you're short of things to do in the Capital (or just want to avoid getting stabbed) you could do worse than visit the 'War of the Worlds Experience' in Leadenhall Street. 

I spent a very happy couple of hours there being scared out of my wits last night (birthday gift) and I recommend it highly! Great music and great atmosphere!  

Even Better, Actually...

 

Always relevant, is Matt....

Sunday Funnies...

It's really a miracle we've survived as a species...

'Sustainability' Is A Humpty Dumpty Word...

...it means whatever the ecomentalists want it to mean. How else to explain this sort of thing?

 

The state government touts the highway's "sustainable" credentials, but some locals and conservationists are outraged at the environmental impact. The Amazon plays a vital role in absorbing carbon for the world and providing biodiversity, and many say this deforestation contradicts the very purpose of a climate summit.

And they'd be right. We had to give up plastic straws and  plastic bottle tops that you can remove fully for this abomination? 

H/T: Ian J via email 

Why We Can’t Have Nice Things Pt 542867

Free libraries and book exchanges are one of life’s little joys. So we’re sad to say that all book swaps at London Underground stations have been removed.

Apparently, they are a fire hazard. Which is strange, because I travel by Tube, and every station has a little container of free newspapers, the 'Metro', which despite being made of paper, don't appear to be the same risk.

Maybe because TfL employees count as newspaper staff? Who knows? 

Why Not, Gaslighting Works Even When There's Video...

 ...after all, we've all seen video of men in womanface and been told they are female, so they clearly think it works.

The track star seen hitting her opponent in the head with a baton in a shocking incident has remarkably claimed it was an accident.

And why not? These days, when caught out, just tell the most outrageous lie!  

The indoor track championships in Virginia were marred when Alaila Everett was seen striking Kaelen Tucker during the 4x200m relay event of the VSHL Class 3 State Indoor Championships. Tucker was running the second leg of the relay for Lynchburg's Brookville High School when she passed Everett of I.C. Norcom High School on the outside. Everett, who claimed she has since been on the receiving end of death threats and racial slurs, broke down in tears as she gave her version of events on the viral incident.

Ah, the modern way - when caught out and it’s impossible to deny what you did, make yourself the victim! 

She told Wavy.com: 'Nobody is going to believe me because I can admit from the video it does look purposeful. But I know my intentions and I would never hit anybody on purpose.' She added: 'After a couple times of hitting her, my baton got stuck behind her back like this, and it rolled up her back. I lost my balance and, when I pumped my arms again, she got hit.'

She dindu nuffin’, right?

She added: 'Everybody has feelings, so you’re physically hurt, but you’re not thinking of my mental (health).'

Well, no, we're thinking of the assault victim with the fractured skull. We did, after all, see it happen.  

Do You Want People To Just Let Illegal Immigrants Go Free?

A couple who discovered a boy hidden on the back of their motorhome after their journey from France to Essex have been fined £1,500 by the Home Office.

Adrian and Joanne Fenton called the police when they found the person zipped inside the cover of a bike rack after pulling up on their drive at their home in Heybridge.

The couple had been travelling in France with friends and returned to the UK by ferry on 15 October.

Because if you really did, what would you do differently?  

Joanne Fenton, 55, said border officials in Calais and the UK had not inspected the bike rack or the cover before or after the crossing.

The Home Office said penalties were “designed to target negligence rather than criminality”.

Clearly, not the negligence of the BF staff, who have the duty to deter these people, not a duty that should ever be laid on the innocent holidaymaker. 

This is not the first such case, either:

In October, a retired ambulance driver and his wife were fined £6,000 after UK Border Agency staff found a man in a trailer attached to their mobile home in France. Peter Hughes and Anne Lawton, from Droylsden, Greater Manchester, told the BBC they had no idea a young Sudanese man had concealed himself.

The government has shifted the duty to deter illegals to you, the public.  

Why Focus On The Familial?

The thought of mothers being abused or killed by their own children – the people they have carried, cared for and nurtured since birth – is something of an underexamined and almost taboo issue in Britain. There is a slowly growing body of research into why children under 18 use violent behaviour towards their parents. There is an even smaller body of research showing why adults – nearly all of them sons – do the same.

Is it because they can get away with it? Or is it because we take the threat from the mentally ill less seriously even than we do the threat from dangerous dogs? 

“It is still incredibly hidden, very taboo,” said Prof Rachel Condry, who along with Dr Caroline Miles has been researching violence towards parents for 15 years. “When we started, practitioners and police officers knew about the problem and had to deal with it, but it wasn’t something that was named, or really talked about. Over the years it has become more of a familiar, known problem, but so much is still hidden.”

But the 'Guardian's' keeping count: 

The Guardian’s Killed women count project, which documented every woman allegedly killed by a man in 2024, identified at least seven cases of mothers alleged to have been killed by their sons. A new Femicide Census report puts the figure at 173 over the last 15 years. Some of the key drivers are clear. Issues around lack of housing, substance misuse and, most often of all, mental health problems are key factors behind many of the tragic stories of the women killed by their offspring.

I think I can guess which of those is the real driver.  

Prof Amanda Holt, the chair of criminology at the University of Roehampton who completed the first national analysis of parricide (the killing of a parent) in England and Wales, said a failure to consider parents as potential victims was leaving people vulnerable. “There’s so little understanding around violence towards parents it’s harder for practitioners to know what the red flags are,” she said. “They tend to see parents as carers, not as potential victims. I think a lot of services are just thinking, thank God there’s someone for this person.”

'Someone for this person to murder instead of us' might be more accurate.

Protect The Public? Nah, Costs Too Much..

It seems Police Scotland are plumbing new depths of incompetence:

The message on January 7 from a senior officer also confirmed a seized XL bully called Blue was returned to its owner – despite still not having an exemption certificate – after spending four months in kennels.

Isn't transferring one of these mutts without a certificate a crime then? Should they not investigate themselves? They seem quite happy to do so in other - equally ridiculous - circumstances, after all....

H/T: ProtectOurPets via Twitter

Cover Me! 'Hallelujah'

And now it's the turn of lugubrious dirge-creator Leonard Cohen's repertoire to get an absolute stand-out cover of 'Hallelujah' by the sadly short lived Jeff Buckley.

Technology Is Just Showing Us What Was Always There

Here’s an unexpected addition to our 2025 bingo card: young women across the internet have been devastated by the demise of a nightmarish fanged fish. A black seadevil anglerfish (unflatteringly described by one marine biologist as “pretty much evolved to be a giant head”), usually a deep-sea dweller, was recently caught on camera swimming close to the surface by a shark research group near Tenerife. Sadly, apparently sick or injured, it died. This, however, was only the start of the anglerfish’s journey in the hearts and TikToks of young women. The fish’s story has triggered an outpouring of emotion. The narrative they have adopted is that the tiny anglerfish, who lived her life in darkness, wanted to feel the “sun on her face”, so swam alone through the vast ocean to do that before expiring. There have been tattoos, poetry and oceans of tears.

Anthropomorphism. It has for years been the preserve of airhead women (and the occaisional man). 

What catharsis is this creature providing? Yes, she was small and female, but males are even smaller – a tenth of the size. I wonder whether anglerfish parasitism (the teeny males are absorbed into females’ bodies, serving solely to provide sperm as needed) might appeal at a time when women’s reproductive autonomy is existentially threatened, but not only is that a massive stretch, but this particular species is non-parasitic.

And sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, Emma. Just because you can't stop thinking about a thing doesn't mean no-one else can.

So that leaves me with lots of young, especially American, women really not being OK right now.

Ah, now you might be onto something. 

I’m almost certainly reading too much into it.

A peep of self awareness? 

Good For Him...

Elon Musk's social media platform refused to hand over details of hundreds of accounts to authorities in the wake of last summer's far-Right riots. At the time, the billionaire accused the Government of 'censorship' for imprisoning Britons over their online posts.

I knew I admired the man already, Starmer, no need to give him an opportunity to consolidate that... 

Musk previously goaded Sir Keir Starmer online by accusing the PM of presiding over 'one-sided' policing of protests breaking out across the UK - even using the hashtag 'TwoTierKeir' in a tweet to 196million people.

As did pretty much the entirety of Twitter. 

Cabinet ministers blamed social media for allowing hate and fake news to be spread, leading to violent riots by the far-Right which saw migrant hotels and mosques attacked in the wake of the Southport stabbings. False claims spread rapidly on X and other social media platforms that the suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat a year previously. The person responsible was Axel Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, who pleaded guilty in January to 16 offences, including three counts of murder.

The way this article is written makes it seem that all the predictions were wrong, doesn't it? But were they? Not so very much, his parents appear to have been granted some sort of shadowy 'asylum' here following a massacre in Rwanda, and there's a lot of obfuscation around statements he's supposed to have made at the time of his capture about his faith.

So who do I trust more, should this happen again? It's not going to be the government of liars we've got in Westminster, that's for sure.

Not Much Introspection Here…

 

What could prompt this? Are the prospective voters and 'German' people asking themselves why? 

Yes. But they don't appear to have come to the obvious conclusion.

Flanked by market stalls selling everything from Turkish borëk pastries to bedazzled iPhone cases, Lina, 53, confessed that she was racked with worry about what may lie ahead for her three children once Sunday night’s election is over. She has lived in Germany for decades, carving out a life for herself and her family after moving from Lebanon.“It’s scary,” she said. Worse still, the torrent of anti-migrant rhetoric had seemingly done little to stem the rise of the Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD), with polls suggesting that the far-right party is poised to vault into an unprecedented second place in Sunday’s election.“They are against Islam, against Arabs,” she added. “Who knows if they will bring in laws against us? It’s really upsetting.”

But why are they against Islam? Why do they revile Arabs? It appears to be a mystery to Lina. And she's not the only one puzzled by the current mood: 

“It’s the first time, I would say, that I really feel like a foreigner in my own country,” said Cihan Sinanoğlu, a social scientist who works with the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research. “Racialised people and groups understand that the whole debate about migration is also a debate about us, about what it means to be German and who’s in and who’s out.”Nobody wants to talk about structural problems,” said Sinanoğlu. “So all of the bad things in the world are projected on to this figure of the migrant or asylum seeker; rents, economy systems, poverty. That’s crazy.”

Because having hordes of Third Worlders invade your country has absolutely no effect on those things..? 

“I’m super scared and many of my friends are scared,” said one 28-year-old, who asked not to be named. She had arrived in Germany from Syria in 2015, as a wave of “welcome culture” swept across the country, transforming Germany into a safe place for more than a million people fleeing conflict and persecution. Now she wondered how many people she knew were gearing up to embrace a far-right party whose ranks include neo-Nazis. “They are our neighbours, they are parents. And they are daring to again choose fascism,” she said.

How very dare they decide to exercise their right to vote in free and fair elections! My god, no wonder you want to remain anonymous! You've clearly no idea what the word 'fascism' really means.  

In September, Germany’s federal anti-discrimination commissioner, Ferda Ataman, linked the rise of the far right to a “discrimination crisis”, citing the more than 20,000 cases that had poured into her office between 2021 and 2023. “Millions of people are afraid for their future,” Ataman said at the time. “In view of the electoral successes of right-wing extremists, it is more important than ever to protect people effectively from hatred and exclusion.”

And that's the exact attitude that's caused this. Shouldn't you be worrying more about protecting people from murderers with cars and knives?