If They Weren't Essential, Would They Be Doing Them?

The British army has been ordered to halt non-essential training exercises in an effort to save money. Troops preparing to be deployed or on deployments, those who are on standby or in a quick-reaction role will continue to train as normal. But collective training exercises for UK-based units are being suspended for most of this year amid budget pressures.

I assume any training the Army gives its recruits is essential...

Andy Burnham is under pressure to increase defence spending to 3% of national income by 2030, rising to 3.5% by 2035.

Well, this is the wrong direction to go, Andeh... 

The chancellor, John Healey, resigned from Keir Starmer’s government as defence secretary in June, in protest against what he argued was the then prime minister’s failure to adequately fund defence.

 And we all cheered a principled member of Starmer's government at last. We should have known better!

But in his new post in No 11 Downing Street, Healey has made clear he will wait until next year’s spending review before presenting a plan to meet Labour’s pledge of devoting 3.5% of GDP to defence by 2035.

 Guess it wasn't such a deeply held belief in the necessity of our armed forces after all. Just another ruse for promotion. 

Oh, But He Is...

...he's focused on the risk to his premiership and political career that the prison overcrowding crisis represents.

The Prime Minister is facing a new backlash after changing the policy to keep PC Andrew Harper's killers behind bars, but at the same time opening the cell door to hundreds of dangerous offenders .In yet another U-turn on the controversial scheme, Mr Burnham said anyone convicted of unlawful killing will be excluded. But to make the change, ministers are finding extra cell spaces by releasing inmates serving indefinite terms under imprisonment for public protection sentences (IPPs) – which were given to offenders considered a significant risk to the public between 2005 and 2012.

One of Mr Burnham's own senior ministers condemned the plans, saying: 'The Prime Minister has been too focused on media response rather than actual risk. 'He's bowed to public pressure over the reaction to PC Harper's killers and not focused on the actual high-risk, high-harm perpetrators.'Are those who've committed manslaughter likely to come out of prison and commit manslaughter again? No. But I can guarantee you that the obsessed stalker or domestic abuser will come out and relentlessly pursue their victim again.'

Well, no doubt you voted for this weak-willed vacillating popinjay to replace the fatally-wounded Starmer so the fact you've now realised your mistake gives me no pleasure, but as a Labour MP you'll simply have to deny reality, won't you?

Sir Robert Buckland, a former justice secretary, said: 'I know first-hand the crisis facing the criminal justice system in Britain, but changing the early-release scheme from favouring one set of dangerous criminals to another set of dangerous criminals does very little to protect the public.'

As if that was a concern for a politician who is guarded by armed police everyehere he goes in his chauffeured limousine? 

Mr Burnham said spaces will also be created by deporting foreign prisoners.

How? Most countries don't want them back and human rights lawyers backed by middle class white women will fight toothaa nd nail to keep them here.

Being Prime Minister isn't what you hoped, eh, Andeh? 

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.

Bodybags Sure Can Pick 'em!

The new farming minister fainted while visiting a refrigerated storage unit full of beef, it has been revealed.

Od dear. What was her name?

Stephen Morgan has been on a tour of farms and suppliers since being appointed.

Oops!  

...he felt ill when stepping into the room filled with shelves of meat from slaughtered cattle at a food processing plant in the Lake District. One local farmer, who knew about the incident, said: “He’d been shown large chunks of beef as well as some steaks but then he felt faint. 

“He said something like, ‘I don’t feel too well — I need a moment.’”

But it's OK, he may know sod all about farming, but his background in sociology and politics has made him a master of implausible excuses: 

The Portsmouth South MP explained of his wobble: “I felt unwell moving between the extreme heat and cold storage, and I’m grateful to all the staff at Lake District Farmers. 

“Hats off to the brilliant ­people working in these conditions and temperatures to keep the nation fed.”

When's that election? There was someone more incompetent that Starmer after all! 

A Law Designed For Two-Tier Justice From The Start.

Parents risk prosecution for trying to stop their children having gender treatment under a new Labour law, MPs and campaigners fear. The conversion therapy ban means those convicted of trying to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity could be jailed for five years.

But won’t somehow also apply to the psychiatrists and doctors pushing trangenderism? That's some sloppily written law, then.

It has prompted concerns that the law will criminalise parents for trying to talk to children about their desire to identify as the opposite sex or undergo gender treatment, such as taking puberty blockers and having surgery. Counsellors and priests could also fall foul of the legislation, it is feared.

 Working as intended, I suspect. But even the nutter’s support groups are raising concerns:

The Bayswater Support Group, for parents of trans or non-binary children, said: 'Accusations of psychological or emotional abuse are rife when it comes to transgender identity. ' 

If this bill becomes effective, parents will fear accusations could escalate into a threat of criminal offence.'

everyhing this wretched government touches it somehow makes worse. That’s quite a talent! 

Back To Basics For Westminster...

 

...but just wait for someone to claim 'cultural appopriation', Matt.

Many A True Word...

 

...illustrated in cartoon form by Matt.

You're Answering A Question No-one's Asking

 

The quetion isn't what would they do, it's what would they be and the answer's that they wouldn't be Starmer. And for a lot of people, although they may dress it up for quotes, that's enough. It certainly is for me. Principally, it's punishment. For Southport, the Chagos Islands, Two Tier policing, etc.

Thing Fall Apart, The Centre Cannot Hold....

That they do, Yeats, that they do...

A Green councillor in Hackney has quit within days of winning his seat because he was voted in against electoral rules.James Tilden was elected to represent Hackney Central ward with 1,681 votes following the council elections last Thursday (May 7), but his party failed to realise this breached electoral law before making him their official candidate.As a primary school teacher in the one of the borough's community schools, Mr Tilden is legally an employee of Hackney Council. Under Section 80 of the Local Government Act 1972, teachers cannot become a member of a local authority if they are employed by or their job is confirmed by the same local authority.

Meanwhile:

Scotland Yard has been urged by the Tories to investigate Zack Polanski after he admitted he failed to pay council tax while living on a houseboat in east London. The Green Party leader was branded a 'hypocrite' after he apologised on Monday for the 'unintentional mistake' and said he had 'immediately taken steps to pay any council tax' owed. The Conservatives and Labour have both referred Mr Polanski, who is a member of the London Assembly, to the City Hall sleaze watchdog over his council tax arrangements.

Are we uniquely blessed in this country with hapless politicians? What happened to the apparatus of state and local government that’s paid well to oversee the process and stop this sort of thing happening?

Mind you, with the current incumbent of No 10 clinging on like a limpet despite everything, are the Greens really the worst of a bad bunch?

The Morning After…

Well, as I write this, it’s 5:15am, I'm just sipping my morning cuppa, and enough of the results are in that we know that, as predicted, Labour have suffered crushing defeat in their traditional heartlands, and Starmer’s political career is now measured in days, if not hours.

 TGIF! 

It's not all good news (it never is), the Green Party looks to have picked up too many seats for my liking, and what replaces Starmer is poroably even worse. 

Update: sadly, my area remaind solidly Labour despite (or perhaps because of?) the huge demographic change it's endured over the recent years?

It's D-Day!

Local elections, and a chance for people to cast a vote to give the people in charge a good kicking. but don't forget! 

Don't draw a cock on your ballot paper - last time, one got into No 10!

And never, ever vote Green!

My polling station is just two streets over, a short walk away so passport in hand I'll take a stroll on this, the last day of my impromptu holiday, and do my civic duty.

Update: A much longer walk than I’d thought - my local one is usually in a school, but the schools are all open, so it had been switched to a church hall several streets away. And to rub it in, on the walk there I passed another polling station in a community hall, much nearer! And inevitably, not the usual polling station means not the usual polling staff, three black women, and when I gave my address the one operating the iPad said she couldn’t find it, until I leaned over and pointed it out on the sheet of streets on the desk in front of her!

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.

This Man's Downfall Is Going To Be So Satisfying...

 

...and I can't wait to see how Matt covers it on Friday May 7th! 

The 'Complex Reasons Why People Might Have Larger Families'....

... aren't always actually very complex, but may be rather sinister. And something the progressives don’t want to acknowledge.

Clearly, more needs to be done to reduce inequality and deprivation in Britain. Even once the effects of this change have been felt, an estimated 4 million children will remain in poverty.

That’s the Guardian, welcoming the end to the two child benefit cap, the only sensible policy the Tories managed to get through.

But this week’s win should not be taken for granted. Benefits Street-type hostility is still all too widespread in Britain. When Labour was voted in, six in 10 Britons favoured keeping the cap in place – which may have added to the hesitancy around reversing it. That has reduced slightly, but research for More in Common last year found that 49% believed that removing the limit would be a “very” or “somewhat” bad idea, compared with 36% in favour.

That 49% have realised who we are paying to breed.

When ending it was framed as giving every child a good start, support surged.

Proof that you can fool all of the people all of the time. 

Sometimes, huge wins can be short‑lived. Labour must talk proudly about this moment, then build on it.

Yes, please do keep on talking about the disastrous decisions you have been making since you came into office, what’s the worst that can happen?

Oh, To Be A Fly On The Wall...

...when someone has to tell The Donald who she is!

Rachel Reeves has stepped up her criticism of Donald Trump’s war on Iran, describing it as a “mistake” that has destabilised the global economy and damaged living standards around the world.“I think it was a mistake to end those [talks with Iran] and to enter into conflict, because I’m not convinced that we are safer today than we were a few weeks ago,” she told an event in Washington.

'So, she's Defence Minister, right? 

'No Mister President, Chancellor!' 

'Well then, what does she know about military matters?'

'As much as she knows about monetary ones, sir...'

“Friends are allowed to disagree on things,” Reeves said. “When you are friends you can speak your truth and deliver that fair message,” she said.

I think you’re about to discover some well deserved ‘truthful speaking’ for the first time in your entirely undeserved life.

The Explanation Is That Starmer Wants Them Here...

A government source alerted the Mail to the figures and said it was 'insane' that migrants from outside Europe still are coming to the UK via this route.

We all know they are. Why the surprise, unnamed source?  

The revelations have led to calls for an investigation into abuses of the scheme and for the 'backdoor' to Britain to finally be wound down five years after the technical deadline to apply.

Calls by whom?  

Reform UK's home office spokesman Zia Yusuf said the scheme 'has long been a scam on the British people'. He added: 'It is a backdoor for Somalis, Pakistanis and Indians among others to claim benefits in the UK. The government must explain why this scheme is still open five years after it was supposed to close. 'Britain spent £15billion in the last 18 months on Universal Credit welfare for foreign nationals. The vast majority went to EU Settled Status [migrants]... Reform is the only party that will terminate all of it.'

If you get in, and sadly that isn't in the gift of ordinary voters anymore. 

The Home Office said the terms of the EUSS were established in the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, signed under the previous government, and that the UK is legally required to continue accepting late applications under the deal. A Home Office spokesman said: 'We have found no evidence that the scheme is being abused in this way. 'The government is doing everything in its power to reduce net migration.'

LOL, of course you are,,,, 

And Yet, They Can’t Do The Same To Dinghies In The English Channel

British forces are now "ready to act" to board and detain ships in Russia's so-called shadow fleet in UK waters, the defence secretary has said.Ministers identified a legal basis in January that would allow forces to board sanctioned vessels, but approval for the military measure was not given by the prime minister until Thursday.

Sounds about right for the current incumbent of Number 10! 

Questioned on why that decision had not come sooner, John Healey told BBC Radio 4's Today programme "what operations like this require is training, preparation, understanding discussion with allies [and] a clear legal basis".

Aren't they all things one would expect the navy to already possess, and if not, to be able to practice in peacetime on the hordes invading our country via the Channel?  

Sir Keir Starmer said the move would starve "Putin's war machine of the dirty profits that fund his barbaric campaign".

While Two-tier Kier's sabotaging his own campaign... roll on May! 

That's Not Good, We Need More Than 10% Of Them Gone

Labour will be decimated in May local elections, Unite leader says.Sharon Graham tells party to ‘wake up and smell the coffee’ after ‘shameful’ handling of Birmingham bin strike.

Yes, I know its the modern definition of 'decimation' being used here, but I'm a pedant.. 

In a speech to refuse workers near a waste depot in Tyseley on Thursday, Sharon Graham said working people were moving away from Labour in droves and called on the party to “wake up and smell the coffee”. “We are in one of the most significant strikes in decades,” she said. “An attack from a Labour council under a Labour government. Labour should hang their heads in shame. They are an absolute disgrace.”

The winners of this are up for grabs, but Dave Paulden's mob are likely to be in with a chance, after all, the effects of the strike are attracting all the big vermin.

The strikes, which could last beyond September, will be a key issue in Birmingham in the May local elections, when all 101 council seats are up for grabs.

One year on from the start of the all-out strike, Unite announced it had voted to cut its affiliation fee to Labour by 40%, or £580,000, over its handling of the bin strikes.

Good timeing, as it turned out!  

The union was fined £265,000 earlier this week after its members were found to have breached an injunction which prohibited blockades of waste lorries at depots. Graham said the fine would be paid for by the cut to Labour’s affiliation fee.

The council are in a no win situation. 

The council said it had “reached the absolute limit of what we can offer”, citing the risk of further equal pay claims being made if it acceded to the union’s demands.

Jimmy, an agency worker, said had been stressful to be on strike for such a long time. He said he had previously been a Labour supporter, but would be voting Reform in the local elections. “Labour, they don’t stand up for the working person any more,” he said.

 They never did, Jimmy, not really.

The council’s leader, John Cotton, said it had been in contact with the union to “end this stalemate” and that he wanted to “get round the table with Unite as soon as possible”.

If he can climb ovrt the mountain of uncollected rubbish outside the council office, that is... 

Oh, Trump, He Isn't Even Neville Chamberlain...

 

Sir Keir was also under fire closer to home as Britain yesterday scrambled to protect its RAF base on Cyprus, which was hit by a suicide drone thought to have been fired by Tehran's proxies late on Sunday night.The UK was left embarrassed as military minnow Greece will have warships in position to protect RAF Akrotiri days before the Royal Navy will be anywhere near the danger zone.And Sir Keir announced that Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon, along with helicopters with counter-drone capabilities, would head to the Mediterranean only after Emmanuel Macron ordered a French frigate to the region.

Sir Francis Drake will join Nelson in his graveyard revolutions, no doubt.

Former Royal Navy Falklands conflict commander Rear Admiral Chris Parry decried Labour's 'strategically illiterate' approach to the crisis.

Thank god this spineless weasel wasn't in power - or rather, in a seat at No10, when the Argentinians got out of hand.

He told the Daily Mail: 'The Government has been shamed into this token, paltry effort by the actions of other countries such as France and Greece. 'As a proud maritime country, our politicians should not have to be dragged kicking and screaming into a conflict in which British lives and interests were clearly going to be at stake.'

How could anyone argue that removing Iran's leadership and military capability was somehow not in Britain's interest? 

Chief Secretary to the PM Darren Jones admitted: 'I think the President's frustration, from the way he's articulated it, has been that we were not involved in the initial American and Israeli strikes in Iran.' But he added: 'As the Prime Minister said... we will only engage British Armed Forces when it's in British interests, with a clear plan and on a legal basis.'

Spoken like a true human rights lawyer, Kwier.. 

Well, Nesrine, If So, It's A Hole He Dug Entirely By Himself

It's not often she makes sense, but I like to highlight it when she does: 

He is in a hole that is too deep to climb out of. The prime minister’s persistent unpopularity is best understood as the result of abundance: there is simply, in Starmer, something for everyone to deplore.In policy, he has taken stances that have established him in the minds of many people as devoid of principle and compassion.

He's still got the shovel in his hands, Nesrine, and there's no sign yet that he's finished... 

On Gaza, Starmer got it wrong from the start. From his early assertion that Israel had the right to cut off water and power, to refusing calls for a ceasefire and then cracking down on protest (a move now judged as unlawful by the high court), the prime minister positioned himself against a huge domestic swell of distress.

'Huge domestic well', Nesrine? Hardly. Only emanating from those people we should really be looking to remove from the country at the first opportunity, the ones we regret ever inviting in.... 

And then there is Starmer himself. Personality alone does not make a politician, and God knows we have suffered enough from big personalities such as Boris Johnson – but you need something. Not necessarily fireworks and charm, but at the minimum just a sense of tangibility.

Starmer is impalpable; not in the sense that he isn’t there, but that he is hiding. He doesn’t dream, he says, nor does he have phobias, nor favourite novels. He communicates in only the most generic terms, in staccato sentences using repetitive themes – “change” or his working-class roots – connected by meaningless “let me be clears” and “make no mistakes”

I agree here, it is strange that someone who was a lawyer could be such a poor public speaker. 

Who is this person’s constituency? Not the left, to which he has made clear in policy and in purges that this is not its Labour party. Not the right, which will never be at home in Labour, no matter how many people it deports or how much capital it courts. And not the centre any more, for which Starmer’s incompetence and lurching from one debacle to the next is becoming increasingly hard to rationalise.

His constiturncy appears to be himself.