Boris says lockdown parties at Downing Street were essential to boost moral.

 

Pinocchio - Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson obviously displays plausible sociopathic traits, and has been compared to an out of control shopping trolley, because of the chaos that surrounds him.  Yet, the LBC radio presenter, James O'Brien, is intrigued why so many people are prepared to defend this pathological liar and chancer and have become apologists for Boris Johnson, who has been compared to Pinocchio.

For the former culture minister, Nadine Dorries, Boris can do no wrong in her eyes. The sycophantic, and obsequious toady, Jacob Reese-Mogg, also sticks up for his former Oxford Union pal. Mogg has denounced the Commons Select Committee on Privileges- which is investigating whether Johnson inadvertently, recklessly, or intentionally, lied to Parliament - as a Kangaroo court. He declared that regardless of the Committee's findings, Johnson had already won in the court of public opinion and would win a by-election easily.

A man well known for lying and creating alternative facts and realities, Johnson has already said that he may not accept the Committee's findings if it he doesn't like their conclusions. We know from the "Partygate" report by Sue Gray, that there were regular Friday piss ups in the Downing Street Press office known as "Wine Time Fridays" and that Boris Johnson participated on more than one occasion. There was even a cheese and wine and secret Santa party and a "Bring Your Own Booze" party in the Downing Street garden in May 2020. Boris Johnson says that he asked his chief spin doctor, Jack Doyle, if office piss ups were permitted under his own lockdown rules and he claims that Doyle told him they were allowed. Doyle denies giving this advice.

Initially, Boris Johnson denied that any parties had taken place at Downing Street and maintained that he had been assured that all lockdown rules and guidance had been adhered to at all times. He recently told the Select Committee, that the leaving and retirement parties, held during lockdown restrictions, were essential activities because they boosted moral.

Be wary of the Psychologist - B.F. Skinner.

 

American Psychologist - B.F. Skinner

The American psychologist, B.F. Skinner, is idealised by some and despised by others. For me, he's the enemy of autonomy and freedom. He believed that free will was an illusion and that behaviour is controlled by environment - "Behaviourism" which can be controlled by "Operant Conditioning", a system of rewards and punishment. No wonder some students in the U.S. burnt effigies of Skinner.

I've been trying to get a copy of his book Walden Two without success. The self-governing collectivist utopian community of Walden Two, believe they are exercising autonomy and free will in their decision making and day to day living, but is this really all an illusion, a fraud, bring perpetrated by its founder called T.E. Frazier. Is Walden Two just a psychological experiment?

I was aware that Skinner used his own children for psychological experiments in much the same way, as he used rats and pigeons. I gather he put one child in a Skinner (pigeon box) and they say, he rejected another child, to see how it would play out. His daughter, Deborah Skinner, rejects much of this, and says it isn’t true.  Although she doesn’t deny that she was put in an ‘aircrib’, ‘baby box’, ‘heir conditioner’, “call it what you will”, she says that she didn’t become psychotic, sue her father in a court of law, or shoot herself in a bowling alley in Billings, Montana.

I don't doubt that our environment and upbringing does have a major influence on what we become, but how many parents often become disappointed with the way their children turn out, in spite of their best efforts to control, influence, and shape their behaviour. This is because all of us are born with free will, and some people will misuse it, as Saint Augustine recognised.

Skinner is about manipulating and controlling behaviour in the interest of others, which appeals to many governments. China's "social credit system", defines good and bad behaviour and ranks citizens on their social and financial behaviour on a point system. Show more loyalty to the Chinese Communist government and you get more points. In Britain, the government have used "Nudge Theory" to influence behaviour. Psychologists were also used by the Americans to develop torture programs in Guantanamo Bay. 

Solidarity with Lee Fowler: sacked for raising safety concerns!

 

Blacklisted Electrician - Lee Fowler

Solidarity with Lee Fowler, who has been dismissed by the electrical contractor Bilfinger after he raised safety issues at the Cargill's Refinery site in Merseyside (next to the new Everton football stadium construction project). The experienced and highly qualified electrician made several complaints about unsafe working conditions and helped four co-workers to obtain a pay rise.

Lee Fowler commented after his dismissal:

"I got the four lads a 14% pay rise and I raised health and safety concerns about the site. I was involved in a serious accident myself, and the subsequent report found no blame on my part whatsoever. I have repeatedly asked to see the safety documents relating to my accident, and that request has been repeatedly denied.  And for that I was dismissed? I have fought for workers' health and safety for over 30 years: they won’t silence me!"

Lee Fowler is a member of Unite the Union who are representing him. Frank Morris and Tony Seaman, UNITE Executive Council members for construction issued a joint statement: 

"It is really disappointing that in 2023, we continue to see workers who are prepared to raise genuine concerns about safety being targeted. Despite all that was promised by major contractors in the High Court in 2016, this issue continues to blight our members lives. Blacklisting is one of the reasons that the construction sector has such a horrendous safety record. We cannot stand by and watch union members be repeatedly victimised. Unite will never stop fighting the harassment faced by workers who stand up for their rights. An injury to one is an injury to all".

Blacklist Support Group posted on their Facebook page: 

Lee Fowler is a leading member of the Blacklist Support Group - having first been blacklisted after becoming an OILC safety rep in the North Sea in the early 90s. 

Construction workers who raise concerns about potential hazards that could affect people on site and the surrounding community should be applauded. The industry has glossy posters that encourage workers to speak out. But time and again, workers who are conscientious about safety get sacked. Get your banners ready, another blacklisting dispute is about to kick off.

Photo: Lee Fowler protesting against Carillon outside Liverpool Royal Hospital in 2015

Blacklist Support Group

book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNcgrNs6pB8

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

Sturgeon says social media is a "Plague on Democracy"!

 

GCHQ Whistleblower - Katherine Gun 

In her final major speech, Nicola Sturgeon says she agrees with Tony Blair when he described 'social media' as a "plague" on democracy. She says that politicians are subjected to verbal abuse on social media. I wonder why?

Perhaps, she's referring to comments made by the author J.K. Rowling, who called Sturgeon, a "destroyer of women's rights" on social media. There's little doubt that Sturgeons' stance on the toxic issue of gender reform in Scotland, is a factor in her political downfall and the SNP losing members and popularity in Scotland.

As for Tony Blair, isn't this the man who took Britain into a phoney and illegal war against Iraq and the regime of Saddam Hussein, on the grounds that he had WMD's that were never found, because there wasn't any to be found?

Last night, I watched the movie "Official Secrets", starring Keira Knightley. She played the part of the GCHQ Mandarin translator and whistle-blower, Katherine Gun, who leaked an email from an American National Security Agency (NSA) official, called Frank Koza, who was chief of staff at the "regional targets" section of the NSA. The email was seeking G.C.H.Q's co-operation in spying on members of the United Nations (U.N.) security council to blackmail them into voting for a U.N. resolution to send troops into war with Iraq. The leaked email was published by The Observer and Gun admitted to having leaked the email. She was eventually prosecuted for breaching the Official Secrets Act. She pleaded not guilty and entered a defence of "necessity" - speaking up to save imminent danger to life. The defence was never tested in court because the prosecution withdrew their case against Katherine Gun.

What seems to have clinched it, is that the defence had asked for disclosure of advice given by the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, who had initially advised that a war against Iraq without a second U.N. resolution, would be illegal and that the only grounds for a war, were self- defence, which wasn't an option, because Iraq wasn't threatening Briton. Tony Blair then barred Goldsmith from attending cabinet meetings and he threatened to resign. He then changed his legal opinion after a visit to America and after speaking to Lady Sally Morgan and Lord Falconer. 

Rather than disclose the information that would have put the legality of the war against Iraq on trial, the government withdrew their case against Katherine Gun. The leaked email did not stop the U.S invasion of Iraq in 2003 and it was not until 2016, that Lord Goldsmith's initial legal advice was disclosed by the Chilcot inquiry.

"Vision Tameside" - The ruination of Ashton Market!

 

Ashton Market Today

I don't use the Sunday farmers' market on Ashton market ground, but I know Ashton market ground very well.

Not many years ago, the outdoor market was one of the best outdoor markets in Greater Manchester. There were plenty of market stalls and plenty of people who shopped on the market ground. Locals would promenade up and down the market stalls and stop to talk to friends, family, and acquaintances. Once a week, on a Tuesday, there was a flea market with some good book stalls. There's still a flea market, but the market is a shadow of its former self.

The rot set in when they got rid of the old market stalls and spent around £5m doing it up. It was all part of "Vision Tameside". The council would have done better to leave the market as it was. The market traders complained that turning the former M&S store on Warrington Street into a Poundland didn't help, and had hit their trade. Car parking in Ashton town centre is also a problem. A lot of stores moved away from Ashton town Centre to the Snipe Retail Park and M&S moved to Ashton West End, next to Sainsbury's.

On many days during the week, the stalls on Ashton market ground are empty and groups of kids hang around the market stalls. Many are from the local college and the smell of cannabis permeates the air. The council believed that bringing education institutions into Ashton Town Centre, would throw the town an economic lifeline.

Ashton Market Before

Panhandlers are commonplace in Ashton Town Centre and it is not unusual to be accosted in the street and be asked for money. I was once tapped for a tenner while using the ATM machine. Street violence by kids and drunks is not unusual. One Community Support Officer, described some of the kids as "wannabe gangsters" who all want to sound like Bez and Shaun Ryder of the Happy Mondays, or the Gallagher brothers. On some days, Ashton resembles Victorian Glasgow on a boozy Saturday night.

David Gilmour says that Roger Waters is a 'Putin Apologist'!

 

Roger Waters

Eric Clapton, Nick Mason, Susan Sarandon, Julie Christie, Ken Loach, and Tom Morello, have all signed a petition to reverse the ban on Roger Waters performing a concert in Frankfurt, Germany, on 28 May as part of his "This Is Not A Drill" tour.

David Gilmour and his wife Polly Samson, have denounced Waters as "anti-Semitic" and "misogynistic." Gilmour and his wife have accused Waters of being a "Putin apologist" and of being a "lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax avoiding, lip synching, misogynistic, sick with envy, megalomaniac."

Roger Waters has been denounced as an anti-Semite because of his criticism of the Israeli State and his sympathies towards the Palestinian people.

Victory for Dan Collins at Royal Courts of Justice.

 Imagine seeing an unsafe walkway at work and putting a note in the suggestion box. You might expect a reasonable employer would fix the walkway. Instead at Bond Street Crossrail station, they sacked Dan Collins and paid £59,000 to a private security firm to spy on him and other union members (who were viewed as a ‘threat to the project’). This is taxpayer funded contemporary blacklisting and unsurprisingly Dan's case was debated in parliament at the time. Collins -v- Crossrail finally ended in the Royal Courts of Justice this week. Link to the statement in open court: https://www.unitetheunion.org/media/5482/230320-crossrailopenstatement.pdf

Press Photos by Jess Hurd: https://jesshurd.com/2023/03/20/crossrail-blacklisting-high-court/

Blacklist Support Group send solidarity to Dan Collins - he's one of our own. 

“Daniel Collins is part of the Unite activist group”

“I hope we never end up with this bloke on any of our sites!”

Just two quotes from various emails sent by Crossrail, Skanska, Costain, Tommy Clarke, NG Bailey and private security firm Control Risk demonstrating that blacklisting contractors haven’t stopped spying on union activists. Despite Dan's statement in open court going unchallenged by the employers in court, they all managed to put out nauseating press statements after being forced to pay compensation in a legal battle. 

Coverage in the trade press:

https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/legal/exclusive-crossrail-and-costain-skanska-settled-blacklisting-lawsuit-20-03-2023/

https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2023/march/unite-member-says-he-feels-fully-vindicated-in-crossrail-blacklisting-case-as-open-court-statement-delivered/

--

Blacklist Support Group

book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNcgrNs6pB8

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/

blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

Jewish charity chief condemns Israeli settler violence against Palestininans.

 

Hagai El-Ad

This Jewish man, Hagai El-Ad, is a human rights activist who heads an organisation called B'Tselem ("in the image of God"). He recently condemned Israeli settler violence in Hawara in the West Bank.

Israeli settlers have illegally occupied Palestinian lands in the West Bank and have built settlements. Following the deaths of two Israeli's by Palestinian gunmen, Israeli settlers rampaged through the town of Hawara torching homes and vehicles. This is not an isolated incident, and as the B'Tselem director general points out, Israeli pogroms against Palestinians take place on a regular basis and have the backing of the Israeli police, army, and government.

Sir Kier Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, says that while his party "fully opposes and condemns illegal settlements, annexation, and the eviction of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestine territories", Labour does not oppose Zionism and is not in favour of sanctions being imposed on Israel.

Many people have described the State of Israel as an apartheid racist state. This includes Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela's grandson, Zwelivelile Mandela. Amnesty International have also called the Israel an apartheid and racist state for the way it subjugates and discriminates against the indigenous Palestinian people.

Although the Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, Kier Starmer has said publicly that he "supports Zionism without qualification." Most people know that the State of Israel which came into being in 1948, is predicated on the subjugation and expulsion of the Palestinian people. This is reflected in Israel's nation-state law. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netenyahu, said on 26 November 2014, that Israel was "The nation-state of the Jewish people, and the Jewish people alone."

Roger Waters denounced as an anti-Semite. Concert cancelled in Frankfurt!

 

Roger Waters

The former Pink Floyd bassist, Rogers Waters, is taking legal action after being accused of being an anti-Semite.

Frankfurt city council and the Hessian state government decided to cancel his show on 28 May in a bid to "set an example against antisemitism." They have accused Waters of persistent anti-Israel behaviour and of being one of the most widely spread anti-Semites in the world. They have accused Waters of campaigning for a cultural boycott of Israel and of comparing Israel to the apartheid regime in South Africa. Roger Waters denies being anti-Semitic and has instructed lawyers to take action to overturn the decision and to ensure that his right to freedom of speech is protected and that people who wish to attend his concerts, are free to do so.

Anti-Semitism is a hatred or prejudice of Jews or Jewish people. Criticism of Israel is often conflated with anti-Semitism, but it is not anti-Semitism. Both Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela's grandson, Zwelivelile Mandela, have accused Israel of being an apartheid regime and I think both of them, know a thing or two about apartheid, or segregation and discrimination, on grounds of race.

Amnesty International have also accused Israel of apartheid because of the way Israel imposes a system of oppression and domination against Palestinians in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza, and across all areas under its control and Palestinian refugees, in order to benefit Jewish Israelis.

Benjamin Netanyahu, has said that Israel is "not a state of all its citizens." As Prime Minister of Israel, he declared on 26 November 2014, that Israel was "The nation-state of the Jewish people and the Jewish people alone."

Roger Waters is just one of many people who have been condemned and vilified for being anti-Semites simply because they criticise Israel and express sympathy with the oppressed Palestinian people.

Gaelic the language of Macbeth.

 

I used to read copies of the West Highlands free press. If often cited instances of English prejudice towards Gaelic speakers. One example was a joke about two people that posed this question: How do you know when two people are having a conversation in Gaelic? Answer: One of them is covered in spit.

To me, this didn't sound like an English joke at all, because many English people are not likely to have heard a Gaelic accent at all. The newspaper also cited a case where an English-speaking registrar had refused to register a child with a Gaelic name.

Most Scots people are not familiar with the Gaelic language which is mostly spoken on the West Coast of Scotland. Gaelic speakers are also likely to be bilingual even if they live in the Western Isles. I've only known one person who spoke Gaelic and she could hold a conversation with a native Irish Gaelic speaker. This lady was from Skye and she told me that as a child they used to listen to Irish radio broadcasts in the native Gaelic Irish language and she could understand it.

In the 18th century, the Red Coat English soldiers, referred to the Scottish Gaelic speakers, as the people of the Irish tongue. Middle Gaelic, would have been the language of Macbeth or to give him his full name, Mac Bethad Mac Findlaech. It is likely that Macbeth also spoke French and Latin. It is said that he made a pilgrimage to Rome in 1050.

In Shakespeare's play 'Macbeth', Scotland is at war with Norway. At the time of Macbeth, the Scots were at war with one another, because it was a fragmented country. Much of the Western Isles and Outer Hebrides, was under the control of the Vikings until the Treaty of Perth in 1266.

Feminists rejoice at the downfall of Sturgeon!

 

J. K. Rowling

J K Rowling is famous but she's not the only woman to have spoken out about the transgender issue and the SNP"s Gender Reform Bill for Scotland. She accused Nicola Sturgeon of being a destroyer of women's rights and denied being 'transphobic'.

I think Rowling and the women who campaigned against the Bill had a point. They said it was wide open to abuse by predatory males and that it put women and young girls at risk because they would have to share the same spaces with these sex abusers. Sturgeon chose to ignore the warnings and they were proved right.

While not all men who have transgendered to women are sex abusers, a number of male sex offenders in Scottish jails, have become transgendered women and have demanded to be transferred to women's prisons. Sturgeon herself, said that the double rapist Adam Graham aka Isla Bryson, may have been "gaming the system", and so did his ex-wife.

What does it really mean to be a woman, if any Tom, Dick, or Harry, can simply change gender and self-identity as a woman and can be legally recognised as a woman? I'm not surprised that many women are anxious about this issue and its implications for them.

How people choose to live their lives is their business but when we're told that a man with a penis is a woman and there are 72 different genders, we're being gaslighted. Some people may choose to abandon reality, but I still think it's worth defending.

French worker strike over plans to raise State retirement age to 64.

 

For the last two-months there have been protests and cross-sector strikes in France over Emmanuel Macron's plan to increase the State retirement age in France from 62 to 64 years of age. The streets of Paris are now overflowing with waste and rubbish because Parisian refuse collectors are on strike against plans to increase their retirement age from 57 to 59.

Britain not only as one of the least generous State pension schemes in Europe, but British workers work for far longer before retiring. The current retirement age for men and women is 66 years and the government are planning to increase this to 68 years by 2044 or it could be earlier. Those who do not qualify for the New State Pension of £185.15 p.w. receive the old basic State Pension of £141.85 p.w. 

As the State retirement age increases, many British workers, particularly manual workers, will not live long enough to get a State old age pension and the government knows this. Although the government and your GP might tell you that work is good for you, industrial disease and industrial accidents are the cause of death for many British workers. According to the TUC, at least 20,000 British workers die prematurely each year because of occupational disease - occupational cancers, lung diseases like COPD, mesothelioma (asbestos), chronic bronchitis and emphysema, cardiovascular disease, caused by stress, breathing in fumes, chemicals and dusts.

There is considerable evidence that manual workers leading a tougher life on lower incomes than the professional classes, have a much shorter life expectancy. Poverty and social deprivation, smoking and alcohol, along with a poor diet, also shortens life expectancy.

Rape fantasist gets eight and a half years imprisonment!

 

Eleanor Williams

A 22-year old girl from Barrow has been sentenced to eight and half years’ imprisonment for perverting the course of justice.

Eleanor Williams, claimed that she had been raped by multiple men and trafficked for sex by Asian grooming gangs. She posted pictures of her injuries on Facebook, but her injuries had been self-inflicted using a hammer. Detectives initially believed that they were dealing with Cumbria's biggest-ever grooming ring. But by checking flight records, CCTV footage, and mobile phone data, they became convinced that Williams had made most of her story up.

The lies she told and the allegations she made against people, led to people receiving death threats, being attacked, harassed, and being verbally abused in the street. Some considered taking their own lives after being falsely accused by Williams. It also led to protests from the far-right racist Tommy Robinson and the English Defence League, who visited Barrow. A far-right campaign group called 'Patriotic Alternative', started to campaign against immigration to the town. Asian pharmacists, GP's, and nurses, expressed fear for their safety.

When Williams first appeared at Preston Crown Court in June 2020, dozens of supporters wearing "Justice for Ellie Hoodies" protested outside the court and shouted "scum" at journalists. One of Williams's prominent supporters was Maggie Oliver, the former Greater Manchester police officer, who turned whistle blower to expose sex abuse in Rochdale. A crowd funder started by a local councillor in Essex, raised £22,000 for Williams. Yet, William's allegations of rape, Asian grooming, and sex trafficking, all turned out to be a pack of lies, a figment of her fertile imagination.

Despite undergoing a psychiatric assessment, Williams has never explained her motives for concocting the false rape allegations. The judge that sentenced her, Robert Altham, said: "It is troubling to say the least that she shows no significant signs of remorse." There had been speculation that Williams might have been suffering from "fictitious disorder", previously known as Munchausen Syndrome, a psychological condition where a person deceives others by appearing to be sick or by inflicting self-injury to get attention.

Cumbrian police say that they encounter people who tell lies all the time, but not to the extent that Williams went to, in her narrative of being a victim of multiple rape and sex trafficking. Despite the damage that Williams caused to community relations in Barrow, Simon Fell, the MP for Barrow, believes that Williams needs support. He said: "No one does what she did to her body, and makes up stories that she made up and goes to the lengths she went to, without being someone who is broken in some way and quite damaged."

Judge Robert Altham said that while Williams's allegations of a rape had been a "complete fiction", unless she chose to say why she told lies, we would never know her motives for doing so.

"The Cyclists Friend" - No Lady or Gentleman should be without one.

 

When I was a young lad, many of my friends owned air guns, including myself, which we often took out with us. We would often go down to the canal to shoot with our air pistols and rifles. On one occasion, I spoke to a lad who had a .410 shotgun with him. Shooting and poaching rabbits with nets, dogs, and ferrets, was very popular in the North of England in the 1960s.

Today, Britain has some of the strictest gun laws in the world and there have even been calls for air weapons to be licensed. Yet, before 1920, there were very few restrictions on gun ownership in Britain. You could buy a revolver and cartridges at a gunsmith, local hardware store, pub, or by mail order, with no questions asked. Many British magazines carried adverts for a product known as the 'The Cyclist's Friend' or 'The Traveller's Friend', which was not a puncture outfit or waterproof cape, but a revolver that could be easily concealed in a pocket or a handbag. 

A revolver produced by the Staffordshire firm of T.W. Carryer and Co Ltd, which they called, 'The Cyclist's Friend', sold for 12 shillings and was marketed with the logo, "Fear no tramp" and "No lady or gentleman should be without one." Women Cyclists were thought to be particularly vulnerable to attacks from robbers and vagrants or vicious dogs, as they cycled along England's rural roads. 

The arms manufacturer Colt, claimed that British sales of their Pocket Revolver, the Colt .32, had risen into the 'thousands' between its introduction in 1893 and 1901. The Colt .45, which was said to have tamed the Wild West of America, was also very popular. Yet gun crime, was extremely rare, and calls for tighter gun control was usually dismissed as unnecessary.

In spite of the lax gun laws in Britain, before the Firearms Act of 1920, most people didn't own a gun or feel it necessary to buy one. What seems to have tipped the scales in favour of tighter gun control in Britain, is the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the number of former servicemen who had fought in WWI, who had taken weapons home with them as souvenirs. This seems to have worried the establishment.

Leeds preacher has conviction for transgender harassment overturned.

 

Leeds Preacher - David McConnell

A Christian preacher has had a conviction quashed by Leeds Magistrate Court after he was found guilty of harassing a transgender woman by calling her a "man" and a "gentleman."

In June 2021, David McConnell (42), from Flockton, Wakefield, had been preaching to a small crowd in Leeds when a person in the crowd, Ms Farrah Munir (19), suddenly asked, "Does God accept the LGBT community?" Addressing the crowd, Mr McConnell - who was wearing a body camera - referred to Ms Muir as "this gentleman" and said, "This is a man." The preacher then told the crowd, "Homosexuality is an abomination in the eyes of God" and added, "The Bible says lesbianism is an unnatural and vile passion." Ms Munir said she'd been left "emotionally distraught."

Mr McConnell was given a 12-month community order with 80-hours unpaid work in September 2022. At the appeal hearing, Mr McConnell told the court that in his view he was "not misgendering" and was "gendering correctly" because he knew that the person in front of him (Ms Farrah Munir), was a biological male and had therefore stayed true to God and true to his beliefs.

Recorder Anthony Hawks, who overturned Mr McConnell's conviction with two other magistrates last Thursday, said that although they accepted that Mr McConnell's words had been insulting and Ms Munir had suffered "harassment, alarm and distress", there was no evidence that he had intended to do so." Recorder Hawks told the court:

"We live in a time when free speech is important and vital and we live in a time when people's attitudes towards gender are very different from how they were years ago. All these issues need to be properly respected, so I make no criticism whatsoever of the Crown bringing a prosecution in this case."

David McConnell who was backed by the Christian Legal Centre, said he was "delighted and relieved" and added, "I am however, appalled by how I have been treated by the authorities in this matter."

Last Tuesday, the Daily Mail reported that David McConnell, had been reported to the UK's Prevent counter terrorism program over his Christian views "which were deemed to be sufficiently radical for them to be contacted." According to Mr McConnell's probation officer, he was "viewed to be persistently and illegally espousing an extreme point of view" with his "preaching, prompting the government official to 'routinely' liaise with counter-terrorism police."

The case and revelations about David McConnell have caused outrage among many Christians who see themselves being persecuted and reported as potential terrorists, because they won't celebrate and approve LGBT ideology and queer politics. The case brought against Mr McConnell, which is not an isolated case, represents a disturbing trend in British society where people who espouse traditional Christian values in public about marriage, gender, and sexual relationships, are having legal action being taken against them.

John Steinbeck

 

John Steinbeck

I've read a number of books by John Steinbeck but it's this quote from Cannery Row that always stuck with me. Doc says to Mack and the Boys, 

 "It has always seemed strange to me...the things we admire in men, kindliness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self- interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the qualities of the first, they love the produce of the second." 

 In his play Macbeth, Shakespeare has the three witches saying something very similar to Doc in Cannery Row. That "fair is foul and foul is fair." In short, what seems good can often be bad and vice versa. It's the basis of classical economic theory that underpins so-called capitalist free markets. It has been said that Doc is based loosely on Steinbeck's friend, Ed Ricketts. I always get the impression that Steinbeck rather admires the ne'er-do-well panhandlers and bums and their non-materialistic, laid-back attitude towards life, whether it's Mack and the Boys in Cannery Row, or the Mexican paisano's of Tortilla Flat. Many of his stories, like Grapes of Wrath, deal with the daily grit and grime of human existence.

Voter ID. Tory Government accused of ballot rigging!

 

This May, people who go to a polling station to vote, will be required to show photo-ID before being issued with a ballot paper. Yet, some 11 million people living in the UK, don't have a passport or a driving license because they don't require the documents. Around 3 million people living in Britain don't have photo-ID.

Under the new law, people can apply for a 'Voter Authority Certificate' (VAC). Government data shows that fewer than 21,000 people out of an estimated 2 million, who will require a VAC in the May 2023 elections, have applied for one. Only 505 people aged over 75 have applied for a VAC, and fewer than 6% of applicants were aged under 25.

The opposition political parties in Britain have accused the Tory government of ballot rigging. They point out that elderly people living in Greater London, will be able to use their Oyster Card bus passes as photo-ID when voting in elections, but this doesn't apply to younger people with an Oyster card. Moreover, photo-ID is not required for postal ballots.

Voter turnout in elections has been falling in the UK for decades. Fewer than 30% bother to vote in local elections. Critics say the new law of photo-ID is likely to see voter turnout declining even further.

Wakefield school boy accused of 'desecrating' the Qur'an!

 

Kettlethorpe High School

Blasphemy was abolished in England and Wales in 2008 and in Scotland in 2021. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK to have retained it.

The incidents at Batley Grammar School and Kettlethorpe High School in Wakefield, are both ostensibly related to the holy book the Qur'an, and an allegation of blasphemy or disrespect.

Under pressure from local Muslims, three teachers were suspended at Batley Grammar school and one had to go into hiding with his family in fear of his life, after receiving death threats. The teacher had been accused of the 'inappropriate' use of a picture of the prophet in an R.E. class which was used to illustrate a point about religious bigotry.

At the school in Wakefield, four pupils have been suspended for slightly damaging an English copy of the Qur'an they had bought themselves. They have been accused by local Muslims of 'desecrating' the Holy Book. The incident has been dubbed 'Qurangate'. The head teacher of the school, says there was "no malicious intent by those involved", yet there have been death threats to one of the boys who is autistic. The local police said they were treating the matter as an "hate incident" - not the death threats but the scuff marks on the book - and the head teacher of the school called it a "very serious matter."

In both cases, attempts to appease a mob of Muslim activists, and the fear of being accused of Islamophobia, has effectively reintroduced a de facto law of blasphemy in England through the backdoor. 

The incident at Kettlethorpe High School, makes one wonder what would have happened if a Muslim child had dropped a copy of the Christian Bible. Would that have led to a police Inquiry and accusations of hate crime and desecration.

School chaplain was referred to 'Prevent' Program because of his Christian beliefs!

 

Reverend Bernard Randell

The Rev Bernard Randall (50), was made redundant from the school where he was employed as school Chaplain, after he told pupils in a sermon delivered in June 2019, 'You do not have to accept the ideas of LGBT activists" that was being taught on the Educate & Celebrate (E&C) programme.

In his sermon, called 'Competing Ideologies', the Reverend Randall said he believed that parts of E&C were Marxist, revolutionary and atheist. The sermon triggered complaints from parents, pupils and staff members, who said it nearly left them in tears, but Randal insisted that the programme, was incompatible with the school's Christian ethos.

As a Christian, Reverend Randall believes that marriage is a union between a man and a woman and that sex outside of marriage is a sin and "morally problematic." Trent College in Derbyshire, were so shocked by Reverend Russell's Christian beliefs that they referred him to 'Prevent', the government's anti-extremism programme which found there was "no counter terrorism risk, or risk of radicalisation" in Rev Randall's message.

The school Chaplain claimed unfair dismissal but lost his case at an Employment Tribunal, who found his dismissal was a genuine redundancy aimed at saving the school money. They dismissed his claim of discrimination, harassment, and victimisation.  The Employment Tribunal judge, Victoria Butler, said there had been no victimisation and that Randall's referral to Prevent, had been justified from a "safeguarding perspective."

Trent College said they welcomed the judgement and said they were an "inclusive community." Reverend Russell said that he was extremely disappointed to lose the case and that it struck a blow at freedom of speech and freedom of religion. He added: "It is a foundational principle of a truly democratic society that the free exchange of ideas is good for everyone." 

Since losing his job, Rev Randall, has been made unemployable as a minister because the Bishop of Derby, the Rt. Rev. Libby Lane, will not permit him to work as a minister in the Church of England. He was blacklisted by the diocese as a “safeguarding risk” to children and vulnerable adults.

Cummings fast-tracked company with no assets for Covid contracts!

 

An American company called 'Disruptive Nanotechnology (trading as Tried and Tested), which had two employees - Charles Palmer and Kim Thonger - no assets, £85 in the bank, and debts of £3,592, made a £20 million profit from government contracts after it was referred to the VIP fast track lane by Dominic Cummings at the height of the COVID pandemic.

In July 2020, Dominic Cummings referred an offer from two middlemen, Palmer and Thonger, representing the US-based firm Innova Medical Group, within one hour of receiving it by email to a No.10 advisor. Less than two months later, Innova was awarded its first public contact without competition, valued at £103 million. Innova went on to win 12 contracts to supply COVID tests totalling more than £4 billion in value.

In June 2021, U.S. regulators banned the use of Innova COVID tests due to "significant concerns that the performance of the test has not been adequately established, presenting a risk to health." The U.S. regulators also suggested that Innova may have falsified evidence in support of the efficacy of the tests. Consumers were advised to either "destroy" Innova's antigen tests or throw them in the "trash". Six days later the Conservative government of Boris Johnson, awarded Innova a further contract valued at £518 million.

The lucrative government contracts with Innova saw Disruptive Nanotechnology's profits surge in 2020/21 to £20.5 million. Palmer and Thonger were the company's only employees at the time. Innova Medical Group also cashed in during the pandemic with executives buying Gulfstream jets and purchasing 'multi-million dollar homes directly off the back of the contracts awarded by the British government.

An organisation called the Good Law Project, contacted No. 10 Downing Street, the Department of Health and Social Care, Innova and Disruptive Nanotechnology, for an explanation as to how a tiny company with no assets, selling a dubious product, won privileged access to the heart of government. No explanation has been forthcoming.