Friday 21 October: Liz Truss’s premiership was sabotaged by Tory MPs who lack true Conservative instincts

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its comments facility (now reinstated, but we prefer ours),
Intelligent, polite, good-humoured debate is welcome, whether on or off topic. Differing opinions are encouraged, but rudeness or personal attacks on other posters will not be tolerated. Posts which – in the opinion of the moderators – make this a less than cordial environment, are likely to be removed, without prior warning.  Persistent offenders will be banned.

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here.

590 thoughts on “Friday 21 October: Liz Truss’s premiership was sabotaged by Tory MPs who lack true Conservative instincts”

    1. Morning all, a disturbed night. Lots of plumbing re-work in the kitchen which has be now concerned about the water situation.

    1. Every single Tory MP who thinks Truss was abominably treated should resign his or her parliamentary seat and stand again as a Reform Party candidate.

      1. What and risk everything? I’m not sure you get the golden handshake for losing an election if you resign your seat rather than stand in a general election.

  5. Britain is a political wasteland. Spiked 21 October 2022.

    To see the true state of the Tory Party, look no further than a comment piece penned by one of its former leaders, William Hague, this week. ‘Ideology is dead: it’s competence we need now’, the headline said. In short, you’ve had your fun with Brexit and Boris and the mad populist experiment – now it’s time for the adults to come back into the room and take control. Not only is this undemocratic (14million people voted for Boris to be PM, no one voted for Hunt to be de facto PM). Not only is it anti-political. Not only is it bureaucratic, stiff and unabashedly concerned more with making the trains run on time than with inspiring the people with proposals for a genuinely better life. It is also an admission that they have no ideas left. That the once great Conservative Party is completely out of steam. That Westminster itself is knackered. ‘Competence’ is the last refuge of the visionless. They’re finished. Kaput. Clueless. Not just Liz, all of them. The need for a political overhaul has never been so pressing and so great.

    That’s true Brendan but who do we turn to? The UK is a dysfunctional polity worthy of the Third World. Nothing works. Its institutions are moribund! Not only democracy but the system itself is dead.

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/10/20/britain-is-a-political-wasteland/

  6. Morning all! Hoping to finish my decorating today. Miles of carefully applied masking tape to peel off, hoping for the best! Havr a good day.

    1. I hope you have better luck than I did; when I peeled off some of the masking tape, a piece of paint came with it 🙁

  8. 355388+ up ticks,

    Friday 21 October: Liz Truss’s premiership was sabotaged by Tory MPs who lack true Conservative instincts

    Morning Eachk
    Gettaway, you don’t say,30 plus years for the euro to drop.
    30 plus years of supporting / voting these political cretins whilst eyes tight shut to the very obvious FACT these Isles were filling up
    with various types of troops set on taking these Isles DOWN.

    Troops of welfare dependants, paedophiles,
    regular troops etc,etc
    getting fed & watered in 5* hotels …… waiting.

    You GOTTA vote tory (ino) keep out lab(ino)
    voting insanity, these “governing” parties form, in total, a COALITION of very low grade SHITE.

    Friday 21 October: Liz Truss’s premiership was sabotaged by Tory MPs who lack true Conservative instincts

    1. I think there will be a significant change in voting patterns come the next election. It’s clearly not worth bothering. MPs are a cabal unto themselves, democracy a proven sham. Even when the party has a huge majority to implement any policy it chooses it does… nothing.

      If MPs insist on fighting each other for pathetic career advancement, and the party utterly uninterested in serving the public good, and does nothing with a huge majority then why bother voting?

      1. 366388+ up ticks,

        Morning W,
        Without this voting pattern these last 30 plus years we would never have achieved the status as a nation we have today.
        “Then why bother voting?”
        additive, for them ?

      1. 366388+ up ticks,
        NtM,
        Rectified,loss of attention whilst trying to coax ostrich of egg for morning breakfast

  9. Nearly 1,000 Ukrainians made homeless as cost of living crisis hits host families. 21 October 2022.

    This summer a survey of 17,000 Britons who participated in the Homes for Ukraine scheme found one in four (26 per cent) wanted to end the arrangement after six months.

    A call by Lord Harrington, the former refugees minister, for the value of the monthly payment to UK families to be doubled from £350 to £700 to help with the costs has stalled.

    Since February 131,700 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK under both the Family Scheme and the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Overall 1,915 Ukrainian households from both schemes have fallen into homelessness between February and September, up from 1,565 at the end of August.

    The UK! Doss house to the world while its own people sleep on the streets!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/20/nearly-1000-ukrainians-made-homeless-cost-living-crisis-hits/

    1. There are plenty of old cruise ships around the world. Fill them with immigrants, refugees etc and anchor them off the West coast of the Irish Republic in International waters.

      1. 36638+ up ticks,

        W,
        The action taken show great weight in the underpants department, the reason it was taken was wrong and does not warrant a month at a health establishment.

      2. I disagree – they deserve a far longer sentence in addition to which they should have to repay in full the cost of recuing them..

      3. They’re on remand, it seems, and is not a prison sentence. If they receive a custodial sentence, either after a trial or pleading guilty, their time on remand will be deducted from the sentence.

    2. 366388+ up ticks,

      O2O,
      Are you condoning the reason Og?
      No, far from it, just the scale of the scaling,
      .

  13. I’m not against Boris returning but everyone appears to have forgotten the baggage that moves in with him

  14. Good morning, all. A very cheerful Trafalgar Day to you. I hope the ship is repaired.

    Foggy start to the day – inside and out.

    Any news?

    1. So dark this morning I had to look at the calendar to check that this wasn’t the weekend we put the clocks back. It isn’t, it’s next weekend.

  15. Boris Johnson ponders No 10 comeback following Liz Truss’s exit. 21 October 2022.

    Supporters of Boris Johnson are backing the former prime minister to make an extraordinary political comeback following the dramatic resignation of Liz Truss.

    Just six weeks after he left No 10 for the final time, forced out by his own MPs after one scandal too many, allies are urging him to run again for a second shot at the Tory crown.

    If he does, he is likely to find himself up against Rishi Sunak – the former chancellor who is blamed by Mr Johnson’s supporters for bringing him down – and the Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt,

    Rishi, Mordaunt or Boris? God help us!Time to brew up a batch of Hemlock!

    / https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-tory-party-leadership-latest-vote-rishi-sunak-liz-truss-penny-mordaunt-b1034274.html

  18. Good morrow, Gentlefolk, a round-up of Spanish memories:

    Getting old in Spain – it comes to us all!

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a229bb64c8e3d94bde88f1644137c355e703b7ec76fd27d542f16a1d592cc402.gif
    Two elderly ladies are sitting on the front porch in Puerto Banús, doing nothing. One lady turns and asks, ‘Do you still get horny?’
    The other replies, ‘Oh sure I do.’
    The first old lady asks, ‘What do you do about it?’
    The second old lady replies, ‘I suck a lifesaver.’
    After a few moments, the first old lady asks, ‘Who drives you to the beach?’

    **********************************************************
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2c5fb3e9a8af073b0e1901349db17e93f31bb9a38f2c317d4e5391dc17c410b5.jpg
    Three old ladies were sitting side by side in their retirement home in Fuengirola reminiscing.
    The first lady recalled shopping at the greengrocers and demonstrated with her hands, the length and thickness of a cucumber she could buy for a penny.
    The second old lady nodded, adding that onions used to be much bigger and cheaper also, and demonstrated the size of two big onions she could buy for a penny a piece.
    The third old lady remarked, ‘I can’t hear a word you’re saying, but I remember the guy you’re talking about.

    **********************************************************
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8f04a8b6703dda60e60253e6f8c94ee822c83b0f4a3d78459ab80451ecda4fb2.png
    A little old lady was sitting on a park bench in Fuerte Estepona, a Spanish Community.
    A man walked over and sits down on the other end of the bench. After a few moments, the woman asks, ‘Are you a stranger here?’
    He replies, ‘I lived here years ago.’
    ‘So, where were you all these years?’
    ‘In prison,’ he says.
    ‘Why did they put you in prison?’
    He looked at her, and very quietly said, ‘I killed my wife.’
    ‘Oh!’ said the woman. ‘So you’re single…?’
    **********************************************************

    Two elderly people living in Nueva Andalucía, he was a widower and she a widow, had known each other for a number of years. One evening there was a community supper in the Clubhouse.
    The two were at the same table, across from one another. As the meal went on, he took a few admiring glances at her and finally gathered the courage to ask her, ‘Will you marry me?’
    After about six seconds of ‘careful consideration,’ she answered ‘Yes. Yes, I will!’
    The meal ended and, with a few more pleasant exchanges, they went to their respective places. Next morning, he was troubled. ‘Did she say ‘yes’ or did she say ‘no’?’
    He couldn’t remember. Try as he might, he just could not recall. Not even a faint memory.
    With trepidation, he went to the telephone and called her.
    First, he explained that he didn’t remember as well as he used to. Then he reviewed the lovely evening past. As he gained a little more courage, he inquired, ‘When I asked if you would marry me, did you say ‘Yes’ or did you say ‘No’?’
    He was delighted to hear her say, ‘Why, I said, ‘Yes, yes I will’ and I meant it with all my heart.’ Then she continued, ‘And I am so glad that you called, because I couldn’t remember who had asked me.’
    **********************************************************
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1d0754bab0a3837168337dd788776a050f26a13ab413116a5d43882f20c8fb21.gif
    A woman was telling her neighbour in Torre Vieja, ‘I just bought a new hearing aid. It cost me four thousand dollars, but it’s state of the art. It’s perfect.’
    ‘Really,’ answered the neighbour. ‘What kind is it?’
    ‘Twelve thirty.’
    **********************************************************

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/07667152494b318c2000be25abde091e29f5e7f8049520f379df0cffe25ffc32.jpg
    A little old man shuffled slowly into an ice cream parlour in Torremolinos, and pulled himself slowly, painfully, up onto a stool.
    After catching his breath, he ordered a banana split.
    The waitress asked kindly, ‘Crushed nuts?’
    ‘No,’ he replied, ‘haemorrhoids

      1. Not for the country, but I am reasonably content with my life. I refuse to let the (political) news get me down, because there is nothing I can do about it.

  20. Dong ding dang
    Morning Campers
    How’re we all diddlin’?

    Par 4 to start the day
    Wordle 489 4/6

    ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
    ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
    ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. I had a little bit of trouble

      Wordle 489 6/6

      🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜
      ⬜⬜🟩🟨🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. I had a little bit of trouble

      Wordle 489 6/6

      🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜
      ⬜⬜🟩🟨🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. We had. And other diseases like TB, Polio etc. For some strange reason, they seem to have re-emerged in the UK. I can’t think why…

      1. 366388+ up ticks,

        NtN,
        I see it as what the majority voted for
        NOT once, twice, or thrice, but again & again.

  24. Good morning from a Saxon Queen .

    Liz Truss was sabotaged by those with not an ounce of Conservatism, she was savaged by headless cowardly chickens. She seemed relieved yesterday after leaving, but we have the treacherous grey men in control, just wait for Sunak’s anointing next Friday – sickening treachery.

    1. Every single Nottler with a vote (I am not a voter thanks to Mr Blair!) should vote for anybody other than the Conservative Party if Sunak becomes leader.

    4. Reminds me of the old joke:

      Q. Who are the three men a woman should not marry?

      A. i) Father Christmas who only comes once a year;
      ii) Stanley Matthews because he dribbles before he shoots;
      iii) Geoffrey Boycott because once you get him in you’ll never get him out!

  26. Bonjour Tout le Monde!

    How Liz Truss finally realised the game was up
    As political disasters go, the tenure of Ms Truss as PM was catastrophic and will go down in history as 44 days of chaos and mayhem
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/20/came-saw-packed-bags-how-liz-truss-finally-realised-game/

    BTL

    I am no great fan of Ms Truss but the way she was treated was disgraceful. She was elected on a clear mandate to follow well stated policies during her election campaign but the Conservative Party – obviously under the influence of Schwab, the WEF and Gates – does not give a toss for democracy and it deserves to be treated with more than the total contempt with which it treated her.

    Let us hope that the Reform Party can quickly take its place.

    3. Do you remember Hilaire Belloc’s gloriously muddled chronology of the battles the British fought against Napolean.?

      “Oh murder! What was that, Papa!”
      “My child, It was a Motor-Car,
      A most Ingenious Toy!
      Designed to Captivate and Charm
      Much rather than to rouse Alarm
      In any English Boy.

      “What would your Great Grandfather who
      Was Aide-de-Camp to General Brue,
      And lost a leg at Waterloo,
      And Quatre-Bras and Ligny too!
      And died at Trafalgar!–
      What would he have remarked to hear
      His Young Descendant shriek with fear,
      Because he happened to be near
      A Harmless Motor-Car!
      But do not fret about it! Come!
      We’ll off to Town
      And purchase some!

  28. Morning all 🙂
    Another grey start again. I was reading about floods in parts of Bedfordshire yesterday. Lots of ground floors under several inches of water.
    Government sabotaged by Tory MPs who have not the slightest respect for their constituents. Time for a massive clear out how can they be allowed to live off the British taxpayers when they behave as they do. Scum bags. I know sticks and stones etc but it’s past time for alterations. Within a few days.

    1. Fear not – the lying charlatan with the mouthy eco-freak wife is hoping to make a comeback.

      2. You shouldn’t be so harsh. I hear that they regard you and the MR as fellow ‘A’ listers and like you very much.

      4. Can he afford it?
        One speech/after dinner lecture and he’s made as much as he makes in a year of PMing.
        He does have rather a lot of expense.

    1. 366388+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      I do believe Og regarding the kissing issue il went like,
      don’t put my kiss X on the lab/lib/cpn/current ukip candidates Hardy.

  30. ‘Morning All

    Boris returning??

    I despise the man only marginally less than Hunt,Gove etc etc etc but the sight and sound of the Grand Punditry literally losing their minds at the prospect makes me laff

    We’re flucked anyway so we might as well have some shite and giggles on the way down the sewer

    https://twitter.com/stephenfry/status/1583110655745277952?s=20&t=_TB1Xd8Noqbzx2vQgBTFUQ

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8519baf68e6b1c22d508124bfa4db910050c1fd367da68630396bad33fe5846c.jpg

    1. Of course – if the great self-obsessed poseur Fry is against – perhaps we should be in favour….

    3. I think Fry is miffed that Johnson prefers people without willies for his spouses.

    4. I think it has all been theatre. Boris is departed from the scene in order to make way for Truss, whose decisions can then be blamed for the state of the economy along with “the ‘War’ in Ukraine”. Much squealing and pain from the bankers and markets, loud enough awaken the public temporarily from their slumber. Our hero Boris returns to much acclaim. Job done.

  31. Good Morning. Thick mist. Can’t see a thing. No idea what is going on outside the house. Hmmm. Must be a sign from above.

    1. Brilliant.

      I see that the two Dartford Bridge terrorists he bee remanded in custody.

      The eco-freak group have issued a press release saying that the two have been: “Imprisoned without trial”…{:¬)) Hilarious…

      2. One of them (Marcus Decker) should be pleased he is no longer ‘of no fixed abode’.

          1. I did – more or less…….. all our activities were cancelled so that was out of my hands. I went shopping each week as normal. I certainly didn’t fall for the hysteria and obsessive testing.

          2. That was us, too, although we did get s.market deliveries and have continued because it’s convenient. I go to the farm shop(s) as well so having the bulky stuff delivered saves time, but from time to time I pop into the s.market as well simply because I like to ‘see stuff’ and because the complete range isn’t offered online. We’ve never tested, nor indulged in the anti-bac hand gel ritual either. I had a friend who rubbed her hands red by the end of the first week (note the ‘I had a friend…’!). I would imagine she has no skin left on her hands now. And anti-bacterial for a virus? None of it made any sense to me. Of course, some of it was out of her hands and we respected our sons’ wishes to follow the guidelines. But mostly our lives didn’t change much, we took Poppie for a walk along the field and woodland paths as and when and for as long as we wished.

  33. A busy day planned.
    T’Lad is going to be kicked out of horsepiddle in a day or so, so we have to get his place ready for him.
    His settee has to go into his shed and covered over, a bed put into the living room and a “sit up straight” fireside chair taken for him to sit in.

    AND, I’ve just learned, the flat above Stepson’s has had a water leak, so will have to call in there.

  34. Does Richard Tice need any help with his publicity campaign? Any Nottlers with suggestions for a snappy slogan?

    Out of your mind? Support the Conservative Party

    Right-minded? Support Reform!

    1. 366388+ up ticks,

      Morning R,

      After 2019 they proved to be one & the same due to the actions of the party hierarchy and gullible £25 a pop non members

    2. He needs to get publicity for his well thought out policies as he gets little or no help from the media. He also needs to attract the other similar parties and bring them into the fold. He might be able to attract retiring and disgruntled Tory Brexiteer MPs as candidates in the next election. He also needs to get his skates on as the next election could come soon.

  35. Modern Life…..

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ff4b67891fd0f41eedca8ebf0b31adda204af0882671ff9c2003971face6a1d9.jpg

    Approve vax for children guarantees immunity from prosecution

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2f27ba9b707c9b9ea52a2e2ca44209a03b251218befbe062d4b0f4bc006e680b.png

    Long term plans

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/13fdd3d3f935795208327e511bd35f190af27332c5cf27c0c686803dcba2c167.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f3022e56da4e8cb533f4984cb716b0e441041e5efff594d1bcc3847f7bdd5d10.jpg

    1. Morning Rik and all!

      It seems odd to me that I was taught evolution in primary school as a tenet of enlightened thinking yet the followers of the new religion completely reject the evidence. After just two generations the mixed race people are fair skinned (Princess Me-Gain is a typical example) and after a thousand years or so they will have evolved with paler skin just as we did, to cope with the northern climate. Over time, nature will put everything back to her default setting.

    3. Yes, but by that point the will be no one paying the welfare bill and anyone rational will have long ago moved their money away and then the gimmigrants will turn this country into the toilet they left. Then, as always, we will have to rebuild.

    1. One is defensive mercenarism and the other is offensive mercenarism. There is a difference.

    1. Yes, but they *all* think that. They specifically make MPs exempt from specific rules that monitor web traffic, for example. These fools want to ban encryption!

      It isn’t just the pointless covid measures. It’s the Left wing agenda. The global tax harmonisation nonsense, the thoroughly Left wing, big state high tax agenda.

    2. The bankrupting is work in progress.
      Well, for those of us who don’t freeze to death before the daffodils bloom again.

  40. Picked up from a Sanderson Designs discussion thread:

    “No 10 to be redecorated with Disney cartoon characters”

        1. Mr Grumpy, more like. Oddly, sneezing is not one of the hings that accompany this autumn col. Hacking cough, yes.

    1. Sense of flux – as in well and truly fluxed?

      Morning folks.

      For those who keep the score:
      Wordle in 4
      Quordle in 6….

          1. Continuing. Grrr.

            Womble to me must be as boring as Gus and Pickles are to dog people!!

          2. I think in India such distractions are referred to as a ‘Time Pass’ – as they help to pass the time whilst at work,,,,,,

          6. I watched that bloody thing being built during a 3 & 1/2 year daily commute. It was opened three weeks after I started a new job and no longer had to use the Dartford Crossing…..

          8. It’s a hassle having to pay the charge on-line when I’m away on holiday (the only time I use it), I find.

          9. I use it – prolly – four times a year. So I registered for the auto payment. Well worth it.

          11. While I like dogs I have also had cats most of my life. Although, I’m not sure Beast thinks he is a cat. I suspect he thinks himself a sabre toothed tiger – one of those radioactive, giant ones from Sinbad.

      2. A skin of me teeth 6. Too many choices.
        Wordle 489 6/6

        ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
        ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
        ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
        ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
        ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
        🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

        1. Bogey Five for me.

          Wordle 489 5/6
          ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
          ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
          ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
          ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
          🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

        2. Me too. It seemed such an unlikely answer.
          Wordle 489 6/6

          ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
          🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
          ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
          ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
          ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
          🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  43. Today’s DT carries the following obituary:-

    LIEUTENANT COMMANDER FRANK NOWOSIELSKI, who has died suddenly aged 69, was the longest-serving commanding officer of HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship at the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, and one of the most enthusiastic and well-informed of Victory’s modern-day captains.

    He died back in July, but the obit was held back until today, Trafalgar Day!

  44. It is rare that I brag – but…..

    According to The Grimes, yesterday some hottentot TV wanqueur called Mike Baker a four-letter word. On air. The black then “apologised unreservedly”.

    I posted: “I apologise unreservedly for being found out”

    193 thumbs!!! 193!!!

    1. https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=814a4e14b29a9255JmltdHM9MTY2NjMxMDQwMCZpZ3VpZD0wNjMxY2Q1Mi0yZjIzLTZhZGUtMmUxOC1kZjExMmUwNDZiNjEmaW5zaWQ9NTE3NQ&ptn=3&hsh=3&fclid=0631cd52-2f23-6ade-2e18-df112e046b61&psq=mike+baker+guru+murthy+&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaGl0Yy5jb20vZW4tZ2IvMjAyMi8xMC8yMC93aG8taXMtc3RldmUtYmFrZXItbXAtb24tdGhlLXdyb25nLXNpZGUtb2Yta3Jpc2huYW4tZ3VydS1tdXJ0aHkv&ntb=1

          1. He is yet another two-faced turncoat. A so-called “leaver” who voted against most of the draft legislation to allow us to leave – esp Treason’s “packages”.

            Utter shyster.

  45. ‘Atomic bomb’ of water would be released by Russian false flag attack on Kherson dam. 21 October 2022.

    Russia may blow up a dam and flood the city of Kherson to frame Ukraine for mass deaths and destruction, a US-based think tank has warned.

    The Institute for the Study of War also said that Russia wants to withdraw from Kherson because it had become too difficult to resupply its soldiers.

    “The Russian military may believe that breaching the dam could cover their retreat from the right bank of the Dnipro River and prevent or delay Ukrainian advances,” it said.

    The only False Flag here is this report. The only people to benefit from destroying the dam are the Ukies. The dam is a hydroelectric run of the river type and has very little water storage so any talk of it overwhelming the city is nonsense. Its generating plant does however supply a great deal of the power to the local economy. The Zelensky Government is not going to cry if the Donbass Separatists suffer power shortages.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/10/20/russia-planning-false-flag-attack-kherson-dam/

  46. The problem is Bore-us we wouldn’t be in this situation now if you had carried out tour pre-election promise and stopped the still on going illegal invasion.
    There has never been a word from any one in government trying to justify it. But I guess it’s not possible justify such a cock up. That’s why we are where we are.

      1. Scrap ECHR
        Scrap NI Protocol
        Scrap EU fishermen in UK waters
        Scrap Net Zero
        Scrap proposed Corporation tax rise
        Scrap illegal immigration and curb legal immigration

        If people actually believed that Boris Johnson would do these things then they would give him their support. But people are a long way from trusting him at the moment.

        1. The trouble is that it doesn’t matter at all whether “we” trust him – we don’t matter!

      2. They try hard to make excuses.
        Bore-us calls it Bbbbbbrrrrrkkkkkufffufffff.
        And the idiots want him back.

    3. Typical Labour, talk a lot and do absolutelynothing.

      I’ll bet the rent is already escalating beyond reasonable.

    4. Fur king cheek. I wonder how many white born and bred brits have been on the housing lists for years. Who TF do these scroungers think they are.
      Been living in their car whadda load of bolero. Lying b&st&rds.

  49. As we are acting on behalf of the US in a proxy war on Russia, will the WEF nominee as PM change that? Or will we be held as hostages to fortune under yet another warmongering leader? Ben Wallace will presumably support anyone who promises to nuke Russia, I guess?

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news

    1. Here you go Alf, feel free to publish it far and wide, I’ve added methane for you:

      The climate ‘science’ is wrong. CO2 being 0.04% of the atmosphere is a cause for good, as it is essential for plant life.

      The atmosphere is 78% Nitrogen and 21% Oxygen. The remaining 1% are various trace elements of which CO2 and methane at 0.00017% are but a small part.

      The greatest cause of any change in the Earth’s climate, is due to the cyclical nature of the Sun’s phases, which may lead to vast differences between ice ages and continual heatwaves.

      1. Thank you Tom. Shall use that as and when I come across any climate change advocate who never queries or researches what they are being told.

  51. I was reminded this morning that 7 years ago this day I was playing golf with Steve on a course near Perth. We had to avoid several young female kangaroos grazing the fairways.
    Calling out fore didn’t really work.
    It wasn’t hot, but we just about managed a couple of coldies each after the game.

      1. You don’t go raking about in the rough looking for a ball in Oz.
        By the 26th we were in the south, in a little town near the coast. Named Denmark and traveled to Albany.
        Anyone goes to WA I thoroughly recommend it. The drive down to the south is a pleasant run.
        Why we are living here I just don’t know.

  52. Just back from buying a birthday present for our youngest grandson, who is 2 on Monday. Driving past one of the council refuse lorries (blue bins today!) I was very amused to see that the white vehicle had its name painted on the side – Binnie the Pooh!

    1. It’s our eldest grandchild’s 7th birthday on Monday. We’ve bought him roller skates. And lots of other little bits and pieces.
      Happy birthday to both 🤗🤩

        1. The other two were born 48 hours apart. Different parents. Little girl and boy both 3 in February. Little lady is going on 13 years. Very lovey and very smart.
          Little fella who was diagnosed with leukemia three weeks after his 2nd birthday. After very intensive treatment he’s getting there but still has a longway to go.
          His parents, our middle son and wife, have dedicated themselves to his full recovery which could in another two years. Its been very tough and often tiring for them.
          But he’s a lovely little fella who
          likes a bit of fun, bless him.
          We live in hope.

          3. Best wishes to him as well! And bless his parents and grandparents! The strain must be enormous. When you first wrote about the little soul, I think a lot of Nottlers could have wept for you. 🌹

          6. It’s such a heartbreaking thing to happen. But he’ll get there, Addenbrooks hospital and the visiting local nurses are brilliant.
            Hopefully he’ll might not remember too much as he grows up.
            Thanks Obs 😊

      1. I’ve seen a gravel lorry called “The Rolling Stones” and there used to be a septic tank emptier with the slogan “Everything you do is driven by us.”

  53. Picked this up from Daily Sceptics. Certain individuals are in far too deep to now stop what they started and promoted, even when the real science indicated otherwise. Backtracking will be of no use to these individuals and so they will continue until they are stopped by people power. It’s looking very similar in the USA with the CDC’s unanimous vote to force the “vaccine” on children.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ab421e3b5fdab3d43d1cedf234cecd22fd3b3724816e96e35407c11940bc205b.png

    1. When the truth fully emerges who will be the first person to be be attacked by the mob? And who will lead the mob? (Any volunteers?)

  54. Armed police shoot ‘knifeman’ with Taser after he is seen ‘behaving erratically’ near Houses of Parliament. D Fail

    Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. Why not?

    Poor Mohammud – he was only looking for a mouse or a rat for his family’s dinner. His three wives and fifteen children will be wondering where he is.

          1. 366388 + up ticks,

            Correct, that was Roger Helmer though, good days with the strong feeling that patriotically you were right and the louder the lab/lib/con coalition shouted abuse etc, to cover wrongdoing the more it confirmed your feelings.

          3. I actually had you down as the bloke over Roger’s left shoulder or the fellah in the blue coat with hands in pockets. Looks like they’ve been in too many African bush bars.

    1. After a wet and drizzly morning, it brightened up at lunchtime so I hung the washing out. It’s now pouring with rain and it’s still out.

  57. Dolores Hart – this Hollywood actress gave up acting in her mid-twenties and became a nun. At 84 she is still active with the religious community. I wouldn’t have minded taking religious orders from her.

    https://scontent-lcy1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/312452249_551328810329376_5187654160813182770_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p843x403&_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=-RfHRG8Mym4AX8OL4bH&_nc_ht=scontent-lcy1-1.xx&oh=00_AT_GhRz3xhsGKpFXpDQXTrHPzc0h7zJif4AaUSbIk24AQw&oe=63577C9D

    2. She is Mother Prioress at a Benedictine Monastery in CT. Regina Laudis in Bethlehem CT.

          1. I wouldn’t touch it with yours, Bill.

            And I hope this comment will prevent Ann’s blushes.

      3. I was listening to Gershwin’s ‘Embraceable You’ on Classic FM a couple of hours ago on the way home after a quick shop and thinking that I was born in absolutely the wrong era. The clothes, music, manners were so much more appealing and elegant; there was structure to society.

        1. That’s why I like watching period dramas. Everybody, even the working classes, made the best of what they had.

          1. Yes, thank you Alec – she pecked at her own food as well as eating our food, so she showed an interest, and tonight she barked at the s.market delivery man from behind closed doors – she definitely didn’t do that last week. Last week’s delivery man said it was the first time he had delivered here and not heard her barking. So fingers crossed. We have to return to the vet on Monday for a check-up, a 40 mile round trip. As she is on diuretics she needs a kidney test…. one thing after another! It’s an arm and a leg….

    1. If I were in her position, I would take the money and tell those ‘urging’ her to forgo it to f*** off.

      1. Maybe they should have thought of that before shoving her out! But then thinking doesn’t seem to be the Cons’ best quality.

    1. I find it odd to see rhyming slang so far up the list! Especially as he’s doing better than Suella Braverman who is a much better option!

      1. Those in the relegation zone won’t be too happy. (Mind you if things don’t get sorted for the better soon they may all find themselves in the relegation zone…)

        1. I imagine that this is all window dressing. Schwab & Co have already decided – and notified their puppets at Westminster.

    5. This will convince them that Boris Johnson must be nobbled and the party members not given the chance to vote for him.

      In fact those who support Richard Tice should hope for a Sunak victory as it will destroy the Conservative Party and drive hordes of people into the Reform Party.

      1. I wouldn’t bank on it, Richard. More likely it will drive them into the arms of Apathy and they won’t vote.

      2. 366388+ up ticks,

        Afternoon R
        Parties,
        brexit = reform = tory Mk2
        Are you really looking for a replay ?

      3. No it won’t.

        Huge numbers of disaffected Tories will STILL vote Tory – to keep a Lib/Lab/Green coalition out.

        Little parties ALWAYS fail the big test of a GE.

        1. Enough disaffected Tories in my constituency voted Limp Dim and we now have an MP who talks a lot and gets her name and photo in the papers, but actually has done nothing to “deliver” what she campaigned on. NOTHING has improved.

    6. What a depressing list. Someone else get only 2 on the above but I would put David Frost as my top choice followed by John Redwood and Cristopher Chope.

  61. Afternoon, all. Been a strange sort of day here; 17 degrees C but very damp and dull. Not conducive to doing much, really (I wish I had Bob’s energy and enthusiasm for cracking on with tasks!).

  62. The BBC has already started its anti-Boris campaign. On the 4pm news bulletin on R4, a city johnnie was interviewed saying there could be ‘concern in the markets’ because of the friction between him and Sunak when he was PM. It was pure speculation.

    There was also a trailer for a series next week. Here’s the website blurb:

    In April 2020, the total managed expenditure of the UK Economy broke through the trillion pound barrier for the first time. Estimates from the Office of Budget Responsibility put the 2022/23 figure at £1,087 billion, equivalent to around £38,000 per household or 43.2 per cent of national income.

    In this series, Martha Kearney and BBC Economics Correspondent Dharshini David break down the income side of the UK’s balance sheet and look at how different forms of taxation, borrowing and the expectation of economic growth are likely to contribute to the way we pay for economic recovery.

    That’s not how it was presented on the radio’. The announcer signed off with ‘Do companies pay enough?’. Those killed by Covid won’t be…

    How to Raise a Trillion – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001dddr

    1. Me neither. Something tells me that if he returns to the leadership/prime ministership his despotic nature will know no bounds.

          1. Apart from the long suffering “real” wife – now divorced – none of his shags last more than a few years. Carrion’s time must soon be up as Johnson will – inevitably – stray yet again.

    1. 355388+ up ticks

      O2O,

      I have had to lash down the criminally insane village idiot who’s hat is going in the ring
      along with many a persons bet on winning

  65. Ref FBPAPM’s “bid” – very sensible comment (unusually) BTL in The Grimes:

    “After a year of lies and sleaze, 150 Tory MPs voted that they had no confidence in Johnson, then 60 ministers resigned because he was unfit for office. And he is being seriously considered as the best candidate? If he makes the final two, then the party faithful will vote for him. Do people seriously have no memory? Are Tory MPs really so venal that the chance to hang on to their seat trumps any consideration of honour or national interest?”

      1. The answer to both questions is ‘yes’. People really do have no memory and of course MPs cling on to their seats; self, Party and never mind the country.

        1. Such a bloody shame. A General Election wouls give us all a chance to rid Parliament of the Remainer MPs and then start on the reform of the grossly overweight (obese) Lords.

          6. Having campaigned for UKIP in three general elections and a few by-elections I don’t share your faith in the sense or reasoning of the electorate, I’m afraid. Most notably, Eddisbury in Cheshire had five candidates; four were for remain and one a dedicated leaver. The leaver came last and lost her deposit. Eddisbury voted to leave in the referendum. I am beginning to think that if voting changed anything it would have been scrapped.

          8. Wouldn’t have mattered, Tom. In the last election, Reform, Reclaim, the Heritage Party and UKIP all lost their deposits (as did all the non-Big Three) and the voters elected a Limp Dim. My constituency hasn’t elected anything other than Con since the turn of last century.

          9. And before the usual “they should have combined and only put forward one candidate” argument is put forward, I should say that even if all the votes cast for all those non-remain parties had been added together they would just about have prevented that candidate losing his or her deposit. It would not have been enough to win.

          10. They, including UKIP, are all vote-spiltters with little or no chance of election.

            I have banged this drum fo ages, but until they overcome the super-egos of their leaders and amalgamate, offering the electotate what, we the people (i hate that phrase) want they, any and all of them, stand NO chance of influencing Government Policy so we continue down the same old road of the Lib/Lab/Con alliance and NOTHING gets sorted.

            Maybe we should try Proportional Representation – what do I know?

          11. Did you not read what I added? Even if there had been only one candidate from an amalgamation of those parties, his/her share of the vote would NOT HAVE BEEN ENOUGH TO WIN. It would barely have saved his/her deposit. Try campaigning, Tom. It will open your eyes to the mindset of the average voter.

          15. Even together, their vote share barely reached 5%. How difficult is that to understand? Voters are tribal. They won’t take the step to vote for something new, even though they are fed up with the main parties. They are fixed in their beliefs and mostly don’t apply logic (try holding a discussion with a Labour supporter if you don’t believe me). They are voting for something they don’t really like to keep out something they really don’t like. In their view, voting for something different (even if they agree with what that candidate stands for – I heard one voter tell a candidate “I agree with everything you believe in, but I’m not going to vote for you”) they think it will let one of the other parties in. How much campaigning have you done, Tom?

          16. That 5% was then – we don’t know tthe %age if they were together. Lets’s wait and see

          17. Okay, let’s wait and see, but I’ve had a lot of conversations with voters and I see no prospect of things changing. The Limp Dims will clean up. They have the money and the activists and they are not Lab-Con. Moreover they will throw the kitchen sink at it because they scent blood. Our LD MP is already going round the schools campaigning in all but name. Even together the leave parties do not have the clout, financial or otherwise, and certainly not the backing of the media.

          20. It’s a very sad state of affairs, but ‘yer average bloke/woman’ voter on the street, just can’t see beyond blue or red (or poxy green). I’m all for a cleaner environment BTW.

          21. Indeed. They lap up what the media tell them and don’t apply logic. I had one voter tell me that “Corbyn is the answer” (when he was Labour leader) – what the heck is the question, then?

  66. I don’t know what to say, or even sensibly reply to any of the comments on Nottle .

    Politics feels like as if it is a bunged up sewer pipe .. or a rotting fish …

    The weather here is very wet and showery . Like April weather , and the temp has been 18c.. too much of a wet dog day .. they have the garden to run around in .

    I had my Shingles jab today, Moh will have his next week .

          1. Click on the image. It will come up very much enlarged. Then look at the bottom right hand corner.

          2. Did all that, Bill, and came up with a hairy-arsed female and some sort of American cop with a rainbow flag in the bottom left.

            Ok, done it again but apart from the big-naked-bosoms. Nothing relevant appears.

          1. I read he was taking the piss out of the Governors because they told him he couldn’t hold the view that there were only two genders. So He decided to identify as a woman with an extreme bust. As a result the Governors can’t sack him! Brilliant ploy.

          2. It was pretty funny, wasn’t it! And the pupils were fine with him but the wokerati were spluttering in their soy milk and tofu!

    2. About 6m30s in, the worker starts working – trowel in one hand, cigarette in the other.
      Aah, the no- nonsense kids’ TV I grew up with.

      1. Time for extensive sackings, perhaps.

        Maybe some ‘Police’ should be re-employed as nursery nurses?

        2. Ageed, hence the need for an extensive enquiry into plod and his acivities – who’s directing it.?

          If it’s Common Purpose and/or WEF it needs to be stopped, dead in its tracks and those organisations declared illegal and contrary to British Sovereignty.

    3. If they block the road, arrest them and throw the keys away. Or, if plod can’t be bothered to do their jobs, and the cretins have glued themselves to the road, just leave them to rot.

      1. I’d hate to think somebody spilt some petrol on the particular blocked bit of road and then some careless person (CAREFUL!) dropped a lit-cigarette ….

      1. Here are some more advertising hoardings for you to check

        https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/books/2022/10/20/TELEMMGLPICT000312709268_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwfSVWeZ_vEN7c6bHu2jJnT8.jpeg?imwidth=1280
        Laycock’s Dairy, Liverpool Road, Islington, 1907. Laycock’s Farm and Cattle Lairs started in the 1720s, and by 1777 Charles Laycock Jnr was renowned as one of the ‘greatest goose-feeders and wholesale poulterers in the kingdom’. By the mid 19th century the new landowner, Thomas Flight, farmed over 500 acres in the area. From 1900 to 1914 the dairy was owned by Hislop & Sons

        Was Faulkener’s Nosegay Shag to your liking?

    2. “…. she really wants her privacy” Well, let’s give it to her – no more coverage anywhere!

    3. “…. she really wants her privacy” Well, let’s give it to her – no more coverage anywhere!

    4. The picture makes her look as if her head is too big for her body…then I realised she’s wearing a sleeveless number and noticed a sliver of shoulder at the edges.

  75. I think the most amusing aspect of the VW factory way of dealing with the eco-freaks is that, when locked in and abandoned, the terrorists COMPLAINED about their shoddy treatment!!

    3. In the 80’s and 90’s students considered protest marches as a ‘right of passage’. You went on the march regardless of what it was about. Then they had children.

      1. Also in the 70’s- I have never been on one- my course work was too weighty to spare time. Pub at weekend- of course.

    4. Hmm, fair enough with dealing with the protesters, but they were lying bastards with their fake emission results.

  76. That’s me gone. Feeling a bit brighter. Risking a glass of medicine. The MR 95%.

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain

        2. Perhaps he is following the example of the American Civil War general whose alleged last words were “Don’t worry, they couldn’t hit a barn door at this dist…”

  78. Truss was weak but had the right agenda to restore growth to our economy. The globalist bankers did not want to see our recovery.

    The Federal Reserve hiked their interest rate to 7.5% to peg inflation having printed trillions of dollars for Biden/Obama mad house policies. Meanwhile our own Bank of England raised our rate to 5% belatedly following Johnson and Sunak profligacy. This obviously strengthened the dollar and weakened the pound. Truss was powerless. The globalist banker cartel are determining who resides in Number 10, not the British electorate. They alone are responsible for the failure of the Western democracies we now witness.

  80. That’s it. No longer will I deal with the NHS. Nurse was great- she had a spare slot I was jabbed at 3.45 instead of 5.20. So then the wait to see the quack at 4.10.
    He couldn’t have been less interested; yes he felt my knee and swollen ankle. Brushed off the red spots as platelet stuff which I’d already been told was OK by the trainee doc.
    They will not acknowledge that these spots are anything to do with the AZ shots.
    No more. The NHS can chase itself up a pole but I will not be dealing with them.

    We walked up to our little bistro and the road was flooded- right at the traffic light crossing. Soaked feet and shoes. Dinner was nice- the one bright sodding spark.

    1. The nurses are still the best part of the NHS system. At the local surgery they deal in common sense actions, but I wonder how long that will be allowed to continue.,

      1. I disagree. While there are many who are caring and competent in their job, the rest are more militant than miners. They cannot take instruction and push the boundaries of the rules to breaking point.

    2. Lotl
      Are your red spots individual , or like a rash , do they itch , are they raised , do you have bruising ?

      Are they everywhere on your body, or just in a particular place .. torso or limbs?

      1. Individual, not a rash, they do not itch, they are not raised. They are not bruises. On my right arm, where I had the AZ jabs, and less often, on my left arm. It all began 2 months after 2nd jab May 2 last year.

        1. My friend has similar to you.. she has had gastroscopy/ xrays, bloodtests, ecg, a bit anaemic , dermatologist, creams and no one has an answer for her yet ..

          My first thought were the jabs as well.. she has had diabetes for years .

          1. I am not diabetic and there is no way I will be going for anymore NHS visits. Nor will I be going private.
            I shall set my affairs, such as they are, in order and let time and Mother Nature take their course.

          3. With my neighbour’s dog having woofed her last, nobody will know or care for weeks if I start to get smelly further decomposing in bed, except my 97-year-old mother who rings up every day and worries if I haven’t answered or rung back for a while. If I outlive her, then I suppose it will be the bailiff investigating why I hadn’t paid my council tax who might do something about my state of health.

    1. True, but the early hours of the 25th watching live TV, especially the BBC, is still in my, diminishing, memory bank as a wonderful few hours.

      1. I remember waking up and hearing the news that we were leaving, and seeing Anna Soubry’s reaction on BBC Breakfast TV – it was priceless!

        1. I remember driving home from the count (we voted to leave 60/40) and the sun was just rising. I thought it was rising on a free, independent country. Little did I know what the b@stards in Westminster had in store.

        1. Sometime earlier, there was a fab result from Sunderland (?) as I recall.

          I figured ‘That is It’ and I retired to bed with a Cognac …

      3. The look on Dimbleby’s face when he announced “remain can’t possibly win” is etched on my memory. I was at the count and we (the leavers) all let out a great yell, even though our count wasn’t finished.

  82. 366388+ up ticks,

    That’s the way to do it

    We laid down a template in the genuine UKIP
    under your 1 year leadership stint before treachery via party nec / farage struck.

    Party financially in the black, 13000 new members, a stream of daily new members joining.
    Gerard Batten

    It’s ludicrous to blame Truss’ 45 day premiership for this.
    Bojo crashed the economy with his lockdowns & his embracing the WEF’s Build Back Better meaningless slogans. He had the best part of three years to do the right things & he didn’t.

    Now the clown is the front runner to take over again because all the other contenders are crap & he makes us laugh. You couldn’t make it up.

    https://gettr.com/post/p1v2oazf6ae

    1. Thank you, Ogga for your penultimate paragraph – I keep saying this on Twitter, I feel I am the only person who can see this – it was all a fix to take the focus off Johnson’s economic policies. Job done and he will return. No wonder Truss was smirking as she left the podium.

      1. All the over-printed fiat currencies are on the point of collapse, and the countries that will come out of it best are those with some commodities to back the new currencies.
        Saying it’s covid, Putin, Kwarteng or any other theatre piece that’s been played in the media to distract us is rubbish! Covid was just one last looting spree before the currencies’ inevitable collapse.

  83. Well, an exhausting day.
    Went to t’Lad’s and got the settee out of his living room and into his new workshop, a single bed dismantled, with some difficulty due to several of the allen screws being somewhat graunched, brought down stairs and reassembled and diverse other tasks done in preparation for his return home.
    Then went to Stepson’s flat after being advised there was a water leak from the flat above to find a right bloody mess!
    Not that I could do much about it other than get Student Son, who was with me, to take photos of the damage.
    Luckily it’s the corridors, bathroom & kitchen that have borne the brunt and not his bedroom & living room.

  85. Radio 4, ‘Any Questions’ – the subject was the calling of a general election. Emily Thornberry said the problem with the 2019 GE that gave the Tories such a big majority was that it became a second referendum on Brexit and ‘imposed a Tory government on us’. It was ‘a catastrophic error that a GE was settled on a single issue.’ She said there should have been a referendum followed by a GE.

    She’s a stupid, sore loser yet is correct in one sense. It became a single issue but only because she and the rest of the Remainer filth had spent more than three years wrecking the UK’s chances of getting a proper and decent exit.

    This point was not followed up properly.

    1. Gosh, how depressing to realise that there is a parallel universe in which Emily Thornberry is still shooting her mouth off!

    2. Didn’t know Thornberry was even still around. A stupid loud-mouthed piece of detritus, and I’m feeling generous.

    3. The referendum had been held in 2016 and she and her party had done their utmost to overturn it.

    1. The MSM refuse to mention it and sites like Facebook cancel you if you do mention it. However, we do hear about it on GBNews and Mark Steyn frequently talks to those who have lost friends and relatives to the vaccines gene therapy.

    3. It was mentioned on the Daily Sceptic and Dr Malhotra’s tweet linked there didn’t exist when I looked.

  89. Sod it, I’m off to bed.
    Absolutely chucking it down outside, hope it’s drier tomorrow.

  90. Fonda lying giving €1.5bn a Month to the Ukes. I expect we will be chipping in. Warmongers, the lot of them.

    1. The Ukrainian war is an American globalist proxy war. Soros funded the nascent Ukraine and the USA/Biden the overthrow of the ‘democratically elected’ government and its replacement by Zelensky in 2014; note Zelensky has outlawed any opposition to his regime.

      None of the present shit would have occurred under the legitimate POTUS Trump. It is shameful that successive UK governments have aided and abetted this proxy war.

  91. Welcome to the FSU’s weekly newsletter, our round-up of the free speech news of the week.

    The FSU’s packed schedule of events this autumn!
    On 9th November, FSU General Secretary Toby Young will be joined in conversation by historian, author and television presenter Neil Oliver. Members can register to receive the Zoom link here.

    After a successful career as a TV historian, Neil had his own brush with cancel culture in 2020 as President of the National Trust for Scotland when some offence archaeologists (not real archaeologists like Neil) unearthed a tweet in which he’d praised the historian (and FSU Advisory Council member) David Starkey. Even though the tweet was posted before Starkey’s controversial comments about the slave trade, some po-faced critics argued it made Neil unsuitable to serve on the Board of the National Trust.

    Since retiring from public life he has become one of GB News’s most popular presenters, with social media clips of his monologues often racking up several million views. He was an outspoken critic of the UK’s lockdown policy and has subsequently raised questions about the efficacy and safety of the mRNA Covid vaccines, prompting renewed calls for him to be cancelled. Neil will be speaking to Toby about his transformation from pillar of the Establishment to anti-Establishment rebel.

    The Battle of Ideas Festival in Buxton – discount rates for FSU members!
    It was wonderful to see so many of our members and supporters at the Battle of Ideas Festival in London last weekend. There is a follow-up, one-day Battle of Ideas Festival taking place in Buxton in two weeks’ time and we have secured a discount for FSU members.

    Festival Director and FSU Advisory Council member Claire Fox will be kicking things off, and speakers include Harry Miller, former MP Edwina Currie, SDP leader William Clouston, Daily Telegraph columnist Sherelle Jacobs and many more.

    There’s a great-looking session on free speech and comedy chaired by Comedy Unleashed co-founder Andy Shaw and featuring author and radio presenter Timandra Harkness and comedians Nick Dixon and Tania Edwards. Another session that will be of interest to FSU Members is ‘Online Politics: People Power or Social-Media Cesspit?’ The panellists on that one include GB News’s Calvin Robinson and author Tracy Follows.

    To get your discount, use this link and select the promo rate tickets.

    Email the candidates in the Conservative leadership contest about free speech
    We’re in the midst of yet another Conservative leadership contest and that means we have a fresh opportunity to ask the candidates where they stand on the critical free speech issues facing the next government, such as the Online Safety Bill and the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill. Once we know who the candidates are, we’ll be asking all our members and supporters who are also members of the Conservative Party to use our campaigning tool to contact them in the hope of extracting commitments to uphold free speech that we can then hold the winner to. Expect an email about that soon.

    The growing threat of politically motivated financial censorship
    The IMF’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, revealed that the UN’s major financial agency doesn’t like people using cash and wants to “change that preference” (Epoch Times, Reclaim the Net). Speaking at the IMF/World Bank Annual Meeting, Ms Georgieva bemoaned what she described as digital “hesitancy”. The IMF’s “capacity development experts on financial inclusion often see strong preference for cash”, she said, “even when viable electronic alternatives exist, like e-wallets, mobile money”. Shaking her head and frowning, she went on to ask: “Why are consumers not using these products?”

    It’s not rocket science, Ms Georgieva. People are concerned that digital banking will make it easier for them to be cut off from their money if ever a government – or online payment provider in thrall to the idea of “stakeholder capitalism” (Telegraph) – decrees that their lawful political opinions, dissenting views, or deeply held religious convictions constitute ‘hate speech’ or ‘misinformation’ (Epoch Times, Pavlovic Today, Telegraph). Nor can this concern be dismissed as the paranoid fantasy of a small group of tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorists – as we hurtle towards a cashless economy, cases of financial censorship are starting to crop up with alarming frequency (Critic, Spiked).

    In February 2022, for instance, Canada froze the bank accounts of anti-vaccine mandate protestors, with Deputy Canadian PM Chrystia Freeland making clear that banks would also be asked to freeze the personal accounts of anyone linked with the protests, with no due process, no appeals process and no court order necessary (Spiked). Online donations platform GoFundMe then withheld donations specifically to Canadian truckers protesting against vaccine mandates in what came to be known as the Freedom Convoy.

    Around the same time, PayPal de-platformed left-wing alternative media sites Mint Publishing and Consortium News for publishing stories that questioned the rationale for the West’s support of Ukraine following Russia’s invasion (TK News). Then, over the summer, PayPal and Etsy deplatformed the evolutionary biologist and gender critical writer Colin Wright for expressing his belief in biological reality (Quillette).

    Last month, PayPal shut down the accounts of UsforThemUK, a parents’ group that fought to keep schools open during the pandemic, due to “the nature of its activities”, and the Free Speech Union, and on both occasions did so without prior warning, meaningful explanation, or recourse to a proper appeals process (Telegraph, Daily Sceptic). More recently, Ko-Fi, an online platform that allows users to sell their work and raise donations, removed a number of accounts belonging to feminists and feminist organisations due to their gender critical views (Reclaim the Net).

    Are things about to get even worse? According to financial journalist Robert Kogon, the EU’s recently passed Digital Services Act (DSA), makes that a distinct possibility (Brownstone Institute, Daily Sceptic).

    The DSA is designed to function in combination with the EU’s so-called Code of Practice on Disinformation: the Code requires signatories to censor what the European Commission defines as disinformation on pain of massive fines, while the enforcement mechanism, i.e., the fines, is established by the DSA.

    Because the legislation specifically targets “very large online platforms or very large online search engines”, it might appear as if digital financial service providers like PayPal are beyond its purview. Not so, says Kogon. The Commission has been arguing for some time that “actions to defund disinformation should be broadened by the participation of players active in the online monetisation value chain, such as online e-payment services, e-commerce platforms and relevant crowdfunding/donation systems” (European Commission, 2021).

    The rationale here seems to be that because people who post so-called ‘disinformation’ on, say, Twitter are also increasingly going to be users of various other financial service platforms, it is possible to target them in two ways: first, by censoring their material as and when it appears; and second, by demonetising them so that they can’t produce any more such material.

    It’s that second possibility which seems to fascinate the Commission.

    That’s why the first ‘commitment’ in its strengthened code of practice is dedicated to the “demonetisation of disinformation and improving the politics and systems which determine the eligibility of content to be monetised”.

    It’s also why, just nine days after the passage of the DSA through the European Parliament, the EC issued a “Call for interest to become a Signatory” of the Code. In the past, signatories have almost always been entities like advertisers, internet service providers, social media companies and search engines. What types of actors is the Commission particularly hoping to sign up to the Code this time? “Providers whose services may be used to monetise disinformation (E-payment services, e-commerce platforms, crowd-funding/donation systems).”

    The problem, of course, is that once financial services providers have signed up to the European Commission’s Code and committed to, as the Code puts it, “exchang[ing] best practices and strengthen[ing] cooperation with relevant players… in the online monetisation value system”, their systems will all be finely tuned and ready to impose the Commission’s model of financial censorship on the entire world, including the UK. And at breakneck speed too – not only does the strengthened Code contain a total of 44 “commitments” that its new signatories will be expected to make, but it also contains a deadline for meeting them: namely, six months after signing up to the Code (Brownstone Institute).

    In other words, if you thought 2022 was a bad year for financial censorship, just wait until you see an organisation like PayPal roll up its sleeves and get stuck in to meeting its legally binding ‘commitments’, as dictated by the European Commission, in 2023.

    The FSU lobbies the government on financial censorship – join the fightback!
    As Toby pointed out in Pavlovic Today, the FSU is currently lobbying the Government to introduce a law preventing financial services providers from financially censoring people or groups in this country for the expression of legal but dissenting views. But legislative work takes time, which means we need to keep the pressure up, mobilising the extraordinary public opposition to PayPal’s recent behaviour to tell our politicians that we don’t want a Chinese-style social credit system to be rolled out across the West.

    Using the Free Speech Union’s campaigning tool to write to your MP is a great way to keep up that pressure and remind our legislators that there’s strong feeling on this issue among the public. If you’re as outraged as we are about the growing threat of politically motivated financial censorship in the West, please use this tool to send a template email to your MP, urging them to ask a question about it in the House of Commons.

    The process only takes two minutes, and the link is here.

    Graham Norton falls victim to cancel culture
    The fallout from Graham Norton’s recent appearance at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, in which he claimed that ‘cancel culture’ doesn’t exist, and that those complaining of being ‘cancelled’ have simply been held ‘accountable’ for their views, continued this week (Critic, Evening Standard, HuffPost, Independent, Mail).

    Speaking to GB News’s Andrew Doyle, the creator of Father Ted and The IT Crowd, Graham Linehan, professed himself “disappointed” by Norton’s comments. Linehan, who has suffered multiple cancellations and was most recently dropped by Hat Trick Productions from involvement in a musical version of Father Ted on account of his perfectly lawful views on transgender activism, said: “I find Graham Norton personally such a betrayal, because one of the first things he did was his role on Father Ted, there is no way he cannot know about what’s happened to me. For him to say there’s no cancel culture, I don’t know what to say about it, but he’s really disappointed me” (Express).

    “Sorry Graham Norton”, a not-very-sorry-sounding Zoe Strimpel said, “but cancel culture is all too real” (Telegraph). She felt it is “simply wrong” to argue that “cancel culture is a ruse cooked up by the Right for more attention”. In workplaces up and down the country, she said, “people are being driven to misery – or sacked – for doing nothing wrong”.

    Mark Dolan felt much the same way. He was “profoundly offended” that Norton, “himself a privileged and very well-paid presenter”, should seek to “gaslight the huge numbers of artists and creative people who have been or feel censored, or who have had their livelihoods destroyed for having the wrong views” (Express, GB News).

    The FSU can attest to the accuracy of these claims – we get an average of 50 requests for help a week and at any one time we’ll have around 100 cases on the go. These are cases where people have been punished, sacked, bullied, harassed, investigated, or disciplined for speaking their mind – or because a colleague prowled through their personal social media profiles looking for ‘offensive’ material.

    As the backlash intensified, people angered by Norton’s reluctance to admit the reality of cancel culture rushed off to engage in a spot of ‘offence archaeology’ and came back clutching a TV sketch from the 2000s in which the presenter mocked Big Brother contestant Jade Goody, now deceased, by dressing up in rolls of fake flab and adding a touch of shaving foam to his chin to symbolise semen [she’s working class… so she must be a slapper – geddit?!].

    When Norton subsequently deleted his Twitter account, his supporters were understandably outraged (Mail). Norton had been “hounded off Twitter” said Guardian journalist Owen Jones. The host of The Graham Norton Show was “forced off Twitter” and it was all “desperately sad”, said TV presenter India Willoughby (LBC). Pink News felt that Norton had been subjected to “harassment” and a “barrage of abuse”.

    It sounds awful. Perhaps he should consider joining the FSU. If you’re reading this, Graham, we have plenty of experience supporting people who’ve fallen foul of cancel culture. Not that Brendan O’Neill seemed in the mood to play the Good Samaritan (Spiked). “What are [Norton’s defenders] talking about?” the cold-hearted brute thundered. “Didn’t they listen to Graham? Don’t they know that this is just accountability culture and that it’s a very good thing? Live by accountability, die by accountability, right Mr Norton?”

    Don’t mind Brendan, Graham – he’s like that with everyone. The link to our sign-up page is here. Membership starts at £2.49.

    Alumni For Free Speech – a call to arms!
    We are delighted to announce that friends of the FSU have recently launched ‘Alumni For Free Speech’ (AFFS), a campaign to galvanise and co-ordinate university alumni to pressurise institutions to protect and promote free speech properly. (The AFFS website is here). AFFS is a timely campaign that will undoubtedly make a major contribution to the fight for free speech at our universities – alumni working collectively can exert both moral and financial pressure and thus have huge leverage and impact on their universities.

    AFFS will have three main areas of work: pushing universities to comply with their free speech legal obligations; encouraging and supporting alumni to start focused campaigns to push their own institutions to better protect free speech; and liaising with the FSU to tackle specific incidents as they occur – be they sackings or disciplinaries, no-platformings or cancellations of people and/or events.

    AFFS needs large numbers of alumni to become members to gain traction with universities and help make this happen. It also needs financial support to do its work, and in particular to bring in a director to drive this vital project forward. If you’re a graduate, then please show your support for the AFFS by joining the organisation here – the process only takes a minute and membership is free.

    Sharing the newsletter
    As with all our work, this newsletter depends on the support of our members and donors, so if you’re not already a paying member please sign up today or encourage a friend to join, and help us turn the tide against cancel culture. You can share our newsletters on social media with the buttons below to help us spread the word. If someone has shared this newsletter with you and you’d like to join the FSU, you can find our website here.

    Best wishes,

    Freddie Attenborough

    Communications Officer

Comments are closed.