All together now: “by jingo if we do …”
It’s ‘Conference Season’, with the Tories off to a not-so-good start. Oh, there are reports of ‘what he/she it’ said, but it’s not really that interesting. However, our glorious MSM do try, by manufacturing some sort of Tory palace ‘revolution’, i.e. a fight for who’ll be the next PM. A glance at the print editions’ front pages was sufficient to put me right off my coffee: “Newspaper headlines: ‘Tories eye PM’s throne’ and ‘Schools phones ban’.” (link).
For some inexplicable reason it’s not worthwhile for chief editors to tell their readers that Hunt allegedly said that taxes would have to stay high. Also, why would they spend time and effort to ask why the current MoD chief, Grant Shapps, wants to send Army personnel to the Ukraine … to ‘help with training’?
Clearly, Shapps and the current crop of MSM editors are too young to recall how the USA got involved in the Vietnam war when they started sending ‘trainers’ to Saigon. It’s ‘ancient’ history now. we are told though that Shapps’ proposal has now been demoted:
“Divisions over defence emerged on the opening day of the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, with Mr Sunak playing down the prospect of UK military instructors being deployed in Ukraine after Grant Shapps, the new Defence Secretary, had floated the idea.” (paywalled link)
See – it was ‘only’ an idea which Shapps ‘floated’, but Sunak saying no is a sign of ‘division’ in the Tory Party. This is how to ‘frame the narrative’ of divisions and plottings. Right on time for the Tory Conference there’s also the former MoD Chief, Ben Wallace, who has written summink ‘for the DT’. A summary of his piece graced the top of the DT’s online edition:
“Ben Wallace has revealed that he asked Rishi Sunak to spend £2.3 billion more on military support for Ukraine before departing as Defence secretary. […] Mr Wallace said the UK had been overtaken by Germany as the biggest European military donor to Ukraine. His intervention will increase pressure on the Prime Minister to spend more money supporting Kyiv against the Russian invasion.” (paywalled link)
Clearly, “we” must not be seen to be ‘overtaken’ by Germany! Given the alleged posturing of Tory MPs plotting to become the next PM this Wallace piece is important to provide them with material. How dare the current PM refuse to spend more of our taxes on that bottomless pit:
“Whitehall debates about previous Ukraine funding have resulted in clashes between the Ministry of Defence and the Treasury, which Mr Sunak headed until July last year.”(paywalled link)
Moreover, Biden allegedly “moved to persuade Republican allies of Donald Trump to stop blocking more aid to Ukraine in a sign of splits in the West.” (paywalled link). But rest assured: we have the men and the money! After all, some of our Armed Forces are being sent out on a NATO ‘adventure’ because: why not! Here’s the headline in the DT:
“Nato confirms 600 British soldiers will be deployed in Kosovo – It comes as Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s president, denied reports Belgrade was increasing the number of troops near the Kosovo border” (paywalled link)
Between ever increasing ‘poor refugees’ arriving here, needing to be housed and fed – paid for by us plebs – and the demands from the Wallaces and Shapps’ of this country, supported by commentators and comment post writers in a concerted action where even the tiniest bit of criticism is followed by howls of “putinista!!”, I can’t help but recall a verse in a music hall siong of the 19th century. You can read the history of it, and why it’s “Constantinople” here. The verse goes:
“We don’t want to fight but by Jingo if we do,
We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, we’ve got the money too,
We’ve fought the Bear before, and while we’re Britons true,
The Russians shall not have Constantinople.” (link)
“Jingoism” used to be despised by the lefty, ‘educated’ middle classes. It seems that the current crop, be they MSM writers, be they politicians in the Uniparty, have already forgotten that they used to howl whenever they spied ‘jingoism’.
And so we find that jingoism is back in fashion, that high taxes are fine because alleviating the burden on the ordinary, tax-paying peasants, is unnecessary when “we” can indulge in a bit of sabre rattling and showing the Krauts what’s what. Never mind that “we” don’t have the ships, the men or indeed the money any longer …
That’s all I have for today and for the next days. For health reasons I need to curtail my writing. Thus, there won’t be a ‘daily rant’ but only a couple or so in this and the coming weeks. As usual, you’ll get a notification whenever a new piece comes out, so don’t worry – you won’t miss anything. Meanwhile, talk amongst yourselves in the comments. Have a good day and week.
We are all barmy ( balmy ). But I read every word chuckle and enjoy and learn at the same time as playing with my calculations.
Keep going, we’ll get the blighters yet Biggles.
Hope you are keeping well Viv and having a good rest.
StoutY- ‘bizarre claim was met with ad hominem deflection and baseless imputation of motive which has no place here’.
Yes my learned friend, we use Rumpolesk language all the time at lunchtime canteen discussions. Do it on a construction site and you will have someone with an IQ well below 100 pull a hammer on you. Playing the man not the ball – yes, it has happened to me.
With work, rugby and other commitments, I regret, my learned friend to say that I do not have the time to respond to your comments in one go. In any case, it would likely exceed the 400 word limit as you have done in the past. Further to follow.
‘which has no place here’ – says who? StoutY the self proclaimed ID Sherriff? Viv and Bev must have missed alerting me to your elevation to moderator.
Col.H and myself indulge in banter when posting – not ‘two stiff assed humourless Brits’. We have both lived and worked in the real World with real people. CH’s comments about time travel and whisky, plus feigning ignorance, are amusing. CH does a lot of walking – hence K-2. I’m certain CH will take a poke at me at some point.
Book ‘Remains of the day’ story describes an over serious outlook and misplaced sense of duty. It also examines the word banter. Worth a read.
You remark – says who? – but claim you are the arbiter of what is banter. And still you do not disclose where you get your figures which suggests you suspect they may not withstand scrutiny. Imputing motives, suggesting a lack of real world experience when you have no idea of my background, describing insult as banter, all the while avoiding the original question is, as a question of historic fact about comments on this site, beneath its historic norms. You and Butties have achieved one thing though. I shall now leave this site. It is no longer for me.
SY – I do hope you will reconsider your decision to leave this site. All opinions are important, and your opinion/experience more than most.
“Never surrender”
Just exactly when you may be asked to declare your sources.
Viv My goodness Viv if anyone deserves a rest from the state of affairs in our midst it is you. Have a good long rest, cherish yourself and sod it all for a few weeks. You are star!
Farage dancing (with abandon!) at the Tory Conference was quite a sight. Whilst he said he was not planning to rejoin the thought that he might one day, were the party to return to quasi-Thatcherism, comes all too easily. Tice must have been uncomfortable at seeing his party’s honourary president cavorting with the enemy – it is Reform policy to destroy the Tories – and described now merely as an advisor to it. The path back, possibly long and not until after the next election, appears to be opening up.
The problem with all this is Tony Blair for it was he who cemented the idea that only a centrist party can be elected when he removed the infamous clause 4 from Labour’s constitution and then succeeded which was picked up by modernising Cameron who declared himself the heir to Blair and marginalised the right within his own party. The Corbyn push back against soggy centre Labour failed and Starmer is now advised by Blair on moving to the centre as Starmer tries to row back from some of his left of centre policies. Similarly for the Tory right, the CDO’s reform agenda has stalled. Too many MPs are from the Cameron centre and sound like closet Lib Dems on issues voters care about and so keep Braverman et al on the margins.
The press believe Badenock and Braverman are manoeuvring to replace Sunak when, as they beleive, the Tories lose next year. I went to a dinner talk by Badenock earlier this year. She is NOT the anti-woke warrior her occasional speeches suggest. Mrs Stout and I concluded she was far more centrist, consensus minded than people believed. I’m not a conservative party member but if I was I would back Braverman. She is a cabinet outlier and fighting with one hand behind her back. Even if she ends up as party leader, which would be by members voting for her, she will need a clean out of MPs or face permanent stasis on her own party.
None of this contradicts Colin Hussey’s (or my) observation that current politics would benefit from Farage returning to the political front line to shake things up. Tice isn’t cutting it though Braverman may one day. Jake’s laconic comment on Colin’s view was amusing and resctful. Biscotte’s comment was idiotic and, as so often, bordering on ad hominem. My request for the source of a bizarre claim was met with ad hominem deflection and baseless imputation of motive which has no place here.
“Biscotte’s comment was idiotic and, as so often, bordering on ad hominem.”
Re Ukraine Meat Grinding Bloodbath. If this is what you refer to in your ad hominem response?
I am afraid that Biscotte was spot on and it is you who needs to do a little more research into something that you have obviously not got, as yet, a basic grasp.
Biscotte disagreed with me claiming some organisations had different figures. I asked what organisations. Instead of telling me, so that I could do the research I am accused of not doing, Biscotte resorted to accusing me of “pontificating”. i.e personal slur, a tactic more commonly found among the opinionated left.
You emulate Biscotte by saying I lack a basic grasp but without citing evidence of how Biscotte was “spot on”.
I suggested Ukrainian deaths might be c 100,000. You and Biscotte belive, for reasons you appear unable to explain, that the figure is much higher. Why not just politely say so? Should we be resorting to personal insult instead of sharing factual sources? Would it be Ok for me to say that you and Biscotte are opinionated and lacking in self- awareness with more in common than you probably realise with thuggish lefties and that you are on the wrong site for your style of argument? Biscotte has form for ad hominem argument joined now by you.
Butties- thanks for that. Glad I’m not the only one who has noticed our learned friend has done no research whatsoever. Beneath him?
A simple search on say duckduckgo, pale moon, firefox:-
‘Ukraine military summary’
. . . . . oh well.
SY………..as we know, or at least you and me might know, Nigel Farage politically speaking is a smart cookie. Yes, it irritates me no end that he has not returned to front line politics as of yet as leader of Reform UK or a new party altogether which many people have requested on various sites, but he keeps everything close to his chest these days and doesn’t let on what is really on his mind apart from snippets every now again. I would not be surprised at all that at some point in the future he will re-join the Conservative Party if he is not already, and given a safe seat to contest. He must surely know by now that the only route into the House of Commons is via an established mainstream party such as the Conservative Party. As things stand the Conservatives will be annihilated at the next general election and it will be nothing more than they deserve after the dire shenanigans under Johnson and Sunak, and I think there is a good chance that the party will split into two and Farage will go off with the centre right version perhaps with the assistance of Dominic Cummings. In my experience, one is not able to attend party conference shindigs whether it be dinners or parties without being a member of that party, unless he got some sort of an invitation on the basis of being a media man as he seems to be these days. From what I have heard, there are quite a few Conservatives who would like to see Farage return to the Conservative fold and perhaps even lead that party.
No commentary from Colin today! Has he had to sit down in a quiet place after Farage turned up at the Tory conference, dancing and dining the night way.
https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/priti-patel-nigel-farage-dance-conservative-party-conference-b2422923.html
Colin was last seen coming down K-2. Now, he’s probably down the pub celebrating the outing of Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the A Merican parliament a few minutes ago – Tues 10.00 p.m.. And after all the aggro Kevin went through – 15 rounds of voting, to get the post!
Lord Biscotte of Eaton Square and the House of Lords……..No, not K-2, but his younger brother K9. I am pretty sure that your old mate TG Spokes knows him as well. Last time I saw it, it wasn’t a mountain but a tin dog complete with a tartan scarf around its neck with rather a monotonous voice…..’affirmative master’…………
Jake……I couldn’t work out how to reply these days as the format seems to have changed. The grey ‘Reply’ panel below remains that colour unless one clicks on it several times and then ‘Submitting Content’ comes up. I think it will certainly put some people off from reading ID and and leaving comments, and the past few weeks seem to indicate that there has indeed been a drop off for whatever reason. Anyway, no need for me to sit down in a quiet place over Farage’ actions. Whether you like it or not Nigel Farage represents our best hope on this side of this side of the political plain. There is simply nobody else on this side of the political landscape who has the necessary pull factor to make an impact, and Farage has got it in bucket loads. Unfortunately David Kurten tries hard but hasn’t got that necessary wow factor, and neither has Tice, who will never have it. At best he would make a good party chairman providing he keeps in the background, but even then he would be a hindrance due to his lack of political know how. And as for the UK Independence Party, Neil Hamilton was once a good orator and has stabilised the party in recent years but is going nowhere politically and is stagnating and the party now needs a new younger leader. As for the SDP, its leader is nowhere to be seen. So the whole thing comes back to Farage, as he is the game changer and there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever about that.
Tues 3.10.23.
Truss.
As I’ve said again and again Growth, Tax reduction strategy, Be careful, Be sneaky, One small step at a time. By Sector or other statistical band, Coincide with other linked conditions:- like the bureaucracies of meetings committees, computers, new departments, and political inventions like HR, IT, VAT and interfering regs etc.
VAT is not simple , it involves everybody at every level and customers and suppliers and imposes a totally EU set of idiotic rules which hamstring our industry on purpose.. GET RID
PS. If you earned 100 pounds in 2019, You will now need 138 and still be slightly worse off because you will now be paying more tax. iNFLATION IS A GOLD MINE FOR governments. Taxman & Politicians and big employers love it. DOCTORS TEND TO BE EDUCATED, THUS ARE EDUCATED IN COMPOUND INTEREST.( since most modern medicine ( treatments ) uses it mercilessly )
Here’s the latest live video from Neil McCoy-Ward. India is leading the way of an increasing number of countries that is telling its citizens not to go to university in Britain, the US or Sweden, it is now far too dangerous and violent, they are failed states.
As Neil say’s, it’s hard to see this when you live in Britain but when you’re outside, you can see it. To me that hasn’t been back for more than a few days in the last twenty years, I’m incredulous. Britain is now officially a third world sh*thole.
“‘AVOID THE UK AT ALL COSTS!!!…’ (India Tells Their Citizens)” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQX7I4UlVoo
Best wishes for a speedy recovery Viv
The land down under have realised how to fix an election.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12438845/Voice-referendum-trick.html
The year and half long war in Ukraine is the most censored in history. Unlike Vietnam there are no daily television reports with images of the war. Our instinct ought to be one of scepticism over official reports in such a context. It is also remarkable how few smart phone images and videos there have been. Censorship technology has come a long way.
The number of people killed and maimed is estimated to be around a quarter of a million so far with propaganda boasts about the number of Russians killed and less about the number of Ukrainians (c 100,000). Ukraine is a killing field and the West ought to be clamouring for a ceasefire and peace talks, but the US and UK’s politicians are doing the opposite (and drowning out the countries that do want to the war to stop).
The few Ukrainian exiles that I have had casual conversations with do not think keeping the Donbas region or regaining Crimea worth the human cost. Western arms manufacturers do.
White House policy is allegedly to deter Putin from ever again invading a neighbour. One would have thought that achieved yet Biden, following Zelensky’s latest begging mission, is urging Congress to continue funding the war and Wallace, Johnson and Schapps want ever greater spending and involvement by the UK. No-one will say if there is an upper limit to expenditure or lives lost beyond which support will cease.
Western involvement in proxy wars usually ends in a mess and failed states – Syria, Libya – and even when directly involved as in Iraq and Afghanistan. Faith in the judgement of our governments by so many of our citizens, encouraged by the media, would seem misplaced based on recent history.
The Moscow Armistice of September 1944 ended the conflict between Finland and the Soviet Union with Finland conceding some territory, the subsequent peace being worth it. There are many examples of wars so ending. Nearly every war in Europe for the past 1000 years has entailed re-drawing boundaries (to end slaughter on a much smaller scale than in Ukraine).
I will have an opportunity late this month to ask one of our gung-ho conservative politicians supporting Zelensky if there is an upper limit to how many people can be killed or to our financial support (already measured in billions). Note, I am not saying it is wrong to resist Putin nor whether it is right. I want to know how open ended the commitment is and whether the human cost is ever a factor. The slaughter is sickening and like the few Ukrainians I’ve met enough is enough.
Stout- looks like you too are a victim of disinformation. C. 100,000 dead? There are a couple of organisations out there scanning obituaries and monitoring graveyards. The number is towards 600,000 Ukrainian dead. The Russians are saying that the Ukrainians had 18,000 dead during September 2023 in Bradley Square alone. Bradley Square – so named because of the huge number of Bradley ‘fighting vehicles’ also ‘dead in the area.
Following the Conservative Minister twit (was it yesterday?) who said Britain would set up factories and such in Ukraine . . . last night foreign – not Russian, such factories were targeted with missiles, meaning blown to bits. Clear message or what?
As to party conferences. Someone said he would not be going, because he had volunteered for water-boarding instead.
What organisations? Ukrainians I know in touch with people at home are not reporting 600,000 Ukrainians dead. If anyone is a ‘victim’ of misinformation it is probably you.
Stout- that sounded like an insult from someone who is unused to being challenged.
You really have to investigate rather than wave a Marseilles Gallic hand shrug whilst pontificating on a subject you are not master of.
Final para: that is very worrying. Look after yourself Viv and hope you get better soon.
BTW very intrigued to know who painted that picture. Its familiar but I can’t place it.
Google image search suggests it is Farce by Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin.
Hope that helps
many thanks so it is
Here’s a poem that underlines the dreadful problems we have with our politicians, also known as: “name your genocide.” Read the text or listen to the video.
“A POWERFUL POEM READ BY DR TESS LAWRIE:
Mistakes Were NOT Made: An Anthem for Justice
This poem was written by Margaret Anna Alice:
Mistakes Were NOT Made:
An Anthem for Justice
by Margaret Anna Alice
The Armenian Genocide was not a mistake.
Holodomor was not a mistake.
The Final Solution was not a mistake.
The Great Leap Forward was not a mistake.
The Killing Fields were not a mistake.
Name your genocide—it was not a mistake.
That includes the Great Democide of the 2020s.
To imply otherwise is to give Them the out they are seeking.
It was not botched.
It was not bungled.
It was not a blunder.
It was not incompetence.
It was not lack of knowledge.
It was not spontaneous mass hysteria.
The planning occurred in plain sight.
The planning is still occurring in plain sight.
The philanthropaths bought The $cience™.
The modelers projected the lies.
The testers concocted the crisis.
The NGOs leased the academics.
The $cientists fabricated the findings.
The mouthpieces spewed the talking points.
The organizations declared the emergency.
The governments erected the walls.
The departments rewrote the rules.
The governors quashed the rights.
The politicians passed the laws.
The bankers installed the control grid.
The stooges laundered the money.
The DoD placed the orders.
The corporations fulfilled the contracts.
The regulators approved the solution.
The laws shielded the contractors.
The agencies ignored the signals.
The behemoths consolidated the media.
The psychologists crafted the messaging.
The propagandists chanted the slogans.
The fact-chokers smeared the dissidents.
The censors silenced the questioners.
The jackboots stomped the dissenters.
The tyrants summoned.
The puppeteers jerked.
The puppets danced.
The colluders implemented.
The doctors ordered.
The hospitals administered.
The menticiders scripted.
The bamboozled bleated.
The totalitarianized bullied.
The Covidians tattled.
The parents surrendered.
The good citizens believed … and forgot.
This was calculated.
This was formulated.
This was focus-grouped.
This was articulated.
This was manufactured.
This was falsified.
This was coerced.
This was inflicted.
This was denied.
We were terrorized.
We were isolated.
We were gaslit.
We were dehumanized.
We were wounded.
We were killed.
Don’t let Them get away with it.
Don’t let Them get away with it.
Don’t let Them get away with it.”
Thank you Flyer very thought provoking.
Look after yourself Viv. Don’t let the b***ards get you down. I am going into hospital on the weekend and expect to be “out of it” for a short time but will continue to check-in daily for updates and see what others have to say. I see the mass killing (jabbing and testing) has returned. You can’t fix stupid.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery Lisa.
Thank you Flyer. So true!..