UNION FLAG AGREEMENT CAUSES ROW IN SCOTLAND
The Express reports that a furious row has erupted after the SNP slated UK Government plans to put the Union flag on British driving licences and number plates as the EU flag is removed. Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, says the change helps to mark one year since the UK’s exit from the EU on 31st January 2020. A recently signed deal with the EU means UK drivers who hold photocard licences will not need an international driving permit to drive in any of the 27 EU member states as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland or Liechtenstein. Alongside this, British drivers won’t need to display a GB sticker in most EU countries if their number plate has GB or GB with a Union Flag on it. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Changing the designs of our driving licences and number plates is a historic moment for British motorists, and a reassertion of our independence from the EU one year on from our departure.”
BRUISING WEEK FOR LABOUR LEADER
The Times reports: He may be regarded as one of the most reviled men in Britain, but Piers Morgan seems to have greater appeal among lapsed Labour voters than Sir Keir Starmer. That, at least, is the fear that has taken hold among members of the leader’s top team. Their efforts to win back voters in Red Wall seats, who deserted Labour at the last election, are not bearing fruit.Even Piers Morgan has more traction with these voters to criticise this government than we do, a Labour source said. Our problem is that the public wants Boris Johnson to do well . They think he’s had a really bad hand and they want him to succeed. We haven’t got permission to be in the room.
STARMER FACING BACKLASH OVER FRONT BENCH COVID COMMENTS
From the Daily Mail: Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is facing a backlash after one of his most senior frontbenchers described the Covid pandemic as a ‘gift that keeps on giving’ for lawyers. Lord Falconer, the Shadow Attorney General, used the phrase during a briefing for a top City firm staffed by millionaire lawyers. The peer insists that he was referring to changes in the law triggered by the crisis, but a source close to the Labour grandee said that he regretted his choice of words. Last night, Lord Falconer’s comments were seized on by the Conservatives, with party chairman Amanda Milling describing it as a ‘troubling’ example of Labour’s approach to the pandemic. As well as being a full-time member of the Shadow Cabinet, Lord Falconer – who served as Tony Blair’s Lord Chancellor – is a partner at the international law firm Gibson Dunn, where his duties have included leading its Covid-19 UK Task Force.
UNPAID RENT WORRIES FOR RETAILERS AND RESTAURATEURS
The Times reports that restaurateurs and retailers are speeding towards a cliff-edge in spring if landlords are once again allowed to evict tenants over unpaid rent, struggling firms warned this weekend. They also face the end of business rates relief. More than 660,000 hospitality and 170,000 retail jobs have already been lost. There are fears those numbers could rocket in April when the moratorium on evictions is due to end and companies are forced to restart business rates payments after a 12-month holiday. There is still no certainty as to when hospitality and retail operators will be able to reopen.
BREXIT DEAL PAVES WAY FOR EU ARMY
The Express writes: Tony Blair and former French president Jacques Chirac signed a declaration, which called for the creation of a European force of up to 60,000 troops and the Brexit deal signed by Boris Johnson has helped pave the way for a European army. Prior to Brexit the UK was linked to a series of EU military structures including the European Defence Fund, Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and the European Defence Agency and Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) which some critics see as the beginning of an EU army. The UK did push for a greater Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) under former Prime Minister Tony Blair. In 1999, Mr Blair and former French president Chirac signed the Saint-Malo Declaration, which was designed to bolster the EU’s ability to conduct autonomous military operations.A year later, as a direct consequence of the Saint-Malo summit, a “Headline Goal” was formulated in Helsinki, setting 2003 as a target date for the creation of a European force of up to 60,000 troops.
HOSPITAL NAME TO HONOUR CAPTAIN SIR TOM MOORE
From The Mirror: a new hospital could be named in Captain Sir Tom Moore’s honour and is reportedly in the works as Downing Street considers ideas of a fitting permanent memorial. The WW2 veteran, who captured the hearts of the nation with his incredible NHS fundraising during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, died on Tuesday at the age of 100 after a brief battle with Covid-19 and pneumonia. Boris Johnsonhas informed the Moore family that he is “enthusiastically looking” at plans for a permanent memorial. The family will have the final say after consultation with ministers. A Number 10 source is reported as saying that people are very keen to see a lasting tribute to his fantastic achievement and naming a hospital in his honour feels like a great idea.
DENTAL TREATMENT DIFFICULT TO ACCESS
The Guardian reports that patients are facing a hidden national dentistry crisis fuelled by the pandemic that will lead to a rise in oral cancer in coming months and years, dentists and patient advocates say. People who need urgent dental treatment are struggling to find any NHS treatment in all parts of England, according to Healthwatch, the independent patient watchdog. Senior dentist leaders say surgeries are being incentivised not to deal with the most serious cases and that the profession has been affected by EU dentists leaving the UK. Last year the number of calls and complaints about dentistry rose by 452%. Before Covid-19, one in 10 people could not access dental services. “Since the pandemic, we have been hearing about access to dentistry from people in all parts of the country.
NO TO BBC LICENCE FEE
The Express reports that the majority of the public no longer want to pay the BBC licence fee and the impartiality of the broadcaster is in grave doubt, according to exclusive research. Polling found that well over half (56 percent) of respondents would support getting rid of the licence fee and having the BBC switch to a subscription-based model. Fewer than one in five people (19 percent) were opposed to scrapping the licence fee, which now costs £157.50 a year. The findings have triggered new calls for the licence fee to be axed. The polling of 1,700 people by Redfield & Wilton Strategies also reveals the widespread belief that the BBC has failed to be unbiased in its reporting. Almost half of people (47 percent) said the BBC has failed to be impartial in its news coverage in recent years, while fewer than three out of 10 (28 percent) thought it had succeeded. The survey also uncovered strong support for a new news channel to provide an alternative to the BBC. A third of respondents (33 percent) agreed with the statement: ‘The BBC is not impartial and balanced, and there is a need for another news channel to offer a different perspective.’
SECRET SQUIRRELS INVESTIGATION AT UNIVERSITIES
According to the Mail on Sunday more than a dozen British universities are under investigation over commercial relationships with the Chinese government that might break laws designed to protect national security and human rights. The institutions – which include some of the most prestigious universities in the country – could be hit by ‘enforcement notices’ imposed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs over alleged breaches of export controls in their dealings with Beijing. It is understood the security services fear some academics have been sharing pioneering British technology with China that could be facilitating the dictatorial Communist government’s repression of minorities and dissidents. The security service investigation, led by MI6 officers seconded to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was launched amid growing concern in Downing Street that academics were engaged in a ‘new gold rush’ to strike deals with the Chinese over cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs.
STATUE AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY TO TOPPLE
From the Sunday Times: Oxford’s Cecil Rhodes statue, which has become a symbol of memorials linked to slavery and Britain’s colonial past, is set to be removed by the summer and placed in a museum, though a number of dons are determined to block the move. The clash will be the first big test case in the “culture wars” over scores of statues, memorials and buildings, many in schools and universities, that campaigners want to topple or rename in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests. They are in a race against time, however, with Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, who wants to protect monuments by law, and some academics, who believe that if Rhodes falls every other controversial memorial will follow.
AND FINALLY
According to the Sunday Telegraph John Humphrys is quitting his role as host of the BBC’s quiz show Mastermind after 18 years on the job. Humphrys, 77, announced his departure in his Daily Mail column, adding that his replacement would be announced by the time the current series ends in March. “It really is time to finish,” he wrote, echoing the show’s catchphrase, “I’ve started so I’ll finish.” The Welsh broadcaster, who took the Mastermind reins in 2003 and hosted more than 750 episodes of the show, added: “I wish my successor well – but I’m not sure I envy them, whoever ‘they’ may be. What are the odds on the first female?” Mastermind, which currently airs on BBC Two, was first broadcast on BBC One in 1972 and hosted by former journalist Magnus Magnusson.
Only vandals and the uneducated thugs would want to topple Britain’s historical past or destroy achievements of great innovators and far sighted statesmen like Cecil Rhodes who engineered the incorporation of education for local population as well as for children of slaves and immigrants. Destruction of memorials of centuries of history-in-the-making that culminated not just in today’s Multi-cultural society but also in the cohesive Commonwealth nations, so revered by our monarch, Queen Elizabeth 2, that is tantamount to the ridiculous idea of stamping out the EU27 nations after Brexit. Just because this country had been generous enough to share their beautiful country with those who now chose to live here does not mean those descended from slaves or immigrants of the last few centuries could vandalise Britain’s inheritance for their native children.
Wonderfully articulated. Currently we are being induced by all and sundry, the entire media, virtually world-wide to recognise the Black Lives Matter Raging Mobs as ‘peaceful demonstrators’.
Is it not about time that we did some relatively simple research into exactly how and when Black CHILDREN’S Lives Matter TO BLACKS?
Absent fathers comes to mind, Black on black crime also.
How much more responsibility should ‘whites’ bear in improving the lives of young blacks, children in particular…………when black fathers systeimicly run away from the product of their serial infidelities?
Mastermind job. My money is on the female, black and/or lesbian candidate. But only if they can’t find a remainiac transgender who identifies as an indigenous tree in a previous incarnation.
My thoughts exactly, but you missed out the bit ”with only one leg / in a wheel chair / iron lung”.
In any case there must by dozens at the bbc that meet the criteria.
Some advantages of becoming ‘independent’ are already becoming evident. Most of we Brexiteers thought we’d have to be patient to see the dividends. But just 5 weeks into Billy Bunter’s appalling deal some glimmers of hope are apparent. Alex Bellfield points out a few in this short video.
Mastermind: BBC: I had a waking ‘nightmare’……….I had a vision of Fiona Bruce as, WAIT FOR IT, The Questionmaster ……and every one of the contestants………………was Fiona Bruce…………and the punchline? She presented the trophy to herself.
Please!, please!…..tell me it isn’t true……Aghhhhhhhh!
Humphrys’ replacement.
Who’s betting it won’t be BAME/Female/Visibly disabled/Mentally disturbed or all four?
Wouldn’t do to give the best applicant the job now would it?
Oh, I forgot. On a vast salary too. Only license payer’s money.
Did Cecil Rhodes have links to Slavery?
Colonialism yes.
Beside the point really. The Times omits to say that his link with Oxford University was that he founded or funded something important there.
“BREXIT DEAL PAVES WAY FOR EU ARMY”
Yet another let-down by Boris. My opinion of him is rapidly changing from “incompetent buffoon” to “traitor” as were too many PMs before him.
What, you’ve only realised that. We need to have him out on his backside pretty damn shortly and have somebody with true Conservative values put in his place………
Agreed, we need a large right wing coalition to oust the Liberal Conservatives of Britain is lost
I attended a briefing by a lawyer who worked for some quango – I can’t remember which. She explained some new law and described it as badly written. Which she described it as badly drafted which meant they would be able to extend its applicability through case law.
Law-making by the legal profession. Funny, I’ve never seen their manifesto. Blair again, he’s popping up everywhere at the moment like a mobile portrait of Dorian Gray.
JF
Oh I don’t know, I think he’s looking a little care-worn. You can’t carry such a weight of public hatred on your shoulders as he does without it showing. It’s a wonder he can stand up straight. Pity he doesn’t seem able to seal his mouth with something permanent.
“Pity he doesn’t seem able to seal his mouth with something permanent”. In ancient Roman times, the populace of an oppressed overtaxed province grabbed hold of their corrupt Governor and poured molten gold down his throat saying “you like gold so much, well have it then.”
I’d extend this to many others mentioning no names but the list is very long.
(BTW in case you’re wondering, they doubtless retrieved the gold afterwards).