Apologies for that image: ‘needs must’ because he’s been at it again

 

 

Yesterday’s floral ‘tribute’ to the Ukraine, draped around the door to No 10, wasn’t sufficient for BJ. No, he also went on a ‘surprise’ visit to meet Mr ‘e in Kiev. That was splashed across the news yesterday afternoon. The ‘fruits’ of this, probably his last, ‘State Visit’, are on display on those printed front pages not dedicated to the murdered little girl in Liverpool (link). As seems to have become customary, those headlines have vanished from the online edition front pages. 

Still, in second place on their online page, The Times does report on yon visit, under the headline “Britons must pay price for Ukraine, says Boris Johnson President Zelensky vows to fight till the end” (link, paywalled). The DT ‘s headline is more specific:

“Boris Johnson: We’re paying higher bills – Ukraine is paying in blood – PM urges people to endure cost-of-living crisis to support Kyiv during visit marking six months since Russian invasion” (paywalled link).

Words fail me! So our poor and the elderly are expected to pay with their lives when winter comes and they can no longer afford to heat their homes, not even with a one-bar electric heater so they still have one? For ‘the glory of Johnson’? That’s it?

Why is BJ not using his ‘friendship’ with that Kiev person to urge him to save the lives of his people and negotiate? What is in it for BJ to keep that war going to the last Ukrainian while our poor and elderly are told to grin and bear cold and hunger? To paraphrase a German anti-naughty: ‘I cannot eat as much as I want to puke’.

But lookit here: it’s not all bad. The Mirror tells us that British Gas will generously ‘donate’ 10% of their profit to their ‘poorest customers’:

“The grants of between £250 and £750 will be targeted to the tens of thousands of customers British Gas has identified will be in financial distress as a result of soaring energy costs.” (link)

Isn’t that nice of them! What about the other energy ‘giants’? So far, our MSM aren’t yet baying for them to do the same. Take note that suddenly the decision of who is and isn’t poor is outsourced to industry. Shouldn’t our esteemed MSM cry that this ain’t fair to all those who aren’t customers of British Gas?

Where’s the outcry that these hand-outs, be they from government, i.e. us taxpayers, be they from industry bosses, are a drop in the ocean? How is a one-off payment even of £750 going to help with a bill now estimated to rise next year to £4,000 if not £6,000, as some predict? Let’s also not ask how these exorbitant energy prices will affect industries and businesses, driving up inflation. It’s all in a good cause, innit, and it’s not a blood toll, as the still resident PM has said.

Meanwhile, on the front that is the wannabe-PM race, there’s Sunak suddenly telling us that:

“[…] it was wrong to “empower scientists” to such a degree during the pandemic, as he revealed how he spoke out in government about the costs of lockdown. […] He said he believed that one of the major mistakes of the pandemic was to allow the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) to have so much sway over policy.” (paywalled link)

Oh really! A bit late, innit, Mr Sunak! Didn’t his Treasury minion provide him with briefs about what eminent scientists kept telling us during that time? There’s more, and to me this reads like a piece of revenge, as if Sunak is aiming to get his historical retaliation in first:

“In an interview with The Spectator magazine, the former chancellor said he was banned from discussing the “trade-offs” of plunging the country into restrictions, such as missed doctor appointments and mounting NHS backlogs. He claimed he became “very emotional” at times about the damage closing schools would cause to children, but said his objections were met with a “big silence” from colleagues. Recalling discussions at the heart of the Government during the early days of the pandemic, Mr Sunak said: “Those meetings were literally me around that table, just fighting. It was incredibly uncomfortable every single time.” (paywalled link)

It won’t help him in this race, but who knows: there’s always another day to fight. Meanwhile, Miz Truss has managed to attract the fire of the NHS with her announcement that some of the money  coming in with the rise in our NI contributions should go to Social Care. Under the headline “Alarm over Liz Truss raid on NHS – Plan to divert £10bn into social care will mean cuts and long waits for patients, warn health chiefs” ,The Times quotes the wails of those NHS bosses who cry:

“[…] that her pledge to remove cash earmarked for the health service will “slam the brakes” on efforts to tackle record waiting lists, with patients bearing the brunt.” (link, paywalled)

How heartless of La Truss! Typical ‘Toreee Cuts’, innit! Those NHS bosses present their numbers, demonstrating that they are not above blackmail when it means they can keep their sticky fingers on our money:

“An extra £36 billion has been ring-fenced for health and care spending over the next three years, of which less than £2 billion a year is due to go towards social care. Truss […] has announced that as prime minister she will divert the entire amount to local authorities to pay for older people’s care. This would create a £10 billion shortfall in annual NHS spending, the equivalent of imposing a 7 per cent budget cut on the service. NHS bosses say that they would have no choice but to cut services as they face the worst winter crisis in living memory, forcing patients to wait longer for treatment.” (link, paywalled)

Now wait a minute: aren’t we told again and again that the poor NHS is unable to provide proper ‘care’ due to all those ‘bed-blockers’ which they have to keep in hospital because Social Care cannot cope? Wouldn’t that extra money for social care unblock those beds and free clinical staff to look after the really ill? Is that too much ‘joined-up-thinking’ for the NHS bosses? 

Don’t expect Starmer to wade in – he’s got his difficulties as well. It’s all about money. According to ‘inews’:

“Keir Starmer forces shadow Cabinet and potential Labour leadership rivals to stop fundraising for themselves – The Labour leader told Shadow Cabinet ministers last week that fundraising was to be centralised as the party’s relationship between the trade unions becomes increasingly strained” (link)

Oh dear. Won’t Saint Tone hand over a donation from his ill-gotten multi-millions? Perhaps the trade unions are unwilling to keep their Labour MPs in the cushy circumstances they’ve become accustomed to, realising that their members are facing inflation and high energy prices like the rest of us. That’s why they go on strikes, after all. Perhaps they also realise that Labour has been doing eff all to present a coherent policy to deal with inflation. Only our Labour-promoting Westminster MSM don’t yet grasp this fact.

I leave you with news that there’s ‘chaos at Calais’, with thousands of Brits trying to get back to Dover “being trapped in six-hours queues” thanks to UK Border Farce delays (link). Well, they should’ve rented those dinghies which are proliferating on the Normandy beaches. After all the Frogs ain’t patrolling there because allegedly “we” owe them £8m, and never mind that most of those Frog officers are on their summer holidays anyway (link). I’m sure  the Border Farce would’ve guaranteed those queuing Brits a fast taxi service back to Dover. 

We’re certainly living in interesting times. Day by day we can only stand and watch aghast as our derelict governing ‘elite’, all the way down from yon still ‘present’ PM, is dismantling and wrecking our country. Have a lovely day while you can.



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