Bully – allegedly …

 

One-twelfth of this year has now vanished, and what has been achieved by the Westminster ruling classes? Nothing. There are the obligatory howls about today’s teachers’ strike and about Hunt being mean, according to the dead-tree press (link). Have you noticed that the MSM haven’t produced horror stories about all the other strikes, like the NHS and rail ones? It couldn’t be because somehow we peasants have apparently managed quite well without needing to use those services? 

However, our esteemed Westminster ‘lords of the news’ are presenting us with what amounts to ‘chewed’-over ‘information’, as if they’re trying to re-run the last days of the Major government and ‘Three sleaze’ before Tony B ‘liberated’ us. There’s the ongoing ‘scandal’ of Dominic Raab being accused of bullying, now with the extra twist that ‘Sunak was warned’ about this affair but gave him his job anyway. 

It’s difficult to make head or tail out of this affair when even The Times seems to be helplessly trying to sort out ‘sources’ (this and other emphases are mine);:

“Sources said that Sunak’s team was made aware in general terms of previous problems but this was not considered an official red flag. Sunak’s spokesman declined to say whether the prime minister had been aware of informal complaints, saying he had been given “the requisite information”. A No 10 source said that “the PM was not directly told about concerns” and that nothing had been raised during the routine civil service vetting process. It is understood that the propriety and ethics team advised there was no reason not to reappoint Raab.” (link, paywalled)

So – a nothing-burger then – or is it yet another attempt by Whitehall mandarins to make life as difficult for this government as possible? After all, the appropriate mandarins didn’t see any problems when asked … One has to wonder why these wonderful mandarins have been wasting their and the minister’s time on this ‘bullying issue’ – they’ve been at it for nearly a year now. Does this country not have any other problems? For example the economy? 

We find that, yes, the economy is ‘a problem’, but only as far as this can be utilised to attack the Chancellor for being mean and not reducing taxes. No, don’t ask why this is now a terrible thing to do when in October 2022 the then PM – a certain Miz Truss – was chased out of office because her plan of lowering taxes was deemed to be practically a crime, as far as TPTB were concerned. 

Yesterday the papers were full of yon IMF Report according to which the UK was in dire economic straits because of taxation and inflation being too high. The Times has published a second report trying to produce ‘reasons’. There was one remark which caught my eyes. It was nicely hidden amongst the waffle:

“Inflation in the UK is also a combination of the worst parts of the US and European economies, as it is driven both by rising wages and higher energy prices. Record gas prices pass through very quickly into household electricity bills in Britain, said Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the IMF’s chief economist, who noted that the cost of living crisis will be more acute for British households as a result.” (link, paywalled)

Strangely enough, our MSM don’t ask why these selfsame energy firms are incapable of reducing our household energy bills as quickly when gas prices on the world markets tumble (link)? Well, guess who profits from high energy prices! It’s not just the energy firms, no: thanks to VAT and other ‘instruments’, high energy prices are a nice little extra earner for the Treasury. That’s why no mandarin, no Chancellor, seems willing to twist the arms of energy firms to lower their prices quickly. After all, why should we plebs not keep on shouldering the burden of high taxation and inflation.

And anyway – no proper Brit is taking to the streets as they do in France where they had another strike day yesterday, with over a million – that’s the official number as reported in The Times – demonstrating across the country. The report for that paper dug out an 82-year old lefty woman to comment on the French strikes, just so they could quote her, saying that “she welcomed the teachers’ strike in Britain. “Thatcher was horrible and it’s good that the resistance is re-emerging,” (link, paywalled) – good grief!

Speaking of ‘the continent’, or rather: Brussels, there’s been a resurrection yesterday. LBC radio thought it was suitable to ‘hear from the other side’ on the day we celebrated Brexit having been achieved and invited that Verhofstadt bloke for an interview. And wouldn’t you know it – he found another grievance item to blame on Brexit:

“Verhofstadt, who has long backed calls for a European army that would be separate from Nato, added that a more federalised Europe might have been enough to dissuade Putin from invading. He said: “A united Europe, certainly on defence matters, would make an enormous difference. I think maybe without Brexit, maybe it was no invasion. I don’t know. I guess that [Putin] had seen certainly a far more stronger and united Europe at the other side.” (link, paywalled)

Oh dear. A knave who thinks that this off-the-cuff remark might not be gleefully utilised by a Labour-Rejoin government as ‘reason’ to support at the very least this ‘European Army’ dream!

I leave you with news which the DT, more and more becoming an outlet for frustrated, wannabe-journalist wimmin, saw fit to publish:

“‘It’s like going out with my grandad’ – why I’m sick of dating sober men – Having crept in slowly, the era of alcohol-free dates seems to be upon us, but I miss flirting tipsily over negronis in a dark bar ” (paywalled link).

Gawd. That laydee author confessed she’d been using dating apps for five (!) years without finding ’Teh One’. Perhaps flirting tipsily with tipsy blokes just conceivably might have something to do with that? Well – it’s in the DT, so surely we’re allowed to pour scorn over it, just as we can pour scorn over that “Raab is a bully” news which we’re nudged into accepting as reason to remove him from circulation.

That’s all I have for you today. It’s always nice to see that one’s expectations have been surpassed if not reaffirmed: the capable nudgers and writers in our glorious MSM are clearly not able or willing to produce incisive reports, connect glaring dots or ask inconvenient questions. Have a good day.



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