David Cameron's backing band

Alan Johnson, Hilary Benn, Iain McNicol, Chuka Umunna... have reduced themselves to David Cameron's backing band.

https://twitter.com/derekrootboy 

The depth of corruption within the elite

I think when you see the Observer giving such gratuitous gubernaturnal support to David Cameron you realise the depth of corruption within the elite:  http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/feb/21/cameron-has-secured-his-eu-deal-so-what-happens-now

But is it not amusing to see the holier than thou Observer simply reprinting a press release!

God bless Boris Johnson

God bless Boris Johnson:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35626621

God bless Michael Gove.

God bless Iain Duncan Smith (who was wonderful on The World This Weekend at lunchtime):  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03k8gc6

At Holy Communion this morning I again prayed that the LEAVE side would win.

Emotional forces of which they are entirely unaware

There is a discernible sense of arrogance and entitlement among the Westminster politicians concerning the forthcoming EU referendum:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35621079

Perhaps they genuinely feel that they are in charge of the process.

That they will decide things among themselves.

And yet emotional forces of which they are entirely unaware may surprise them.

Forces that may well turn out Mr Cameron and put Mr Gove at the head of the government before the end of the year.

A tremendous fraud is being practised against the British people

Watching Newsnight about the so-called breakthrough in the EU renegotiations, one is left with the feeling that a tremendous fraud is being practised against the British people:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mk25

Impartial report on The economic impact of ‘Brexit’

Produced by Capital Economics for Woodford Investment Management, this is an impartial report on
The economic impact of ‘Brexit’:  https://woodfordfunds.com/economic-impact-brexit-report/

Some quotes:  

Immigration - Immigration from the European Union is currently boosting the workforce by around 0.5% a year. This has helped support the economy’s ability to grow without pushing up wage growth and inflation ( my note - in other words, immigration is depressing wages in the United Kingdom).

Trade and manufacturing - It is highly probable that a favourable trade agreement would be reached after Brexit as there are advantages for both sides in continuing a close commercial arrangement.

Financial services and the City - The City would probably be hurt in the short term, but it would not spell disaster. The City’s competitive advantage is founded on more than just unfettered access to the single market.

Regulation, innovation and productivity - Brexit is only likely to have a limited impact on Britain’s productivity.

Foreign investment - Concerns about a drying up of foreign direct investment if Britain votes to leave the European Union are somewhat overblown.

Public sector - The British government could save about £10bn per year on its contributions to the European Union’s budget if the country left the bloc.

Consumption and property market - any negative impacts will be small, certainly at a macroeconomic level.

Overall - Although the impact of Brexit on the British economy is uncertain, we doubt that Britain’s long-term economic outlook hinges on it.

The intervention of the Duke of Cambridge into the EU Referendum debate

What is one to make of the intervention of the Duke of Cambridge into the EU Referendum debate? (for it is fairly obvious that it was an interevention):  http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/16/prince-william-appears-to-signal-support-for-remaining-in-eu

Has he thought through the impications for the monarchy if we remain in the EU?

What is the point of having a Sovereign that is not actually sovereign?

The British monarchy becomes reduced to the kind of Eurotrash celebrity princelings that besmirch the national life of Spain and Monaco.

That would never suit us.

Support would inevitably drain away.

Prince William needs to understand that if we stay in the EU the monarchy is on the way out, one way or another.

Pro-LEAVE Labour MP Graham Stringer

Strong Bruges Group meeting on 25th February.

Includes pro-LEAVE Labour MP Graham Stringer.

If you see me there say hello.

http://www.brugesgroup.com/ 

Whatever "rabbit" emerges needs to be scrutinised very carefully by the media

On the Andrew Marr Show this morning Labour MP Giesela Stuart warned that the EU is heading towards deeper political integration:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03jhyl1

Andrew Marr also warned us "we know there is a rabbit in David Cameron's hat".

We must be wary of this.  The whole of the renegotiations has so far been a manipulative pantomime with stage villains, choreographed storylines, and two-dimensional principle boy heroics.  Whatever "rabbit" emerges needs to be scrutinised very carefully by the media, and it is certain to be an attempt to deceive.

Ridiculous scare-mongering by travel "chiefs"

Ridiculous scare-mongering by travel "chiefs" on the front page of the Sunday Times:  http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/article1668219.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2016_02_13

What next?

Brexit will lead to a national shortage of marron glace?

Brexit will lead to British holiday makers on the continent being pelted with dead animals and called rude names a la Monty Python?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7zbWNznbs

Brexit will lead to Germany firing vengeance-weapons at British cities? *

* this last actually happened, which makes Gunter Krichbaum's current threats all the more offensive.

John Kerry urges UK to stay in "united EU"

John Kerry urges UK to stay in "united EU".

https://twitter.com/GdnPolitics

Surely he is not going to claim to be a friend of the United Kingdom?

According to the Guardian the American President is planning to interfere in British affairs (article by Patirick Wintour):  http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/feb/12/barack-obama-plans-eu-referendum-intervention

It will be interesting to see how Barack Obama does this.

Surely he is not going to claim to be a friend of the United Kingdom?

This is Barack Obama who in his autobiographical Dreams From My Father accused the British of atrocities during counter-terrorist operations in Kenya here

This is Barack Obama who maliciously accused "British Petroleum" of polluting the Gulf of Mexico when the company he was referring to had been known as BP for years, was as much American-owned as it was British-owned, and when almost everyone involved in the pollution fiasco was American not British.

This is Barack Obama whose first action on becoming American President was to send back to London the bust of Winston Churchill that had been displayed in the White House Oval Office.  It is not clear whether he spat on it before it was sent back.  But certainly it was sent back in a symbolic act that was unmistakable.

No, Barack Obama cannot claim to be a friend of the United Kingdom.

And any attempt to interfere in our internal affairs needs to be robustly rebuffed.

Indeed, let me start the rebuffing now by saying:  fuck off Obama, you are no friend of ours.

THIRTEEN government ministers will defy David Cameron

Tomorrow's Sun:  http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/6928178/Rebellion-looming-THIRTEEN-government-ministers-will-reject-PMs-EU-renegotiation-deal.html

"THIRTEEN government ministers will defy David Cameron to campaign to leave the EU."

And presumably one of those thirteen will be the next Conservative Party leader since whatever the result of the EU referendum (and I am hoping for a LEAVE win) it is inconceivable that Cameron could stay on after his farcical Jungle-camps-in-Kent blunder.

A politician can survive many things, but not ridicule.

Cameron's fear-mongering will rebound upon him

There is a wonderful article by about the EU by Melanie Phillips in today's Times:  http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/columnists/article4688706.ece

I urge you to read it.

Such intellectual clarity is rare.

"...Cameron's fear-mongering will rebound upon him.  For he is displaying contempt, not just for the public's intelligence but their desire to govern themselves."

A discussion about fear-mongering in the EU referendum

On Daily Politics this lunchtime there was a discussion about fear-mongering in the EU referendum campaign.  Agreement from Kelvin MacKenzie and Anne McElvoy that for David Cameron to use the fear of Jungle Migrant Camps so early in the campaign is an indication that things are not going well.  "His private polling is probably telling him he is going to lose" Kelvin MacKenzie said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mjxb

Discussion on immigration

Nigel Farage easily won a discussion on immigration on this evening's Question Time:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006t1q9

Margaret Thatcher and the EU

There are so many claims flying around about Margaret Thatcher and the EU that it is worth setting the record straight with this letter she sent to Bill Cash MP.   https://twitter.com/ConHistGrp

If you vote LEAVE you are a Russian stooge

Hereditary Labour MP Hilary Benn (in the House of Commons for no other reason than that he is his father's son) is using fear to compel voters to remain in the European Union:  https://www.politicshome.com/foreign-and-defence/articles/story/hilary-benn-vladimir-putin-would-welcome-brexit

If you vote LEAVE you are a Russian stooge Mr Benn is telling us.

This is of course a disgraceful claim to make.

But for the LEAVE campaign it is encouraging that Hilary Benn stoops so low. 

The REMAIN side have nothing to offer.  They are bankrupt of ideas.  In short, the REMAIN side is going to lose.

Boris is such a legend

This is VERY interesting:  http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/feb/10/boris-johnson-eu-marina-wheeler-david-cameron-deal-renegotiation?CMP=twt_gu

If Boris Johnson were to lead the LEAVE campaign everything would change.

And on a personal level it is his best chance of becoming Prime Minister.

And Boris is such a legend.

A scam, a fix, a deception

Faisal Islam talking to Adam Boulton on Sky News just now mentioned that Bil Cash MP has published the legal advice of the European Council to David Cameron about the renegotiation.

Apparently the much-vaunted "Summit" of EU leaders next week is not a summit at all.

It is a scam, a fix, a deception.

Shame on you David Cameron.

http://news.sky.com/uk

Not much in the way of integrity from George Monbiot

Actually George Monbiot mentions TTiP in today's Guardian (which I did not get to look at until this evening):  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/10/eu-in-health-wildife-european-union

But he concludes he is a "pro-European Eurosceptic" and intends to vote to stay in.

Not much in the way of integrity from George Monbiot.

His policy is to just hope for the best (against all the evidence).

Former Tory leader William Hague

Notice how in this article for the Daily Telegraph former Tory leader William Hague (a failure as a leader let us remind ourselves) tells us that someone who is 100% sure on an issue is a "fanatic":  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/eureferendum/12148794/Every-good-Conservative-should-feel-torn-on-the-EU-referendum.html

Note the line:

Is the national identity of the United Kingdom best preserved by escaping from the supranational goals of the European Union, or would withdrawal from it risk, as I have argued, the disintegration of the United Kingdom itself?

I think people will be surprised at the strength of LEAVE feeling in Scotland, and on the day it may well be the majority opinion in Scotland for a variety of reasons.

TTiP is of course an EU initiative

How quiet the left is being over the EU referendum.

Nothing from the Unions.  Not a peep out of lefty activist Owen Jones.  Very sotto voco murmerings from well-known Eurosceptic Labour MPs.

And yet these are all people who get agitated about Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTiP).

TTiP will mean the end of the NHS the left usually shouts.

TTiP is of course an EU initiative.

Leave the EU and we choose ourselves whether we want TTiP, or a watered-down TTiP with special exemptions for the NHS and other sectors.

So one must conclude that the Labour Party and the left generally (I looking at you Owen Jones) would rather abandon the NHS to TTiP rather than campaign against the EU.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/what-is-ttip-and-six-reasons-why-the-answer-should-scare-you-9779688.html 

Ian Birrill writes dismissively about the LEAVE campaign

In yesterday's Guardian Ian Birrill writes dismissively about the LEAVE campaign and confirms his status as a rotten columnist by cramming in all the usual cliches ("Little Englanders", "tiresomely banging on", "yearn for the past" etc):  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/09/eu-referendum-vote-scaremongering-operation-fear

Ian Birrill pretends to be in the dark about "post-Brexit Britian".

Let me enlighten Mr Birrill.

A post-Brexit Britain will be a nation that controls immigration.

That is the one thing above all others that the ordinary people want.

You are stupid Mr Birrill if you have not grasped that fact.

The Shy Leavers are not being reflected in the polls

George Eaton interviews Graham Brady MP for the New Statesman:  http://www.newstatesman.com/2016/02/tory-backbench-leader-graham-brady-when-we-vote-leave-eu-pm-should-stay

Note the paragraph:

Brady, who had just returned from a breakfast meeting in the City of London, told me that a number of business people have revealed to him that although their “institutional position is firmly that we should remain in the EU . . . privately their view is completely the opposite”.

More evidence that the Shy Leavers are not being reflected in the polls.

"Britain's trade to EU slumps"

Wednesday's front cover of the Daily Mail - worth reading.

"Britain's trade to EU slumps".

Hugo Duncan:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3439693/Britain-s-trade-EU-slumps-Major-boost-Leave-campaign-exports-outside-Europe-continue-soar.html

The implications of the EU referendum for any future leader of the Conservative Party

Jacob Rees-Mogg MP points out the implications of the EU referendum for any future leader of the Conservative Party: "...it won’t be somebody who backs the stay campaign because the bulk of the voters are outers",

https://www.politicshome.com/party-politics/articles/story/boris-johnson%E2%80%99s-leadership-hopes-would-%E2%80%98vanish%E2%80%99-if-he-backs-campaign

it won’t be somebody who backs the stay campaign because the bulk of the voters are outers - See more at: https://www.politicshome.com/party-politics/articles/story/boris-johnson%E2%80%99s-leadership-hopes-would-%E2%80%98vanish%E2%80%99-if-he-backs-campaign#sthash.1QwXSGVN.dpuf

it won’t be somebody who backs the stay campaign because the bulk of the voters are outers - See more at: https://www.politicshome.com/party-politics/articles/story/boris-johnson%E2%80%99s-leadership-hopes-would-%E2%80%98vanish%E2%80%99-if-he-backs-campaign#sthash.1QwXSGVN.dpuf

The primacy of EU legislation has already been conceded

David Cameron's proposed new law to "assert the sovereignty" of Parliament was exposed as a bogus con by Dominic Grieve, the former Attorney General, interviewed by Martha Kearney on the World At One this lunchtime.

The primacy of EU legislation has already been conceded.

Only by leaving the EU can Parliamentary democracy be re-established in the United Kingdom.

Lying, fear-mongering, inept bungling at every level - David Cameron is not doing very well in this campaign.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qptc

The establishment always conspires to frighten ordinary people into conformity

There was a wonderful moment on the Today programme this morning when presenter Nick Robinson, discussing the EU referendum with Whitehall "mandarin" Sir Peter Ricketts GCMG ("God Calls Me God") gently pointed out to him that the establishment always conspires to frighten ordinary people into conformity, and therefore his scaremongering about leaving the EU is likely to be disregarded.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj9z

The Daily Express tomorrow - quit the EU to save our NHS

Might be worth buying the Daily Express tomorrow - quit the EU to save our NHS the headline proclaims.

http://www.express.co.uk/

Cameron got a bad deal

I enjoyed Tim Montgomerie's column in today's Times. 

"Cameron got a bad deal in his negotiations with the European leaders".

Exactly.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/thunderer/article4685219.ece

Empty threats that mean nothing

Despicable behaviour by the Prime Minister David Cameron who earlier today was fear-mongering to tell us that the "Jungle" camp of migrants in north France would move into the United Kingdom were we to leave the EU.

The implicit threat in his statement is that if the United Kingdom dares to leave the EU there will be recriminations and retaliations by the French.

This is bullying behaviour from an Old Etonian toff the Guardian openly mocks as "Flashman".

The only possible response to bullying is to face up to the bullies and make them back off.

So let us look at the threat made by David Cameron.

Personally I believe in the sovereignty of nations, and I do not want a British border "somehow" administered in a foreign country.  I have every confidence in our ability to police our own borders.  And I am also unimpressed by the efforts to date of the French to control the Jungle or stop illegal attempts to enter the United Kingdom.

The threat of having to administer the border ourselves is no threat at all - we would do it much better than the French, and without all the European Court garbage the illegal migrants would be much easier to process.

And in any case, were we to leave the EU the numbers of cheapo predatory haulage companies pouring into England each day would be dramatically reduced, so far less lorries for the illegal migrants to jump onto.

And to address the underlying nastiness in Cameron's argument that the French would retaliate against the English, he overlooks the fact that there are approximately half a million French living in England.

Of course, there are also hundreds of thousands of English living in France, but these are mostly retired people - if the French were to retaliate against them they would simply move back to England taking their retirement wealth with them and France would be the poorer.

The French who live in England on the other hand are mostly working professionals.  I hope there would be no "retaliation" against them, but in the unpleasant world threatened by David Cameron it is possible they would be asked to leave.  In which case France would have a big surge in unemployment.

So you see the nasty negativity of David Cameron is nothing more than empty threats that mean nothing.

Using fear to imply that leaving the EU would not be good

On Farming Today this morning a Professor Mark someone or other was using fear to imply that leaving the EU would not be good for farmers and would lead to across the board price rises in food.

He disgusied his fear mongoring with a lot of humming and hahing, but that was what he was getting up.

Actually food will fall dramatically in price, and at the same time the government will be free to give subsidised support where it is needed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj8q

The EU trade argument in perspective

Tweet by Daniel Hannan MEP puts the EU trade argument in perspective:

https://twitter.com/DanHannanMEP

A growing revolt from grassroots Tories

Article by Christopher Hope, Chief Political Correspondent of the Daily Telegraph:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/christopher-hope/12145375/Tory-grassroots-fury-over-David-Cameron-jibe-is-understandable-says-rising-star-MP-James-Cleverly.html

Mr Cameron is facing a growing revolt from grassroots Tories who are outraged that he has ordered MPs to ignore their views on Europe.

The changes to our relationship with Europe Dave announced this week

Katie Hopkins writing about the EU "renegotiation" in the Daily Mail:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3430231/Sorry-Dave-deal-little-late-Europe-stop-FIBBING-us.html#ixzz3z8BcozCE

People aren’t concerned by the obscure possibility we might be able to reduce in-work benefits for migrant workers if we can pull an emergency brake.

We want to know we are contributing taxes to make Britain a better place, to provide for our families and to keep the UK true to the culture we grew up to love.

I’ve a feeling if I stood on a stump in the Jungle at Calais, and read out the changes to our relationship with Europe Dave announced this week, they’d laugh in my face as they picked my pockets.

Show them a picture of the Queen and they will not know her

In this Independent article by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown she refers to a straw poll she conducted in "west" London:  http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/ethnic-minorities-are-being-sold-poisionous-lies-on-the-benefits-of-brexit-a6859651.html

Obviously inadequate, and presented in a rather vacuous way, the article nevertheless had the following:

I talked to Abroon, a Somali who works in a gym. He has many Polish friends but wants out: “Too many of them coming. No houses for them. Look how many shops they have. Not good. Send them back. They not refugees [sic].” 

Suresh Patel, a newsagent, is with Priti Patel and Khalid Mahmood: “Let us get out. These Europeans must go home. Send them away. So then our people can come. Our culture fits better. My brother’s family wants to move from India. No chance today. England and we have long relationship. The country got rich from the Raj. These people, who are they? Show them a picture of the Queen and they will not know her.” 

Mr Hussain, the Turkish grocer, doesn’t like the EU because they hate Turkey and those people in Brussels control everything. I argued with him but it was hopeless.

A politician of great intellectual integrity, admired by MPs across the spectrum

A rather flawed article by Matthew D'Ancona in the Guardian:  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/07/margaret-thatcher-eu-views-brexit

But it does have the interesting paragraph:

"The focus of Downing Street’s anxieties has now shifted from Theresa May and Boris Johnson to Michael Gove, the justice secretary and a key figure in the Cameron circle – social and official – since its inception. Gove is closer still to George Osborne. He behaved with great loyalty when Cameron removed him from the Department for Education for shabbily “electoral” reasons. But he is also a politician of great intellectual integrity, admired by MPs across the spectrum, and is not impressed by the Tusk deal or the arguments for signing up to it. Gove knows Cameron will be furious if he deserts him at this of all moments, and has promised an answer by the end of the EU summit, which opens on 18 February."

Is Alan Johnson running a one-man EU campaign?

Article by David Pavett on the Left Futures website which illustrates what most have us have suspected for a long while - the Labour party is lukewarm on the issue of the EU (and in  my opinion most Labour supporters will vote LEAVE):  http://www.leftfutures.org/2016/02/%EF%BB%BFis-labours-eu-campaign-a-one-man-band/


Some excerpts:

Is Alan Johnson running a one-man EU campaign?

Alan Johnson may be a very worthy man. He may even know a great deal about Europe. But is it really possible that such a large issue with so many ramifications can be dealt with by one person?

The arguments offered by the Labour website are all of the “look at all the good things that we have obtained within the EU framework” variety. At no point is there any effort to consider the obvious counter arguments i.e. would those things have been also available had we not been in the EU? In other words the arguments are based on picking out whatever suits the desired conclusion and ignoring anything which might go in the opposite sense. This sort of argument is based on the idea that the general public are stupid and that therefore only stupid arguments will convince them.

The problem with Labour’s demand for reform of the EU is that it is not based on specific proposals... many, including Labour Party members in general and the left in particular, cannot see why they need to be engaged in EU issues.

It's no different from what already exists

On The World This Weekend (BBC Radio 4) Richard Tice, Chairman of the Business Group of Global Britain, discussed David Cameron's so-called re-negotiation and said:

"It's no different from what already exists... The Prime Minister is trying to deceive the British people... the European Union is stagnating..."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnz4

The campaign will be much more personal and aggressive

Interesting article by Isabel Hardman in today's Observer:  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/07/europhobe-tories-ruin-david-cameron-dream

"Cabinet ministers who want to campaign for Britain to leave the EU are not at all happy. They had been pleased that they would get a free vote on the matter and had planned to keep up their side of the bargain by repeatedly calling for civility between the two camps in the Tory party. Now they mutter darkly that the campaign will be much more personal and aggressive. Those involved in the voluntary party are threatening to abstain from campaigning in the mayoral and local elections as revenge for Cameron’s advice that Tory MPs should “not take a view because of what their constituency association might say”.

Exactly.

I prayed for victory for the LEAVE campaign

This morning at Holy Communion as I knelt at the altar rail in that sacred moment between receving the bread and receiving the wine (the Body and Blood of Christ that keeps us in eternal life) I prayed for victory for the LEAVE campaign in the EU referendum.

And in one of the hymns I was moved by the words:

Great is thy Truth, and shall prevail
To Unbelievers shame;
Thy Truth and Years do never fail;
Thou ever art the same.
Unbelief is a Raging Wave,
Dashing against a Rock:
If God doth not his Israel Save,
Then let Egyptians mock.

England is a holy nation set apart to carry out God's purpose in the world. 

I have always believed that.  

Made me wonder if Andrew Marr was following his own agenda

On the Andrew Marr show this morning he interviewed UKIP MP Douglas Carswell about the LEAVE campaign.

It seemed an uninformative interview.

Andrew Marr wanted to talk about splits, divisions, differences of opinion.

Which made me wonder if Andrew Marr was following his own agenda, rather then trying to get at the truth about the issues involved.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0080bbs

Michael Gove would make an excellent leader of the LEAVE campaign, and an excellent Prime Minister after the referendum is over.

"Shy LEAVERS" that are not being picked up by the polls

This article by Tom Harris in the Independent on Sunday is evidence of "shy LEAVERS" that are not being picked up by the polls:  http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/eu-referendum-my-instinct-to-vote-leave-is-not-something-that-can-be-confessed-in-polite-company-a6858231.html

What the ordinary members of the Tory party think about the conduct of the EU referendum

It is worth buying the Sunday Telegraph tomorrow for an insight on what the ordinary members of the Tory party think about the conduct of the EU referendum (which is already underway but disgracefully one-sided so that one cannot really call it legitimate):  https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/696088059687890945

“...she was convinced that Britain should leave the European Union.”

An important article on Margaret Thatcher's view on the EU:  http://capx.co/what-margaret-thatcher-really-thought-about-brexit/

“...she was convinced that Britain should leave the European Union.”

The “emergency brake” will not reduce immigration

In this article in The Economist the hollowness of the "emergency brake" on immigration is exposed:  http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21690029-david-camerons-weedy-renegotiation-makes-muscular-pro-european-argument-accidental?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/theaccidentaleurophile

"...the “emergency brake” will not reduce immigration, that is because EU nationals come to Britain to work, not scrounge. The brake is unlikely to be renewed in the future because Britain will struggle to show that its migrants constitute an 'emergency'..."

Therefore immigration will not stop.

Therefore gross immigration will continue at its present excessive and outrageous rate until enough constituencies are tipped over into alien control and our country is taken from us.

No doubt the pro-immigration pro-EU lobby believes this will usher in a nirvana of pluralism, diversity and perpetual multiculturalism.

In reality we will get the same sullen communal violence (think Fiji, Syria, Rwanda) that characterises other states where the population is divided into rival interest groups.

A 9-point lead for the LEAVE campaign

The Sun reports a poll showing a 9-point lead for the LEAVE campaign:  http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/6910447/David-Cameron-hit-by-damning-verdict-as-poll-reveals-45-per-cent-would-vote-for-Brexit.html

The Referendum is the best chance the ordinary people have to say NO to the current model of globalisation, and to insist that international politics is reformed so that everyone benefits, not just the elite.

And if that means the elite are going to be hurt - well so be it, they had it coming, it's about time the elite felt some of the pain everyone else is having to feel.

The electorate is wrong

Labour MP Chuka Umuna tells us the electorate is wrong:  http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/why-you-re-wrong-to-think-immigration-is-the-main-issue-in-the-eu-referendum-a6853821.html

He also tells us you have to be "in the room" to influence EU policy.

The problem is that the ordinary people are not in the room when EU policy is being discussed.

The people in the room are the lying twisting politicians who will sell our country short for their own selfish advantage.

Chuka Umuna was part of Gordon Brown's government that railroaded through the Lisbon Treaty after promising (PROMISING) the British people would decide.

Is Chuka Umuna the sort of person you would want in a room supposedly defending your interests?

No, I didn't think so.

The fact that the Financial Times is supporting EU membership tells you everything you need to know about the way in which the United Kingdom has been taken over by big corporate special interest groups (who have bought up the Conservative Party):  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/25d9bc50-cbe6-11e5-be0b-b7ece4e953a0.html?ftcamp=published_links%2Frss%2Fworld_uk_politics%2Ffeed%2F%2Fproduct#axzz3zJPQaDXm

A fight to the death over our freedom, independence and right to self-determination

On Daily Politics (BBC2) this lunchtime Conservative MP Stewart Jackson was interviewed about the Prime Minister's EU "renegotiation".

He said he had "a sense of palpable disappointment" at the feebleness of David Cameron's offering.

And Dave's slight of hand really will not do.

David Cameron will have to go in my opinion, and go dishonoured (no House of Lords, no Order of the Garter).

Stewart Jackson later said "we've got to unite as a party of government after the referendum".

Which does make me wonder whether politicians realise how serious the referendum is.

This is not a gentlemanly game played out by MPs in the club at Westminster.

This is a fight to the death over our freedom, independence and right to self-determination.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mjxb

http://www.stewartjackson.org.uk/

The EU "renegotiation"

On Today (BBC Radio 4) this morning Mishal Husain interviewed Labour MP Alan Johnson about the EU "renegotiation".  She was pathetically inadequate.  She asked him if he was relaxed about the rate of EU immigration into the United Kingdom and he just ignored her (ignored her in an arrogant patronising let's-answer-a-different-question sort of way).  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06z4w76

Wonderful performance from Isabel Oakeshott on BBC1's Question Time this evening.  She demonstrated real passion and authority and sincerity on the subject of the EU "renegotiation".  Not for the first time, we have to rely on a free press to defend our country.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006t1q9

The answer must be to turn the government out

Listening to further commentary on the so-called "deal" David Cameron has made with the EU, the question came into my mind:  what kind of people do they think we are?

Do they really think we can be fobbed off with such a sham, and our country taken out of our hands?

The answer must be to turn the government out.

Oh of course those mincing clever-dick pro-EU Tories will tell us "You can't do that because the other lot are far worse than us, tee hee hee, so you see you are stuck with us like it or not"

To which we must reply "Fuck you" and turn them out anyway.

Traitors must not prosper.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3429834/David-Cameron-faces-Tory-critics-insists-deal-EU-offers-pathway-fresh-settlement-make-Britain-stronger-safer.html

A dark and shameful capitulation by David Cameron

The so-called "renegotiations" of the United Kingdom's membership of the EU are announced.

And they will not do.

This is a dark and shameful capitulation by David Cameron.

He is being very badly advised.

And there seems to be no major politicians rising to the challenge of history and providing leadership on this most important of all issues.

What have we, the ordinary people, done to deserve this shower of shit?

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2016/feb/02/eu-renegotiation-donald-tusk-david-cameron-red-card-veto-eu-renegotiation-donald-tusk-publishes-draft-plan-to-address-camerons-concerns-politics-live

http://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2016/02/camerons-vanishing-renegotiation.html

http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/640055/David-Cameron-s-EU-renegotiation-emergency-brake-migrants-benefits-explained-Brexit

Superfluous

In case anyone was wondering, I am still around.

It's just that Jeremy Corbyn has largely made my work superfluous.

Indeed, in all three aims and objectives of the institute (countering the Labour party; helping "renew" the Conservative party from within; carrying out a transformation of society based on leaving the EU) the situation is so far advanced that we need a period of consolidation.

In 2005 who would have believed that the monolithic Labour machine would elect Jeremy Corbyn and tear itself to shreds, with resignations live on the BBC.

Who would have belived that we would have a Conservative majority government with a Conservative Prime Minister of six years standing.

Who would have believed that we would not only have a referendum on United Kingdom membership of the EU, but actually have a LEAVE side that stands a good chance of winning.

However, on the issue of the referendum I think it is unlikely that we will win first time round.  Indeed it might be better to lose by a narrow margin and wait for a larger swell (not least a swell of anger) to carry us forward.  Whatever the result, the national consensus that our future lies in the EU has been broken, and broken for the foreseeable future.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35239232

Guardian

Has The Guardian become the most boring newspaper in Britain?

Formulaic, constipated with outdated views, dull.

It is also becoming annoyingly repetitive (for instance, the Owen Jones article published today about the Spanish elections is identical to the Owen Jones article published a while back on the Greek elections - presumably he did a find-and-replace check substituting the word "Spain" for "Greece").

I would stop buying it except that we need a thick liner to the cat's litter tray.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk

God Bless The Prince of Wales.

I was glad to read that Prince Charles is scrutinising "secret" activity by the government:  http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/dec/15/revealed-prince-charles-has-received-confidential-cabinet-papers-for-decades

The question:  Who will watch the watchers?

The answer:  HRH The Prince of Wales.

Otherwise those people (all parties) will get away with murder.

Of course, they hate it.  The politicians cannot stand the idea that there is an institution that is more important than they are.  An institution that prevents them assuming complete power over us.

I saw this headline and said to myself:  God Bless The Prince of Wales.

His body language was at variance with his statements

 
On Channel 4 News this evening "entertainer" Tinie Tempah (Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu) was interviewed by Krishnan Guru-Murthy.  

Mr Okogwu, answering a very leading question from Mr Guru-Murthy, agreed that his immigrant background meant that he had a very strong work ethic.

And yet his body language was at variance with his statements.

All the time he was praising the work ethic of immigrants he was touching his chin and looking to the right.

And I thought:  you lying toad.

http://www.channel4.com/news/catch-up/

Pass the sick-bag

In the Left-Wing Luvvie Slot on the Andrew Marr Show this morning (presented by Emily Maitlis) has-been singer Chrissie Hynde actually name-checked Angela Eagle.

You couldn't make it up.

Pass the sick-bag, as they say in elderly Conservative circles.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0080bbs

Donald Trump has done us a favour

British politicians need to be careful about the abuse they are hurling at Donald Trump.

He could well be next American President.

In the early 1990s there were those around John Major who attempted to interfere in the American election on the side of George Bush senior, and Clinton was so enraged that Anglo-American relations suffered as a result.

And Donald Trump is quite right to say that there are parts of London where people do not feel safe - I was born in Weedington Road in Kentish Town and I definitely do not feel safe going back there.

Would any police feel safe going onto Broadwater Farm Estate even today?

And if the streets of London are so safe why did former Labour Minister Harriet Harman have to wear a flak jacket when walking (with a police guard) in Peckham High Street http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/1583485/Harriet-Harman-in-stab-vest-for-Peckham-walk.html

The problem with idiots such as David Cameron and Boris Johnson is that they have NO IDEA what it is like to live surrounded by Muslims.

As someone who as a teenager grew up in the Dallow Road area of Luton, I can advise you that living among Pakistani-heritage people is an extremely unpleasant and unsafe experience.

Donald Trump has done us a favour by drawing attention to a serious problem that hoity-toity stuck up British politicians are too grand and important to bother themselves with.

Obviously the American election is nothing to do with me.

I am not American and I do not have a vote.

But for what it's worth, this blog supports Donald Trump for USA President.

The minimum wage has now become the average wage

On Sunday Politics (Yorkshire and Lincolnshire) there was a report from Boston where migrant labour has led to local wage rates plummeting:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01hq1h6

They actually said the minimum wage has now become the average wage.

If you increase the supply of labour the price of labour will fall.

Equally, if you stop the supply of labour the price of labour will rise.

Rivers of blood, predicted as far back as 1968

Leytonstone tube stabbing is a terrorist "incident" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35018789

Rivers of blood, predicted as far back as 1968.

Labour retains a safe Labour seat.

Big deal

Big effing deal, as some would say.

And yet the Corbyn supporters are cockahoop - exultant and triumphant and talking about new paradigms.

What we signed up to with the vote earlier this week

On Dateline London the discussion, inevitably, was about Syria.

There seemed to be serious misconceptions about the nature of "Islamic State" and the reasons why the United Kingdom has joined the onslaught against the evil organisation.

Since Hiroshima the unstated principle of Western foreign policy has been that any attack by a non-Western enemy upon a Western nation will result in overwhelming, indiscriminate and terrifying punishment.

Ho Chi Minh defies America? - hundreds of thousands of yellow people are killed and south east Asia is bombed back to the stone age.

Saddam Hussein threatens the West - hundreds of thousands of brown people are killed, Hussein is hanged, and Iraq is comprehensively trashed.

Muammar Gaddafi sponsors terrorism in the West - Libya gets a beating and Gaddafi is killed and thrown on a rubbish heap (metaphorically).

There is no "after plan" to any of these scenarios.

You threaten the West and you will get a beating.

I have doubts about the effectiveness of this policy.  I have doubts about the morality of this policy.  But it is what we signed up to with the vote earlier this week.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m93g

The vote in favour of military action was a mistake

The Oldham by-election was a referendum on the House of Commons vote to join in the Syrian war.

Don't give me all the guff about the polls saying public opinion is in support of the war.

Effectively you had the immigrant community in Oldham combining with the ordinary voters (of all parties) and the core 2010 Labour vote to elect the Labour candidate because Labour was (on the whole) the party that said no to the war.

This is problematic for Conservatives such as myself who think the vote in favour of military action was a mistake.

One does not want to side with the "terrorist sympathisers" of the Labour party.  Still less does one want to encourage in any way the Muslim community.  And so the only option is to remain, on the whole, silent.

But the war is a mistake. 

And I was appalled watching the debate to hear speaker after speaker advise we should let in more Syrians.

The terrorism in Paris and now in America was a result of the failure of multiculturism (the terrorists were from local immigrant communities).

And yet we are being advised that the answer to the failure of multiculturalism is yet more multiculturalism.

I'm afraid the proponents of multiculturalism are fanatics.

The proponents of multiculturalism are insane.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35014665

The "anti-bullying" campaigning of Mr Johnson

One can understand that Ray Johnson, in coping with the suicide of his son Elliott Johnson, should work through the anger stage of his grief and hit out in all directions in an effort to relieve the pain he is feeling.

But increasingly the "anti-bullying" campaigning of Mr Johnson in itself amounts to bullying:  http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/dec/03/tory-bullying-claims-cameron-distance-youth-group

And why is Mr Johnson trying to pre-empt the findings of the inquest into Elliott Johnson's suicide?

Why is he so desperate (because he sounds increasingly desperate) to be judge and jury in the case and to have "guilt" safely apportioned before the Coronor has given his opinion?

This doesn't look right.

Conservative politics at the youth stage is trivial

I am sad Grant Shapps has resigned:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34952981

For the record, I first joined the Conservative Party age 16, first started going to meetings age 14, first self-identified as a Conservative age 10 (in a mildly Labour-voting family living in Dallow Ward in Luton).

In all the time I have been involved with the Conservative Party I have never experienced any bullying or seen any bullying of others.

I am sorry for the parents of the person who committed suicide, but I think they should stop blaming the Conservative party and look for other reasons.

A young man does not casually commit suicide.  There would have been indications beforehand that his mind was disturbed, and surely his parents would have noticed those.  Certainly one would not expect a young man to commit suicide for trivial reasons.

Because Conservative politics at the youth stage is trivial.  It is more a social club than a political movement.  There are no high stakes, there are no life-or-death issues, there are no all-or-nothing moments.

There is nothing to be gained from rising to the top of Conservative Future - most past National Chairmen have gone nowhere, whereas David Cameron has got to Prime Minister without even being a member.

I did meet obnoxious people when I was involved in Conservative youth politics - and all I did was leave that branch and join a neighbouring branch.

Things are different where real power is concerned.  I note that Wes Streeting MP complains in this article about bullying within the Labour Parliamentary Party:  https://www.facebook.com/wesstreetingmp/posts/899934880056082  We know that Gordon Brown bullied the staff who worked for him, pushing people off chairs, using mobile phones as missiles to throw at people etc.

But no "young" Conservative has any real power, and no-one takes young Conservatives seriously, not even other young Conservatives.

The Andrew Marr Show this morning featured American actor Tom Hanks

The left-wing luvvie slot on the Andrew Marr Show this morning featured American actor Tom Hanks:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0080bbs  (he told us about his admiration for Hilary Clinton).

Earlier in the newspaper review one of the guests was liberal American author Stanley B. Greenberg whose latest book is America Ascendant (self-described completely without irony as "A Revolutionary Nation’s Path to Addressing Its Deepest Problems and Leading the 21st Century" and supposedly about how liberalism is now triumphant in the USA):  http://us.macmillan.com/americaascendant/stanleybgreenberg

I am afraid this morning's Andrew Marr Show, with its self-satisfied liberal Americans and lickspittal Scottish groupie was so odious and repulsive I felt nauseated.

It was like that scene in the Aviator when the young Howard Hughes goes to a meal with the Hepburns and experiences rich liberal Americans, wallowing in the vulgar fatness of wealth in a way only liberal Americans can manage, showing off and admiring each other and announcing with confidence "We are all socialists here":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z1pPyarKhA

I am listening to the Ryan Adams cover of Taylor Swift's 1989:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcJ_ECyEK4I&index=1&list=PLNylmjSqT6s2580qPCToutMAUDvD4_wxX

What would happen if Apple were given a confidential commission

I have only had my iPhone 6S for a few weeks but already I feel I cannot do without it.

It is so well designed and easy to use.

And it makes me wonder what the world would look like if Apple were to design more elements of our life.

What would an iCar look like?  Or an iSchool?  Or even an iSupermarket.

And whether Apple could tackle institutions and organisations.

For instance, Conservative Future will need a relaunch following the takeover by Central Office.

What would happen if Apple were given a confidential commission to create a new Conservative youth movement - cool and shiny in design and appearance, completely digitalised, irresistible to young people aged 16 to 24 (but no tinkering with policy please - we need to reconfirm Conservative values and British national identity).

John McDonnell has given a speech

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has given a speech this week:  text of speech

Talking about the 1950s and 1960s he asks the question:  "...why is it that so many things we took for granted back then are no longer available to our children’s generation?"

He has not yet realised that open door immigration is incompatible with a welfare state (including health care, education, unemployment benefit, social housing, public transport, public libraries etc) paid for out of general taxation.

Huge increases year on year in the population (and so in the numbers of claimants) reduces the amount of welfare available.

The only way to maintain 1960s levels of welfare with 21st century levels of immigration is to have huge rises in taxation to keep step with the rises in immigration.  As the taxation paid by post-1997 immigrants does not cover the social benefits they consume (and cannot do so, since the whole point of importing cheapo immigrants is that they are paid minimal amounts of money and so do not pay much in the way of tax) this must mean that non-immigrants must subsidise the social consumption of immigrants.  This social-economic model is not fair nor is it sustainable.

Mr McDonnell goes on to say "...we need government to understand and accept the strategic role it has to play in our new economy... a process that will see us work with businesses, entrepreneurs, scientists, trade unions and wider civil society to shape the economy of the future".

This sounds like the Little Neddies that operated under the umbrella of the National Economic Development Council of the 1960s and 1970s.

Perhaps Mr McDonnell should be reminded of Enoch Powell's speech to the South Kensington Young Conservatives on 30th November 1970:  "You can neither intervene, not withdraw from intervention, by half-measures".

The EU has become a belief system, a religion, an ideology worshipped for its own sake

On Dateline London earlier today the Belgian-French journalist Marc Roche talked about the Schengen Area with such fanatical insistence that one doubted his rationality.

Increasingly I am of the opinion that we are not dealing with normal people when considering EU enthusiasts.

The EU has become a belief system, a religion, an ideology worshipped for its own sake not for any benefits it might bring.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06q6yxz

John Reid (former Labour Home Secretary) is of the opinion that the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn is incompetent:  https://www.politicshome.com/party-politics/articles/story/former-blair-minister-lashes-out-corbyn-and-incompetent-labour

Our Lady of the Holy Souls.

The objectives the Corbyn faction are working on

Martin Kettle in yesterday's Guardian listed the objectives the Corbyn faction are working on in the Labour Party.

"The left faction around Corbyn is focused not so much on new politics or new ideas but simply on taking control of the party machinery. This is an entirely logical approach because, until that is achieved, it is harder to change policy or commitments. The left’s priorities – and they are certainly the priorities of the Leninists Corbyn has brought in – are therefore to make procedural changes. Altering the rules for electing the leader to reduce the influence of MPs; strengthening the grip of the annual conference over policymaking; boosting the national executive at the expense of the shadow cabinet; clearing out opponents in the upper reaches of the party organisation; and, ultimately, deselecting centrist MPs and getting more leftwing, union-endorsed candidates in safe seats."

So now we know what they are up to.

 http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/12/new-politics-old-politics-tribalism-labour-conservatives

Rivers of blood:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34814203

Evil Muslim monster Jihadi John

Reports today that American drones have probably killed evil Muslim monster Jihadi John:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34805924

All the media reports say Kuwati-born Mohammed Emwazi "came" to the United Kingdom aged six.

They announce this fact as if it was the most obvious, most natural thing in the world.

He just "came" here.

I would like to know who let him in and why they let him in.

Can we please know the civil servants and immigration officials and politicians who enabled the entry of the Emwazi family into the United Kingdom and why they did so.

Because we do not have an open border with Kuwait.

We are under no obligation whatsoever to allow Kuwaitis in here.

If you were to test public opinion on the subject, either now or in 1994 (under John Major's crap government) I have no doubt the resounding response would be:  DON'T LET THEM IN - we don't need them, don't like them, don't want them in our country - under no circumstances do you politicians and civil servants have a mandate to allow Arabs into our country.

So can we please know which officials (including elected officials) allowed this serial killer into our national home.

And on an anthropological level, there is enough data now from immigration statistics and intelligence reports to be able to assess how many terrorists and criminals will result from a given Muslim immigration rate.

Muslim immigration in large numbers only began in the mid-1970s.  It must be possible to say that out of every one thousand Muslims coming into the United Kingdom a statistical percentage will be "radicalised" and either help in the commission of terrorist acts or actually commit those acts.  We can then extrapolate from that evidence and predict how many more terrorists are incubating in our midst - and indeed how many of the 20,000 Syrians coming in the United Kingdom over the next five years will mutate into terrorists and go on to commit atrocities.

Zero by Chris Brown (he directed the video himself)

Is it not gratuitous that Chris Brown (in his fictional video persona) should react to hostility from his girlfriend by taking his shirt off?

Zero by Chris Brown (he directed the video himself)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSj0mPJsMy0

"corduroy-jacketed, snaggletoothed, lefty academics"

"corduroy-jacketed, snaggletoothed, lefty academics."

This is an example of gestalt technique.

You build a picture in your mind from the different elements provided.

And you immediately know who is being referred to!

It is a characteristic of gestalt technique that people who go through the process of building a picture in their mind from component parts are more convinced of the idea that if you just told them straight out who you are ridiculing. 

One wonders what the bro-squad round Jeremy makes of this veiled attack.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34788389 

The ordinary people want their country back

The Cameron "negotiations" with the EU will not do:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34770875

The ordinary people want their country back.

Instead they are being offered a four-year deferment to foreigners helping themselves to taxpayers money.

David Cameron is being very badly advised here.

Presumably the circle round him think they are invincible because Labour are in such disarray.

They need to think again.

David Cameron will have to go, and go soon.

And I do not want to see Osborne in the job - he has been cast in the balance and found wanting.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NN62uD1ZAc

I went to an early service, as the normal 10.30 Sung Eucharist was replaced by the big Remembrance ceremony at 11 o'clock.

Held in a side chapel, about thirty attending, said rather than sung (there was no choir).

One hymn:

Praise to the Lord, who o’er all
things so wondrously reigneth,
Who, as on wings of an eagle,
uplifteth, sustaineth.
Hast thou not seen
How thy desires all have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Outside in the market place the military parades were already lining up.

On Sunday Politics former Labour minister James Purnell was described as "a Tory with a red rosette".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01hq1h6

Pushing and pushing until they are absolutely told to back off

"...the case is being used as a test case by the leader’s internal Labour opponents to see how much power they can exert over the leader using existing party structures..."  http://www.buzzfeed.com/jimwaterson/this-is-how-labour-mps-are-trying-to-undermine-jeremy-corbyn#.ajrabY57RE

It was a characteristic of New Labour 1997-2010 to keep pushing and pushing until they are absolutely told to back off.

There is no point in Jeremy Corbyn thinking it will all eventually settle down - it will never settle down.

He needs to take them on and defeat them.

Didn't like it at first, but it grows on you.

One Call Away by Charlie Puth, the video directed by Mark Staubach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxuY9FET9Y4
 

Is Bavaria beer cool?

Is Bavaria beer cool?

With my new job (three days a week - the other two days I help Mr Nussbaum) there is a lot of pressure to be "cool" (defining that word in terms of consumption that is approved of within the office culture). 

So I am quietly shadowing a few of the people at work and subtly copying what they do (within reason - obviously I am not on the kind of salary that can match their cars, watches, super holidays etc).

But I ask you, is Bavaria beer cool?

It's not even brewed in Bavaria - it's Dutch!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavaria_Brewery_%28Netherlands%29

How does one counter Islamic fanaticism?

On Dateline London this morning Gavin Esler referred to a Russian general who in 1988 had predicted that the West and Russia would have to co-operate to counter the rise of Islamic fanaticism:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06nztkw/dateline-london-07112015 (about 16 minutes into the braodcast).

Which makes me ask:  how does one counter Islamic fanaticism?

An ideology can only be subverted from within - the holders of the ideology must be made to doubt what they are believing.

Which means the security forces must understand the Koran completely, and identify all the flaws, and use those flaws to destroy confidence in the belief system.

It is no use employing tame Muslims to do this - they are a tainted and unreliable resource.

It will have to be done by specialist teams in the security forces approaching the task from an entirely secular point of view, with the aim of undermining entirely the certainty on which Islamist fanatical belief depends and generating social media interactions designed to circulate these ideas.

Mid-morning, and the view from the twenty-sixth floor was a melancholy grey city, rain spattering the glass windows.

In the photograph you can see two shadowy figures reflected - I am on the right (of course).

Immigration is not entirely a good thing

Guardian writer Owen Jones comes as close as he dares to suggesting that immigration is not entirely a good thing:  http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2015/11/take-ukip-left-needs-do-more-champion-abstract-idea-immigration

Less appealing than Miliband and Balls

This is astonishing:  https://www.politicshome.com/party-politics/articles/story/corbyn-and-mcdonnell-less-trusted-miliband-and-balls

Corbyn and McDonell are less appealing than Miliband and Balls.

In some respects this judgement is unfair.  Jeremy Corbyn is not offering the United Kingdom management of a free market system.  He wants a command economy.

And as the history of the 20th century shows, a command economy will work (we had such a system in the United Kingdom 1939 to 1946 - and experienced huge leaps in productivity and vastly enhanced levels of social cohesion).

A command economy is nothing to be afraid of.

The problem Jeremy Corbyn has is explaining this to the British people while all the time his own side is trying to pull the rug from under his feet.